Job 12:4–6

¹BUT now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

⁶He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.

³Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken, mock on.

¹⁵He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

³Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

¹⁰They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

²Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

⁷All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

⁸He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

³²¶ And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

³⁶And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

³Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

²⁰My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

²⁹Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.

¹⁴And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

⁴⁰And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

²⁹¶ And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

⁷Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

²He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.

¹⁶With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

⁸And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

⁹The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

⁵Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

¹WOE to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

²Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

³Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

⁴That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

⁵That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;

⁶That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

³⁵To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

¹⁶Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.

⁴I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

⁵Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

⁵Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?

¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

¹⁹¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

²⁰And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

²⁰Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

³Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

⁴Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

¹⁸When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?

¹¹And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

¹²Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.

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?

¹⁴From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

¹FRET not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

³⁵I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

²⁷As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.