Lo, mine eye hath seen all this,
Mine ear hath heard and understood it.
What ye know, the same do I know also:
I am not inferior unto you.
Surely I would speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to reason with God.
But ye are forgers of lies;
Ye are all physicians of no value.
Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace!
And it would be your wisdom.
Hear now my reasoning,
And hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
Will ye speak unrighteously for God,
And talk deceitfully for him?
Will ye show partiality to him?
Will ye contend for God?
Is it good that he should search you out?
Or as one {Or, mocketh}deceiveth a man, will ye {Or, mock}deceive him?
He will surely reprove you,
If ye do secretly show partiality.
Shall not his majesty make you afraid,
And his dread fall upon you?
Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes,
Your defences are defences of clay.
Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak;
And let come on me what will.
{Or, At all adventures I will take &c.}Wherefore should I take my flesh in my teeth,
And put my life in my hand?
{Or, Though he slay me, yet will I wait for him}Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope:
Nevertheless I will {Hebrew: argue.}maintain my ways before him.
This also shall be my salvation,
That a godless man shall not come before him.
Hear diligently my speech,
And let my declaration be in your ears.
Behold now, I have set my cause in order;
I know that I {Or, shall be justified}am righteous.
Who is he that will contend with me?
For then {Or, if I hold my peace, I shall give up &c.}would I hold my peace and give up the ghost.
Only do not two things unto me;
Then will I not hide myself from thy face:
Withdraw thy hand far from me;
And let not thy terror make me afraid.
Then call thou, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, and answer thou me.
How many are mine iniquities and sins?
Make me to know my transgression and my sin.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face,
And holdest me for thine enemy?
Wilt thou harass a driven leaf?
And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
For thou writest bitter things against me,
And makest me to inherit the iniquities of my youth:
Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks,
And markest all my paths;
Thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet:
{Hebrew: And he is like.}Though I am like a rotten thing that consumeth,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
Querverweise zu Hiob 13,18 Hiob 13,18
{Or, That one might plead for a man with God. As a son of man pleadeth for his neighbor}That he would maintain the right of a man with God,And of a son of man with his neighbor!
Of a truth I know that it is so: {Or, For}But how can man be just {Or, before}with God?
I would set my cause in order before him,And fill my mouth with arguments.
{Or, If one should desire…He could not &c.}If he be pleased to contend with him,He cannot answer him one of a thousand.
Gird up thy loins now like a man:I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me:Though I be perfect, {Or, he}it shall prove me perverse.
Gird up thy loins now like a man:I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Wilt thou even annul my judgment?Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be justified?
Put me in remembrance; let us plead together: set thou forth thy cause, that thou mayest be justified.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? {Or, Shall God that justifieth?}It is God that justifieth;
who is he that condemneth? {Or, Shall Christ Jesus that died…us?}It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.