And 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 renounced God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

and 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.

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

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark: Let it look for light, but have none; Neither let it behold the eyelids of the morning:

For now should I have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest,

I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; But trouble cometh.

Thy words have upholden him that was falling, And thou hast made firm the feeble knees.

According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, And sow trouble, reap the same.

I have seen the foolish taking root: But suddenly I cursed his habitation.

Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; Hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash.

Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

And be it still my consolation, Yea, let me exult in pain that spareth not, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

Is it not that I have no help in me, And that wisdom is driven quite from me?

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away;

Teach me, and I will hold my peace; And cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

If I have sinned, what do I unto thee, O thou watcher of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee, So that I am a burden to myself?

If thy children have sinned against him, And he hath delivered them into the hand of their transgression;

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, And apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out:

If he be destroyed from his place, Then it shall deny him,'saying , I have not seen thee.

Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, And they shall have no way to flee; And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope: Nevertheless I will maintain my ways before him.

Behold now, I have set my cause in order; I know that I am righteous.

Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee: Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thy hands.

I will show thee, hear thou me; And that which I have seen I will declare:

(Which wise men have told From their fathers, and have not hid it;

I have heard many such things: Miserable comforters are ye all.

Shall vain words have an end? Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?

They have gaped upon me with their mouth; They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully: They gather themselves together against me.

I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, And have laid my horn in the dust.

O earth, cover not thou my blood, And let my cry have no resting -place.

If I look for Sheol as my house; If I have spread my couch in the darkness;

If I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister;

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

He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people, Nor any remaining where he sojourned.

These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.

And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.

My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me.

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame; And the spirit of my understanding answereth me.

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?

Suffer me, and I also will speak; And after that I have spoken, mock on.

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

Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences,

Thou hast sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Wilt thou keep the old way Which wicked men have trodden?

Even to-day is my complaint rebellious: My stroke is heavier than my groaning.

My foot hath held fast to his steps; His way have I kept, and turned not aside.

I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.

Drought and heat consume the snow waters:'so doth'sheol those that have sinned.

Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain?

The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.

Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor thereof with our ears.

But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, Whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

For he hath loosed his cord, and afflicted me; And they have cast off the bridle before me.

They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, Even men that have no helper.

And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

If I have walked with falsehood, And my foot hath hasted to deceit;

If my heart hath been enticed unto a woman, And I have laid wait at my neighbor's door;

If I have despised the cause of my man-servant or of my maid-servant, When they contended with me;

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

(Nay, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And her have I guided from my mother's womb);

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering;

If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, Because I saw my help in the gate:

If I have made gold my hope, And have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gotten much;

If I have beheld the sun when it shined, Or the moon walking in brightness,

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges; For I should have denied the God that is above.

If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

(Yea, I have not suffered by mouth to sin By asking his life with a curse);

If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?

(The sojourner hath not lodged in the street; But I have opened my doors to the traveller);

If like Adam I have covered my transgressions, By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,

If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

Beware lest ye say, We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him, not man:

They are amazed, they answer no more: They have not a word to say.

Behold now, I have opened my mouth; My tongue hath spoken in my mouth.

Surely thou hast spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the voice of thy words,'saying ,

Then God is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.

He singeth before men, and saith, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, And it profited me not:

Hear my words, ye wise men; And give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.

Because they turned aside from following him, And would not have regard in any of his ways:

For hath any said unto God, I have borne chastisement , I will not offend any more :

That which I see not teach thou me: If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?

That thou sayest, What advantage will it be unto thee? And , What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?

Suffer me a little, and I will show thee; For I have yet somewhat to say on God's behalf.

Then he showeth them their work, And their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.

Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress Into a broad place, where there is no straitness; And that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness.

Remember that thou magnify his work, Whereof men have sung.

All men have looked thereon; Man beholdeth it afar off.

Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war?

Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?

Once have I spoken, and I will not answer; Yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.