Job 9:19–32

³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.

³³Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

⁴He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?

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

⁹Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

¹⁰Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.

¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

¹¹God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.

³⁵Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

⁵If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.

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

⁷Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee.

¹⁷But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.

¹⁸Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.

¹⁹Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.

²²Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

⁵For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

⁶Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

¹SO these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

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.

³⁵Job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.

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

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

¹²Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

¹³Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

¹⁴I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

³If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

²And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

⁵Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

⁵¶ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

²For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

¹THERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

⁸Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,

⁹I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.

¹⁰Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy,

¹¹He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.

¹²Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.

¹³Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.

¹⁶Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.

²⁹But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

¹⁵And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

³⁶But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

³⁷For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

¹⁹In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

²⁰He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.

¹THERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

²⁴And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

⁴For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

²¹And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

²⁶He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

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

⁹¶ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

¹⁰I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

¹⁵So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

¹⁶I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

¹FOR all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.

²All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

³This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

³And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁸Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

²And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilæans were sinners above all the Galilæans, because they suffered such things?

³I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

⁴Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

¹²Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

¹⁵Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

¹⁷Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee.

¹⁹¶ Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:

²⁰Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

²¹For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

¹³Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.

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

³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

¹³¶ And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

¹⁴And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:

¹⁵And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

¹⁷While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

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.

⁷¶ So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

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

²⁰Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:

²²Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

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?

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?

²Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.

³For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.

⁵They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

⁶Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.

⁷Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.

³⁰¶ And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.

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?

⁴But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

¹⁷This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

¹⁸O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:

¹⁹And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

²⁰But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

²¹And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

⁷After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

⁸I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

⁹¶ I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

¹⁰A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

¹¹I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

¹²As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

¹³I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

¹⁴And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

¹⁵¶ I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

¹⁶I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

¹⁷These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

¹⁸But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

¹⁹Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

²⁰And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

²¹I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

²²Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

²³Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

²⁴And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

²⁵And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

²⁶But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

²⁷And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

²⁸Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

¹²¶ And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.

⁸Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

¹⁴And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

¹⁵They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

¹⁶Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.

¹⁷Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

⁴Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

¹⁷He leadeth counsellers away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

⁶The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

⁷But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

⁹Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

¹⁰In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

²⁵And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

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.

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.

¹⁴Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.

⁷O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.

⁹For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

¹⁰The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

¹⁴So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.

¹¹When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

⁵Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

⁴⁷Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

⁸Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

²That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

²³Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

¹³Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

²⁷Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

²⁸She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.

²⁹From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.

³⁰Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

¹⁹Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.

⁵Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

¹³When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

¹⁸¶ When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.

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.

²In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

³I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

¹²⁰My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

¹⁴If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

¹⁶For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

⁶Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

²⁵For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

²¹And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

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

²⁰If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

²¹Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

³If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

¹⁵I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

¹⁶Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.

⁷Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

⁷Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

³⁵Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

¹⁴If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

¹⁵If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;

¹⁶For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.

¹⁷Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.

²I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

¹⁶Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

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

⁵Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

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.

²²This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

³³The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

¹³Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

²²For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.

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

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

¹⁶¶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

¹⁷Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

¹⁸Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

¹⁴O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

⁷If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

¹³He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

³For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

⁶Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

⁶But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

⁶Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

²⁰If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

⁸Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

⁹And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

²⁰Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

¹⁰That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.

⁹Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

²And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

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

⁷But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

¹⁹Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

¹⁸Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.

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

²⁰Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

²¹Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

²²Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

²³How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

³Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

⁴I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

⁶Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

⁷There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

¹²Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.

⁵Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

⁶If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

⁷If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?