1. Eliphaz’s Argument

ch20 ¹Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, ²Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for [this] I make haste. ³I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. ⁴Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed upon earth, ⁵That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short, and the joy of the hypocrite [but] for a moment? ⁶Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; ⁷[Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where [is] he? ⁸He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. ⁹The eye also [which] saw him shall [see him] no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. ¹⁰His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. ¹¹His bones are full [of the sin] of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

¹²Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he hide it under his tongue; ¹³[Though] he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: ¹⁴[Yet] his meat in his bowels is turned, [it is] the gall of asps within him. ¹⁵He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. ¹⁶He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him. ¹⁷He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. ¹⁸That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein]. ¹⁹Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

²⁰Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. ²¹There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. ²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. ²³[When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is eating. ²⁴He shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of steel shall strike him through. ²⁵It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him. ²⁶All darkness [shall be] hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle. ²⁷The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. ²⁸The increase of his house shall depart, [and his goods] shall flow away in the day of his wrath. ²⁹This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

ch21 ¹But Job answered and said, ²Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations. ³Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on. ⁴As for me, [is] my complaint to man? and if [it were so], why should not my spirit be troubled? ⁵Mark me, and be astonished, and lay [your] hand upon [your] mouth. ⁶Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. ⁷Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? ⁸Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. ⁹Their houses [are] safe from fear, neither [is] the rod of God upon them. ¹⁰Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. ¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. ¹²They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. ¹³They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. ¹⁴Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. ¹⁵What [is] the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him? ¹⁶Lo, their good [is] not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and [how oft] cometh their destruction upon them! [God] distributeth sorrows in his anger. ¹⁸They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away. ¹⁹God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know [it]. ²⁰His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. ²¹For what pleasure [hath] he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst? ²²Shall [any] teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high. ²³One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. ²⁴His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. ²⁵And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. ²⁶They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

²⁷Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices [which] ye wrongfully imagine against me. ²⁸For ye say, Where [is] the house of the prince? and where [are] the dwelling places of the wicked? ²⁹Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens, ³⁰That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. ³¹Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him [what] he hath done? ³²Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb. ³³The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as [there are] innumerable before him. ³⁴How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

ch22 ¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, ²Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? ³Is it] any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or [is it] gain [to him], that thou makest thy ways perfect? ⁴Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? ⁵Is] not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? ⁶For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. ⁷Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. ⁸But [as for] the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. ⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. ¹⁰Therefore snares [are] round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee; ¹¹Or darkness, [that] thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

¹²Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! ¹³And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud? ¹⁴Thick clouds [are] a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. ¹⁵Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? ¹⁶Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood: ¹⁷Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? ¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good [things]: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. ¹⁹The righteous see [it], and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. ²⁰Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

²¹Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. ²²Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. ²³If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. ²⁴Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the [gold] of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. ²⁵Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. ²⁶For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. ²⁷Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. ²⁸Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. ²⁹When [men] are cast down, then thou shalt say, [There is] lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. ³⁰He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

ch23 ¹Then Job answered and said, ²Even to day [is] my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. ³Oh that I knew where I might find him! [that] I might come [even] to his seat! ⁴I would order [my] cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵I would know the words [which] he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. ⁶Will he plead against me with [his] great power? No; but he would put [strength] in me. ⁷There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge. ⁸Behold, I go forward, but he [is] not [there]; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: ⁹On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold [him]: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see [him]:

¹⁰But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. ¹¹My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. ¹²Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary [food]. ¹³But he [is] in one [mind], and who can turn him? and [what] his soul desireth, even [that] he doeth. ¹⁴For he performeth [the thing that is] appointed for me: and many such [things are] with him. ¹⁵Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him. ¹⁶For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me: ¹⁷Because I was not cut off before the darkness, [neither] hath he covered the darkness from my face.

ch24 ¹Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? ²Some] remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed [thereof]. ³They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. ⁴They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together. ⁵Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children. ⁶They reap [every one] his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. ⁷They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that [they have] no covering in the cold. ⁸They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. ⁹They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. ¹⁰They cause [him] to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf [from] the hungry; ¹¹[Which] make oil within their walls, [and] tread [their] winepresses, and suffer thirst. ¹²Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly [to them].

¹³They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. ¹⁴The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief. ¹⁵The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth [his] face. ¹⁶In the dark they dig through houses, [which] they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light. ¹⁷For the morning [is] to them even as the shadow of death: if [one] know [them, they are in] the terrors of the shadow of death.

¹⁸He [is] swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards. ¹⁹Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [so doth] the grave [those which] have sinned. ²⁰The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. ²¹He evil entreateth the barren [that] beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. ²²He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no [man] is sure of life. ²³[Though] it be given him [to be] in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes [are] upon their ways. ²⁴They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all [other], and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. ²⁵And if [it be] not [so] now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?