Before
CHRIST,
1520.
iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a small sound of it.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men.
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern its form: an image was before my eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Doth not their excellence which is in them depart? they die, even without wisdom.
CHAP. V
1 1 The harm of inconsideration. 3 The end of the wicked is misery. 6 God is to be regarded in affliction. 17 The happy end of God's correction.
CALL now, if there is 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 Whose 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 from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
7 Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
8 I would seek to God, and to God would I commit my cause:
9 Who doeth great things and unsearchable; wonderful things without number:
10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
11 To set 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 day-time, and grope in the noon-day as in the night.
15 But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their 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 will deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
20 In famine he will 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 will be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed will be great, and thy offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, as a shock of corn cometh in in its season.
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
CHAP. VI
1 1 Job sheweth that his complaints are not causeless. 8 He wisheth for death, wherein he is assured of comfort. 14 He reproveth his friends for their unkindness.
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 of which 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 sorrowful food.
