Then Job answered and said,
Hear diligently my speech;
And let this be your consolations.
Suffer me, and I also will speak;
And after that I have spoken, {Or, thou shall mock}mock on.
As for me, is my complaint {Or, of}to man?
And why should I not be impatient?
{Hebrew: Look unto me.}Mark me, and be astonished,
And lay your hand upon your mouth.
Even when I remember I am troubled,
And horror taketh hold on my flesh.
Wherefore do the wicked live,
Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
Their seed is established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;
Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
They {Hebrew: lift up the voice.}sing to the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,
And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
And they say unto God, Depart from us;
For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
{Or, Ye say, Lo &c.}Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand:
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
{Or, How oft is the lamp of the wicked put out, And how oft cometh their calamity upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger. They are as stubble…away.}How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity cometh upon them?
That God distributeth sorrows in his anger?
That they are as stubble before the wind,
And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
{Or, God layeth up his iniquity for his children: He rewardeth him, and he shall know it. His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink &c.}Ye say, God layeth up his iniquity for his children.
Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it:
Let his own eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what careth he for his house after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?
Shall any teach God knowledge,
Seeing he judgeth those that are high?
One dieth in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and quiet:
His pails are full of milk,
And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
And another dieth in bitterness of soul,
And never tasteth of good.
They lie down alike in the dust,
And the worm covereth them.
Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?
And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?
Have ye not asked wayfaring men?
And do ye not know their evidences,
That the evil man is {Or, spared in &c.}reserved to the day of calamity?
That they are {Or, led away in &c.}led forth to the day of wrath?
Who shall declare his way to his face?
And who shall repay him what he hath done?
{Or, Moreover he is borne to the grave, And keepth watch over his tomb. The clots of the valley are sweet unto him; And all men draw &c.}Yet shall he be borne to the grave,
And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,
And all men shall draw after him,
As there were innumerable before him.
How then comfort ye me {Or, with vanity}in vain,
Seeing in your answers there remaineth only {Or, faithlessness}falsehood?
Querverweise zu Hiob 21,22 Hiob 21,22
Shall he that cavilleth contend with the Almighty?He that argueth with God, let him answer it.
Shall even one that hateth justice govern?And wilt thou condemn him that is righteous and mighty?—
{The Hebrew as pointed reads, Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art vile? Or, to nobles, Ye are wicked?}Him that saith to a king, Thou art vile,Or to nobles, Ye are wicked;
That respecteth not the persons of princes,Nor regardeth the rich more than the poor;For they all are the work of his hands.
Who hath {Or, meted out}directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Who is like unto Jehovah our God,That hath his seat on high,
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding?
That humbleth himself {Or, to regard the heavens and the earth}to beholdThe things that are in heaven and in the earth?
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in {Or, the state}a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as {Or, gauze}a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as {Or, confusion}vanity.
Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?
For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but {Or, cast them into dungeons}cast them down to {Greek: Tartarus.}hell, and committed them to {Some ancient authorities read chains. Compare Wisd. 17:17.}pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain {Greek: upon.}in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.