Introduction
Introduction to Iyov (The Book of Job)
Narrative Framework and Textual Scope
This volume preserves the profound cosmic framework and existential dialogue of Iyov (The Book of Job), situated within a distinct Hebraic Messianic Nazarene structural design. Tracking the absolute trial, systemic stripping, and final restoration of a blameless patriarch residing in the ancient land of Ausis (Uz), the text serves as a primary text-critical tool for examining the mystery of righteous suffering and divine sovereignty. Rendered directly from the historic public-domain translation template of Sir Lancelot Brenton's 1851 Greek Septuagint (LXX), this edition provides textual researchers with an uncompromised control text that follows the ancient Alexandrian manuscript line. A defining feature of this Septuagint witness is its preservation of a significantly fuller narrative scope than standard medieval Masoretic recensions. This structural distinction is most apparent in Chapter 2, which preserves the extensive, agonizing lamentation of Iyov's wife as she wanders from house to house waiting for the sun to set, and the detailed genealogical epilogue in Chapter 42 identifying Iyov with the Edomite monarch Jobab, the fifth generation from Avraham (Abraham). In alignment with the editorial framework of the Ivri Heritage Bible series, the text restores original bilingual technical and covenantal vocabulary. The narrative frame utilizes the four-letter divine Name, rendered as Yahuah, while the internal poetic dialogues switch dynamically between Elohim (God) and the ancient patriarchal title El Shaddai (the Almighty). Key technical terms—such as Nefesh (soul), Kavod (glory), Beriyt (covenant), Yeshuah (salvation), and She'ol (the grave)—are preserved alongside their English glosses at first occurrence to highlight the structural early Second-Temple theology of the text. Key Thematic Movements The narrative progression and deep philosophical disputes of Iyov unfold across five distinct movements: 1. The Heavenly Council and the Sudden Stripping (Chapters 1–2:8) The account opens by establishing the exceptional moral and economic pedigree of Iyov, the wealthiest noble among the men of the East, who continually offers morning sin-offerings for the Nefesh of his ten children out of concern for their interior thoughts before Elohim. The narrative framework rapidly shifts to the invisible realm as the angels of Elohim assemble before Yahuah, with the devil appearing among them after walking up and down in the world. Yahuah highlights Iyov’s absolute blamelessness,
2
prompting the Adversary to challenge the patriarch's motives, claiming his piety is merely a product of protective hedges and material prosperity. Granted restricted leave to touch Iyov's possessions, the devil orchestrates a catastrophic series of four simultaneous disasters. Spoilers, supernatural fire from heaven, and a desert whirlwind completely annihilate his herds, his husbandry, his servants, and his children. Iyov responds with liturgical mourning, shaving his head, prostrating himself on the earth, and declaring the baseline theological posture of the volume: "Yahuah gave, Yahuah has taken away... blessed be the name of Yahuah." In a second celestial council, the devil demands access to the patriarch's physical body ("Skin for skin"), and Yahuah surrenders his flesh while strictly commanding the preservation of his life. Smitten from head to foot with malignant boils, Iyov retreats to a dung-heap outside the city, scraping the discharge with a potsherd. 2. The Wife's Lament and the Seven-Day Silence (Chapters 2:9–3) As months pass in open-air corruption, the text introduces the extensive speech of Iyov's wife, who tracks her own secondary trauma as a displaced wanderer and servant, lamenting the absolute erasure of her womb's memorial from the earth and urging him to say some final word against Yahuah and die. Iyov rebukes her as mimicking the foolish women, asserting that those who receive good from Yahuah must equally endure evil. Three international sovereigns—Eliphaz the king of the Thæmans, Baldad sovereign of the Saucheans, and Sophar king of the Minæans—convene by mutual agreement to comfort him. Unrecognizing from a distance, they weep openly, rend their garments, and maintain an absolute, seven-day sacramental silence, paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of his affliction. Iyov breaks the silence by cursing the day of his birth and the night of his conception, begging for the shadow of death to clear it from the calendar. He voices a deep longing for the absolute quiet of She'ol, framing the grave as an equitable sanctuary where kings, counselors, and tired slaves rest together, free from the exactor's voice, and demands to know why light is forcibly imposed on a Nefesh trapped in bitter grief. 3. The Alternating Cycle of Retributive Dispute (Chapters 4–31) The core of the book comprises three intense cycles of debate, pitting the rigid, traditional retributive theology of the three friends against Iyov's raw experiential reality:
3
Eliphaz the Thæmanite opens the defense of divine justice, claiming that the pure-hearted never utterly perish and that the wicked always reap the sorrow they plow. Recounting a terrifying night vision where a formless spirit declared that no mortal can be pure before Yahuah, Eliphaz urges Iyov to accept the corrective chastening of El Shaddai, who breaks and binds up, promising that submission will restore his house to Shalom. Iyov counters that his grief outweighs the sand of the sea, complaining that the poisoned arrows of Yahuah are piercing his body and that his friends have failed him like a desert brook that dries up in the summer heat. Baldad the Sauchite takes a harsher line, explicitly stating that if Iyov's children perished, it was a direct consequence of their own transgressions. He compares the wicked to a waterless rush that withers on the root, insisting that Yahuah will never reject a harmless man. Iyov replies by magnifying Yahuah's unsearchable cosmic power—shaking the earth's pillars, sealing the stars, and walking the waves—but laments that because Yahuah is not a man, there is no human mediator or umpire capable of standing between them to hear the cause. Sophar the Minæan delivers a sharp personal attack, labeling Iyov a fluent speaker filled with empty words and praying that Yahuah would actively speak to expose his double guilt. He asserts that the secrets of El Shaddai are deeper than She'ol, demanding that Iyov lift clean hands to purge his tent. Iyov mocks their insularity ("Ye alone are men, and wisdom shall die with you"), noting that the beasts, birds, and fish clearly understand that the hand of Yahuah executes all things. Driven to absolute alienation, Iyov turns his face upward to reason directly with the Sovereign, declaring that even if the Mighty One slays him, he will maintain his integrity before Him, crying out: "My witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high." Out of the depths of his corrupt flesh, he utters the book's great prophetic hope: "I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me, and to raise up my skin upon the earth." After delivering a sweeping final defense of his character—swearing a comprehensive Beriyt with his eyes and calling down systematic curses upon his own land, harvest, and life if he had ever defrauded the poor, the widow, or the orphan—the text states: "And Iyov ceased speaking." 4. The Intrusion of the Young Elius (Chapters 32–37) As the three elders fall silent because Iyov remains stubbornly righteous in his own eyes, a younger bystander, Elius (Elihu) the Buzite, breaks in with intense anger. He rebukes the elders for failing to provide a logical refutation and condemns Iyov for actively justifying himself before Yahuah. Declaring that wisdom is not a function of advanced age but is driven by the Ruach (the Spirit) in mortals and the direct inspiration of El Shaddai, Elius compares his interior compulsion to a bursting wine-skin.
4
He challenges Iyov’s claim of absolute purity, maintaining that Yahuah speaks to humanity through multiple methods—including nocturnal warnings and the deep discipline of a sickbed—to rescue the Nefesh from the pit. Vindicating the absolute justice of the Creator, Elius demands: "Far be it from El Shaddai to pervert righteousness." He points out that human sin or human righteousness adds nothing to and takes nothing from the Most High, as these elements only impact fellow mortals. Elius terminates his discourse with an awe-stricken description of a rapidly approaching storm, celebrating Yahuah's wonderful thunder, His governance over snow, frost, and swirling gold clouds from the north, and declaring that the wise in heart must fear the unsearchable Kavod of the Almighty. 5. The Voice from the Whirlwind and the Double Restoration (Chapters 38–42) The text reaches its narrative climax as Yahuah breaks His silence, answering Iyov directly out of the whirlwind and clouds. The Sovereign demands that the patriarch gird his loins like a man, unleashing a massive torrent of cosmic questions that completely decenter human perspective. Yahuah demands to know where Iyov was when the earth's cornerstones were laid amid the shouting of the morning stars, who shut up the sea with bars, who commands the dawn, and whether he possesses the capacity to bind the cluster of the Pleias or loose the barrier of Orion. The divine oracle passes through a panoramic review of the animal kingdom—tracking the mountain goats, the untamed wild ass, the heedless ostrich, and the war-horse who laughs at the sword at the sound of the Shofar—exposing the limits of human knowledge. Yahuah then explicitly unveils the two supreme peaks of His creative architecture: Behemoth, the chief of creation made to be played with by angels, who eats grass like an ox and faces the rushing Jordan without fear; and Leviathan, the king over all the children of pride, whose scales are brazen plates, who breathes out live coals, and who makes the deep ocean boil like a caldron. Struck by this unmediated encounter, Iyov collapses in self-loathing, placing his hand over his mouth and repenting in literal dust and ashes: "I have heard the report of thee by the ear... but now mine eye has seen thee." The book closes as Yahuah turns His wrath against the three friends for failing to speak the truth, commanding them to take sacrifices to Iyov. Yahuah accepts Iyov’s intercessory prayer on their behalf, forgives their sin, and immediately double-restores the patriarch's economic substance. Surrounded by his returning kinfolk, Iyov fathers seven new sons and three daughters—noted as the fairest women in the world—living an additional 170 years to see the fourth generation, dying full of days under the explicit Septuagint promise that he will rise again with those whom Yahuah raises up.
