let thorns come forth instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

And Elihu had waited beside Job with words, because they were older than he in days.

And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion.

It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged who understand judgment.

Behold, I waited for your words; I listened to your reasons, while you searched out what to say.

And he has not directed his words against me; and I will not answer him with your words.

They are broken; they answer no more; words have left them.

Behold, I am toward God even as you are; I also am formed out of the clay.

Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words.

Behold, in this you are not right; I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

then He opens the ear of men and seals their teaching,

His flesh wastes away, not seen; and his bones laid bare; they were not seen.

Lo, all these things God does two or three times with a man,

Hear my words, wise men; and give ear to me, you who have knowledge;

For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food.

Who has given the earth as a deposit with Him? Or who has set the whole world in order?

How much less to Him who does not lift up the face of rulers, nor regard the rich before the poor? For all of them are the work of His hands.

In a moment they die, and a people are shaken at midnight and pass away; and the mighty shall be taken away without a hand.

For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps.

Therefore He knows their works, and He overturns in the night, so that they are destroyed.

Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.

Would that Job may be tried to the end because his answers are like men of iniquity.

I will answer your words, and your friends with you.

Look to the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds; they are higher than you.

If you sin, what do you do against Him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?

If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?

Your wickedness may hurt a man like yourself; and your righteousness may profit the son of man.

But none says, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;

How much less when you say you do not see Him! Judgment is before Him; you are waiting for Him.

Wait for me a little, and I will show you that there are yet words for God.

For truly my words are not false; He who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

He withdraws not His eyes from the righteous, but they are like kings on the throne; yes, He causes them to sit forever, and they are very high.

And if they are bound in chains, and are held in cords of affliction,

And He also would have lured you from the mouth of distress to a wide place not cramped; and the setting of your table would be full of fatness.

If your cry for help is set in order, then it will not be in distress, but with all the forces of strength.

Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their place.

Who has appointed Him His way; or who can say, You have done wrong?

Also can any understand the spreading of the clouds, or the crashing of His canopy?

Whether as a whip, or for His land, or for mercy, He finds it.

Teach us what we shall say to Him; for because of darkness we cannot arrange our case.

Therefore, men fear Him; He does not respect any who are wise in heart.

Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will ask of you, and you teach Me.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell if you have understanding!

Who has set its measurements, for you know? Or who has stretched the line on it?

On what are its bases sunk, or who cast its cornerstone,

Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as it came from the womb?

and I said, You shall come to here, but no further; and here your proud waves shall stop.

Have you commanded the morning from your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,

Have you gone to the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?

Have the gates of death been opened to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Where is the way where light dwells? And where is the place of darkness,

You know, because you were born then. And the number of your days is great.

Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow? Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

which I have kept for the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

Who has cut a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderclaps;

to cause rain to fall on the earth where no man is, a wilderness and no man in it;

Has the rain a father? Or who has brought forth the drops of dew?

The waters are hidden like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

Can you bind the bands of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?

Can you bring the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with its sons?

Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that floods of waters may cover you?

Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?

Who can number the clouds by wisdom; or who can empty out the jars of the heavens,

Will you hunt the prey for the lion, or fill the appetite of the young lions,

Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time for their bearing,

Their young ones are strong, they multiply with grain; they go forth and do not return to them again.

Who has sent out the wild ass free? Or who has loosed the bands of the wild ass,

Will the wild ox be willing to serve you, or spend the night by your feed-trough?

Can you tie the wild ox in the furrow with his rope? Or will he harrow the valleys for you?

Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your labor to him?

Will you trust him, that he will return your seed and gather it to your grain-floor?

and forgets that a foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may break them.

Does the hawk soar by your understanding? Will he spread his wings toward the south?

Does the eagle mount up at your command and make his nest on high?

And his young brood also sucks up blood; and where the dead are, there he is.

Now gird up your loins like a man. I will question you, and you teach Me.

And have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?

Pour forth the rage of your wrath; and behold everyone who is proud, and abase him.

Then I also will confess to you that your own right hand can save you.

He hangs his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

His bones are like tubes of bronze; his bones are like bars of iron.

Shall any take him before his eyes, or pierce through his nose with cords?

Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, or hold down his tongue with a cord?

Can you put a reed rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw with a thorn?

Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your maidens?

Shall your companions bargain over him? Shall they divide him among the merchants?

Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fishing spears?

Lay your hand on him, think of the battle; you will never do it again.

I will not keep silent concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or the grace of his frame.

The rows of shields are his pride, shut up with a close seal;

one is so near to another that no air can come between them;

they are joined one to another, they clasp each other so that they can not be separated.

His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.

The folds of his flesh are joined together, cast firm on him; he cannot be moved.

The mighty are afraid from his rising; they are beside themselves from the crashing.

An arrow cannot make him flee; slingstones are turned by him into stubble.

Darts are counted as straw; he laughs at the shaking of a javelin.

Points of potsherds are under him; he spreads sharp pointed marks on the mire.

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You.