Glory Message for November 8, 2013 - Job 1 - 13
from The Tree of Life Bible, JPS 1917
Chapter 1
1 THERE was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was whole-hearted and upright, and one that feared G-d, and shunned evil.
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.
4 And his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one upon his day; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5 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 blasphemed G-d in their hearts.' Thus did Job continually.
6 Now it fell upon a day, that the sons of G-d came to present themselves before HaShem, and Satan came also among them.
7 And HaShem said unto Satan: 'Whence comest thou?' Then Satan answered HaShem, and said: 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.'
8 And HaShem said unto Satan: 'Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth G-d, and shunneth evil?'
9 Then Satan answered HaShem, and said: 'Doth Job fear G-d for nought?
10 Hast not Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are increased in the land.
11 But put forth Thy hand now, and touch all that he hath, surely he will blaspheme Thee to Thy face.'
12 And HaShem said unto Satan: 'Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.' So Satan went forth from the presence of HaShem.
13 And it fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house,
14 that there came a messenger unto Job, and said: 'The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them;
15 and the Sabeans made a raid, 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.'
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'A fire of G-d is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.'
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'The Chaldeans set themselves in 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.'
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said: 'Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from across the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.'
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped;
21 And he said; naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; HaShem gave, and HaShem hath taken away; blessed be the name of HaShem.
22 For all this Job sinned not, nor ascribed aught unseemly to G-d.
Chapter 2
1 Again it fell upon a day, that the sons of G-d came to present themselves before HaShem, and Satan came also among them to present himself before HaShem.
2 And HaShem said unto Satan: 'From whence comest thou?' And Satan answered HaShem, and said: 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.'
3 And HaShem said unto Satan: 'Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth G-d, and shunneth evil? and he still holdeth fast his integrity, although thou didst move Me against him, to destroy him without cause.'
4 And Satan answered HaShem, and said: 'Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth Thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, surely he will blaspheme Thee to Thy face.'
6 And HaShem said unto Satan: 'Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.'
7 So Satan went forth from the presence of HaShem, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot even unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him: 'Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? blaspheme G-d, and die.'
10 But he said unto her: 'Thou speakest as one of the impious women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of G-d, and shall we not receive evil?' For all this did not Job sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to bemoan him and to comfort him.
12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and threw dust upon their heads toward heaven.
13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him; for they saw that his grief was very great.
Chapter 3
1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And Job spoke, and said:
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night wherein it was said: 'A man-child is brought forth.'
4 Let that day be darkness; let not G-d inquire after it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that maketh black the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Lo, let that night be desolate; let no joyful voice come therein.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
9 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;
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid trouble from mine eyes.
11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not perish at birth?
12 Why did the knees receive me? And wherefore the breasts, that I should suck?
13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet; I should have slept; then had I been at rest--
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;
15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver;
16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants that never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.
19 The small and great are there alike; and the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherewith is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul--
21 Who long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Who rejoice unto exultation, and are glad, when they can find the grave?--
23 To a man whose way is hid, and whom G-d hath hedged in?
24 For my sighing cometh instead of my food, and my roarings are poured out like water.
25 For the thing which I did fear is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of hath overtaken me.
26 I was not at ease, neither was I quiet, neither had I rest; but trouble came.
Chapter 4
1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said:
2 If one venture a word unto thee, wilt thou be weary? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4 Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
5 But now it is come upon thee, and thou art weary; it toucheth thee, and thou art affrighted.
6 Is not thy fear of G-d thy confidence, and thy hope the integrity of thy ways?
7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
8 According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow mischief, reap the same.
9 By the breath of G-d they perish, and by the blast of His anger are they consumed.
10 The lion roareth, and the fierce lion howleth--yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
12 Now a word was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a whisper thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were made to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face, that made the hair of my flesh to stand up.
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof; a form was before mine eyes; I heard a still voice:
17 'Shall mortal man be just before G-d? Shall a man be pure before his Maker?
18 Behold, He putteth no trust in His servants, and His angels He chargeth with folly;
19 How much more them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!
20 Betwixt morning and evening they are shattered; they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.’
Chapter 5
1 Call now; is there any that will answer thee? And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?
2 For anger killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root; but suddenly I beheld his habitation cursed.
4 His children are far from safety, and are crushed in the gate, with none to deliver them.
5 Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapeth for their substance.
6 For affliction cometh not forth from the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
7 But man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
8 But as for me, I would seek unto G-d, and unto G-d would I commit my cause;
9 Who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number;
10 Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields;
11 So that He setteth up on high those that are low, and those that mourn are exalted to safety.
12 He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands can perform nothing substantial.
13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong.
14 They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
15 But He saveth from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
16 So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 Behold, happy is the man whom G-d correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For He maketh sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands make whole.