5
Comparative Manuscript Value
For scholars focused on the evolution of eschatological thought within early Hebraic communities, the Septuagint rendering of Iyov is an essential resource. By explicitly retaining patriarchal titles like El Shaddai alongside a highly detailed angelological framework, this edition demonstrates the antiquity of the text's core traditions. Most critically, the unique textual preservation in Chapter 42:18 regarding Iyov's post-mortem resurrection marks this manuscript as an invaluable text-critical bridge linking early patriarchal narratives directly with Second-Temple resurrection theology.
Chapter 1 Iyov the blameless of Utz, richest of the men of the east; the Adversary, before Elyon, is given leave to strip him — and in one day his herds, his avadim, and his children perish, yet he worships: 'baruch be the name of Elyon'
1
There was a certain man in the land of Utz (Uz), whose name was Iyov (Job); and that man was true, blameless, tzaddik (righteous), and godly, abstaining from everything ra (evil).
2
And he had sheva (seven) banim (sons) and shalosh (three) banot (daughters).
3
And his cattle consisted of sheva thousand sheep, shalosh thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses in the pastures, and a very great household, and he had a great husbandry on the eretz (the earth); and that man was most noble of the men of the east.
4
And his banim visiting one another prepared a banquet every day, taking with them also their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
5
And when the days of the banquet were completed, Iyov sent and purified them, having risen up in the morning, and offered korbanot (offerings) for them, according to their number, and one calf for a sin-offering for their nefesh (soul): for Iyov said, Lest peradventure my banim have thought ra in their minds against Elohim (God). Thus then Iyov did continually.
6
And it came to pass on a day, that, behold, the malachim (angels) of Elohim came to stand before Elyon (Most High), and ha-Satan (the Adversary) came with them.
7
And Elyon said to ha-Satan, Whence art thou come? And ha-Satan answered Elyon, and said, I am come from compassing the eretz, and walking up and down in the world.
8
And Elyon said to him, Hast thou diligently considered my eved (servant) Iyov, that there is none like him on the eretz, a man blameless, true, godly, abstaining from everything ra?
9
Then ha-Satan answered, and said before Elyon, Does Iyov worship Elyon for nothing?
10
Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his household, and all his possessions round about? and hast thou not barach (bless) the works of his hands, and multiplied his cattle upon the land?
11
But put forth thine hand, and touch all that he has: verily he will barach thee to thy face.
12
Then Elyon said to ha-Satan, Behold, I give into thine hand all that he has, but touch not himself. So ha-Satan went out from the presence of Elyon.
13
And it came to pass on a certain day, that Iyov's banim and his banot were drinking wine in the bayit (house) of their elder brother.
14
And, behold, there came a messenger to Iyov, and said to him, The yokes of oxen were ploughing, and the she-asses were feeding near them;
15
and the spoilers came and took them for a prey, and slew the avadim with the sword; and I having escaped alone am come to tell thee.
16
While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger, and said to Iyov, Fire has fallen from heaven, and burnt up the sheep, and devoured the shepherds likewise; and I having escaped alone am come to tell thee.
17
While he was yet speaking, there came another messenger, and said to Iyov, The horsemen formed three companies against us, and surrounded the camels, and took them for a prey, and slew the avadim with the sword; and I only escaped, and am come to tell thee.
18
While he is yet speaking, another messenger comes, saying to Iyov, While thy banim and thy banot were eating and drinking with their elder brother,
19
suddenly a great wind came on from the desert, and caught the four corners of the bayit, and the bayit fell upon thy children, and they are dead; and I have escaped alone, and am come to tell thee.
20
So Iyov arose, and rent his garments, and shaved the hair of his head, and fell on the eretz, and worshipped,
21
and said, I myself came forth naked from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Elyon gave, Elyon has taken away: as it seemed tov (good) to Elyon, so has it come to pass; baruch be the name of Elyon.
22
In all these events that befell him Iyov sinned not at all before Elyon, and did not impute folly to Elohim.
Chapter 2 A second time the Adversary stands before Elyon and is given leave to touch Iyov's flesh; smitten with boils, he sits upon the dung-heap, refuses his wife's counsel to curse and die, and his three friends come from afar to mourn with him seven days in silence
1
And it came to pass on a certain day, that the malachim of Elohim came to stand before Elyon, and ha-Satan came among them to stand before Elyon.
2
And Elyon said to ha-Satan, Whence comest thou? Then ha-Satan said before Elyon, I am come from going through the world, and walking about the whole eretz.
3
And Elyon said to ha-Satan, Hast thou then observed my eved Iyov, that there is none of men upon the eretz like him, a harmless, true, blameless, godly man, abstaining from all ra? and he yet cleaves to innocence, whereas thou hast told me to destroy his substance without cause?
4
And ha-Satan answered and said to Elyon, Skin for skin, all that a man has will he give as a ransom for his life.
5
Nay, but put forth thine hand, and touch his bones and his flesh: verily he will barach thee to thy face.
6
And Elyon said to ha-Satan, Behold, I deliver him up to thee; only save his life.
7
So ha-Satan went out from Elyon, and smote Iyov with sore boils from his feet to his head.
8
And he took a potsherd to scrape away the discharge, and sat upon a dung-heap outside the city.
9
And when much time had passed, his wife said to him, How long wilt thou hold out, saying,
10
Behold, I wait yet a little while, expecting the hope of my deliverance?
11
for, behold, thy memorial is abolished from the eretz, even thy banim and banot, the pangs and pains of my womb which I bore in vain with sorrows;
12
and thou thyself sittest down to spend the nights in the open air among the corruption of worms,
13
and I am a wanderer and a eved from place to place and bayit to bayit, waiting for the setting of the sun, that I may rest from my labours and my pangs which now beset me:
14
but say some word against Elyon, and die.
15
But he looked on her, and said to her, Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women. If we have received tov things of the hand of Elyon, shall we not endure ra things? In all these things that happened to him, Iyov sinned not at all with his lips before Elohim.
16
Now his shalosh friends having heard of all the ra that was come upon him, came to him each from his own country: Eliphaz king of Teiman (Thaeman), Bildad (Baldad) sovereign of Shuach (Shuah), Tzophar (Sophar) king of Na'amah (Naamah): and they came to him with one accord, to comfort and to visit him.
17
And when they saw him from a distance they did not know him; and they cried with a loud voice, and wept, and rent every one his garment, and sprinkled dust upon their heads,
18
and they sat down beside him sheva days and sheva nights, and no one of them spoke; for they saw that his affliction was dreadful and very great.
Chapter 3 Iyov breaks his silence and curses the day of his birth — longing for the darkness of the grave where the weary are at rest, and asking why light is given to those who are in bitterness
1
After this Iyov opened his mouth, and cursed his day,
2
saying,
3
Let the day perish in which I was born, and that night in which they said, Behold a man-child!
4
Let that night be darkness, and let not Elyon regard it from above, neither let light come upon it.
5
But let darkness and the shadow of death seize it; let blackness come upon it;
6
let that day and night be cursed, let darkness carry them away; let it not come into the days of the year, neither let it be numbered with the days of the months.
7
But let that night be pain, and let not mirth come upon it, nor joy.
8
But let him that curses that day curse it, even he that is ready to attack Livyatan (Leviathan).
9
Let the stars of that night be darkened; let it remain dark, and not come into light; and let it not see the morning star arise:
10
because it shut not up the gates of my mother's womb, for so it would have removed sorrow from my eyes.
11
For why died I not in the belly? and why did I not come forth from the womb and die immediately?
12
And why did the knees support me? and why did I suck the breasts?
13
Now I should have lain down and been quiet, I should have slept and been at rest,
14
with kings and councilors of the eretz, who gloried in their swords;
15
or with rulers, whose gold was abundant, who filled their batim (houses) with silver:
16
or I should have been as an untimely birth proceeding from his mother's womb, or as infants who never saw light.
17
There the ungodly have burnt out the fury of rage; there the wearied in body rest.
18
And the men of old time have together ceased to hear the exactor's voice.
19
The small and great are there, and the eved that feared his lord.
20
For why is light given to those who are in bitterness, and life to the nefesh (souls) which are in griefs?
21
who desire death, and obtain it not, digging for it as for treasures;
22
and would be very joyful if they should gain it?
23
Death is rest to such a man, for Elohim has hedged him in.
24
For my groaning comes before my food, and I weep being beset with terror.
25
For the terror of which I meditated has come upon me, and that which I had feared has befallen me.
26
I was not at Shalom (peace), nor quiet, nor had I rest; yet wrath came upon me.
Chapter 4 Eliphaz ha-Teimani answers: the innocent do not perish, but the wicked reap what they sow — and he tells of a night vision and a voice, 'Shall a mortal be pure before Elyon?'
