Day 5 The Wisdom Books in a Month

Job 22

1 Then Eliphaz the Thæmanite answered and said, 2 Is it not the Lord that teaches understanding and knowledge? 3 For what matters it to the Lord, if thou wert blameless in [thy] works? or is it profitable that thou shouldest perfect thy way? 4 Wilt thou maintain and plead thine own cause? and will he enter into judgment with thee? 5 Is not thy wickedness abundant, and thy sins innumerable? 6 And thou hast taken security of thy brethren for nothing, and hast taken away the clothing of the naked. 7 Neither hast thou given water to the thirsty to drink, but hast taken away the morsel of the hungry. 8 And thou hast accepted the persons of some; and thou hast established those [that were already settled] on the earth. 9 But thou hast sent widows away empty, and hast afflicted orphans. 10 Therefore snares have compassed thee, and disastrous war has troubled thee. 11 The light has proved darkness to thee, and water has covered thee on thy lying down. 12 Does not he that dwells in the high places observe? and has he not brought down the proud? 13 And thou hast said, What does the Mighty One know? does he judge in the dark? 14 A cloud is his hiding-place, and he shall not be seen; and he passes through the circle of heaven. 15 Wilt thou [not] mark the old way, which righteous men have trodden? 16 who were seized before their time: their foundations [are as] an overflowing stream. 17 Who say, What will the Lord do to us? or what will the Almighty bring upon us? 18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from him. 19 The righteous have seen [it], and laughed, and the blameless one has derided [them]. 20 Verily their substance has been utterly destroyed, and the fire shall devour what is left of their [property]. 21 Be firm, I pray thee, if thou canst endure; then thy fruit shall prosper. 22 And receive a declaration from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. 23 And if thou shalt turn and humble thyself before the Lord, thou hast [thus] removed unrighteousness far from thy habitation. 24 Thou shalt lay up for thyself [treasure] in a heap on the rock; and Sophir [shall be] as the rock of the torrent. 25 So the Almighty shall be thy helper from enemies, and he shall bring thee forth pure as silver that has been tried by fire. 26 Then shalt thou have boldness before the Lord, looking up cheerfully to heaven. 27 And he shall hear thee when thou prayest to him, and he shall grant thee [power] to pay thy vows. 28 And he shall establish to thee again a habitation of righteousness and there shall be light upon thy paths. 29 Because thou hast humbled thyself; and thou shalt say, [Man] has behaved proudly, but he shall save him that is of lowly eyes. 30 He shall deliver the innocent, and do thou save thyself by thy pure hands.

Job 23

1 Then Job answered and said, 2 Yea, I know that pleading is out of my reach; and his hand has been made heavy upon my groaning. 3 Who would then know that I might find him, and come to an end [of the matter]? 4 And I would plead my own cause, and he would fill my mouth with arguments. 5 And I would know the remedies which he would speak to me, and I would perceive what he would tell me. 6 Though he should come on me in [his] great strength, then he would not threaten me; 7 for truth and reproof are from him; and he would bring forth my judgment to an end. 8 For if I shall go first, and exist no longer, still what do I know [concerning] the latter end? 9 When he wrought on the left hand, then I observed [it] not: his right hand shall encompass me but I shall not see [it]. 10 For he knows already my way; and he has tried me as gold. 11 And I will go forth according to his commandments, for I have kept his ways; and I shall not turn aside from his commandments, 12 neither shall I transgress; but I have hid his words in my bosom. 13 And if too he has thus judged, who is he that has contradicted, for he has both willed [a thing] and done it. 15 Therefore am I troubled at him; and when I was reproved, I thought of him. 15a Therefore let me take good heed before him: I will consider, and be afraid of him. 16 But the Lord has softened my heart, and the Almighty has troubled me. 17 For I knew not that darkness would come upon me, and thick darkness has covered [me] before my face.

