CHAPTER IIII

THEN Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said,

F

I'

we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou
grieved?

But who can withhold himselfe from speaking?
Beholde, Thou hast instructed many,

And thou hast strengthened the weake hands.
Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
And thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest,
It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

Is not this thy feare, thy confidence;

The uprightnesse of thy wayes and thy hope?

CHAPTER
IIII

Eliphaz reprooveth Iob be for want of religion.

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? He teacheth

Or where were the righteous cut off?

Even as I have seene, they that plow iniquity,

And sow wickednesse, reape the same.

By the blast of God they perish,

And by the breath of his nostrils1 are they consumed.

The roaring of the Lyon, and the voice of the fierce Lyon,
And the teeth of the yong Lyons are broken.

The old Lyon perisheth for lacke of pray,

And the stout Lyons whelpes are scattered abroad.
Nowe a thing was secretly brought to me,
And mine eare received a litle thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deepe sleepe falleth on men:
Feare came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face:

The haire of my flesh stood up.

It stood still, but I could not discerne the forme thereof:

An image was before mine eyes,

There was silence, and I heard a voyce, saying,

Shall mortall man be more iust then God?

Shall a man bee more pure then his maker?

Behold, hee put no trust in his servants;

And his Angels hee charged with folly:

Howe much lesse on them that dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,

1 That is, by his anger.

Gods iudgements to bee not for the righteous, but for the wicked.

His fearefull vision, to

humble the excellencie of Creatures before God.

CHAPTER
IIII

The harme of inconsideration.

The ende of the wicked is misery.

God is to be regarded in affliction.

Which are crushed before the moth.

They are destroyed from morning to evening:
They perish for ever, without any regarding it.

Doeth not their excellencie which is in them, goe away?
They die, even without wisedome.

CA

CHAPTER V

that wil answere thee,

ALL now, if there be
any
And to which of the Saints wilt thou turne?
For wrath killeth the foolish man,
And envy slayeth the silly one.

I have seene the foolish taking roote:
But suddenly I cursed his habitation.
His children are farre from safetie,
And they are crushed in the gate,
Neither is there any to deliver them.
Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,
And taketh it even out of the thorns,

And the robber swalloweth up their substance.
Although affliction commeth not forth of the dust,
Neither doeth trouble spring out of the ground:
Yet man is borne unto trouble,

As the sparkes flie upward.

I would seeke unto God,

And unto God would I commit my cause:
Which doth great things and unsearchable:
Marvellous things without number.
Who giveth raine upon the earth,

And sendeth waters upon the fields:

To set up on high those that be low;

That those which mourne, may be exalted to safetie.

Hee disappointeth the devices of the craftie,

So that their hands cannot performe their enterprise.

He taketh the wise in their owne craftinesse :

And the counsell of the froward is caried headlong.

They meete with darkenesse in the day time,

And grope in the noone day as in the night.

But he saveth the poore from the sword, from their mouth,
And from the hand of the mightie.

So the poore hath hope,

And iniquitie stoppeth her mouth.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth :

Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almightie. CHAPTER

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up:

He woundeth, and his hands make whole.
Hee shall deliver thee in sixe troubles,
Yea in seven there shall no evill touch thee.
In famine he shall redeeme thee from death:
And in warre from the power of the sword.

Thou shalt be hidde from the scourge of the tongue :
Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction, when

it commeth.

At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh:

Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field:
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall bee in

peace;

And thou shalt visite thy habitation, and shalt not sinne.
Thou shalt know also that thy seede shalbe great,

And thine offspring as the grasse of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,

Like as a shocke of corne commeth in, in his season.
Loe this, wee have searched it, so it is;

Heare it, and know thou it for thy good.

V The happy ende of Gods correction.

CHAPTER VI

BUT Iob answered, and sayd,

H that my griefe were throughly weighed,

And calamitie layd in the balances together.
my

For now it would be heavier then the sand of the sea,

Therefore my words are swallowed up.1

For the arrowes of the Almightie are within me,

The poyson whereof drinketh up my spirit:

The terrors of God doe set themselves in aray against mee.

Doeth the wilde asse bray when he hath grasse?

Or loweth the oxe over his fodder?

Can that which is unsavery, bee eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egge?

The things that my soule refused to touch,

Are as my sorrowfull meat.

O that I might have my request!

And that God would graunt mee the thing that I long for!

1 That is, I want words to expresse my griefe.

Iob sheweth that his complaints are not causelesse.

CHAPTER
VI

Hee wisheth
for death,
wherein he

is assured of comfort.

He reprooveth his friends of unkindnesse.

Even that it would please God to destroy mee,
That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off.
Then should I yet have comfort,

Yea I would harden my selfe in sorrow; let him not spare,
For I have not concealed the words of the holy One.
What is my strength, that I should hope?

And what is mine ende, that I should prolong my life?
Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh of brasse?

Is not my helpe in me?

And is wisedome driven quite from me?

To him that is afflicted, pitie should be shewed from his friend;

But he forsaketh the feare of the Almighty.

My brethren have delt deceitfully as a brooke,
And as the streame of brookes they passe away,
Which are blackish by reason of the yce,

And wherein the snow is hid:

What time they waxe warme, they vanish:

When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

The pathes of their way are turned aside;

They goe to nothing, and perish.

The troupes of Tema looked,

The companies of Sheba waited for them.

They were confounded because they had hoped;

They came thither, and were ashamed.

For now ye are nothing;

Ye see my casting downe, and are afraid.

Did I say, Bring unto mee?

Or give a reward for me of your substance?

Or deliver me from the enemies hand,

Or redeeme me from the hand of the mighty?

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue:

And cause mee to understand wherein I have erred.

How forcible are right wordes?

But what doeth your arguing reprove?

Do ye imagine to reprove words,

And the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as winde?

Yea, ye overwhelme the fatherlesse,

And you digge a pit for your friend.

Now therefore be content, looke upon mee,

For it is evident unto you, if I lie.

Returne, I pray you, let it not be iniquitie;
Yea returne againe: my righteousnesse is in it.1
Is there iniquitie in my tongue?

Cannot my taste discerne perverse things?

I

CHAPTER VII

S there not an appointed time to man upon earth?
Are not his dayes also like the dayes of an hireling?
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow,

And as an hireling looketh for the reward of his worke:
So am I made to possesse moneths of vanitie,
And wearisome nights are appointed to me.
When I lie downe, I say,

When shall I arise, and the night be gone?

And I am full of tossings to and fro, unto the dawning

of the day.

My flesh is cloathed with wormes and clods of dust,

My skinne is broken, and become loathsome.

My dayes are swifter then a weavers shuttle,

And are spent without hope.

O remember that my life is winde:

Mine eye shall no more see2 good.

The eye of him that hath seene me, shall see mee no more:
Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.3

As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away:

So he that goeth downe to the grave, shall come up no

more.

Hee shall returne no more to his house:

Neither shall his place know him any more.
Therefore I will not refraine my mouth,
I wil speake in the anguish of my spirit,

I will complaine in the bitternesse of my soule.
Am I a sea, or a whale,

That thou settest a watch over me?
When I say, My bed shal comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint:
Then thou skarest mee with dreames,
And terrifiest me through visions.
So that my soule chooseth strangling:
And death rather then my life.

1 That is, in this matter.

2 To see, that is, to enjoy.

3 That is, I can live no longer.

CHAPTER

VI

Iob excuseth his desire

of death.

He complaineth of his owne restlesnesse,

3: B

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