1
Then Eliphaz ha-Teimani (the Thaemanite) answered and said,
2
Hast thou been often spoken to in distress? but who shall endure the force of thy words?
3
For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one,
4
and hast supported the failing with words, and hast imparted courage to feeble knees.
5
Yet now that pain has come upon thee, and touched thee, thou art troubled.
6
Is not thy fear founded in folly, thy hope also, and the mischief of thy way?
7
Remember then who has perished, being pure? or when were the true-hearted utterly destroyed?
8
Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.
9
They shall perish by the command of Elyon, and shall be utterly consumed by the breath of his wrath.
10
The strength of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the exulting cry of serpents are quenched.
11
The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions' whelps have forsaken one another.
12
But if there had been any Emet (truth) in thy words, none of these ra'ot (evils) would have befallen thee. Shall not mine ear receive excellent revelations from him?
13
But as when terror falls upon men, with dread and a sound in the night,
14
horror and trembling seized me, and caused all my bones greatly to shake.
15
And a spirit came before my face; and my hair and flesh quivered.
16
I arose and perceived it not: I looked, and there was no form before my eyes: but I only heard a breath and a voice, saying,
17
What, shall a mortal be pure before Elyon? or a man be blameless in regard to his works?
18
Whereas he trusts not in his avadim (servants), and perceives perverseness in his malachim (angels).
19
But as for them that dwell in batim (houses) of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.
20
And from morning to evening they no longer exist: they have perished, because they cannot help themselves.
21
For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of Chokmah (wisdom).
Chapter 5 Eliphaz continues: folly destroys the foolish; better to commit one's cause to Elyon, who wounds and heals — for barach is the man whom El Shaddai chastens, and delivered, his bayit shall be at Shalom
1
But call, if any one will hearken to thee, or if thou shalt see any of the kadosh (holy) malachim.
2
For wrath destroys the foolish one, and envy slays him that has gone astray.
3
And I have seen foolish ones taking root: but suddenly their habitation was devoured.
4
Let their children be far from safety, and let them be crushed at the doors of vile men, and let there be no deliverer.
5
For what they have collected, the just shall eat; but they shall not be delivered out of calamities: let their strength be utterly exhausted.
6
For labour cannot by any means come out of the eretz, nor shall trouble spring out of the mountains:
7
yet man is born to labour, and even so the vulture's young seek the high places.
8
Nevertheless I will beseech Elyon, and will call upon Elyon, the sovereign of all;
9
who does great things and untraceable, glorious things also, and marvelous, of which there is no number:
10
who gives rain upon the eretz, sending water on the eretz:
11
who exalts the lowly, and raises up them that are lost:
12
frustrating the counsels of the crafty, and their hands shall not perform the Emet:
13
who takes the wise in their Chokmah, and subverts the counsel of the crafty.
14
In the day darkness shall come upon them, and let them grope in the noon-day even as in the night:
15
and let them perish in war, and let the weak escape from the hand of the mighty.
16
And let the weak have hope, but the mouth of the unjust be stopped.
17
But baruch is the man whom Elyon has reproved; and reject not thou the chastening of El Shaddai (the Almighty).
18
For he causes a man to be in pain, and restores him again: he smites, and his hands heal.
19
Six times he shall deliver thee out of distresses: and in the seventh harm shall not touch thee.
20
In famine he shall deliver thee from death: and in war he shall free thee from the power of the sword.
21
He shall hide thee from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not be afraid of coming ra'ot (evils).
22
Thou shalt laugh at the unrighteous and the lawless: and thou shalt not be afraid of wild beasts.
23
For the wild beasts of the field shall be at Shalom with thee.
24
Then shalt thou know that thy bayit (house) shall be at Shalom, and the provision for thy ohel (tent) shall not fail.
25
And thou shalt know that thy seed shall be abundant; and thy children shall be like the herbage of the field.
26
And thou shalt come to the grave like ripe corn reaped in its season, or as a heap of the corn-flour collected in proper time.
27
Behold, we have thus sought out these matters; these are what we have heard: but do thou reflect with thyself, if thou hast done anything wrong.
Chapter 6 Iyov answers Eliphaz: his grief outweighs the sand of the sea, the arrows of Elyon are in him; he longs to be crushed rather than deny the words of Elohim, and reproaches his friends, who have failed him like a brook that dries in summer
1
But Iyov answered and said,
2
Oh that one would indeed weigh the wrath that is upon me, and take up my griefs in a balance together!
3
And verily they would be heavier than the sand by the seashore: but, as it seems, my words are vain.
4
For the arrows of Elyon are in my body, whose violence drinks up my blood: whenever I am going to speak, they pierce me.
5
What then? will the wild ass bray for nothing, if he is not seeking food? or again, will the ox low at the manger, when he has fodder?
6
Shall bread be eaten without salt? or again, is there taste in empty words?
7
For my wrath cannot cease; for I perceive my food as the smell of a lion to be loathsome.
8
For oh that he would grant my desire, and my petition might come, and Elyon would grant my hope!
9
Let Elyon begin and wound me, but let him not utterly destroy me.
10
Let the grave be my city, upon the walls of which I have leaped: I will not shrink from it; for I have not denied the kadosh words of my Elohim.
11
For what is my strength, that I continue? what is my time, that my nefesh endures?
12
Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
13
Or have I not trusted in him? but help is far from me.
14
Mercy has rejected me; and the visitation of Elyon has disregarded me.
15
My nearest relations have not regarded me; they have passed me by like a failing brook, or like a wave.
16
They who used to reverence me, now have come against me like snow or congealed ice.
17
When it has melted at the approach of heat, it is not known what it was.
18
Thus I also have been deserted of all; and I am ruined, and become an outcast.
19
Behold the ways of the Teimanim (Thaemanites), ye that mark the paths of the Sheva'im (Sabaeans).
20
They too that trust in cities and riches shall come to shame.
21
But ye also have come to me without pity; so that beholding my wound ye are afraid.
22
What? have I made any demand of you? or do I ask for strength from you,
23
to deliver me from enemies, or to rescue me from the hand of the mighty ones?
24
Teach ye me, and I will be silent: if in anything I have erred, tell me.
25
But as it seems, the words of a true man are vain, because I do not ask strength of you.
26
Neither will your reproof cause me to cease my words, for neither will I endure the sound of your speech.
27
Even because ye attack the fatherless, and insult your friend.
28
But now, having looked upon your countenances, I will not lie.
29
Sit down now, and let there not be unrighteousness; and unite again with the just.
30
For there is no injustice in my tongue; and does not my throat meditate understanding?
Chapter 7 Iyov likens man's life to a hireling's hard service and a fleeting breath; covered with worms and sleepless, he cries out to Elohim — why set a watch over him, scare him with dreams, and not pardon his sin before he goes down to the dust?
1
Is not the life of man upon eretz a state of trial? and his existence as that of a hireling by the day?
2
Or as a eved that fears his master, and one who has grasped a shadow? or as a hireling waiting for his pay?
3
So have I also endured months of vanity, and nights of pain have been appointed me.
4
Whenever I lie down, I say, When will it be day? and whenever I rise up, again I say when will it be evening? and I am full of pains from evening to morning.
5
And my body is covered with loathsome worms; and I waste away, scraping off clods of dust from my eruption.
6
And my life is lighter than a word, and has perished in vain hope.
7
Remember then that my life is breath, and mine eye shall not yet again see tov.
8
The eye of him that sees me shall not see me again: thine eyes are upon me, and I am no more.
9
I am as a cloud that is cleared away from the sky: for if a man go down to the grave, he shall not come up again:
10
and he shall surely not return to his own bayit, neither shall his place know him anymore.
11
Then neither will I refrain my mouth: I will speak being in distress; being in anguish I will disclose the bitterness of my nefesh.
12
Am I a sea, or a serpent, that thou hast set a watch over me?
13
I said that my bed should comfort me, and I would privately counsel with myself on my couch.
14
Thou scarest me with dreams, and dost terrify me with visions.
15
Thou wilt separate life from my spirit; and yet keep my bones from death.
16
For I shall not live forever, that I should patiently endure: depart from me, for my life is vain.
17
For what is man, that thou hast magnified him? or that thou givest heed to him?
18
Wilt thou visit him till the morning, and judge him till the time of rest?
19
How long dost thou not let me alone, nor let me go, until I shall swallow down my spittle?
20
If I have sinned, what shall I be able to do, O thou that understands the mind of men? why hast thou made me as thine accuser, and why am I a burden to thee?
21
Why hast thou not forgotten my iniquity, and purged my sin? but now I shall depart to the eretz; and in the morning, I am no more.
Chapter 8 Bildad ha-Shuchi answers: Elyon does not pervert justice; let Iyov seek El Shaddai early and be pure, and his latter end will be great — for the hope of the ungodly, like a rush without water, must wither and perish
1
Then Bildad ha-Shuchi (the Sauchite) answered, and said,
2
How long wilt thou speak these things, how long shall the breath of thy mouth be abundant in words?
3
Will Elyon be unjust when he judges; or will he that has made all things pervert justice?
4
If thy banim have sinned before him, he has cast them away because of their transgression.
