Day 3 The Wisdom Books in a Month

Job 11

1 Then Sophar the Minæan answered and said, 2 He that speaks much, should also hear on the other side: or does the fluent speaker think himself to be righteous? blessed [is] the short-lived offspring of woman. 3 Be not a speaker of many words; for is there none to answer thee? 4 For say not, I am pure in my works, and blameless before him. 5 But oh that the Lord would speak to thee, and open his lips with thee! 6 Then shall he declare to thee the power of wisdom; for it shall be double of that which is with thee: and then shalt thou know, that a just recompence of thy sins has come to thee from the Lord. 7 Wilt thou find out the traces of the Lord? or hast thou come to the end [of that] which the Almighty has made? 8 Heaven [is] high; and what wilt thou do? and there are deeper things than those in hell; what dost thou know? 9 Or longer than the measure of the earth, or the breadth of the sea. 10 And if he should overthrow all things, who will say to him, What hast thou done? 11 For he knows the works of transgressors; and when he sees wickedness, he will not overlook [it]. 12 But man vainly buoys himself up with words; and a mortal born of woman [is] like an ass of the desert. 13 For if thou hast made thine heart pure, and liftest up [thine] hands towards him; 14 if there is any iniquity in thy hands, put it far from thee, and let not unrighteousness lodge in thy habitation. 15 For thus shall thy countenance shine again, as pure water; and thou shalt divest thyself of uncleanness, and shalt not fear. 16 And thou shalt forget trouble, as a wave that has passed by; and thou shalt not be scared. 17 And thy prayer [shall be] as the morning star, and life shall arise to thee [as] from the noon-day. 18 And thou shalt be confident, because thou hast hope; and peace shall dawn to thee from out of anxiety and care. 19 For thou shalt be at ease, and there shall be no one to fight against thee; and many shall charge, and make supplication to thee. 20 But safety shall fail them; for their hope is destruction, and the eyes of the ungodly shall waste away.

Job 12

1 And Job answered and said, 2 So then ye [alone] are men, and wisdom shall die with you? 3 [But] I also have a heart as well as you. 4 For a righteous and blameless man has become a subject for mockery. 5 For it had been ordained that he should fall under others at the appointed time, and that his houses should be spoiled by transgressors: let not however any one trust that, being evil, he shall be [held] guiltless, 6 even as many as provoke the Lord, as if there were indeed to be no inquisition [made] of them. 7 But ask now the beasts, if they may speak to thee; and the birds of the air, if they may declare to thee. 8 Tell the earth, if it may speak to thee: and the fishes of the sea shall explain to thee. 9 Who then has not known in all these things, that the hand of the Lord has made them? 10 Whereas the life of all living things is in his hand, and the breath of every man. 11 For the ear tries words, and the palate tastes meats. 12 In length of time is wisdom, and in long life knowledge. 13 With him are wisdom and power, with him counsel and understanding. 14 If he should cast down, who will build up? if he should shut up against men, who shall open? 15 If he should withhold the water, he will dry the earth: and if he should let it loose, he overthrows and destroys it. 16 With him are strength and power: he has knowledge and understanding. 17 He leads counsellors away captive, and maddens the judges of the earth. 18 He seats kings upon thrones, and girds their loins with a girdle. 19 He sends away priests into captivity, and overthrows the mighty ones of the earth. 20 He changes the lips of the trusty, and he knows the understanding of the elders. 21 He pours dishonour upon princes, and heals the lowly. 22 Revealing deep things out of darkness: and he has brought into light the shadow of death. 23 Causing the nations to wander, and destroying them: overthrowing the nations, and leading them [away]. 24 Perplexing the minds of the princes of the earth: and he causes them to wander in a way they have not known, [saying], 25 Let them grope [in] darkness, and [let there be] no light, and let them wander as a drunken man.

Job 13

1 Behold, mine eye has seen these things, and mine ear has heard [them]. 2 And I know all that ye too know; and I have not less understanding than you. 3 Nevertheless I will speak to the Lord, and I will reason before him, if he will. 4 But ye are all bad physicians, and healers of diseases. 5 But would that ye were silent, and it would be wisdom to you in the end. 6 But hear ye the reasoning of my mouth, and attend to the judgment of my lips. 7 Do ye not speak before the Lord, and utter deceit before him? 8 Or will ye draw back? nay, do ye yourselves be judges. 9 For [it were] well if he would thoroughly search you: for though doing all things [in your power] ye should attach yourselves to him, 10 he will not reprove you at all the less: but if moreover ye should secretly respect persons, 11 shall not his whirlpool sweep you round, and terror from him fall upon you? 12 And your glorying shall prove in the end to you like ashes, and your body [like a body] of clay. 13 Be silent, that I may speak, and cease from [mine] anger, 14 while I may take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. 15 Though the Mighty One should lay hand upon me, forasmuch as he has begun, verily I will speak, and plead before him. 16 And this shall turn to me for salvation; for fraud shall have no entrance before him. 17 Hear, hear ye my words, for I will declare in your hearing. 18 Behold, I am near my judgment: I know that I shall appear evidently just. 19 For who is he that shall plead with me, that I should now be silent, and expire? 20 But grant me two things: then I will not hide myself from thy face. 21 Withhold [thine] hand from me: and let not thy fear terrify me. 22 Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: or thou shalt speak, and I will give thee an answer. 23 How many are my sins and my transgressions? teach me what they are. 24 Wherefore hidest thou thyself from me, and deemest me thine enemy? 25 Wilt thou be startled [at me], as [at] a leaf shaken by the wind? or wilt thou set thyself against me as against grass borne upon the breeze? 26 For thou hast written evil things against me, and thou hast compassed me with the sins of my youth. 27 And thou hast placed my foot in the stocks; and thou hast watched all my works, and hast penetrated to my heels. 28 [I am as] that which waxes old like a bottle, or like a moth-eaten garment.

