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 21,27 Hiob 21,27
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,And sow {Or, mischief}trouble, reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,And by the blast of his anger are they consumed.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,And the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
I have seen the foolish taking root:But suddenly I cursed his habitation.
His children are far from safety,And they are crushed in the gate,Neither is there any to deliver them:
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,And taketh it even out of the thorns;And {According to Vulgate, the thirsty swallow up.}the snare gapeth for their substance.
And it was so, that, after Jehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
Doth God pervert justice?Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?
{Or, If thy children sinned…he delivered &c.}If thy children have sinned against him,And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;
If thou wouldest seek diligently unto God,And make thy supplication to the Almighty;
If thou wert pure and upright:Surely now he would awake for thee,And make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
They run and prepare themselves without my fault:Awake thou to {Hebrew: meet.}help me, and behold.
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.
A sound of terrors is in his ears;In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,And he is waited for of the sword.
He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it?He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
Distress and anguish make him afraid;They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
Because he hath stretched out his hand against God,And {Or, biddeth defiance to}behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;
He runneth upon him with a stiff neck, {Or, Upon}With the thick bosses of his bucklers;
Because he hath covered his face with his fatness,And gathered fat upon his loins;
And he hath dwelt in {Hebrew: cut off. }desolate cities,In houses which no man {Or, would inhabit}inhabited,Which were ready to become heaps;
He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,Neither shall {Or, their produce bend to the earth}their possessions be extended on the earth.
He shall not depart out of darkness;The flame shall dry up his branches,And by the breath of {Hebrew: his.}God's mouth shall he go away.
Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself;For vanity shall be his recompense.
It shall be {Or, paid in full.}accomplished before his time,And his branch shall not be green.
He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,And shall cast off his flower as the olive-tree.
For the company of the godless shall be barren,And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity,And their heart prepareth deceit.
All thy commandments are faithful:They persecute me {Or, with falsehood}wrongfully; help thou me.
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,And the joy of the godless but for a moment?
For this is {Greek: grace.}acceptable, if for conscience {Greek: of.}toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God,And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
But Jesus perceiving their {Or, questionings}reasonings, answered and said unto them, {Or, What}Why reason ye in your hearts?