5
But be thou early in prayer to Elyon El Shaddai.
6
If thou art pure and true, he will hearken to thy supplication, and will restore to thee the habitation of tzedakah (righteousness).
7
Though then thy beginning should be small, yet thy end should be unspeakably great.
8
For ask of the former generation, and search diligently among the race of our fathers:
9
(for we are of yesterday, and know nothing; for our life upon the eretz is a shadow:)
10
shall not these teach thee, and report to thee, and bring out words from their heart?
11
Does the rush flourish without water, or shall the flag grow up without moisture?
12
When it is yet on the root, and though it has not been cut down, does not any herb wither before it has received moisture?
13
Thus then shall be the end of all that forget Elyon: for the hope of the ungodly shall perish.
14
For his bayit shall be without inhabitants, and his tent shall prove a spider's web.
15
If he should prop up his bayit, it shall not stand: and when he has taken hold of it, it shall not remain.
16
For it is moist under the sun, and his branch shall come forth out of his dung-heap.
17
He lies down upon a gathering of stones, and shall live in the midst of flints.
18
If Elohim should destroy him, his place shall deny him. Hast thou not seen such things,
19
that such is the overthrow of the ungodly? and out of the eretz another shall grow.
20
For Elyon will by no means reject the harmless man; but he will not receive any gift of the ungodly.
21
But he will fill with laughter the mouth of the sincere, and their lips with thanksgiving.
22
But their adversaries shall clothe themselves with shame; and the habitation of the ungodly shall perish.
Chapter 9 Iyov replies: how can a mortal be just before Elyon, who moves mountains, seals up the stars, and stretches out the heavens? None can call Him to account — and Iyov longs for a mediator to stand between them and hear the cause
1
Then Iyov answered and said,
2
I know of a truth that it is so: for how shall a mortal man be just before Elyon?
3
For if he would enter into judgment with him, Elohim would not hearken to him, so that he should answer to one of his charges of a thousand.
4
For he is wise in mind, and mighty, and great: who has hardened himself against him and endured?
5
Who wears out the mountains, and men know it not: who overturns them in anger.
6
Who shakes the eretz under heaven from its foundations, and its pillars totter.
7
Who commands the sun, and it rises not; and he seals up the stars.
8
Who alone has stretched out the heavens, and walks on the sea as on firm ground.
9
Who makes Kimah (the Pleiades), and Kesil (Orion), and Ash (the Bear), and the chambers of the south.
10
Who does great and unsearchable things; glorious also and excellent things, innumerable.
11
If ever he should go beyond me, I shall not see him: if he should pass by me, neither thus have I known it.
12
If he would take away, who shall turn him back? or who shall say to him, What hast thou done?
13
For if he has turned away his anger, the whales under heaven have stooped under him.
14
Oh then that he would hearken to me, or judge my cause.
15
For though I be tzaddik (righteous), he will not hearken to me: I will intreat his judgment.
16
And if I should call and he should not hearken, I cannot believe that he has listened to my voice.
17
Let him not crush me with a dark storm: but he has made my bruises many without cause.
18
For he suffers me not to take breath, but he has filled me with bitterness.
19
For indeed he is strong in power: who then shall resist his judgment?
20
For though I should seem tzaddik, my mouth will be profane: and though I should seem blameless, I shall be proved perverse.
21
For even if I have sinned, I know it not in my nefesh: but my life is taken away.
22
Wherefore I said, Wrath slays the great and mighty man.
23
For the worthless die, but the tzaddik are laughed to scorn.
24
For they are delivered into the hands of the unrighteous man: he covers the faces of the judges of the eretz: but if it be not he, who is it?
25
But my life is swifter than a post: my days have fled away, and they knew it not.
26
Or again, is there a trace of their path left by ships? or is there one of the flying eagle as it seeks its prey?
27
And if I should say, I will forget to speak, I will bow down my face and groan;
28
I quake in all my limbs, for I know that thou wilt not leave me alone as innocent.
29
But since I am ungodly, why have I not died?
30
For if I should wash myself with snow, and purge myself with pure hands,
31
thou hadst thoroughly plunged me in filth, and my garment had abhorred me.
32
For thou art not man like me, with whom I could contend, that we might come together to judgment.
33
Would that he our mediator were present, and a reprover, and one who should hear the cause between both.
34
Let him remove his rod from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
35
so shall I not be afraid, but I will speak: for I am not thus conscious of guilt.
Chapter 10 Weary in his nefesh, Iyov contends with Elohim who formed him — poured out like milk, clothed with skin and flesh — asking why the One who made and preserved him now hunts him, and pleading for a little rest before he goes to the land of darkness
1
Weary in my nefesh, I will pour my words with groans upon him: I will speak being straitened in the bitterness of my nefesh.
2
And I will say to Elyon, Do not teach me to be impious; and wherefore hast thou thus judged me?
3
Is it tov before thee if I be unrighteous? for thou hast disowned the work of thy hands, and attended to the counsel of the ungodly.
4
Or dost thou see as a mortal sees? or wilt thou look as a man sees?
5
Or is thy life human, or thy years the years of a man,
6
that thou hast enquired into mine iniquity, and searched out my sins?
7
For thou knows that I have not committed iniquity: but who is he that can deliver out of thy hands?
8
Thy hands have formed me and made me; afterwards thou didst change thy mind, and smite me.
9
Remember that thou hast made me as clay, and thou dost turn me again to eretz.
10
Hast thou not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11
And thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh, and frame me with bones and sinews.
12
And thou didst bestow upon me life and mercy, and thy oversight has preserved my spirit.
13
Having these things in thyself, I know that thou canst do all things; for nothing is impossible with thee.
14
And if I should sin, thou watches me; and thou hast not cleared me from iniquity.
15
Or if I should be ungodly, woe is me: and if I should be tzaddik, I cannot lift myself up, for I am full of dishonor.
16
For I am hunted like a lion for slaughter; for again thou hast changed and art terribly destroying me;
17
renewing against me my torture: and thou hast dealt with me in great anger, and thou hast brought trials upon me.
18
Why then didst thou bring me out of the womb? and why did I not die, and no eye see me,
19
and I become as if I had not been? for why was I not carried from the womb to the grave?
20
Is not the time of my life short? suffer me to rest a little,
21
before I go whence I shall not return, to a land of darkness and gloominess;
22
to a land of perpetual darkness, where there is no light, neither can anyone see the life of mortals.
Chapter 11 Tzophar ha-Na'amati answers sharply: would that Elyon would speak and expose Iyov's guilt, for the deep things of El Shaddai are higher than heaven and deeper than She'ol; yet if Iyov puts away iniquity, his life shall rise like the morning and Shalom shall dawn
1
Then Tzophar ha-Na'amati (the Minæan) answered and said,
2
He that speaks much, should also hear on the other side: or does the fluent speaker think himself to be tzaddik? barach is the short-lived offspring of woman.
3
Be not a speaker of many words; for is there none to answer thee?
4
For say not, I am pure in my works, and blameless before him.
5
But oh that Elyon would speak to thee, and open his lips with thee!
6
Then shall he declare to thee the power of Chokmah; for it shall be double of that which is with thee: and then shalt thou know, that a just recompence of thy sins has come to thee from Elyon.
7
Wilt thou find out the traces of Elyon? or hast thou come to the end of that which El Shaddai has made?
8
Heaven is high; and what wilt thou do? and there are deeper things than those in She'ol (Sheol); what dost thou know?
9
Or longer than the measure of the eretz, or the breadth of the sea.
10
And if he should overthrow all things, who will say to him, What hast thou done?
11
For he knows the works of transgressors; and when he sees wickedness, he will not overlook it.
12
But man vainly buoys himself up with words; and a mortal born of woman is like an ass of the desert.
13
For if thou hast made thine heart pure, and liftest up thine hands towards him;
14
if there is any iniquity in thy hands, put it far from thee, and let not unrighteousness lodge in thy habitation.
15
For thus shall thy countenance shine again, as pure water; and thou shalt divest thyself of uncleanness, and shalt not fear.
16
And thou shalt forget trouble, as a wave that has passed by; and thou shalt not be scared.
17
And thy prayer shall be as the morning star, and life shall arise to thee as from the noon-day.
18
And thou shalt be confident, because thou hast hope; and Shalom shall dawn to thee from out of anxiety and care.
19
For thou shalt be at ease, and there shall be no one to fight against thee; and many shall charge, and make supplication to thee.
20
But safety shall fail them; for their hope is destruction, and the eyes of the ungodly shall waste away.
Chapter 12 Iyov answers that Chokmah is not theirs alone — the beasts and birds know that the hand of Elyon made all; with Him are Chokmah and power, who leads counsellors captive, sends Kohanim away, and pours contempt on princes
1
And Iyov answered and said,
2
So then ye alone are men, and Chokmah shall die with you?
3
But I also have a heart as well as you.
4
For a tzaddik and blameless man has become a subject for mockery.
5
For it had been ordained that he should fall under others at the appointed time, and that his batim should be spoiled by transgressors: let not however any one trust that, being ra, he shall be held guiltless,
6
even as many as provoke Elyon, as if there were indeed to be no inquisition made of them.
