American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
{Or, For}But as for me I know that my {Or, vindicator Hebrew: goel.}Redeemer liveth,And at last he will stand up upon the {Hebrew: dust.}earth:
{Or, And after my skin hath been thus destroyed, Yet from my flesh shall I see God}And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed,Then without my flesh shall I see God;
Whom I, even I, shall see, {Or, for myself}on my side,And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.My {Hebrew: reins.}heart is consumed within me.
Then Job answered and said,
Of a truth I know that it is so: {Or, For}But how can man be just {Or, before}with God?
{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.
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength:Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?—
Him that removeth the mountains, and they know it not,When he overturneth them in his anger;
That shaketh the earth out of its place,And the pillars thereof tremble;
That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not,And sealeth up the stars;
That alone stretcheth out the heavens,And treadeth upon the {Hebrew: high places.}waves of the sea;
That maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,And the chambers of the south;
That doeth great things past finding out,Yea, marvellous things without number.
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not:He passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can {Or, turn him back}hinder him?Who will say unto him, What doest thou?
God will not withdraw his anger;The helpers of {Or, arrogancy See Isaiah 30:7.}Rahab {Or, did}do stoop under him.
How much less shall I answer him,And choose out my words to reason with him?
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer;I would make supplication to my judge.
If I had called, and he had answered me,Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice.
{Hebrew: He who.}For he breaketh me with a tempest,And multiplieth my wounds without cause.
He will not suffer me to take my breath,But filleth me with bitterness.
If we speak of strength, {Or, Lo, here am I, saith he: And if of justice, Who &c.}lo, he is mighty!And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me?
Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me:Though I be perfect, {Or, he}it shall prove me perverse.
{Or, Though I be perfect, I will not regard &c.}I am perfect; I regard not myself;I despise my life.
It is all one; therefore I say,He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
If the scourge slay suddenly,He will mock at the {Or, calamity}trial of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;He covereth the faces of the judges thereof:If it be not he, who then is it?
Now my days are swifter than a {Or, runner}post:They flee away, they see no good,
They are passed away as the {Hebrew: ships of reed.}swift ships;As the eagle that swoopeth on the prey.
If I say, I will forget my complaint,I will put off my sad countenance, and {Hebrew: brighten up.}be of good cheer;
I am afraid of all my sorrows,I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
I shall be condemned;Why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself {Another reading is, with snow.}with snow water,And {Hebrew: cleanse my hands with lye.}make my hands never so clean;
Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch,And mine own clothes shall abhor me.
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,That we should come together in judgment.
There is no umpire betwixt us,That might lay his hand upon us both.
Let him take his rod away from me,And let not his terror make me afraid:
Then would I speak, and not fear him;For I am not so in myself.
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.
Then Job answered and said,
Of a truth I know that it is so: {Or, For}But how can man be just {Or, before}with God?
{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.
He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength:Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?—
Him that removeth the mountains, and they know it not,When he overturneth them in his anger;
That shaketh the earth out of its place,And the pillars thereof tremble;
That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not,And sealeth up the stars;
That alone stretcheth out the heavens,And treadeth upon the {Hebrew: high places.}waves of the sea;
That maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,And the chambers of the south;
That doeth great things past finding out,Yea, marvellous things without number.
Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not:He passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can {Or, turn him back}hinder him?Who will say unto him, What doest thou?
God will not withdraw his anger;The helpers of {Or, arrogancy See Isaiah 30:7.}Rahab {Or, did}do stoop under him.
How much less shall I answer him,And choose out my words to reason with him?
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer;I would make supplication to my judge.
If I had called, and he had answered me,Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice.
{Hebrew: He who.}For he breaketh me with a tempest,And multiplieth my wounds without cause.
He will not suffer me to take my breath,But filleth me with bitterness.
If we speak of strength, {Or, Lo, here am I, saith he: And if of justice, Who &c.}lo, he is mighty!And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me?
Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me:Though I be perfect, {Or, he}it shall prove me perverse.
{Or, Though I be perfect, I will not regard &c.}I am perfect; I regard not myself;I despise my life.
It is all one; therefore I say,He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
If the scourge slay suddenly,He will mock at the {Or, calamity}trial of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;He covereth the faces of the judges thereof:If it be not he, who then is it?
Now my days are swifter than a {Or, runner}post:They flee away, they see no good,
They are passed away as the {Hebrew: ships of reed.}swift ships;As the eagle that swoopeth on the prey.
If I say, I will forget my complaint,I will put off my sad countenance, and {Hebrew: brighten up.}be of good cheer;
I am afraid of all my sorrows,I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
I shall be condemned;Why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself {Another reading is, with snow.}with snow water,And {Hebrew: cleanse my hands with lye.}make my hands never so clean;
Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch,And mine own clothes shall abhor me.
