14 With the light ariseth the murderer ;

He killeth the poor and needy;

In the night he is a thief.

15 The eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight; He saith, "No eye will see me,"

And putteth a mask upon his face. 16 In the dark they break into houses;

In the daytime they shut themselves up;

They avoid the light.

17 The morning is to them the very shadow of death;

They are familiar with the terrors of midnight darkness.

18 They are swift as the skiff upon the waters;

19

.

They have an accursed portion in the earth;
They come not near the vineyards.

As drought and heat consume the snow waters,

So doth the grave the wicked.

20 His own mother forgetteth him;

The worm is sweet unto him;

He is no more remembered;

The unrighteous man is broken like a tree.

21 He oppresseth the barren, that hath not borne, And doth not good to the widow.

22 He taketh away the mighty by his power;

He riseth up, and no one is sure of life.

23 God giveth them security, in which they trust, And his eyes are upon their ways.

24 They are exalted,—in a little while they are gone! They are brought low, and die, like all others;

Cut off, like ripened ears of corn.

25 If it be not so, who will confute me,

And shew my discourse to be worthless?

1

2

CHAP. XXV.

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said:

Dominion and fear are with Him;

He maintaineth peace in his high places. 3 Is there any numbering of his armies? And upon whom doth not his light arise? 4 How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure, that is born of woman? 5 Behold! even the moon shineth not,

And the stars are not pure in his sight.

6 How much less man, a worm! And the son of man, a reptile!

CHAP. XXVI.

1 Then Job answered, and said:

2

How hast thou helped the weak,

And strengthened the feeble arm?

3 How hast thou counselled the ignorant?

And what wonderful wisdom hast thou shewn ?

4 To whom hast thou uttered these words, And whose spirit spake through thee?

5

Departed spirits beneath tremble;

The waters, and their inhabitants.

6 Hades is naked before him;

And Destruction hath no covering.

7 He stretcheth out the North over empty space, And hangeth the earth upon nothing.

8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, And the cloud is not rent under them.

9 He covereth the face of his throne,

And spreadeth his clouds upon it.

10 He hath drawn a circular bound upon the waters,

To the confines of light and darkness.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble,

And are confounded at his rebuke.

12 By his power he stirreth up the sea,

And by his wisdom he smiteth its pride. 13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the Northern Serpent. 14 Lo! these are but the borders of his works; How faint the whisper we have heard of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?

CHAP. XXVII. XXVIII.

1

2

Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said,

As God liveth, who hath rejected my cause,
And the Almighty, who hath afflicted my soul;

3 As long as I have life within me,

And the breath imparted by God in my nostrils, 4 Never shall my lips speak falsehood,

Nor my tongue utter deceit.

5 God forbid that I should acknowledge you to be just; To my last breath will I assert my integrity.

6 I will hold fast my innocence, and not let it go; My heart reproacheth me for no part of my life.

7 May mine enemy be as the wicked,

And he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous!

8 For what is the hope of the wicked, when God bringeth

him to the grave,

And taketh away his soul?

9 Will he listen to his cry,

When trouble cometh upon him?

10 Can he delight himself in the Almighty, And call at all times upon God?

11

I will teach you concerning the hand of God; That which is with the Almighty I will not conceal. 12 Behold! ye yourselves have all seen it;

Why then do ye cherish such vain thoughts? 13 This is the portion of the wicked man from God;

The inheritance, which oppressors receive from the Almighty.

14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword;

And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15 Those of them that escape shall be buried by Death, And their widows shall not bewail them.

16 Though he heap up silver as dust,

And procure raiment as clay,—

17 He may procure, but the righteous shall wear it, And the innocent shall share the silver.

18 He buildeth his house like the moth,

Or like the shed, which the watchman maketh. 19 The rich man lieth down, and is not buried; In the twinkling of an eye he is taken away.

20 Terrors pursue him like a flood;

A tempest stealeth him away in the night.

21 The East wind carrieth him away, and he perisheth; Yea, it hurleth him out of his place.

22 God sendeth his arrows at him, and doth not spare; He would fain escape from his hand.

23 Men clap their hands at him,

And hiss him out of his place.

XXVIII.1 Truly there is a vein for silver,

And a place for gold which men refine.

2 Iron is taken out of the earth,

And stone is melted into copper.

3 Man putteth an end to darkness;

He searcheth to the lowest depths,

Even to the stone of darkness and the shadow of death. 4 From the foot of the mountain they open a passage; Unsupported by the feet

They descend, they move away from men.

5 The earth, out of which cometh bread, Is torn up underneath, as it were by fire. 6 Her stones are the place of sapphires, And her dust is gold for man.

7 The path thereto no bird knoweth,

And the vulture's eye hath not seen it; 8 The fierce wild beast hath not trodden it; The lion hath not passed over it.

9 Man layeth his hand upon the rock;

He upturneth mountains from their roots. 10 He causeth streams to break out among the rocks, And his eye seeth every precious thing;

11 He stoppeth the oozing of the streams,

12

And bringeth hidden things to light.

But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13 Man knoweth not the price thereof;

Nor can it be found in the land of the living.

14 The deep saith, It is not in me;

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

15 It cannot be gotten for gold,

Nor shall silver be weighed out as the price thereof. 16 It cannot be purchased with the gold of Ophir, With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17 Gold and crystal are not to be compared with it; Nor can it be purchased with jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of crystal, For wisdom is more precious than pearls.