14:1Man, born of woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.
14:2He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; and he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not.
14:3Yet dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?
14:4Who can bring a clean man out of the unclean? Not one!
14:5If his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass,
14:6Look away from him; and let him rest, till he accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
14:7For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease;
14:8Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground,
14:9Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a young plant.
14:10But a man dieth, and is prostrate; yea, man expireth, and where is he?
14:11The waters recede from the lake, and the river wasteth and drieth up:
14:12So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep.
14:13Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thine anger be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me, --
14:14(If a man die, shall he live again?) all the days of my time of toil would I wait, till my change should come:
14:15Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest have a desire after the work of thy hands.
14:16For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
14:17My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou heapest up mine iniquity.
14:18And indeed a mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of its place;
14:19The waters wear the stones, the floods thereof wash away the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.
14:20Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth away; thou changest his countenance, and dismissest him.
14:21His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, and he perceiveth it not.
14:22But his flesh hath pain for himself alone, and his soul mourneth for himself.
15:1And Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
15:2Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind,
15:3Reasoning with unprofitable talk, and with speeches which do no good?
15:4Yea, thou makest piety of none effect, and restrainest meditation before *God.
15:5For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty.
15:6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I; and thy lips testify against thee.
15:7Art thou the first man that was born? and wast thou brought forth before the hills?
15:8Hast thou listened in the secret council of +God? And hast thou absorbed wisdom for thyself?
15:9What knowest thou that we know not? what understandest thou which is not in us?
15:10Both the greyheaded and the aged are with us, older than thy father.
15:11Are the consolations of *God too small for thee? and the word gently spoken to thee?
15:12Why doth thy heart carry thee away? and why do thine eyes wink?
15:13That thou turnest thy spirit against *God, and lettest words go out of thy mouth?
15:14What is man, that he should be pure? and he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15:15Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight:
15:16How much less the abominable and corrupt, -- man, that drinketh unrighteousness like water!
15:17I will shew thee, listen to me; and what I have seen I will declare;
15:18Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hidden;
15:19Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
15:20All his days the wicked man is tormented, and numbered years are allotted to the violent.
15:21The sound of terrors is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer cometh upon him.
15:22He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is singled out for the sword.
15:23He wandereth abroad for bread, -- where may it be? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
15:24Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for the battle.
15:25For he hath stretched out his hand against *God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty:
15:26He runneth against him, with outstretched neck, with the thick bosses of his bucklers;
15:27For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon his flanks.
15:28And he dwelleth in desolate cities, in houses that no man inhabiteth, which are destined to become heaps.
15:29He shall not become rich, neither shall his substance continue, and their possessions shall not extend upon the earth.
15:30He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches; and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
15:31Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense;
15:32It shall be complete before his day, and his branch shall not be green.
15:33He shall shake off his unripe grapes as a vine, and shall cast his flower as an olive.
15:34For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.
15:35They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity, and their belly prepareth deceit.
16:1And Job answered and said,
16:2I have heard many such things: grievous comforters are ye all.
16:3Shall words of wind have an end? or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
16:4I also could speak as ye: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could join together words against you, and shake my head at you;
16:5But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips should assuage your pain.
16:6If I speak, my pain is not assuaged; and if I forbear, what am I eased?
16:7But now he hath made me weary; ... thou hast made desolate all my family;
16:8Thou hast shrivelled me up! it is become a witness; and my leanness riseth up against me, it beareth witness to my face.
16:9His anger teareth and pursueth me; he gnasheth with his teeth against me; as mine adversary he sharpeneth his eyes at me.
16:10They gape upon me with their mouth; they smite my cheeks reproachfully; they range themselves together against me.
16:11*God hath delivered me over to the iniquitous man, and hurled me into the hands of the wicked.
16:12I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
16:13His arrows encompass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
16:14He breaketh me with breach upon breach; he runneth upon me like a mighty man.
16:15I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and rolled my horn in the dust.
16:16My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
16:17Although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
16:18O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry!
16:19Even now, behold, my Witness is in the heavens, and he that voucheth for me is in the heights.
16:20My friends are my mockers; mine eye poureth out tears unto +God.
16:21Oh that there were arbitration for a man with +God, as a son of man for his friend!
16:22For years few in number shall pass, -- and I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
17:1My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are mine.
17:2Are there not mockers around me? and doth not mine eye abide in their provocation?
17:3Lay down now a pledge, be thou surety for me with thyself: who is he that striketh hands with me?
17:4For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt them.
17:5He that betrayeth friends for a prey -- even the eyes of his children shall fail.
17:6And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
17:7And mine eye is dim by reason of grief, and all my members are as a shadow.
17:8Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be stirred up against the ungodly;
17:9But the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall increase in strength.
17:10But as for you all, pray come on again; and I shall not find one wise man among you.
17:11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, the cherished thoughts of my heart.
17:12They change the night into day; the light they imagine near in presence of the darkness.
17:13If I wait, Sheol is my house; I spread my bed in the darkness:
17:14I cry to the grave, Thou art my father! to the worm, My mother, and my sister!
17:15And where is then my hope? yea, my hope, who shall see it?
17:16It shall go down to the bars of Sheol, when our rest shall be together in the dust.