7
But ask now the beasts, if they may speak to thee; and the birds of the air, if they may declare to thee.
8
Tell the eretz, if it may speak to thee: and the fishes of the sea shall explain to thee.
9
Who then has not known in all these things, that the hand of Elyon has made them?
10
Whereas the life of all living things is in his hand, and the breath of every man.
11
For the ear tries words, and the palate tastes meats.
12
In length of time is Chokmah, and in long life knowledge.
13
With him are Chokmah and power, with him counsel and understanding.
14
If he should cast down, who will build up? if he should shut up against men, who shall open?
15
If he should withhold the water, he will dry the eretz: and if he should let it loose, he overthrows and destroys it.
16
With him are strength and power: he has knowledge and understanding.
17
He leads counsellors away captive, and maddens the judges of the eretz.
18
He seats kings upon thrones, and girds their loins with a girdle.
19
He sends away Kohanim (priests) into captivity, and overthrows the mighty ones of the eretz.
20
He changes the lips of the trusty, and he knows the understanding of the elders.
21
He pours dishonor upon princes, and heals the lowly.
22
Revealing deep things out of darkness: and he has brought into light the shadow of death.
23
Causing the nations to wander, and destroying them: overthrowing the nations, and leading them away.
24
Perplexing the minds of the princes of the eretz: and he causes them to wander in a way they have not known, saying,
25
Let them grope in darkness, and let there be no light, and let them wander as a drunken man.
Chapter 13 Iyov turns from his friends, worthless physicians, to reason directly with Elyon: 'Though the Mighty One should lay hand upon me, verily I will speak' — for this shall turn to him for Yeshuah; and he asks Elohim to show him his sins and to lift His terror
1
Behold, mine eye has seen these things, and mine ear has heard them.
2
And I know all that ye too know; and I have not less understanding than you.
3
Nevertheless I will speak to Elyon, and I will reason before him, if he will.
4
But ye are all bad physicians, and healers of diseases.
5
But would that ye were silent, and it would be Chokmah to you in the end.
6
But hear ye the reasoning of my mouth, and attend to the judgment of my lips.
7
Do ye not speak before Elyon, and utter deceit before him?
8
Or will ye draw back? nay, do ye yourselves be judges.
9
For it were well if he would thoroughly search you: for though doing all things in your power ye should attach yourselves to him,
10
he will not reprove you at all the less: but if moreover ye should secretly respect persons,
11
shall not his whirlpool sweep you round, and terror from him fall upon you?
12
And your glorying shall prove in the end to you like ashes, and your body like a body of clay.
13
Be silent, that I may speak, and cease from mine anger,
14
while I may take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.
15
Though the Mighty One should lay hand upon me, forasmuch as he has begun, verily I will speak, and plead before him.
16
And this shall turn to me for Yeshuah (salvation); for fraud shall have no entrance before him.
17
Hear, hear ye my words, for I will declare in your hearing.
18
Behold, I am near my judgment: I know that I shall appear evidently just.
19
For who is he that shall plead with me, that I should now be silent, and expire?
20
But grant me two things: then I will not hide myself from thy face.
21
Withhold thine hand from me: and let not thy fear terrify me.
22
Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: or thou shalt speak, and I will give thee an answer.
23
How many are my sins and my transgressions? teach me what they are.
24
Wherefore hidest thou thyself from me, and deemest me thine enemy?
25
Wilt thou be startled at me, as at a leaf shaken by the wind? or wilt thou set thyself against me as against grass borne upon the breeze?
26
For thou hast written ra things against me, and thou hast compassed me with the sins of my youth.
27
And thou hast placed my foot in the stocks; and thou hast watched all my works, and hast penetrated to my heels.
28
I am as that which waxes old like a bottle, or like a moth-eaten garment.
Chapter 14 Man born of woman is short-lived, a fading flower and a passing shadow; a felled tree may sprout again at the scent of water, but the dead do not wake till the heavens dissolve — yet Iyov dares to hope: 'if a man should die, shall he live again?'
1
For a mortal born of a woman is short-lived, and full of wrath.
2
Or he falls like a flower that has bloomed; and he departs like a shadow, and cannot continue.
3
Hast thou not taken account even of him, and caused him to enter into judgment before thee?
4
For who shall be pure from uncleanness? not even one;
5
if even his life should be but one day upon the eretz: and his months are numbered by him: thou hast appointed him for a time, and he shall by no means exceed it.
6
Depart from him, that he may be quiet, and take pleasure in his life, though as a hireling.
7
For there is hope for a tree, even if it should be cut down, that it shall blossom again, and its branch shall not fail.
8
For though its root should grow old in the eretz, and its stem die in the rock;
9
it will blossom from the scent of water, and will produce a crop, as one newly planted.
10
But a man that has died is utterly gone; and when a mortal has fallen, he is no more.
11
For the sea wastes in length of time, and a river fails and is dried up.
12
And man that has lain down in death shall certainly not rise again till the heaven be dissolved, and they shall not awake from their sleep.
13
For oh that thou hadst kept me in the grave, and hadst hidden me until thy wrath should cease, and thou shouldest set me a time in which thou wouldest remember me!
14
For if a man should die, shall he live again, having accomplished the days of his life? I will wait till I exist again?
15
Then shalt thou call, and I will hearken to thee: but do not thou reject the work of thine hands.
16
But thou hast numbered my devices: and not one of my sins shall escape thee?
17
And thou hast sealed up my transgressions in a bag, and marked if I have been guilty of any transgression unawares.
18
And verily a mountain falling will utterly be destroyed, and a rock shall be worn out of its place.
19
The waters wear the stones, and waters falling headlong overflow a heap of the eretz: and thou destroy the hope of man.
20
Thou drives him to an end, and he is gone: thou settest thy face against him, and sendest him away;
21
and though his children be multiplied, he knows it not; and if they be few, he is not aware.
22
But his flesh is in pain, and his nefesh mourns.
Chapter 15 Eliphaz answers a second time, more sharply: Iyov casts off fear and vents his rage before Elyon; no mortal is pure, and He trusts not even His kadosh ones — then he portrays the ceaseless terror and ruin of the ungodly who defies El Shaddai
1
Then Eliphaz ha-Teimani answered and said,
2
Will a wise man give for answer a mere breath of Chokmah? and does he fill up the pain of his belly,
3
reasoning with improper sayings, and with words wherein is no profit?
4
Hast not thou moreover cast-off fear, and accomplished such words before Elyon?
5
Thou art guilty by the words of thy mouth, neither hast thou discerned the words of the mighty.
6
Let thine own mouth, and not me, reprove thee: and thy lips shall testify against thee.
7
What! art thou the first man that was born? or wert thou established before the hills?
8
Or hast thou heard the ordinance of Elyon? or has Elohim used thee as his counsellor? and has Chokmah come only to thee?
9
For what knows thou, that we know not? or what understands thou, which we do not also?
10
Truly among us are both the old and very aged man, more advanced in days than thy father.
11
Thou hast been scourged for but few of thy sins: thou hast spoken haughtily and extravagantly.
12
What has thine heart dared? or what have thine eyes aimed at,
13
that thou hast vented thy rage before Elyon, and delivered such words from thy mouth?
14
For who, being a mortal, is such that he shall be blameless? or, who that is born of a woman, that he should be just?
15
Forasmuch as he trusts not his kadosh ones; and the heaven is not pure before him.
16
Alas then, abominable and unclean is man, drinking unrighteousness as a draught.
17
But I will tell thee, hearken to me; I will tell thee now what I have seen;
18
things wise men say, and their fathers have not hidden.
19
To them alone the eretz was given, and no stranger came upon them.
20
All the life of the ungodly is spent in care, and the years granted to the oppressor are numbered.
21
And his terror is in his ears: just when he seems to be at Shalom, his overthrow will come.
22
Let him not trust that he shall return from darkness, for he has been already made over to the power of the sword.
23
And he has been appointed to be food for vultures; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcase: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.
24
Distress also and anguish shall come upon him: he shall fall as a captain in the first rank.
25
For he has lifted his hands against Elyon, and he has hardened his neck against Elyon El Shaddai.
26
And he has run against him with insolence, on the thickness of the back of his shield.
27
For he has covered his face with his fat, and made layers of fat upon his thighs.
28
And let him lodge in desolate cities, and enter into batim without inhabitant: and what they have prepared, others shall carry away.
29
Neither shall he at all grow rich, nor shall his substance remain: he shall not cast a shadow upon the eretz.
30
Neither shall he in any wise escape the darkness: let the wind blast his blossom, and let his flower fall off.
31
Let him not think that he shall endure; for his end shall be vanity.
32
His harvest shall perish before the time, and his branch shall not flourish.
33
And let him be gathered as the unripe grape before the time, and let him fall as the blossom of the olive.
34
For death is the witness of an ungodly man, and fire shall burn the batim of them that receive gifts.
35
And he shall conceive sorrows, and his end shall be vanity, and his belly shall bear deceit.
