21 [Though] I [were] perfect, [yet] would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
22 This [is] one [thing], therefore I said [it], He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, [and] who [is] he?
25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle [that] hasteth to the prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort [myself]:
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29 [If] I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
32 For [he is] not a man, as I [am, that] I should answer him, [and] we should come together in judgment.
33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, [that] might lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
35 [Then] would I speak, and not fear him; but [it is] not so with me.
1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.
3 [Is 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?
4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?
5 [Are] thy days as the days of man? [are] thy years as man's days,
6 That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?
7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and [there is] none that can deliver out of thine hand.
8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.
9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?
10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
13 And these [things] hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this [is] with thee.
14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15 If 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;
16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war [are] against me.
18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 [Are] not my days few? cease [then, and] let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21 Before I go [whence] I shall not return, [even] to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22 A land of darkness, as darkness [itself; and] of the shadow of death, without any order, and [where] the light [is] as darkness.
1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
2 Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?
4 For thou hast said, My doctrine [is] pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.
5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;
6 And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that [they are] double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee [less] than thine iniquity [deserveth].
7 Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
8 [It is] as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
9 The measure thereof [is] longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him?
11 For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider [it]?
12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born [like] a wild ass's colt.
13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;
14 If iniquity [be] in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.
15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:
16 Because thou shalt forget [thy] misery, [and] remember [it] as waters [that] pass away:
17 And [thine] age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig [about thee, and] thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make [thee] afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.
20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope [shall be as] the giving up of the ghost.
1 And Job answered and said,
2 No doubt but ye [are] the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you; I [am] not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
4 I am [as] one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright [man is] laughed to scorn.
5 He that is ready to slip with [his] feet [is as] a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth [abundantly].
7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
10 In whose hand [is] the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
12 With the ancient [is] wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
13 With him [is] wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.
15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
16 With him [is] strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver [are] his.
17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
18 He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
19 He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
23 He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them [again].
24 He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness [where there is] no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like [a] drunken [man].
1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all [this], mine ear hath heard and understood it.
2 What ye know, [the same] do I know also: I [am] not inferior unto you.
3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
4 But ye [are] forgers of lies, ye [are] all physicians of no value.
©2025 Larry Swank, unless someone else owns it. Then it's theirs, obviously.
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