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,That we should come together in judgment.
There is no umpire betwixt us,That might lay his hand upon us both.
Let him take his rod away from me,And let not his terror make me afraid:
Then would I speak, and not fear him;For I am not so in myself.
There is no umpire betwixt us,That might lay his hand upon us both.
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.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,And he that voucheth for me is on high.
Then Job answered and said,
How long will ye vex my soul,And break me in pieces with words?
These ten times have ye reproached me:Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
And be it indeed that I have erred,Mine error remaineth with myself.
{Or, Will ye indeed…reproach?}If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me,And plead against me my reproach;
Know now that God hath {Or, overthrown me}subverted me in my cause,And hath compassed me with his net.
Behold, I {Or, cry out, Violence:}cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:I cry for help, but there is no justice.
He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass,And hath set darkness in my paths.
He hath stripped me of my glory,And taken the crown from my head.
He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone;And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.
He hath also kindled his wrath against me,And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.
His troops come on together,And cast up their way against me,And encamp round about my tent.
He hath put my brethren far from me,And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
My kinsfolk have failed,And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
They that {Or, sojourn}dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger;I am an alien in their sight.
I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer,Though I entreat him with my mouth.
My breath is strange to my wife,And {Or, I make supplication Or, I am loathsome}my supplication to the children {Or, of my body}of mine own mother.
Even young children despise me;If I arise, they speak against me.
All {Hebrew: the men of my council.}my familiar friends abhor me,And they whom I loved are turned against me.
My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends;For the hand of God hath touched me.
Why do ye persecute me as God,And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Oh that my words were now written!Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
That with an iron pen and leadThey were graven in the rock for ever!
{Or, For}But as for me I know that my {Or, vindicator Hebrew: goel.}Redeemer liveth,And at last he will stand up upon the {Hebrew: dust.}earth:
{Or, And after my skin hath been thus destroyed, Yet from my flesh shall I see God}And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed,Then without my flesh shall I see God;
Whom I, even I, shall see, {Or, for myself}on my side,And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.My {Hebrew: reins.}heart is consumed within me.
If ye say, How we will persecute him!And that the root of the matter is found in me;
Be ye afraid of the sword:For {Or, wrathful are}wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword,That ye may know there is a judgment.
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.
O earth, cover not thou my blood,And let my cry {Or, have no more place}have no resting-place.
And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgment.
And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that every one that killeth any person {Or, through error}unwittingly may flee thither.
But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
And if he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,
or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him.
But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without lying in wait,
or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;
then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;
and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, whither he fleeth,
and the avenger of blood find him without the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slay the manslayer; {Or, there shall be no blood-guiltiness for him}he shall not be guilty of blood,
because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.
If thy brother be waxed poor, and sell some of his possession, then shall his kinsman that is next unto him come, and shall redeem that which his brother hath sold.
And if a man have no one to redeem it, and he be waxed rich and find sufficient to redeem it;
then let him reckon the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return unto his possession.
But if he be not able to get it back for himself, then that which he hath sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
And if a man sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption.
And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee.
But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee.
Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
And {Or, if a man redeem from the Levites Or, according to Vulgate, if they have not been redeemed.}if one of the Levites redeem, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
But the field of the {Or, pasture lands}suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
Now Boaz went up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the near kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.
And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
And he said unto the near kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth the parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech's:
and I thought to {Hebrew: uncover thine ear.}disclose it unto thee, saying, Buy it before them that sit here, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if {So Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac. Hebrew: he will.}thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know; for there is none to redeem it besides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
And the near kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: take thou my right of redemption on thee; for I cannot redeem it.
Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning exchanging, to confirm all things: a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was the manner of attestation in Israel.
So the near kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thyself. And he drew off his shoe.
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
Remove not the ancient landmark;And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
For their Redeemer is strong;He will plead their cause against thee.
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:
But now thus saith Jehovah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.
Who redeemeth thy life from {Or, the pit}destruction;Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
As for me, {Or, let me}I shall behold thy face in righteousness; {Or, let me}I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.
I said, I shall not see {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah, even {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah in the land of the living:I shall behold man no more {Or, when I am among them that have ceased to be}with the inhabitants of the world.
My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent:I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the {Hebrew: thrum.}loom:From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
{Or, I thought until morning, As a lion, o will he break &c.}I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones:From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter;I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward:O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it:I shall go {Or, as in solemn procession See Psalm 42:4.}softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
O Lord, by these things men live;And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: {Or, So wilt thou recover me}Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.
Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness:But {Hebrew: thou hast loved my soul from the pit.}thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of {Or, nothingness}corruption;For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee:They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day:The father to the children shall make known thy truth.
As for me, {Or, let me}I shall behold thy face in righteousness; {Or, let me}I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.