Chapter 16 Iyov answers: 'poor comforters are ye all' — Elohim has worn him out and delivered him to the unrighteous; yet, though beset and weeping, he appeals upward — 'my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high' — that a man might plead before Elyon
1
But Iyov answered and said,
2
I have heard many such things: poor comforters are ye all.
3
What! is there any reason in vain words? or what will hinder thee from answering?
4
I also will speak as ye do: if indeed your nefesh were in my nefesh's stead, then would I insult you with words, and I would shake my head at you.
5
And would there were strength in my mouth, and I would not spare the movement of my lips.
6
For if I should speak, I shall not feel the pain of my wound: and if I should be silent, how shall I be wounded the less?
7
But now he has made me weary, and a worn-out fool; and thou hast laid hold of me.
8
My falsehood has become a testimony, and has risen up against me: it has confronted me to my face.
9
In his anger he has cast me down; he has gnashed his teeth upon me: the weapons of his robbers have fallen upon me.
10
He has attacked me with the keen glances of his eyes; with his sharp spear he has smitten me down upon my knees; and they have run upon me with one accord.
11
For Elyon has delivered me into the hands of unrighteous men, and thrown me upon the ungodly.
12
When I was at Shalom he distracted me: he took me by the hair of the head, and plucked it out: he set me up as a mark.
13
They surrounded me with spears, aiming at my reins: without sparing me they poured out my gall upon the ground.
14
They overthrew me with fall upon fall: they ran upon me in their might.
15
They sewed sak (sackcloth) upon my skin, and my strength has been spent on the ground.
16
My belly has been parched with wailing, and darkness is on my eyelids.
17
Yet there was no injustice in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
18
Earth, cover not over the blood of my flesh, and let my cry have no place.
19
And now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.
20
Let my supplication come to Elyon, and let mine eye weep before him.
21
Oh that a man might plead before Elyon, even as the son of man with his neighbor!
22
But my years are numbered and their end come, and I shall go by the way by which I shall not return.
Chapter 17 Iyov, made a byword and mocked, feels his life carried away by the wind; his days are spent, his hope failing — for if he waits, She'ol is his bayit, and he has called corruption his mother and sister
1
I perish, carried away by the wind, and I seek for burial, and obtain it not.
2
Weary I intreat; and what have I done? and strangers have stolen my goods.
3
Who is this? let him join hands with me.
4
For thou hast hid their heart from Chokmah; therefore, thou shalt not exalt them.
5
He shall promise mischief to his companions: but their eyes have failed for their children.
6
But thou hast made me a byword among the nations, and I am become a scorn to them.
7
For my eyes are dimmed through pain; I have been grievously beset by all.
8
Wonder has seized true men upon this; and let the just rise up against the transgressor.
9
But let the faithful hold on his own way, and let him that is pure of hands take courage.
10
Howbeit, do ye all strengthen yourselves and come now, for I do not find Emet in you.
11
My days have passed in groaning, and my heart-strings are broken.
12
I have turned the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.
13
For if I remain, She'ol is my habitation: and my bed has been made in darkness.
14
I have called upon death to be my father, and corruption to be my mother and sister.
15
Where then is yet my hope? or where shall I see my tov?
16
Will they go down with me to She'ol, or shall we go down together to the tomb?
Chapter 18 Bildad answers a second time, describing the doom of the ungodly: his light quenched, his steps snared, his roots dried up, his memorial perished from the eretz — 'this is the place of them that know not Elyon'
1
Then Bildad ha-Shuchi answered and said,
2
How long wilt thou continue? forbear, that we also may speak.
3
For wherefore have we been silent before thee like brutes?
4
Anger has possessed thee: for what if thou shouldest die; would the eretz under heaven be desolate? or shall the mountains be overthrown from their foundations?
5
But the light of the ungodly shall be quenched, and their flame shall not go up.
6
His light shall be darkness in his habitation, and his lamp shall be put out with him.
7
Let the meanest of men spoil his goods, and let his counsel deceive him.
8
His foot also has been caught in a snare, and let it be entangled in a net.
9
And let snares come upon him: he shall strengthen those that thirst for his destruction.
10
His snare is hid in the eretz, and that which shall take him is by the path.
11
Let pains destroy him round about, and let many enemies come about him,
12
vex him with distressing hunger: and a signal destruction has been prepared for him.
13
Let the soles of his feet be devoured: and death shall consume his beauty.
14
And let health be utterly banished from his ohel (tabernacle), and let distress seize upon him with a charge from the king.
15
It shall dwell in his ohel in his night: his excellency shall be sown with brimstone.
16
His roots shall be dried up from beneath, and his crop shall fall away from above.
17
Let his memorial perish out of the eretz, and his name shall be publicly cast out.
18
Let one drive him from light into darkness.
19
He shall not be known among his people, nor his bayit preserved on the eretz.
20
But strangers shall dwell in his possessions: the last groaned for him, and wonder seized the first.
21
These are the batim of the unrighteous, and this is the place of them that know not Elyon.
Chapter 19 Iyov answers: it is Elyon who has wronged him, stripped him of his Kavod, and turned kin, friends, and avadim against him; yet out of utter abandonment he confesses the book's great hope — 'I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me, and to raise up my skin upon the eretz'
1
Then Iyov answered and said,
2
How long will ye vex my nefesh, and destroy me with words? only know that Elyon has dealt with me thus.
3
Ye speak against me; ye do not feel for me, but bear hard upon me.
4
Yea verily, I have erred in truth, (but the error abides with myself)
5
in having spoken words which it was not right to speak; and my words err, and are unseasonable.
6
But alas! for ye magnify yourselves against me, and insult me with reproach.
7
Know then that it is Elyon that has troubled me, and has raised his bulwark against me.
8
Behold, I laugh at reproach; I will not speak: or I will cry out, but there is nowhere judgment.
9
I am fenced round about, and can by no means escape: he has set darkness before my face.
10
And he has stripped me of my Kavod (glory), and has taken the crown from my head.
11
He has torn me round about, and I am gone: and he has cut off my hope like a tree.
12
And he has dreadfully handled me in anger, and has counted me for an enemy.
13
His troops also came upon me with one accord, liers in wait compassed my ways.
14
My brethren have stood aloof from me; they have recognised strangers rather than me: and my friends have become pitiless.
15
My nearest of kin have not acknowledged me, and they that knew my name, have forgotten me.
16
As for my household, and my maid-avadim, I was a stranger before them.
17
I called my eved, and he hearkened not; and my mouth intreated him.
18
And I besought my wife, and earnestly intreated the banim of my concubines.
19
But they rejected me forever; whenever I rise up, they speak against me.
20
They that saw me abhorred me: the very persons whom I had loved, rose up against me.
21
My flesh is corrupt under my skin, and my bones are held in my teeth.
22
Pity me, pity me, O friends; for it is the hand of Elyon that has touched me.
23
Wherefore do ye persecute me as also Elyon does, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
24
For oh that my words were written, and that they were recorded in a book forever,
25
with an iron pen and lead, or graven in the rocks!
26
For I know that he is eternal who is about to deliver me,
27
and to raise up upon the eretz my skin that endures these sufferings: for these things have been accomplished to me of Elyon;
28
which I am conscious of in myself, which mine eye has seen, and not another, but all have been fulfilled to me in my bosom.
29
But if ye shall also say, What shall we say before him, and so find the root of the matter in him?
30
Do ye also beware of deceit: for wrath will come upon transgressors; and then shall they know where their substance is.
Chapter 20 Tzophar answers a second time: the triumph of the wicked is brief as a dream; though ra be sweet in his mouth, it turns to the gall of asps within him — his ill-gotten wealth vomited up, and heaven and eretz rising against him: 'this is the portion of an ungodly man from Elyon'
1
Then Tzophar ha-Na'amati answered and said,
2
I did not suppose that thou wouldest answer thus: neither do ye understand more than I.
3
I will hear my shameful reproach; and the spirit of my understanding answers me.
4
Hast thou not known these things of old, from the time that man was set upon the eretz?
5
But the mirth of the ungodly is a signal downfall, and the joy of transgressors is destruction:
6
although his gifts should go up to heaven, and his sacrifice reach the clouds.
7
For when he shall seem to be now established, then he shall utterly perish: and they that knew him shall say, Where is he?
8
Like a dream that has fled away, he shall not be found; and he has fled like a vision of the night.
9
The eye has looked upon him, but shall not see him again; and his place shall no longer perceive him.
10
Let his inferiors destroy his children, and let his hands kindle the fire of sorrow.
11
His bones have been filled with vigor of his youth, and it shall lie down with him in the dust.
12
Though ra be sweet in his mouth, though he will hide it under his tongue;
13
though he will not spare it, and will not leave it, but will keep it in the midst of his throat:
14
yet he shall not at all be able to help himself; the gall of an asp is in his belly.
15
His wealth unjustly collected shall be vomited up; a messenger of wrath shall drag him out of his bayit.
16
And let him suck the poison of serpents, and let the serpent's tongue slay him.
17
Let him not see the milk of the pastures, nor the supplies of honey and butter.
