Job 36:1–5

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

²⁰Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

⁷Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

⁸Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

⁷And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.

²²And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.

¹⁹¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

³¹Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak.

³²If thou hast any thing to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.

³³If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.

⁶Behold, I am according to thy wish in God’s stead: I also am formed out of the clay.

¹⁶And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.

¹⁷But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

¹⁴Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

⁷O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.

⁴He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

⁸But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

³Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?

⁷For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

¹⁷The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

³And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

²⁷And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

²⁸Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

²⁹Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

³⁰And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

³¹And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

³²The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

³³In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

³⁴And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

³⁵Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

³⁶And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

³⁷And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

³⁸And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

³⁹And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

⁴⁰But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.

⁵If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

¹RIGHTEOUS art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

¹²But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

²⁰Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

²¹Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

²²Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

²³God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

²⁴For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;

²Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

¹⁰Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

¹¹For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.

¹²Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.

⁵For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

²³Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

⁴²The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

¹NOW when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

²Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

⁴If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

⁵Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

⁷Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

⁸But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

²⁵Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

²⁶To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

¹⁶Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?

⁷For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

⁸All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

²⁰Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

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

¹⁷For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

²²And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.

¹²Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

⁴But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

⁷Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

²⁷Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

³⁴How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

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.

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

³It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

²⁰Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

²¹That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

²⁴For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

⁶Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

¹²He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

²³Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.

⁵Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

¹⁹Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

¹³With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.

¹⁴Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

¹⁵Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

¹⁶With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹²He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

¹³By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

¹⁴Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

¹³If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

¹⁴How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

²⁴But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

²⁶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

²⁷But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

²⁸And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

³Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

¹⁹If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?

⁴The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.