1	But Job answered and said,
2	Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.
3	Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.
4	As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?
5	Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6	Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.
7	Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
8	Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.
9	Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.
10	Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
11	They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12	They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
13	They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14	Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15	What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
16	Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17	How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.
18	They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
19	God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.
20	His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21	For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?
22	Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.
23	One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.
24	His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
25	And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.
26	They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.
27	Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.
28	For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
29	Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,
30	That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
31	Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?
32	Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.
33	The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.
34	How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

Chapter 22

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1	Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2	Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?
3	Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
4	Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?
5	Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
6	For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
7	Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
8	But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
9	Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
10	Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
11	Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
12	Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
13	And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
14	Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
15	Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
16	Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:
17	Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?
18	Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
19	The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.
20	Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.
21	Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
22	Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23	If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
24	Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
25	Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.
26	For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
27	Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.
28	Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.
29	When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.
30	He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

Chapter 23

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1	Then Job answered and said,
2	Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3	Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
4	I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5	I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6	Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
7	There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
8	Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9	On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
10	But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11	My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
12	Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
13	But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
14	For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.
15	Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
16	For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
17	Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Chapter 24

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1	Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?
2	Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.
3	They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4	They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.
5	Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.
6	They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
7	They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.
8	They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.
9	They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.
10	They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;
11	Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.
12	Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
13	They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
14	The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.
15	The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.
16	In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.
17	For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.
18	He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
19	Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.
20	The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.
21	He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.
22	He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.
23	Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.
24	They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.
25	And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

Chapter 25

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1	Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2	Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.
3	Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?
4	How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?
5	Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.
6	How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

Chapter 26

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1	But Job answered and said,
2	How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
3	How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
4	To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
5	Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
6	Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
7	He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
8	He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
9	He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.
10	He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
11	The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
12	He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
13	By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
14	Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

Chapter 27

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1	Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2	As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
3	All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4	My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
5	God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
6	My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
7	Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
8	For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
9	Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
10	Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
11	I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
12	Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
13	This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14	If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15	Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
16	Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
17	He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18	He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
19	The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
20	Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
21	The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
22	For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
23	Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Chapter 28

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1	Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
2	Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3	He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
4	The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5	As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6	The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
7	There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
8	The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9	He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
10	He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
11	He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
12	But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
13	Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14	The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
15	It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16	It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17	The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18	No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19	The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20	Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21	Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22	Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23	God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24	For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
25	To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
26	When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
27	Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28	And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Chapter 29

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1	Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2	Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
3	When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4	As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
5	When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6	When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7	When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
8	The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
9	The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
10	The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11	When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12	Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
13	The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14	I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15	I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
16	I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17	And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18	Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19	My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20	My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21	Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
22	After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
23	And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
24	If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25	I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.

Chapter 30

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1	But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
2	Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
3	For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
4	Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
5	They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)
6	To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
7	Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
8	They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
9	And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.
10	They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11	Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12	Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
13	They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
14	They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
15	Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
16	And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17	My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
18	By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19	He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
20	I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
21	Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
22	Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.
23	For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24	Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
25	Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26	When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27	My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
28	I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29	I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30	My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31	My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

Chapter 31

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1	I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
2	For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3	Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4	Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5	If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6	Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity.
7	If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
8	Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
9	If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;
10	Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
11	For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.
12	For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
13	If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
14	What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
15	Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
16	If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
17	Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
18	(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)
19	If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
20	If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21	If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
22	Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.
23	For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.
24	If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
25	If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;
26	If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
27	And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
28	This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.
29	If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
30	Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
31	If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.
32	The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.
33	If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
34	Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
35	Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
36	Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
37	I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.
38	If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
39	If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
40	Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

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PROCEED TO...
Chapters 32-42

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