Job 24

1 But why have the seasons been hidden from the Lord, 2 while the ungodly have passed over the bound, carrying off the flock with the shepherd? 3 They have led away the ass of the fatherless, and taken the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 They have turned aside the weak from the right way: and the meek of the earth have hidden themselves together. 5 And they have departed like asses in the field, having gone forth on my account according to their own order: his bread is sweet to [his] little ones. 6 They have reaped a field that was not their own before the time: the poor have laboured in the vineyards of the ungodly without pay and without food. 7 They have caused many naked to sleep without clothes, and they have taken away the covering of their body. 8 They are wet with the drops of the mountains: they have embraced the rock, because they had no shelter. 9 They have snatched the fatherless from the breast, and have afflicted the outcast. 10 And they have wrongfully caused [others] to sleep without clothing, and taken away the morsel of the hungry. 11 They have unrighteously laid wait in narrow places, and have not known the righteous way. 12 Who have cast forth [the] poor from the city and their own houses, and the soul of the children has groaned aloud. 13 Why then has he not visited these? forasmuch as they were upon the earth, and took no notice, and they knew not the way of righteousness, neither have they walked in their [appointed] paths? 14 But having known their works, he delivered them into darkness: and in the night one will be as a thief: 15 and the eye of the adulterer has watched [for] the darkness, saying, Eye shall not perceive me, and he puts a covering on his face. 16 In darkness he digs through houses: by day they conceal themselves securely: they know not the light. 17 For the morning is to them all [as] the shadow of death, for [each] will be conscious of the terror of the shadow of death. 18 He is swift on the face of the water: let his portion be cursed on the earth; and let their plants be laid bare. 19 [Let them be] withered upon the earth; for they have plundered the sheaves of the fatherless. 20 Then is his sin brought to remembrance, and he vanishes like a vapour of dew: but let what he has done be recompensed to him, and let every unrighteous one be crushed like rotten wood. 21 For he has not treated the barren woman well, and has had no pity on a feeble woman. 22 And in wrath he has overthrown the helpless: therefore when he has arisen, [a man] will not feel secure of his own life. 23 When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover: but let him perish by disease. 24 For his exaltation has hurt many; but he has withered as mallows in the heat, or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from the stalk. 25 But if not, who is he that says I speak falsely, and will make my words of no account?

Job 25

1 Then Baldad the Sauchite answered and said, 2 What beginning or fear is his—even he that makes all things in the highest? 3 For let none think that there is a respite for robbers: and upon whom will there not come a snare from him? 4 For how shall a mortal be just before the Lord? or who that is born of a woman shall purify himself? 5 If he gives an order to the moon, then it shines not; and the stars are not pure before him. 6 But alas! man is corruption, and the son of man a worm.

Job 26

1 But Job answered and said, 2 To whom dost thou attach thyself, or whom art thou going to assist? is it not he that [has] much strength, and [he] who has a strong arm? 3 To whom hast thou given counsel? is it not to him who has all wisdom? whom wilt thou follow? is it not one who has the greatest power? 4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose breath is it that has come forth from thee? 5 Shall giants be born from under the water and the inhabitants thereof? 6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction has no covering. 7 He stretches out the north wind upon nothing, and he upon nothing hangs the earth; 8 binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not rent under it. 9 He keeps back the face of his throne, stretching out his cloud upon it. 10 He has encompassed the face of the water by an appointed ordinance, until the end of light and darkness. 11 The pillars of heaven are prostrate and astonished at his rebuke. 12 He has calmed the sea with [his] might, and by [his] wisdom the whale has been overthrown. 13 And the barriers of heaven fear him, and by a command he has slain the apostate dragon. 14 Behold, these are parts of his way; and we will hearken to him at the least intimation of his word: but the strength of his thunder who knows, when he shall employ [it]?

Job 27

1 And Job further continued and said in his parable, 2 [As] God lives, who has thus judged me; and the Almighty, who has embittered my soul; 3 verily, while my breath is yet in [me], and the breath of God which remains to me is in my nostrils, 4 my lips shall not speak evil words, neither shall my soul meditate unrighteous thoughts. 5 Far be it from me that I should justify you till I die; for I will not let go my innocence, 6 but keeping fast to [my] righteousness I will by no means let it go: for I am not conscious to myself of having done any thing amiss. 7 Nay rather, but let mine enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and they that rise up against me, as the destruction of transgressors. 8 For what is the hope of the ungodly, that he holds to it? will he indeed trust in the Lord [and] be saved? 9 Will God hear his prayer? or, when distress has come upon him, 10 has he any confidence before him? or will [God] hear him as he calls upon him? 11 Yet now I will tell you what is in the hand of the Lord: I will not lie concerning the things which are with the Almighty. 12 Behold, ye all know that ye are adding vanity to vanity. 13 This is the portion of an ungodly man from the Lord, and the possession of oppressors shall come upon them from the Almighty. 14 And if their children be many, they shall be for slaughter: and if they grow up, they shall beg. 15 And they that survive of him shall utterly perish, and no one shall pity their widows. 16 Even if he should gather silver as earth, and prepare gold as clay; 17 all these things shall the righteous gain, and the truehearted shall possess his wealth. 18 And his house is gone like moths, and like a spider's web. 19 The rich man shall lie down, and shall not continue: he has opened his eyes, and he is not. 20 Pains have come upon him as water, and darkness has carried him away by night. 21 And a burning wind shall catch him, and he shall depart, and it shall utterly drive him out of his place. 22 And [God] shall cast [trouble] upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23 He shall cause [men] to clap their hands against them, and shall hiss him out of his place.