Then Job answered and said,
Even to-day is my complaint {Or, bitter Or, accounted rebellion}rebellious:
My stroke is heavier than my groaning.
Oh that I knew where I might find him!
That I might come even to his seat!
I would set my cause in order before him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know the words which he would answer me,
And understand what he would say unto me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
Nay; {Or, he would only give heed}but he would give heed unto me.
There the upright might reason with him;
So should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there;
And backward, but I cannot perceive him;
On the left hand, when he doth work, but I cannot behold him;
He {Or, turneth himself to…him, but}hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him.
{Or, For}But he knoweth {Hebrew: the way that is with me.}the way that I take;
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
My foot hath held fast to his steps;
His way have I kept, and turned not aside.
I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured up the words of his mouth {Or, more than my own law}more than my {Or, portion See Proverbs 30:8 }necessary food.
But {Or, he is one}he is in one mind, and who can turn him?
And what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
For he performeth that which is appointed for me:
And many such things are with him.
Therefore am I terrified at his presence;
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
For God hath made my heart faint,
And the Almighty hath terrified me;
{Or, For I am not dismayed because because of the darkness, Nor because thick darkness covereth my face}Because I was not cut off before the darkness,
Neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.
Querverweise zu Hiob 23,11 Hiob 23,11
And now, behold, the king walketh before you; and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my youth unto this day.
Here I am: witness against me before Jehovah, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a {Or, bribe}ransom {Or, that I should hide mine eyes at him}to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand.
And he said unto them, Jehovah is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found aught in my hand. And they said, He is witness.
Yet shall the righteous hold on his way,And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger.
Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness;According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of Jehovah,And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his ordinances were before me,And I put not away his statutes from me.
I was also perfect with him,And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness,According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit:He hath ceased to be wise and to do good.
Our heart is not turned back,Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,Jehovah will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.Peace be upon Israel.
And when they were come to him, he said unto them,Ye yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, after what manner I was with you all the time,
and them that are turned back from following Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor inquired after him.
serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews;
And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with {Or, stedfastness}patience.
I coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
to them that by {Or, stedfastness}patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:
Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of {Many ancient authorities read our.}the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.
For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, {Proverbs 26:11.}The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.
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.
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and righteously and unblamably we behaved ourselves toward you that believe: