Job 20:2–11

²⁹He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

²²For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

⁹Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

¹⁹Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

⁹Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

¹⁹Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

³I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.

¹³Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom: God thrusteth him down, not man.

¹⁴Now he hath not directed his words against me: neither will I answer him with your speeches.

¹⁵They were amazed, they answered no more: they left off speaking.

¹⁶When I had waited, (for they spake not, but stood still, and answered no more;)

¹⁷I said, I will answer also my part, I also will shew mine opinion.

¹⁸For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.

¹⁹Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles.

²⁰I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.

²If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

²⁵And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist.

²⁰Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

¹¹I said in my haste, All men are liars.

²I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

³My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

²For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

³My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.

²⁹Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

³These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.

²Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

¹¹I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

³My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

²I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

³Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

⁴We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

⁵For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

²⁸And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

¹AND God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

²And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

³Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

¹⁰With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

⁷I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.

⁸For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:

⁹(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

¹⁶The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

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

³⁶Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

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

⁶The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

²²And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

²³And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

⁸For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

³I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

¹²Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

¹³So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:

²⁰But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

²¹Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

¹⁸Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.

¹⁹How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

¹¹And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

¹²Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

¹⁰So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

⁹The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

¹⁰Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

⁴But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

¹⁶But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

²⁹He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

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.

³¹Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

³²It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

³³He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.

³⁴For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

¹³This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

¹⁴If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

¹⁶Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

¹⁷He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

¹⁸He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

¹⁹The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

²⁰Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

²¹The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

²²For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

²³Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

²¹¶ But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

²²Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.

²³Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

²⁴And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

²⁵And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

²⁶And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them.

²⁷Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport.

²⁸And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.

²⁹And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.

³⁰And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

²¹¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

³¶ The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

⁴Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.

⁴And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

²Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:

¹¹The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth:

²²It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.

²³And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

¹⁰Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

³⁷And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

¹⁰But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

²⁰They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.

¹⁰He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

¹⁸If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

¹⁰Which perished at En-dor: they became as dung for the earth.

²And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

⁵Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

²⁰As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

⁷¶ And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.

⁸It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

¹⁸He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

²¹The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

²²For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

²³Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

¹⁰And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

⁸The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

¹⁰He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

¹⁸If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

⁷Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

¹⁰For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

³⁶Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

³All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

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.

¹⁶Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

¹⁷He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

⁸And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

⁶And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

³⁶And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

¹IF a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

³If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

²For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

⁴His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

³A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food.

³¹But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

¹⁰Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

²⁶For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

²⁶They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

⁷Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

¹³In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

²⁷And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.

²⁴I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

²⁵That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

²⁰My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

³²The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

¹¹And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹²And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

²²¶ His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

²³He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

²¹Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.