American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
How long wilt thou speak these things?And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a mighty wind?
Then Job answered and said,
Oh that my vexation were but weighed,And all my calamity laid in the balances!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas:Therefore have my words been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up:The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?Or is there any taste in {Or, the juice of purslain}the white of an egg?
{Or, What things my soul refused to touch, these are as my loathsome food}My soul refuseth to touch them;They are as loathsome food to me.
Oh that I might have my request;And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
Even that it would please God to crush me;That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
And be it still my consolation, {Or, Though I shrink back}Yea, let me {Or, harden myself}exult in pain {Or, though he spare not}that spareth not,That I have not {Or, concealed}denied the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait?And what is mine end, that I should be patient?
Is my strength the strength of stones?Or is my flesh of brass?
Is it not that I have no help in me,And that wisdom is driven quite from me?
To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend; {Or, Else might he forsake Or, But he forsaketh}Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,As the channel of brooks that pass away;
Which are black by reason of the ice,And wherein the snow hideth itself:
What time they {Or, shrink}wax warm, they vanish;When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
{Or, The paths of their way are turned aside}The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside;They go up into the waste, and perish.
The caravans of Tema looked,The companies of Sheba waited for them.
They were put to shame because they had hoped;They came thither, and were confounded.
For now ye {Another reading is, are like thereto.}are nothing;Ye see a terror, and are afraid.
Did I say, Give unto me?Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?
Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand?Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?
Teach me, and I will hold my peace;And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
How forcible are words of uprightness!But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
Do ye think to reprove words,Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are {Or, for the wind}as wind?
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,And make merchandise of your friend.
Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; {Or, And it will be evident unto you if I lie}For surely I shall not lie to your face.
Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;Yea, return again, {Hebrew: my righteousness is in it.}my cause is righteous.
Is there injustice on my tongue?Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
Is it not that I have no help in me,And that wisdom is driven quite from me?
Then Job answered and said,
Oh that my vexation were but weighed,And all my calamity laid in the balances!
For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas:Therefore have my words been rash.
For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up:The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt?Or is there any taste in {Or, the juice of purslain}the white of an egg?
{Or, What things my soul refused to touch, these are as my loathsome food}My soul refuseth to touch them;They are as loathsome food to me.
Oh that I might have my request;And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
Even that it would please God to crush me;That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
And be it still my consolation, {Or, Though I shrink back}Yea, let me {Or, harden myself}exult in pain {Or, though he spare not}that spareth not,That I have not {Or, concealed}denied the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait?And what is mine end, that I should be patient?
Is my strength the strength of stones?Or is my flesh of brass?
Is it not that I have no help in me,And that wisdom is driven quite from me?
To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend; {Or, Else might he forsake Or, But he forsaketh}Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,As the channel of brooks that pass away;
Which are black by reason of the ice,And wherein the snow hideth itself:
What time they {Or, shrink}wax warm, they vanish;When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
{Or, The paths of their way are turned aside}The caravans that travel by the way of them turn aside;They go up into the waste, and perish.
The caravans of Tema looked,The companies of Sheba waited for them.
They were put to shame because they had hoped;They came thither, and were confounded.
For now ye {Another reading is, are like thereto.}are nothing;Ye see a terror, and are afraid.
Did I say, Give unto me?Or, Offer a present for me of your substance?
Or, Deliver me from the adversary's hand?Or, Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?
Teach me, and I will hold my peace;And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
How forcible are words of uprightness!But your reproof, what doth it reprove?
Do ye think to reprove words,Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are {Or, for the wind}as wind?
Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,And make merchandise of your friend.
Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; {Or, And it will be evident unto you if I lie}For surely I shall not lie to your face.
Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;Yea, return again, {Hebrew: my righteousness is in it.}my cause is righteous.
Is there injustice on my tongue?Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?
Man, that is born of a woman,Is of few days, and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower, and {Or, withereth}is cut down:He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one,And bringest me into judgment with thee?
{Or, Oh that a clean thing could come out of an unclean! not one can}Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Seeing his days are determined,The number of his months is with thee,And thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Look away from him, that he may {Hebrew: cease.}rest,Till he shall {Or, have pleasure in}accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
For there is hope of a tree,If it be cut down, that it will sprout again,And that the tender branch thereof will not cease.
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth,And the stock thereof die in the ground;
Yet through the scent of water it will bud,And put forth boughs like a plant.
But man dieth, and is laid low:Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
As the waters {Hebrew: are gone.}fail from the sea,And the river wasteth and drieth up;
So man lieth down and riseth not:Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake,Nor be roused out of their sleep.
Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol,That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past,That thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man die, shall he live again?All the days of my warfare {Or, will…shall come}would I wait,Till my {Or, change}release should come.
Thou {Or, shall call, and I will &c.}wouldest call, and I would answer thee:Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.
But now thou numberest my steps:Dost thou not watch over my sin?
My transgression is sealed up in a bag,And thou fastenest up mine iniquity.
But the mountain falling {Hebrew: fadeth away.}cometh to nought;And the rock is removed out of its place;
The waters wear the stones;The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth:So thou destroyest the hope of man.
Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth;Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.
His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not;And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
{Or, Only for himself his flesh hath pain , and for himself his soul mourneth}But his flesh upon him hath pain,And his soul within him mourneth.
Then Job answered and said,
How hast thou helped him that is without power!How hast thou saved the arm that hath no strength!
How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom,And plentifully declared sound knowledge!
To whom hast thou uttered words?And whose {Hebrew: breath}spirit came forth from thee?
{Or, The shades Hebrew: The Rephaim.}They that are deceased trembleBeneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.
Sheol is naked before {Hebrew: him.}God,And {Or, Destruction}Abaddon hath no covering.
He stretcheth out the north over empty space,And hangeth the earth {Or, over}upon nothing.
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds;And the cloud is not rent under them.
He incloseth the face of his throne,And spreadeth his cloud upon it.
He hath described a boundary upon the face of the waters,Unto the confines of light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven trembleAnd are astonished at his rebuke.
He {Or, stilleth}stirreth up the sea with his power,And by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab.
By his Spirit the heavens are {Hebrew: beauty.}garnished;His hand hath pierced the {Or, fleeing Or, gliding }swift serpent.
Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways:And {Or, how little a portion}how small a whisper {Or, is heard}do we hear of him!But the thunder of his {Or, mighty deeds}power who can understand?
Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
Can a man be profitable unto God?Surely he that is wise is profitable unto himself.
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?Or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?
Is it {Or, for fear of thee}for thy fear of him that he reproveth thee,That he entereth with thee into judgment?
Is not thy wickedness great?Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.
For thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought,And stripped the naked of their clothing.
Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink,And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
But as for the {Hebrew: the man of arm.}mighty man, he had the {Or, land}earth;And {Hebrew: he whose person is accepted.}the honorable man, he dwelt in it.
Thou hast sent widows away empty,And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Therefore snares are round about thee,And sudden fear troubleth thee,
{Or, Or dost thou not see the darkness, And the flood of waters that covereth thee?}Or darkness, so that thou canst not see,And abundance of waters cover thee.
Is not God in the height of heaven?And behold the {Hebrew: head.}height of the stars, how high they are!
And thou sayest, What doth God know?Can he judge through the thick darkness?
Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he seeth not;And he walketh on the vault of heaven.
{Or, Dost thou mark}Wilt thou keep the old wayWhich wicked men have trodden?
Who were snatched away before their time,Whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
Who said unto God, Depart from us;And, What can the Almighty do {Or, to}for {Hebrew: them.}us?
Yet he filled their houses with good things:But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
The righteous see it, and are glad;And the innocent laugh them to scorn,
Saying, Surely they that did rise up against us are cut off,And the {Or, that which remained to them Or, their abundance}remnant of them the fire hath consumed.
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: {Or,as otherwise read, Thereby shall thine increase be good.}Thereby good shall come unto thee.
Receive, I pray thee, {Or, instruction}the law from his mouth,And lay up his words in thy heart.
If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, {Or, Thou shall put away…And shall lay up}If thou put away unrighteousness far from thy tents.
And lay thou thy {Hebrew: ore.}treasure {Or, on the earth}in the dust,And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks;
And the Almighty will be thy {Hebrew: ore.}treasure,And {Or, precious silver shall be thine}precious silver unto thee.
For then shalt thou delight thyself in the Almighty,And shalt lift up thy face unto God.
Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he will hear thee;And thou shalt pay thy vows.
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee;And light shall shine upon thy ways.
When they {Or, are made low}cast thee down, thou shalt say, There is lifting up;And {Hebrew: him that is lowly of eyes.}the humble person he will save.
He will deliver even him that is not innocent:Yea, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thy hands.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah.
And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
If one assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?But who can withhold himself from speaking?
Do ye think to reprove words,Seeing that the speeches of one that is desperate are {Or, for the wind}as wind?
Should a wise man make answer with {Hebrew: knowledge of wind.}vain knowledge,And fill himself with the east wind?