- 1
- Then Iob answered, and sayd,
- 2
- I knowe verily that it is so: for howe should man compared vnto God, be iustified?
- 3
- If I would dispute with him, hee could not answere him one thing of a thousand.
- 4
- He is wise in heart, & mighty in stregth: who hath bene fierce against him & hath prospered?
- 5
- He remoueth the mountaines, and they feele not when he ouerthroweth them in his wrath.
- 6
- Hee remooueth the earth out of her place, that the pillars thereof doe shake.
- 7
- He commandeth the sunne, & it riseth not: hee closeth vp the starres, as vnder a signet.
- 8
- Hee himselfe alone spreadeth out the heauens, and walketh vpon the height of the sea.
- 9
- He maketh the starres Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the climates of the South.
- 10
- He doeth great things, and vnsearcheable: yea, marueilous things without nomber.
- 11
- Lo, when he goeth by me, I see him not: and when he passeth by, I perceiue him not.
- 12
- Behold, when he taketh a pray, who can make him to restore it?
who shall say vnto him, What doest thou?
- 13
- God will not withdrawe his anger, and the most mightie helpes doe stoupe vnder him.
- 14
- Howe much lesse shall I answere him?
or howe should I finde out my words with him?
- 15
- For though I were iust, yet could I not answere, but I would make supplicatio to my Iudge.
- 16
- If I cry, and he answere me, yet woulde I not beleeue, that he heard my voyce.
- 17
- For he destroyeth mee with a tempest, and woundeth me without cause.
- 18
- He wil not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitternesse.
- 19
- If we speake of strength, behold, he is strog: if we speake of iudgement, who shall bring me in to pleade?
- 20
- If I woulde iustifie my selfe, mine owne mouth shall condemne mee: if I would be perfite, he shall iudge me wicked.
- 21
- Though I were perfite, yet I knowe not my soule: therefore abhorre I my life.
- 22
- This is one point: therefore I said, Hee destroyeth the perfite and the wicked.
- 23
- If the scourge should suddely slay, should God laugh at the punishment of the innocent?
- 24
- The earth is giuen into the hand of ye wicked: he couereth the faces of the iudges therof: if not, where is he?
or who is he?
- 25
- My dayes haue bene more swift then a post: they haue fled, and haue seene no good thing.
- 26
- They are passed as with the most swift ships, and as the eagle that flyeth to the pray.
- 27
- If I say, I wil forget my complaynt, I will cease from my wrath, and comfort mee,
- 28
- Then I am afrayd of all my sorowes, knowing that thou wilt not iudge me innocent.
- 29
- If I be wicked, why labour I thus in vaine?
- 30
- If I wash my selfe with snowe water, and purge mine hands most cleane,
- 31
- Yet shalt thou plunge mee in the pit, and mine owne clothes shal make me filthie.
- 32
- For he is not a man as I am, that I shoulde answere him, if we come together to iudgement.
- 33
- Neyther is there any vmpire that might lay his hand vpon vs both.
- 34
- Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his feare astonish me:
- 35
- Then will I speake, & feare him not: but because I am not so, I holde me still.
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