Job 5-7

21st Century King James Version

5 “Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?

² For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

³ I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

⁴ His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

⁵ His harvest the hungry eateth up and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.

⁶ Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

⁷ yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

⁸ “I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause.

⁹ He doeth great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:

¹⁰ He giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields,

¹¹ to set up on high those that are low, that those who mourn may be exalted to safety.

¹² He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

¹³ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.

¹⁵ But He saveth the poor from the sword, from the mouth and from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶ So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

¹⁷ “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.

¹⁸ For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole.

¹⁹ He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.

²⁰ In famine He shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

²² At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³ For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

²⁴ And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

²⁵ Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

²⁶ Thou shalt come to thy grave at a full age, as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

²⁷ Lo, this we have searched out; so it is. Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.”

6 But Job answered and said:

² “Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!

³ For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words are swallowed up.

⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; the poison thereof drinketh up my spirit; the terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

⁵ Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder?

⁶ Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷ The things that my soul refused to touch are as my distressing meat.

⁸ “Oh that I might have my request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for:

⁹ even that it would please God to destroy me, that He would let loose His hand and cut me off!

¹⁰ Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow. Let Him not spare, for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ What is my strength, that I should hope? And what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?

¹² Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

¹³ Is not my help in me? And is wisdom driven quite from me?

¹⁴ “To him that is afflicted, pity should be shown by his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away,

¹⁶ which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid.

¹⁷ When in time they wax warm, they vanish; when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

¹⁸ The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing and perish.

¹⁹ The troops of Tema looked; the companies of Sheba waited for them.

²⁰ They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither and were ashamed.

²¹ For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down and are afraid.

²² Did I say, ‘Bring unto me’? or, ‘Give a reward for me of your substance’?

²³ Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’? or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the mighty’?

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

²⁵ How forceful are right words! But what doth your arguing reprove?

²⁶ Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

²⁷ Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

²⁸ “Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.

²⁹ Return, I pray you, let there be no iniquity; yea, return again; my righteousness is in it.

³⁰ Is there iniquity on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern perverse things?

7 “Is there not an appointed time for man upon earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hireling?

² As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as a hireling looketh for the reward of his work,

³ so am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

⁴ When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise and the night be gone?’ And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

⁵ My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and has become loathsome.

⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.

⁷ “O remember that my life is wind; mine eye shall no more see good.

⁸ The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more; Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

⁹ As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.

¹⁰ He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹² Am I a sea, or a whale, that Thou settest a watch over me?

¹³ When I say, ‘My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,’

¹⁴ then Thou scarest me with dreams and terrifiest me through visions,

¹⁵ so that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

¹⁶ I loathe it; I would not live always. Let me alone, for my days are vanity.

¹⁷ “What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him, and that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?

¹⁸ And that Thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?

¹⁹ How long wilt Thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

²⁰ I have sinned. What shall I do unto Thee, O Thou preserver of men? Why hast Thou set me as a mark against Thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

²¹ And why dost Thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I sleep in the dust, and Thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.”