American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing,And I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,
I am clean, without transgression;I am innocent, neither is there iniquity in me:
Behold, he findeth {Or, causes of alienation}occasions against me,He counteth me for his enemy:
He putteth my feet in the stocks,He marketh all my paths.
Behold, {Or, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, For &c.}I will answer thee, in this thou art not just;For God is greater than man.
Why dost thou strive against him,For that he giveth not account of any of his matters?
{Or, Though I be perfect, I will not regard &c.}I am perfect; I regard not myself;I despise my life.
Although thou knowest that I am not wicked,And there is none that can deliver out of thy hand?
Behold now, I have set my cause in order;I know that I {Or, shall be justified}am righteous.
How many are mine iniquities and sins?Make me to know my transgression and my sin.
Although there is no violence in my hands,And my prayer is pure.
{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.
Far be it from me that I should justify you:Till I die I will not put away mine integrity from me.
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.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was {Hebrew: Iyob.}Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
His {Or, cattle}substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.
And his sons went and held a feast in the house of each one upon his day; and they Sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and {Or, blasphemed So verse 11, chapter 2:5, 9.}renounced God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that {That is, the Adversary.}Satan also came among them.
And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? {Or, that}for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil.
Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his {Or, cattle}substance is increased in the land.
But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will renounce thee to thy face.
And Jehovah said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy {Hebrew: hand.}power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah.
And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,
that there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them;
and {Hebrew: Sheba.}the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away: yea, they have slain the {Hebrew: young men.}servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the {Hebrew: young men.}servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and {Or, made a raid}fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and slain the {Hebrew: young men.}servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;
and, behold, there came a great wind {Or, over}from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped;
and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah.
In all this Job sinned not, nor {Or, attributed folly to God}charged God foolishly.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was {Hebrew: Iyob.}Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.
Wherefore hidest thou thy face,And holdest me for thine enemy?
He hath also kindled his wrath against me,And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.
Thou art turned to be cruel to me;With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me.
Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks,And markest all my paths;Thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet:
Behold, I {Or, cry out, Violence:}cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:I cry for help, but there is no justice.
I cry unto thee, and thou dost not answer me:I stand up, and thou gazest at me.
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?