And though thy beginning was small, yet thine end shall be very great.

And these things didst thou hide in thy heart; I know that this was with thee.

The waters wear the stones, the floods thereof wash away the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

Art thou the first man that was born? and wast thou brought forth before the hills?

Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

Knowest thou not this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth,

Who were carried off before the time, whose foundation was overflowed with a flood;

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he hidden the gloom from me.

As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret counsel of +God was over my tent,

When the Almighty was yet with me, my young men round about me;

The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue cleaved to their palate.

The blessing of him that was perishing came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was as a mantle and a turban.

I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame;

I was a father to the needy, and the cause which I knew not I searched out;

Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?

For calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.

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

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

Then was kindled the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel, the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his anger kindled, because he justified himself rather than God;

and against his three friends was his anger kindled, because they found no answer, and yet condemned Job.

And Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, and his anger was kindled.

And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are aged; wherefore I was timid, and feared to shew you what I know.

Yea, I gave you mine attention, and behold, there was none of you that confuted Job, that answered his words;

He will sing before men, and say, I have sinned, and perverted what was right, and it hath not been requited to me;

Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.

Thou knowest, for thou wast then born, and the number of thy days is great!

Thou hast put joy in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their new wine was in abundance.

If I have rewarded evil to him that was at peace with me; (indeed I have freed him that without cause oppressed me;)

Ye have shamed the counsel of the afflicted, because Jehovah was his refuge.

Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he was wroth.

And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

They encountered me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah was my stay.

And I was upright with him, and kept myself from mine iniquity.

They cried, and there was none to save; unto Jehovah, and he answered them not.

I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother's belly.

For it was he that founded it upon seas, and established it upon floods.

I will wash my hands in innocency, and will encompass thine altar, O Jehovah,

Jehovah is my strength and my shield; my heart confided in him, and I was helped: therefore my heart exulteth, and with my song will I praise him.

Jehovah, by thy favour thou hadst made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face; I was troubled.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I chastened my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into mine own bosom:

but he passed away, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, but he was not found.

I was dumb with silence, I held my peace from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

My heart burned within me; the fire was kindled in my musing: I spoke with my tongue,

I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; for thou hast done it.

When thou sawest a thief, thou didst take pleasure in him, and thy portion was with adulterers;

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Wash me fully from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God scattereth the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put them to shame, for God hath despised them.

But it was thou, a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar friend. ...

Smooth were the milky words of his mouth, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.

They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down: they have digged a pit before me; they are fallen into the midst thereof. Selah.

The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his footsteps in the blood of the wicked:

Moab is my wash-pot; upon Edom will I cast my sandal; Philistia, shout aloud because of me.

{A Psalm of David; when he was in the wilderness of Judah.} O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh languisheth for thee, in a dry and weary land without water:

Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.

I called unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.

Thou, O God, didst pour a plentiful rain upon thine inheritance, and when it was weary thou strengthenedst it.

And I wept, my soul was fasting: that also was to my reproach; --

Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed: and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

For I was envious at the arrogant, seeing the prosperity of the wicked.

When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes;

When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins,

Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was as a beast with thee.

A man was known as he could lift up axes in the thicket of trees;

Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from the heavens; the earth feared, and was still,

In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; my soul refused to be comforted.

I remembered God, and I moaned; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind, lightnings lit up the world; the earth was troubled and it quaked.

And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that prepared not their heart, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; and fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also went up against Israel:

They were not alienated from their lust, their meat was yet in their mouths,

And they remembered that God was their rock, and God, the Most High, their redeemer.

For their heart was not firm toward him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.

But he was merciful: he forgave the iniquity, and destroyed them not; but many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his fury:

God heard, and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

And delivered up his people unto the sword, and was very wroth with his inheritance:

Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon among them thatknow me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia: this man was born there.

And of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; and the Most High himself shall establish her.

Jehovah will count, when he inscribeth the peoples, This man was born there. Selah.

Forty years was I grieved with the generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways;

Jehovah, our God, thou answeredst them: a forgiving God wast thou unto them, though thou tookest vengeance of their doings.

He sent a man before them: Joseph was sold for a bondman.

And he brought them forth with silver and gold; and there was not one feeble among their tribes.

And the waters covered their oppressors: there was not one of them left.

And fire was kindled in their company; a flame burned up the wicked.

Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment, and the plague was stayed;

And that was reckoned unto him for righteousness, from generation to generation, for evermore.

And shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.

Then was the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he abhorred his inheritance;

And he bowed down their heart with labour; they stumbled, and there was none to help:

Moab is my wash-pot; upon Edom will I cast my sandal; over Philistia will I shout aloud.

Judah was his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.

Jehovah keepeth the simple: I was brought low, and he saved me.