19 He will deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
20 In famine He will redeem thee from death; and in war from the power of the sword.
21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue; neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh; neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field; and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
24 And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt miss nothing.
25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a ripe age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in its season.
27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.
Chapter 6
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 Oh that my vexation were but weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances altogether!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore are my words broken.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof my spirit drinketh up; the terrors of G-d do set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which hath no savour be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the juice of mallows?
7 My soul refuseth to touch them; they are as the sickness of my flesh.
8 Oh that I might have my request, and that G-d would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 Even that it would please G-d to crush me; that He would let loose His hand, and cut me off!
10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would exult in pain, though He spare not; for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait? and what is mine end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
13 Is it that I have no help in me, and that sound wisdom is driven quite from me?
14 To him that is ready to faint kindness is due from his friend, even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that overflow,
16 Which are black by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow hideth itself;
17 What time they wax warm, they vanish, when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 The paths of their way do wind, they go up into the waste, and are lost.
19 The caravans of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them--
20 They were ashamed because they had hoped; they came thither, and were confounded.
21 For now ye are become His; ye see a terror, and are afraid.
22 Did I say: 'Give unto me'? or: 'Offer a present for me of your substance'?
23 or: 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'? or: 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors'?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace; and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are words of uprightness! But what doth your arguing argue?
26 Do ye hold words to be an argument, but the speeches of one that is desperate to be wind?
27 Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, and dig a pit for your friend.
28 Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; for surely I shall not lie to your face.
29 Return, I pray you, let there be no injustice; yea, return again, my cause is righteous.
30 Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern crafty devices?
Chapter 7
1 Is there not a time of service to man upon earth? And are not his days like the days of a hireling?
2 As a servant that eagerly longeth for the shadow, and as a hireling that looketh for his wages;
3 So am I made to possess--months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say: 'When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin closeth up and breaketh out afresh.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
7 O remember that my life is a breath; mine eye shall no more see good.
8 The eye of him that seeth me shall behold me no more; while Thine eyes are upon me, I am gone.
9 As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more.
10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that Thou settest a watch over me?
13 When I say: 'My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint';
14 Then Thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions;
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than these my bones.
16 I loathe it; I shall not live alway; let me alone; for my days are vanity.
17 What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him, and that Thou shouldest set Thy heart upon him,
18 And that Thou shouldest remember him every morning, and try him every moment?
19 How long wilt Thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
20 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?
21 And why dost Thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust; and Thou wilt seek me, but I shall not be.
Chapter 8
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:
2 How long wilt thou speak these things, seeing that the words of thy mouth are as a mighty wind?
3 Doth G-d pervert judgment? Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If thy children sinned against Him, He delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 If thou wouldest seek earnestly unto G-d, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If thou wert pure and upright; surely now He would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 And though thy beginning was small, yet thy end should greatly increase.
8 For inquire, I pray thee, of the former generation, and apply thyself to that which their fathers have searched out--
9 For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow--
10 Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
11 Can the rush shoot up without mire? Can the reed-grass grow without water?
12 Whilst it is yet in its greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.
13 So are the paths of all that forget G-d; and the hope of the godless man shall perish;
14 Whose confidence is gossamer, and whose trust is a spider's web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand; he shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure.
16 He is green before the sun, and his shoots go forth over his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, he beholdeth the place of stones.
18 If he be destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him: 'I have not seen thee.'
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others spring.
20 Behold, G-d will not cast away an innocent man, neither will He uphold the evil-doers;
21 Till He fill thy mouth with laughter, and thy lips with shouting.
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
Chapter 9
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 Of a truth I know that it is so; and how can man be just with G-d?
3 If one should desire to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against Him, and prospered?
5 Who removeth the mountains, and they know it not, when He overturneth them in His anger.
6 Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
8 Who alone stretcheth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
9 Who maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10 Who doeth great things past finding out; yea, marvellous things without number.
11 Lo, He goeth by me, and I see Him not. He passeth on also, but I perceive Him not.
12 Behold, He snatcheth away, who can hinder Him? Who will say unto Him: 'What doest Thou?'
13 G-d will not withdraw His anger; the helpers of Rahab did stoop under Him.
14 How much less shall I answer Him, and choose out my arguments with Him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to Him that contendeth with me.
16 If I had called, and He had answered me; yet would I not believe that He would hearken unto my voice--
17 He that would break me with a tempest, and multiply my wounds without cause;
18 That would not suffer me to take my breath, but fill me with bitterness.
19 If it be a matter of strength, lo, He is mighty! and if of justice, who will appoint me a time?
20 Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me; though I be innocent, He shall prove me perverse.
21 I am innocent--I regard not myself, I despise my life.
22 It is all one--therefore I say: He destroyeth the innocent and the wicked.
23 If the scourge slay suddenly, He will mock at the calamity of the guiltless.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if it be not He, who then is it?
