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Job 10
My soul is weary of my life;
I will give free course to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to Eloah, Do not condemn me;
Show me why you contend with me.
3 Is it good to you that you should oppress,
That you should despise the work of your hands,
And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Have you eyes of flesh?
Or see you as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man,
Or your years as man’s days,
6 That you seek after my iniquity,
And search after my sin,
7 Although you know that I am not wicked,
And there is none that can deliver out of your hand?
8 Your hands have framed me and fashioned me
Together all around; yet you did destroy me.
9 Remember, I plead you, that you have fashioned me as clay;
and will you bring me into dust again?
10 Have you not poured me out as milk,
And curdled me like cheese?
11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And your visitation has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things you did hide in your heart;
I know that this is with you:
14 If I sin, then you mark me,
And you will not acquit me from my iniquity.
15 If I be wicked, woe to me;
And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head
Being filled with ignominy,
And looking upon my affliction.
16 And if my head exalts itself, you hunt me as a lion;
And again you show yourself marvelous upon me.
17 You renew your witnesses against me,
And increase your indignation upon me:
Changes and warfare are with me.
18 Why then have you brought me forth out of the womb?
I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.
19 I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? Cease then,
and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21 Before I go where I shall not return,
Even to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
22 The land dark as midnight,
The land of the shadow of death, without any order,
And where the light is as midnight.
Job 11
Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Should not the multitude of words be answered?
And should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should your boastings make men hold their peace?
And when you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?
4 For you say, My doctrine is pure,
And I am clean in your eyes.
5 But oh that Eloah would speak,
And open his lips against you,
6 And that he would show you the secrets of wisdom!
For he is manifold in understanding.
Know therefore that Eloah exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
7 Can you by searching find out Eloah?
Can you find out the Almighty to perfection?
8 It is high as heaven; what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol; what can you know?
9 The measure of it is longer than the earth,
And broader than the sea.
10 If he passes through, and shuts up.
And calls to judgment, then who can hinder him?
11 For he knows false men:
He sees iniquity also, even though he considers it not.
12 But vain man is void of understanding,
Yes, man is born as a wild ass’s colt.
13 If you set your heart aright,
And stretch out your hands toward him;
14 If iniquity be in your hand, put it far away,
And let not unrighteousness dwell in your tents.
15 Surely then shall you lift up your face without spot;
Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:
16 For you shall forget your misery.
You shall remember it as waters that are passed away.
17 And your life shall be clearer than the noonday;
Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
18 And you shall be secure, because there is hope;
Yes, you shall search about yourself, and shall take your rest in safety.
19 Also you shall lie down, and no one shall make you afraid;
Yes, many shall make suit to you.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail,
And they shall have no way to flee;
And their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit.
Job 12
Then Job answered and said,
2 No doubt but you are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yes, who knows not such things as these?
4 I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbor,
I who called upon Eloah, and he answered:
The just, the perfect man is a laughingstock.
5 A light is scorned by one who feels confident,
but necessary for them whose foot slips.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
And they that provoke El are secure;
Into whose hand Eloah brings abundantly.
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you;
And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell you:
8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you;
And the fishes of the sea shall declare to you.
9 Who knows not in all these,
That the hand of Yahweh has worked this,
10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?
11 Does not the ear try words,
Even as the palate tastes its food?
12 With aged men is wisdom,
And in length of days understanding.
13 With Elohim is wisdom and might;
He has counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again;
He shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.
15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up;
Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him is strength and wisdom;
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
17 He leads counselors away stripped,
And judges he makes fools.
18 He looses the bond of kings,
And binds their loins with a girdle.
19 He leads priests away stripped,
And overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes the speech of the steadfast,
And takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He pours contempt upon princes,
And looses the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
And brings out to light the shadow of death.
23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them:
He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,
And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light;
And he makes them to stagger like a drunken man.
