Then Job answered and said,
I have heard many such things:
{Or, Wearisome}Miserable comforters are ye all.
Shall {Hebrew: words of wind.}vain words have an end?
Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
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.
But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips would assuage your grief.
Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged;
And though I forbear, {Hebrew: what departeth from me?}what am I eased?
But now he hath made me weary:
Thou hast made desolate all my company.
And thou hast {Or, shrivelled me up}laid fast hold on me, which is a witness against me:
And my leanness riseth up against me,
It testifieth to my face.
He hath torn me in his wrath, and {Or, hated}persecuted me;
He hath gnashed upon me with his teeth:
Mine adversary sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth;
They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully:
They gather themselves together against me.
God delivereth me to the ungodly,
And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.
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.
His {Or, arrows Or, mighty ones}archers compass me round about;
He cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare;
He poureth out my gall upon the ground.
He breaketh me with breach upon breach;
He runneth upon me like a {Or, mighty man}giant.
I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin,
And have {Or, defiled}laid my horn in the dust.
My face is red with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
O earth, cover not thou my blood,
And let my cry {Or, have no more place}have no resting-place.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And he that voucheth for me is on high.
My friends scoff at me:
But mine eye poureth out tears unto God,
{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!
For when a few years are come,
I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
Querverweise zu Hiob 16,17 Hiob 16,17
If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away,And let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents.
If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God,And make thy supplication to the Almighty;
The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, {Or, And years that are numbered are laid up &c.}Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
If thou wert pure and upright:Surely now he would awake for thee,And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
For the company of the godless shall be barren,And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
If I {Or, had regarded}regard iniquity in my heart,The Lord {Or, would}will not hear:
Behold, I know your thoughts,And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
But verily God hath heard;He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah;But the prayer of the upright is his delight.
Is not thy wickedness great?Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.
For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought,And stripped the naked of their clothing.
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
But as for the {Hebrew: the man of arm.}mighty man, he had the {Or, land}earth;And {Hebrew: he whose person is accepted.}the honorable man, he dwelt in it.
Thou hast sent widows away empty,And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and {Or, doubting}disputing.
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go:My heart {Or, doth not reproach me for any of my days}shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Let mine enemy be as the wicked,And let him that riseth up against me be as the unrighteous.
Because I delivered the poor that cried,The fatherless also, {Or, and him that had &c.}that had none to help him.
The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me;And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it {Or, clothed itself with me}clothed me:My justice was as a robe and a {Or, turban.}diadem.
I was eyes to the blind,And feet was I to the lame.
I was a father to the needy:And {Or, the cause which i knew not}the cause of him that I knew not I searched out.
And I brake the {Hebrew: great teeth.}jaws of the unrighteous,And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
I made a covenant with mine eyes;How then should I look upon a virgin?
{Or, for what portion should I have of God…And what heritage &c? Is there not calamity &c.?}For what is the portion from God above,And the heritage from the Almighty on high?
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous,And disaster to the workers of iniquity?
Doth not he see my ways,And number all my steps?
If I have walked with falsehood,And my foot hath hasted to deceit
(Let me be weighed in an even balance,That God may know mine integrity);
If my step hath turned out of the way,And my heart walked after mine eyes,And if any spot hath cleaved to my hands:
Then let me sow, and let another eat;Yea, let {Or, my offspring Hebrew: my produce.}the produce of my field be rooted out.
If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman,And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;
Then let my wife grind unto another,And let others bow down upon her.
For that were a heinous crime;Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:
For it is a fire that consumeth unto {Hebrew: Abaddon. See chapter 26:6}Destruction,And would root out all mine increase.
If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant,When they contended with me;
What then shall I do when God riseth up?And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?
Did not he that made me in the womb make him?And did not one fashion us in the womb?
If I have withheld {Or, aught that the poor desired}the poor from their desire,Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Or have eaten my morsel alone,And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof
(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,And her have I guided from my mother's womb);
If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,Or that the needy had no covering;
If his loins have not blessed me,And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,Because I saw my help in the gate:
Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,And mine arm be broken from the bone.
For calamity from God is a terror to me,And by reason of his majesty I can do nothing.
If I have made gold my hope,And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,And because my hand had gotten much;
If I have beheld {Hebrew: the light.}the sun when it shined,Or the moon walking in brightness,
And my heart hath been secretly enticed,And {Hebrew: my hand hath kissed my mouth.}my mouth hath kissed my hand:
This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges;For I should have denied the God that is above.
If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,Or lifted up myself when evil found him
(Yea, I have not suffered by {Hebrew: palate.}mouth to sinBy asking his life with a curse);
If the men of my tent have not said,Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?
(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street;But I have opened my doors to {Hebrew: the way.}the traveller);
If {Or, after the manner of men}like Adam I have covered my transgressions,By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
Because I feared the great multitude,And the contempt of families terrified me,So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door—
Oh that I had one to hear me!(Lo, here is my {Hebrew: mark.}signature, let the Almighty answer me)And that I had the {Hebrew: book.}indictment which mine adversary hath written!
Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;I would bind it unto me as a crown:
I would declare unto him the number of my steps;As a prince would I {Or, present it to him}go near unto him.
If my land crieth out against me,And the furrows thereof weep together;
If I have eaten the {Hebrew: strength.}fruits thereof without money,Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:
Let {Or, thorns}thistles grow instead of wheat,And {Or, noisome weeds}cockle instead of barley.The words of Job are ended.
O Jehovah my God, if I have done this;If there be iniquity in my hands;
If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me;(Yea, I have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary);
Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;Yea, let him tread my life down to the earth,And lay my glory in the dust. [Selah
All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee,Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
Our heart is not turned back,Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
{Or, Through}That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals,And covered us with the shadow of death.
If we have forgotten the name of our God,Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
Will not God search this out?For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.