18
He has labored unprofitably and in vain, for wealth of which he shall not taste: it is as a lean thing, unfit for food, which he cannot swallow.
19
For he has broken down the batim of many mighty men: and he has plundered an habitation, though he built it not.
20
There is no security to his possessions; he shall not be saved by his desire.
21
There is nothing remaining of his provisions; therefore, his goods shall not flourish.
22
But when he shall seem to be just satisfied, he shall be straitened; and all distress shall come upon him.
23
If by any means he would fill his belly, let Elohim send upon him the fury of wrath; let him bring a torrent of pains upon him.
24
And he shall by no means escape from the power of the sword; let the brazen bow wound him.
25
And let the arrow pierce through his body; and let the stars be against his dwelling-place: let terrors come upon him.
26
And let all darkness wait for him: a fire that burns not out shall consume him; and let a stranger plague his bayit.
27
And let the heaven reveal his iniquities, and the eretz rise up against him.
28
Let destruction bring his bayit to an end; let a day of wrath come upon him.
29
This is the portion of an ungodly man from Elyon, and the possession of his goods appointed him by the all-seeing Elohim.
Chapter 21 Iyov challenges the friends' doctrine: the wicked often live long, grow rich, and die at ease, saying to Elyon, 'Depart from me' — the same dust covers the prosperous and the bitter alike; so their tidy comfort is in vain
1
But Iyov answered and said,
2
Hear ye, hear ye my words, that I may not have this consolation from you.
3
Raise me, and I will speak; then ye shall not laugh me to scorn.
4
What! is my reproof of man? and why should I not be angry?
5
Look upon me, and wonder, laying your hand upon your cheek.
6
For even when I remember, I am alarmed, and pains seize my flesh.
7
Wherefore do the ungodly live, and grow old even in wealth?
8
Their seed is according to their desire, and their children are in their sight.
9
Their batim are prosperous, neither have they any where cause for fear, neither is there a scourge from Elyon upon them.
10
Their cow does not cast her calf, and their beast with young is safe, and does not miscarry.
11
And they remain as an unfailing flock, and their children play before them, taking up the psaltery and harp;
12
and they rejoice at the voice of a song.
13
And they spend their days in wealth, and fall asleep in the rest of the grave.
14
Yet such a man says to Elyon, Depart from me; I desire not to know thy ways.
15
What is the Mighty One, that we should serve him? and what profit is there that we should approach him?
16
For their tov things were in their hands, but he regards not the works of the ungodly.
17
Nevertheless, the lamp of the ungodly also shall be put out, and destruction shall come upon them, and pangs of vengeance shall seize them.
18
And they shall be as chaff before the wind, or as dust which the storm has taken up.
19
Let his substance fail to supply his children: Elohim shall recompense him, and he shall know it.
20
Let his eyes see his own destruction, and let him not be saved by Elyon.
21
For his desire is in his bayit with him, and the number of his months has been suddenly cut off.
22
Is it not Elyon who teaches understanding and knowledge? and does not he judge murders?
23
One shall die in his perfect strength, and wholly at ease and prosperous;
24
and his inwards are full of fat, and his marrow is diffused throughout him.
25
And another dies in bitterness of nefesh, not eating any tov thing.
26
But they lie down in the eretz together, and corruption covers them.
27
So I know you, that ye presumptuously attack me:
28
so that ye will say, Where is the bayit of the prince? and where is the covering of the ohalim (tabernacles) of the ungodly?
29
Ask those that go by the way, and do not disown their tokens.
30
For the wicked hastens to the day of destruction: they shall be led away for the day of his vengeance.
31
Who will tell him his way to his face, whereas he has done it? who shall recompense him?
32
And he has been led away to the tombs, and he has watched over the heaps.
33
The stones of the valley have been sweet to him, and every man shall depart after him, and there are innumerable ones before him.
34
How then do ye comfort me in vain? whereas I have no rest from your molestation.
Chapter 22 Eliphaz answers a third time, now charging Iyov with specific sins against the poor, the widow, and the orphan; he urges him to return and humble himself before Elyon, that El Shaddai may be his helper and light return to his paths
1
Then Eliphaz ha-Teimani answered and said,
2
Is it not Elyon that teaches understanding and knowledge?
3
For what matters it to Elyon, if thou wert blameless in thy works? or is it profitable that thou shouldest perfect thy way?
4
Wilt thou maintain and plead thine own cause? and will he enter into judgment with thee?
5
Is not thy wickedness abundant, and thy sins innumerable?
6
And thou hast taken security of thy brethren for nothing, and hast taken away the clothing of the naked.
7
Neither hast thou given water to the thirsty to drink, but hast taken away the morsel of the hungry.
8
And thou hast accepted the persons of some; and thou hast established those that were already settled on the eretz.
9
But thou hast sent widows away empty, and hast afflicted orphans.
10
Therefore snares have compassed thee, and disastrous war has troubled thee.
11
The light has proved darkness to thee, and water has covered thee on thy lying down.
12
Does not he that dwells in the high places observe? and has he not brought down the proud?
13
And thou hast said, What does the Mighty One know? does he judge in the dark?
14
A cloud is his hiding-place, and he shall not be seen; and he passes through the circle of heaven.
15
Wilt thou not mark the old way, which tzaddik men have trodden?
16
who were seized before their time: their foundations are as an overflowing stream.
17
Who say, What will Elyon do to us? or what will El Shaddai bring upon us?
18
Yet he filled their batim with tov things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from him.
19
The tzaddik have seen it, and laughed, and the blameless one has derided them.
20
Verily their substance has been utterly destroyed, and the fire shall devour what is left of their property.
21
Be firm, I pray thee, if thou canst endure; then thy fruit shall prosper.
22
And receive a declaration from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.
23
And if thou shalt turn and humble thyself before Elyon, thou hast thus removed unrighteousness far from thy habitation.
24
Thou shalt lay up for thyself treasure in a heap on the rock; and Ofir (Ophir) shall be as the rock of the torrent.
25
So El Shaddai shall be thy helper from enemies, and he shall bring thee forth pure as silver that has been tried by fire.
26
Then shalt thou have boldness before Elyon, looking up cheerfully to heaven.
27
And he shall hear thee when thou prays to him, and he shall grant thee power to pay thy vows.
28
And he shall establish to thee again a habitation of tzedakah and there shall be light upon thy paths.
29
Because thou hast humbled thyself; and thou shalt say, Man has behaved proudly, but he shall save him that is of lowly eyes.
30
He shall deliver the innocent, and do thou save thyself by thy pure hands.
Chapter 23 Iyov longs to find Elohim and set his case before Him, sure of acquittal — for Emet and reproof are from Him, and He has tried Iyov as gold; yet He is hidden, and Elyon has softened his heart while El Shaddai has filled him with dread
1
Then Iyov answered and said,
2
Yea, I know that pleading is out of my reach; and his hand has been made heavy upon my groaning.
3
Who would then know that I might find him, and come to an end of the matter?
4
And I would plead my own cause, and he would fill my mouth with arguments.
5
And I would know the remedies which he would speak to me, and I would perceive what he would tell me.
6
Though he should come on me in his great strength, then he would not threaten me;
7
for Emet and reproof are from him; and he would bring forth my judgment to an end.
8
For if I shall go first, and exist no longer, still what do I know concerning the latter end?
9
When he wrought on the left hand, then I observed it not: his right hand shall encompass me but I shall not see it.
10
For he knows already my way; and he has tried me as gold.
11
And I will go forth according to his commandments, for I have kept his ways; and I shall not turn aside from his commandments,
12
neither shall I transgress; but I have hid his words in my bosom.
13
And if too he has thus judged, who is he that has contradicted, for he has both willed a thing and done it.
14
Therefore am I troubled at him; and when I was reproved, I thought of him.
15
Therefore let me take tov heed before him: I will consider, and be afraid of him.
16
But Elyon has softened my heart, and El Shaddai has troubled me.
17
For I knew not that darkness would come upon me, and thick darkness has covered me before my face.
Chapter 24 Iyov asks why the times of judgment seem hidden from Elyon, and catalogues the hidden crimes of the wicked — who rob the fatherless and the widow, strip the poor naked, and dig through batim in the dark — yet in the end their portion is cursed and they wither away
1
But why have the seasons been hidden from Elyon,
2
while the ungodly have passed over the bound, carrying off the flock with the shepherd?
3
They have led away the ass of the fatherless, and taken the widow's ox for a pledge.
4
They have turned aside the weak from the right way: and the meek of the eretz have hidden themselves together.
5
And they have departed like asses in the field, having gone forth on my account according to their own order: his bread is sweet to his little ones.
6
They have reaped a field that was not their own before the time: the poor have laboured in the vineyards of the ungodly without pay and without food.
7
They have caused many naked to sleep without clothes, and they have taken away the covering of their body.
8
They are wet with the drops of the mountains: they have embraced the rock, because they had no shelter.
9
They have snatched the fatherless from the breast, and have afflicted the outcast.
10
And they have wrongfully caused others to sleep without clothing, and taken away the morsel of the hungry.