25 Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships; as the vulture that swoopeth on the prey.
27 If I say: 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer',
28 I am afraid of all my pains, I know that Thou wilt not hold me guiltless.
29 I shall be condemned; why then do I labour in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
31 Yet wilt 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, that we should come together in judgment.
33 There is no arbiter betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His terror make me afraid;
35 Then would I speak, and not fear Him; for I am not so with myself.
Chapter 10
1 My soul is weary of my life; I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto G-d: Do not condemn me; make me know wherefore Thou contendest with me.
3 Is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress, that Thou shouldest despise the work of Thy 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, or Thy years as a man's days,
6 That Thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin,
7 Although Thou knowest that I shall not be condemned; and there is none that can deliver out of Thy hand?
8 Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me together round about; yet Thou dost destroy me!
9 Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast fashioned me as 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 knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and Thy providence hath preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things Thou didst hide in Thy 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 shall I not lift up my head--being filled with ignominy and looking upon mine affliction.
16 And if it exalt itself, Thou huntest me as a lion; and again Thou showest Thyself marvellous upon me.
17 Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me, and increasest Thine indignation upon me; host succeeding host against me.
18 Wherefore then hast Thou brought me forth out of the womb? Would that I had perished, 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 of the shadow of death;
22 A land of thick darkness, as darkness itself; a land of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.
Chapter 11
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 accounted right?
3 Thy boastings have made men hold their peace, and thou hast mocked, with none to make thee ashamed;
4 And thou hast said: 'My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in Thine eyes.'
5 But oh that G-d would speak, and open His lips against thee;
6 And that He would tell thee the secrets of wisdom, that sound wisdom is manifold! Know therefore that G-d exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.
7 Canst thou find out the deep things of G-d? Canst thou attain unto the purpose of the Almighty?
8 It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than the nether-world; what canst thou know?
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
10 If He pass by, and shut up, or gather in, then who can hinder Him?
11 For He knoweth base men; and when He seeth iniquity, will He not then consider it?
12 But an empty man will get understanding, when a wild ass's colt is born a man.
13 If thou set thy heart aright, and stretch out thy hands toward Him--
14 If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, and let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents--
15 Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear;
16 For thou shalt forget thy misery; thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away;
17 And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday; though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt look about thee, and 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 have no way to flee, and their hope shall be the drooping of the soul.
Chapter 12
1 Then 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 that is a laughing-stock to his neighbour, a man that called upon G-d, and He answered him; the just, the innocent man is a laughing-stock,
5 A contemptible brand in the thought of him that is at ease, a thing ready for them whose foot slippeth.
6 The tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke G-d are secure, in whatsoever G-d bringeth into their hand.
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 among all these, that the hand of HaShem 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, even as the palate tasteth its food?
12 Is wisdom with aged men, and understanding in length of days?--
13 With Him is wisdom and might; 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 sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leadeth counsellors away stripped, and judges maketh He fools.
18 He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth their loins with a girdle.
19 He leadeth priests away stripped, and overthroweth the mighty.
20 He removeth the speech of men of trust, and taketh away the sense of the elders.
21 He poureth contempt upon princes, and looseth the belt of the strong.
22 He uncovereth 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 leadeth them away.
24 He taketh away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the land, 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.
Chapter 13
1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.
2 What ye know, do I know also; I am not inferior unto you.
3 Notwithstanding I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with G-d.
4 But ye are plasterers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
5 Oh that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it would be your wisdom.
6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will ye speak unrighteously for G-d, and talk deceitfully for Him?
8 Will ye show Him favour? Will ye contend for G-d?
9 Would it be good that He should search you out? Or as one mocketh a man, will ye mock Him?
10 He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly show favour.
11 Shall not His majesty terrify you, and His dread fall upon you?
12 Your memorials shall be like unto ashes, your eminences to eminences of clay.
13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.
14 Wherefore? I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.
15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him; but I will argue my ways before Him.
16 This also shall be my salvation, that a hypocrite cannot come before Him.
17 Hear diligently my speech, and let my declaration be in your ears.
18 Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.
19 Who is he that will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and die.
20 Only do not two things unto me, then will I not hide myself from Thee:
21 Withdraw Thy hand far from me; and let not Thy terror make me afraid.
22 Then call Thou, and I will answer; or let me speak, and answer Thou me.
23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin.
24 Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and holdest me for Thine enemy?
25 Wilt Thou harass a driven leaf? And wilt Thou pursue the dry stubble?
26 That Thou shouldest write bitter things against me, and make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.
27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; Thou drawest Thee a line about the soles of my feet;
28 Though I am like a wine-skin that consumeth, like a garment that is moth-eaten.