Job 8:1–6

¹¹¶ Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

²Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

²⁶Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

¹¹And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

³And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

⁷And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

²Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

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

³Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

²How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.

⁹Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

¹¹Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

²²How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

²How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

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

⁷Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

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.

²⁵That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

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.

²⁰¶ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

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.

⁴God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

⁵But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

⁶God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

²⁵¶ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

¹⁷¶ Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

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?

⁷Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

¹⁵What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

²⁰His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

¹⁷Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just?

¹⁸Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and to princes, Ye are ungodly?

¹⁹How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

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

¹³Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁷Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

²Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

⁸Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

²I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

¹⁴Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

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

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.

⁷And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

⁵But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

⁵And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

¹⁸While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

¹⁹And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

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

¹³For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

¹⁴And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

¹⁵¶ And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

¹⁶And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

¹⁷¶ And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

¹⁸And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

¹⁹Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

²⁰Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

²¹And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

²²Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³¶ The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

²⁴Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

²⁵And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

¹⁶His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

¹⁷His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.

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

¹⁹He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

⁹Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

⁷Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

⁸Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

⁶¶ Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

¹³If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

⁷¶ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

⁸For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

¹²And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,

¹³And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

⁸I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

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.

⁹¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

¹⁰Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

²⁴And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

⁸The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

⁶Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.

¹⁷Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

⁶Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

⁴They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.

⁵Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.

¹⁹And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

²⁰For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

²¹Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

²²And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

⁸I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

¹⁵And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

⁸And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

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?

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.

⁵I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

⁶I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord:

²³Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.