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,

Yea, let me exult in pain that spareth not,

That I have not 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;

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 wax warm, they vanish;

When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

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 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 as

wind?

Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless,

And make merchandise of your friend.
Now therefore be pleased to look upon me;
For surely I shall not lie to your face.
Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice;
Yea, return again, my cause is righteous.
Is there injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern mischievous things?

Is there not a warfare to man upon earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
As a servant that earnestly desireth the shadow,
And as a hireling that looketh for his wages:
So am I made to possess months of misery,
And wearisome nights are appointed to me.
When I lie down, I say,

When shall I arise, and the night be gone?

And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of

the day.

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;

My skin closeth up, and breaketh out afresh.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,

And are spent without hope.

Oh remember that my life is a breath:

Mine eye shall no more see good.

The of him that seeth me shall behold me no more;

eye

Thine eyes shall be upon me, but I shall not be.

As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away,

So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more.

He shall return no more to his house,

Neither shall his place know him any more.

Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,

That thou settest a watch over me?

When I say, My bed shall comfort me,

My couch shall ease my complaint;

Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions:
So that my soul chooseth strangling,
And death rather than these my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live alway:
Let me alone; for my days are vanity.

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him,
And that thou shouldest set thy mind upon him,
And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?

How long wilt thou not look away from me,

Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

If I have sinned, what do I unto thee, O thou watcher of men?

Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee,

So that I am a burden to myself?

And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?

For now shall I lie down in the dust;

And thou wilt seek me diligently, but I shall not be.

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?

Doth God pervert justice?

Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness?

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. And though thy beginning was small,

Yet thy latter end would greatly increase.

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,

And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched

out

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days upon earth are a shadow);
Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,
And utter words out of their heart?

Can the rush grow up without mire?
Can the flag grow without water?

Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down,
It withereth before any other herb.

So are the paths of all that forget God;

And the hope of the godless man shall perish:
Whose confidence shall break in sunder,

And whose trust is a spider's web.

He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand:
He shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
He is green before the sun,

And his shoots go forth over his garden.

His roots are wrapped about the stone-heap,

He beholdeth the place of stones.

If he be destroyed from his place,

Then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee. Behold, this is the joy of his way;

And out of the earth shall others spring.

Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man,

Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.

He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter,

And thy lips with shouting.

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame;
And the tent of the wicked shall be no more.

Then Job answered and said,
Of a truth I know that it is so:
But how can man be just with God?

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 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 hinder him?
Who will say unto him, What doest thou?

God will not withdraw his anger;

The helpers of Rahab 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. For he breaketh me with 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, 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, it shall prove me perverse.

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 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 post:
They flee away, they see no good.