Job 14-17

American Standard Version

14 Man, that is born of a woman,
Is of few days, and full of trouble.
² He cometh forth like a flower, and ^[a]is cut down:
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
³ And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one,
And bringest me into judgment with thee?
^4 [b]Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
⁵ Seeing his days are determined,
The number of his months is with thee,
And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
⁶ Look away from him, that he may ^[c]rest,
Till he shall ^[d]accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

⁷ For there is hope of a tree,
If it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
⁸ Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,
And the stock thereof die in the ground;
⁹ Yet through the scent of water it will bud,
And put forth boughs like a plant.
¹⁰ But man dieth, and is laid low:
Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
¹¹ As the waters ^[e]fail from the sea,
And the river wasteth and drieth up;
¹² So man lieth down and riseth not:
Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake,
Nor be roused out of their sleep.

¹³ Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,
That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past,
That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If a man die, shall he live again?
All the days of my warfare ^[f]would I wait,
Till my ^[g]release should come.
¹⁵ Thou ^[h]wouldest call, and I would answer thee:
Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.
¹⁶ But now thou numberest my steps:
Dost thou not watch over my sin?
¹⁷ My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And thou fastenest up mine iniquity.

¹⁸ But the mountain falling ^[i]cometh to nought;
And the rock is removed out of its place;
¹⁹ The waters wear the stones;
The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth:
So thou destroyest the hope of man.
²⁰ Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth;
Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
²¹ His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not;
And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
^22 [j]But his flesh upon him hath pain,
And his soul within him mourneth.

² Should a wise man make answer with ^[k]vain knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?
³ Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
⁴ Yea, thou doest away with fear,
And ^[l]hinderest ^[m]devotion before God.
⁵ For ^[n]thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth,
And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
⁶ Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I;
Yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

⁷ Art thou the first man that was born?
Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
^8 [o]Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God?
And dost thou limit wisdom to thyself?
⁹ What knowest thou, that we know not?
What understandest thou, which is not in us?
¹⁰ With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged men,
Much elder than thy father.
¹¹ Are the consolations of God too small for thee,
^[p]Even the word that is gentle toward thee?
¹² Why doth thy heart carry thee away?
And why do thine eyes flash,
¹³ That against God thou turnest thy spirit,
And lettest words go out of thy mouth?
¹⁴ What is man, that he should be clean?
And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
¹⁵ Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones;
Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:
¹⁶ How much less ^[q]one that is abominable and corrupt,
A man that drinketh iniquity like water!

¹⁷ I will show thee, hear thou me;
And that which I have seen I will declare
¹⁸ (Which wise men have told
From their fathers, and have not hid it;
¹⁹ Unto whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them):
²⁰ The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days,
^[r]Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
²¹ A sound of terrors is in his ears;
In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
²² He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,
And he is waited for of the sword.
²³ He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it?
He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
²⁴ Distress and anguish make him afraid;
They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
²⁵ Because he hath stretched out his hand against God,
And ^[s]behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;
²⁶ He runneth upon him with a stiff neck,
^[t]With the thick bosses of his bucklers;
²⁷ Because he hath covered his face with his fatness,
And gathered fat upon his loins;
²⁸ And he hath dwelt in ^[u]desolate cities,
In houses which no man ^[v]inhabited,
Which were ready to become heaps;
²⁹ He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
Neither shall ^[w]their possessions be extended on the earth.
³⁰ He shall not depart out of darkness;
The flame shall dry up his branches,
And by the breath of ^[x]God’s mouth shall he go away.
³¹ Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself;
For vanity shall be his recompense.
³² It shall be ^[y]accomplished before his time,
And his branch shall not be green.
³³ He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,
And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree.
³⁴ For the company of the godless shall be barren,
And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
³⁵ They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity,
And their heart prepareth deceit.

² I have heard many such things:
^[z]Miserable comforters are ye all.
³ Shall ^[aa]vain words have an end?
Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
⁴ I also could speak as ye do;
If your soul were in my soul’s stead,
I could join words together against you,
And shake my head at you.
⁵ But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips would assuage your grief.

⁶ Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged;
And though I forbear, ^[ab]what am I eased?
⁷ But now he hath made me weary:
Thou hast made desolate all my company.
⁸ And thou hast ^[ac]laid fast hold on me, which is a witness against me:
And my leanness riseth up against me,
It testifieth to my face.
⁹ He hath torn me in his wrath, and ^[ad]persecuted me;
He hath gnashed upon me with his teeth:
Mine adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
¹⁰ They have gaped upon me with their mouth;
They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully:
They gather themselves together against me.
¹¹ God delivereth me to the ungodly,
And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.
¹² I was at ease, and he brake me asunder;
Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces:
He hath also set me up for his mark.
¹³ His ^[ae]archers compass me round about;
He cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare;
He poureth out my gall upon the ground.
¹⁴ He breaketh me with breach upon breach;
He runneth upon me like a ^[af]giant.
¹⁵ I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,
And have ^[ag]laid my horn in the dust.
¹⁶ My face is red with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
¹⁷ Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ O earth, cover not thou my blood,
And let my cry ^[ah]have no resting-place.
¹⁹ Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And he that voucheth for me is on high.
²⁰ My friends scoff at me:
But mine eye poureth out tears unto God,
^21 [ai]That he would maintain the right of a man with God,
And of a son of man with his neighbor!
²² For when a few years are come,
I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
17 My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,
The grave is ready for me.
² Surely there are ^[aj]mockers with me,
And mine eye dwelleth upon their provocation.

³ Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself;
Who is there that will strike hands with me?
⁴ For thou hast hid their heart from understanding:
Therefore shalt thou not exalt them.
⁵ He that denounceth his friends for a ^[ak]prey,
Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

⁶ But he hath made me a byword of the people;
And they spit in my face.
⁷ Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow,
And all my members are as a shadow.
⁸ Upright men shall be astonished at this,
And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless.
⁹ Yet shall the righteous hold on his way,
And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
¹⁰ But as for you all, come on now again;
^[al]And I shall not find a wise man among you.
¹¹ My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
Even the ^[am]thoughts of my heart.
¹² They change the night into day:
The light, say they, is near ^[an]unto the darkness.
¹³ If I ^[ao]look for Sheol as my house;
If I have spread my couch in the darkness;
¹⁴ If I have said to ^[ap]corruption, Thou art my father;
To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister;
¹⁵ Where then is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
¹⁶ It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
When once there is rest in the dust.