Job 14

1 For a mortal born of a woman [is] short-lived, and full of wrath. 2 Or he falls like a flower that has bloomed; and he departs like a shadow, and cannot continue. 3 Hast thou not taken account even of him, and caused him to enter into judgment before thee? 4 For who shall be pure from uncleanness? not even one; 5 if even his life should be [but] one day upon the earth: and his months are numbered by him: thou hast appointed [him] for a time, and he shall by no means exceed [it]. 6 Depart from him, that he may be quiet, and take pleasure in his life, [though] as a hireling. 7 For there is hope for a tree, even if it should be cut down, [that] it shall blossom again, and its branch shall not fail. 8 For though its root should grow old in the earth, and its stem die in the rock; 9 it will blossom from the scent of water, and will produce a crop, as one newly planted. 10 But a man that has died is utterly gone; and when a mortal has fallen, he is no more. 11 For the sea wastes in [length of] time, and a river fails and is dried up. 12 And man that has lain down [in death] shall certainly not rise again till the heaven be dissolved, and they shall not awake from their sleep. 13 For oh that thou hadst kept me in the grave, and hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease, and thou shouldest set me a time in which thou wouldest remember me! 14 For if a man should die, shall he live [again], having accomplished the days of his life? I will wait till I exist again? 15 Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: but do not thou reject the work of thine hands. 16 But thou hast numbered my devices: and not one of my sins shall escape thee? 17 And thou hast sealed up my transgressions in a bag, and marked if I have been guilty of any transgression unawares. 18 And verily a mountain falling will utterly be destroyed, and a rock shall be worn out of its place. 19 The waters wear the stones, and waters falling headlong [overflow] a heap of the earth: and thou destroyest the hope of man. 20 Thou drivest him to an end, and he is gone: thou settest thy face against him, and sendest him away; 21 and though his children be multiplied, he knows [it] not; and if they be few, he is not aware. 22 But his flesh is in pain, and his soul mourns.

Job 15

1 Then Eliphaz the Thæmanite answered and said, 2 Will a wise man give for answer a [mere] breath of wisdom? and does he fill up the pain of his belly, 3 reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit? 4 Hast not thou moreover cast off fear, and accomplished such words before the Lord? 5 Thou art guilty by the words of thy mouth, neither hast thou discerned the words of the mighty. 6 Let thine own mouth, and not me, reprove thee: and thy lips shall testify against thee. 7 What! art thou the first man that was born? or wert thou established before the hills? 8 Or hast thou heard the ordinance of the Lord? or has God used thee as [his] counsellor? and has wisdom come [only] to thee? 9 For what knowest thou, that we know not? or what understandest thou, which we do not also? 10 Truly among us [are] both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than thy father. 11 Thou hast been scourged for [but] few of thy sins: thou hast spoken haughtily [and] extravagantly. 12 What has thine heart dared? or what have thine eyes [aimed at], 13 that thou hast vented [thy] rage before the Lord, and delivered such words from [thy] mouth? 14 For who, being a mortal, [is such] that he shall be blameless? or, [who that is] born of a woman, that he should be just? 15 Forasmuch as he trusts not his saints; and the heaven is not pure before him. 16 Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught. 17 But I will tell thee, hearken to me; I will tell thee now what I have seen; 18 things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden. 19 To them alone the earth was given, and no stranger came upon them. 20 All the life of the ungodly [is spent] in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered. 21 And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at peace, his overthrow will come. 22 Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword. 23 And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcase: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind. 24 Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank. 25 For he has lifted his hands against the Lord, and he has hardened his neck against the Almighty Lord. 26 And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield. 27 For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs. 28 And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into houses without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away. 29 Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the earth. 30 Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off. 31 Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity. 32 His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish. 33 And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive. 34 For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the houses of them that receive gifts. 35 And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.

Job 16

1 But Job answered and said, 2 I have heard many such things: poor comforters are ye all. 3 What! is there any reason in vain words? or what will hinder thee from answering? 4 I also will speak as ye [do]: if indeed your soul were in my [soul's] stead, then would I insult you with words, and I would shake my head at you. 5 And would there were strength in my mouth, and I would not spare the movement of my lips. 6 For if I should speak, I shall not feel the pain of my wound: and if I should be silent, how shall I be wounded the less? 7 But now he has made me weary, and a worn-out fool; and thou hast laid hold of me. 8 My falsehood has become a testimony, and has risen up against me: it has confronted me to my face. 9 In his anger he has cast me down; he has gnashed his teeth upon me: the weapons of his robbers have fallen upon me. 10 He has attacked me with the keen glances of his eyes; with his sharp [spear] he has smitten me [down] upon my knees; and they have run upon me with one accord. 11 For the Lord has delivered me into the hands of unrighteous men, and thrown me upon the ungodly. 12 When I was at peace he distracted me: he took me by the hair of the head, and plucked it out: he set me up as a mark. 13 They surrounded me with spears, aiming at my reins: without sparing [me] they poured out my gall upon the ground. 14 They overthrew me with fall upon fall: they ran upon me in [their] might. 15 They sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and my strength has been spent on the ground. 16 My belly has been parched with wailing, and darkness is on my eyelids. 17 Yet there was no injustice in my hands, and my prayer is pure. 18 Earth, cover not over the blood of my flesh, and let my cry have no place. 19 And now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high. 20 Let my supplication come to the Lord, and let mine eye weep before him. 21 Oh that a man might plead before the Lord, even [as] the son of man with his neighbour! 22 But my years are numbered and [their end] come, and I shall go by the way by which I shall not return.