Daily Reading

Job 15:1-21:34

15:1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
15:2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly
with the east wind?

15:3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches
wherewith he can do no good?

15:4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before
God.

15:5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest
the tongue of the crafty.

15:6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own
lips testify against thee.

15:7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made
before the hills?

15:8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain
wisdom to thyself?

15:9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest
thou, which is not in us?

15:10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much
elder than thy father.

15:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there
any secret thing with thee?

15:12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes
wink at,

15:13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest
such words go out of thy mouth?

15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is
born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the
heavens are not clean in his sight.

15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which
drinketh iniquity like water?

15:17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I
will declare;

15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not
hid it:

15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger
passed among them.

15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and
the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the
destroyer shall come upon him.

15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and
he is waited for of the sword.

15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he
knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall
prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and
strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick
bosses of his bucklers:

15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh
collops of fat on his flanks.

15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which
no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance
continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon
the earth.

15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry
up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go
away.

15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity
shall be his recompence.

15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch
shall not be green.

15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall
cast off his flower as the olive.

15:34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate,
and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their
belly prepareth deceit.

16:1 Then Job answered and said,
16:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are
ye all.

16:3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that
thou answerest?

16:4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my
soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine
head at you.

16:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving
of my lips should asswage your grief.

16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I
forbear, what am I eased?

16:7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all
my company.

16:8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness
against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness
to my face.

16:9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth
upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

16:10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have
smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered
themselves together against me.

16:11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over
into the hands of the wicked.

16:12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also
taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up
for his mark.

16:13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins
asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the
ground.

16:14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me
like a giant.

16:15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn
in the dust.

16:16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the
shadow of death;

16:17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is
pure.

16:18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no
place.

16:19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record
is on high.

16:20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears
unto God.

16:21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man
pleadeth for his neighbour!

16:22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way
whence I shall not return.

17:1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves [are ready] for me.
17:2 Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye
continue in their provocation?

17:3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he
that will strike hands with me?

17:4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore
shalt thou not exalt them.

17:5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes
of his children shall fail.

17:6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime
I was as a tabret.

17:7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my
members are as a shadow.

17:8 Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent
shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.

17:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath
clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

17:10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I
cannot find one wise man among you.

17:11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the
thoughts of my heart.

17:12 They change the night into day: the light is short
because of darkness.

17:13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed
in the darkness.

17:14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the
worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

17:15 And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see
it?

17:16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest
together is in the dust.

18:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
18:2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark,
and afterwards we will speak.

18:3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in
your sight?

18:4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be
forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his
place?

18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the
spark of his fire shall not shine.

18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle
shall be put out with him.

18:7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own
counsel shall cast him down.

18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh
upon a snare.

18:9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber
shall prevail against him.

18:10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for
him in the way.

18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall
drive him to his feet.

18:12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall
be ready at his side.

18:13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the
firstborn of death shall devour his strength.

18:14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and
it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

18:15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of
his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

18:16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his
branch be cut off.

18:17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall
have no name in the street.

18:18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased
out of the world.

18:19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor
any remaining in his dwellings.

18:20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day,
as they that went before were affrighted.

18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this
is the place of him that knoweth not God.

19:1 Then Job answered and said,
19:2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with
words?

19:3 These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed
that ye make yourselves strange to me.

19:4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth
with myself.

19:5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and
plead against me my reproach:

19:6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me
with his net.

19:7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry
aloud, but there is no judgment.

19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath
set darkness in my paths.

19:9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from
my head.

19:10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and
mine hope hath he removed like a tree.

19:11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth
me unto him as one of his enemies.

19:12 His troops come together, and raise up their way against
me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.

19:13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance
are verily estranged from me.

19:14 My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have
forgotten me.

19:15 They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for
a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

19:16 I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I
intreated him with my mouth.

19:17 My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for
the children's sake of mine own body.

19:18 Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake
against me.

19:19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved
are turned against me.

19:20 My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am
escaped with the skin of my teeth.

19:21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for
the hand of God hath touched me.

19:22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with
my flesh?

19:23 Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were
printed in a book!

19:24 That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the
rock for ever!

19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall
stand at the latter day upon the earth:

19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God:

19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold,
and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

19:28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root
of the matter is found in me?

19:29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the
punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a
judgment.

20:1 Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
20:2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this
I make haste.

20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my
understanding causeth me to answer.

20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon
earth,

20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy
of the hypocrite but for a moment?

20:6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head
reach unto the clouds;

20:7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they
which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

20:8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea,
he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

20:9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more;
neither shall his place any more behold him.

20:10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands
shall restore their goods.

20:11 His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall
lie down with him in the dust.

20:12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide
it under his tongue;

20:13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it
still within his mouth:

20:14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall
of asps within him.

20:15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up
again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

20:16 He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall
slay him.

20:17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of
honey and butter.

20:18 That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not
swallow it down: according to his substance shall the
restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

20:19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor;
because he hath violently taken away an house which he
builded not;

20:20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall
not save of that which he desired.

20:21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no
man look for his goods.

20:22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits:
every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

20:23 When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the
fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while
he is eating.

20:24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel
shall strike him through.

20:25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the
glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon
him.

20:26 All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire
not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is
left in his tabernacle.

20:27 The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall
rise up against him.

20:28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods
shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

20:29 This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the
heritage appointed unto him by God.

21:1 But Job answered and said,
21:2 Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your
consolations.

21:3 Suffer me that I may speak; and after that I have spoken,
mock on.

21:4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so,
why should not my spirit be troubled?

21:5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your
mouth.

21:6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold
on my flesh.

21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty
in power?

21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and
their offspring before their eyes.

21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of
God upon them.

21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth,
and casteth not her calf.

21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their
children dance.

21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound
of the organ.

21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down
to the grave.

21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways.

21:15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what
profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

21:16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the
wicked is far from me.

21:17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft
cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows
in his anger.

21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the
storm carrieth away.

21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth
him, and he shall know it.

21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of
the wrath of the Almighty.

21:21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when
the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

21:22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those
that are high.

21:23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and
quiet.

21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened
with marrow.

21:25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never
eateth with pleasure.

21:26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall
cover them.

21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye
wrongfully imagine against me.

21:28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where
are the dwelling places of the wicked?

21:29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not
know their tokens,

21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?
they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay
him what he hath done?

21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in
the tomb.

21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every
man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before
him.

21:34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers
there remaineth falsehood?



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