11
They have unrighteously laid wait in narrow places, and have not known the tzaddik way.
12
Who have cast forth the poor from the city and their own batim, and the nefesh of the children has groaned aloud.
13
Why then has he not visited these? forasmuch as they were upon the eretz, and took no notice, and they knew not the way of tzedakah, neither have they walked in their appointed paths?
14
But having known their works, he delivered them into darkness: and in the night one will be as a thief:
15
and the eye of the adulterer has watched for the darkness, saying, Eye shall not perceive me, and he puts a covering on his face.
16
In darkness he digs through batim: by day they conceal themselves securely: they know not the light.
17
For the morning is to them all as the shadow of death, for each will be conscious of the terror of the shadow of death.
18
He is swift on the face of the water: let his portion be cursed on the eretz; and let their plants be laid bare.
19
Let them be withered upon the eretz; for they have plundered the sheaves of the fatherless.
20
Then is his sin brought to remembrance, and he vanishes like a vapour of dew: but let what he has done be recompensed to him, and let every unrighteous one be crushed like rotten wood.
21
For he has not treated the barren woman well, and has had no pity on a feeble woman.
22
And in wrath he has overthrown the helpless: therefore, when he has arisen, a man will not feel secure of his own life.
23
When he has fallen sick, let him not hope to recover: but let him perish by disease.
24
For his exaltation has hurt many; but he has withered as mallows in the heat, or as an ear of corn falling off of itself from the stalk.
25
But if not, who is he that says I speak falsely, and will make my words of no account?
Chapter 25 Bildad's brief third answer: dominion and awe belong to Him who makes peace in the highest; before such majesty no mortal can be just, for the very moon and stars are not pure in His sight, and man is but a worm
1
Then Bildad ha-Shuchi answered and said,
2
What beginning or fear is his — even he that makes all things in the highest?
3
For let none think that there is a respite for robbers: and upon whom will there not come a snare from him?
4
For how shall a mortal be just before Elyon? or who that is born of a woman shall purify himself?
5
If he gives an order to the moon, then it shines not; and the stars are not pure before him.
6
But alas! man is corruption, and the son of man a worm.
Chapter 26 Iyov answers with a hymn to the power of Elohim: She'ol is naked before Him; He hangs the eretz upon nothing, binds the waters in the clouds, calms the sea, and slays the apostate dragon — and these are but the outskirts of His ways
1
But Iyov answered and said,
2
To whom dost thou attach thyself, or whom art thou going to assist? is it not he that has much strength, and he who has a strong arm?
3
To whom hast thou given counsel? is it not to him who has all Chokmah? whom wilt thou follow? is it not one who has the greatest power?
4
To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose breath is it that has come forth from thee?
5
Shall giants be born from under the water and the inhabitants thereof?
6
She'ol is naked before him, and destruction has no covering.
7
He stretches out the north wind upon nothing, and he upon nothing hangs the eretz;
8
binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not rent under it.
9
He keeps back the face of his throne, stretching out his cloud upon it.
10
He has encompassed the face of the water by an appointed ordinance, until the end of light and darkness.
11
The pillars of heaven are prostrate and astonished at his rebuke.
12
He has calmed the sea with his might, and by his Chokmah the whale has been overthrown.
13
And the barriers of heaven fear him, and by a command he has slain the apostate dragon.
14
Behold, these are parts of his way; and we will hearken to him at the least intimation of his word: but the strength of his thunder who knows, when he shall employ it?
Chapter 27 Iyov swears by the life of Elohim, who has embittered his nefesh, that he will not justify his accusers nor let go his innocence till he dies; then he declares the portion of the ungodly from El Shaddai — their wealth swept away and themselves driven out
1
And Iyov further continued and said in his parable,
2
As Elohim lives, who has thus judged me; and El Shaddai, who has embittered my nefesh;
3
verily, while my breath is yet in me, and the neshamah (the breath) of Elohim which remains to me is in my nostrils,
4
my lips shall not speak ra words, neither shall my nefesh meditate unrighteous thoughts.
5
Far be it from me that I should justify you till I die; for I will not let go my innocence,
6
but keeping fast to my tzedakah I will by no means let it go: for I am not conscious to myself of having done any thing amiss.
7
Nay rather, but let mine enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and they that rise up against me, as the destruction of transgressors.
8
For what is the hope of the ungodly, that he holds to it? will he indeed trust in Elyon and be saved?
9
Will Elohim hear his prayer? or, when distress has come upon him,
10
has he any confidence before him? or will Elohim hear him as he calls upon him?
11
Yet now I will tell you what is in the hand of Elyon: I will not lie concerning the things which are with El Shaddai.
12
Behold, ye all know that ye are adding vanity to vanity.
13
This is the portion of an ungodly man from Elyon, and the possession of oppressors shall come upon them from El Shaddai.
14
And if their children be many, they shall be for slaughter: and if they grow up, they shall beg.
15
And they that survive of him shall utterly perish, and no one shall pity their widows.
16
Even if he should gather silver as eretz, and prepare gold as clay;
17
all these things shall the tzaddikim gain, and the truehearted shall possess his wealth.
18
And his bayit is gone like moths, and like a spider's web.
19
The rich man shall lie down, and shall not continue: he has opened his eyes, and he is not.
20
Pains have come upon him as water, and darkness has carried him away by night.
21
And a burning wind shall catch him, and he shall depart, and it shall utterly drive him out of his place.
22
And Elohim shall cast trouble upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
23
He shall cause men to clap their hands against them, and shall hiss him out of his place.
Chapter 28 The hymn to Chokmah: man digs silver, gold, and sapphire from the deep places of the eretz, yet Chokmah is not found in the land of the living, nor bought with gold — Elohim alone knows its way and its place, and to man He says, 'Behold, godliness is Chokmah'
1
For there is a place for the silver, whence it comes, and a place for the gold, whence it is refined.
2
For iron comes out of the eretz, and brass is hewn out like stone.
3
He has set a bound to darkness, and he searches out every limit: a stone is darkness, and the shadow of death.
4
There is a cutting off of the torrent by reason of dust: so they that forget the right way are weakened; they are removed from among men.
5
As for the eretz, out of it shall come bread: under it has been turned up as it were fire.
6
Her stones are the place of the sapphire: and her dust supplies man with gold.
7
There is a path, the fowl has not known it, neither has the eye of the vulture seen it:
8
neither have the banim of the proud trodden it, a lion has not passed upon it.
9
He has stretched forth his hand on the sharp rock, and turned up mountains by the roots:
10
and he has interrupted the whirlpools of rivers, and mine eye has seen every precious thing.
11
And he has laid bare the depths of rivers, and has brought his power to light.
12
But whence has Chokmah been discovered? and what is the place of knowledge?
13
A mortal has not known its way, neither indeed has it been discovered among men.
14
The depth said, It is not in me: and the sea said, It is not with me.
15
One shall not give fine gold instead of it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it.
16
Neither shall it be compared with gold of Ofir, with the precious onyx and sapphire.
17
Gold and crystal shall not be equalled to it, neither shall vessels of gold be its exchange.
18
Coral and fine pearl shall not be mentioned: but do thou esteem Chokmah above the most precious things.
19
The topaz of Kush (Ethiopia) shall not be equalled to it; it shall not be compared with pure gold.
20
Whence then is Chokmah found? and of what kind is the place of understanding?
21
It has escaped the notice of every man, and has been hidden from the birds of the sky.
22
Destruction and Death said, We have heard the report of it.
23
Elohim has well ordered the way of it, and he knows the place of it.
24
For he surveys the whole eretz under heaven, knowing the things in the eretz:
25
all that he has made; the weight of the winds, the measures of the water.
26
When he made them, thus he saw and numbered them, and made a way for the pealing of the thunder.
27
Then he saw it, and declared it: he prepared it and traced it out.
28
And he said to man, Behold, godliness is Chokmah; and to abstain from ra is understanding.
Chapter 29 Iyov remembers his former days, when Elohim watched over him — honoured in the gate, eyes to the blind and feet to the lame, father to the helpless, deliverer of the poor — his Kavod fresh, and men waiting on his counsel as the thirsty eretz waits for rain
1
And Iyov continued and said in his parable,
2
Oh that I were as in months past, wherein Elohim preserved me!
3
As when his lamp shone over my head; when by his light I walked through darkness.
4
As when I steadfastly pursued my ways, when Elohim took care of my bayit.
5
When I was very fruitful, and my children were about me;
6
when my ways were moistened with butter, and the mountains flowed for me with milk.
7
When I went forth early in the city, and the seat was placed for me in the streets.
8
The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and all the old men stood up.
9
And the great men ceased speaking, and laid their finger on their mouth.
10
And they that heard me barach me, and their tongue clave to their throat.
11
For the ear heard, and barach me; and the eye saw me, and turned aside.
12
For I saved the poor out of the hand of the oppressor, and helped the fatherless who had no helper.
13
Let the berachah (blessing) of the perishing one come upon me; yea, the mouth of the widow has barach me.
14
Also I put on tzedakah, and clothed myself with judgment like a mantle.
15
I was the eye of the blind, and the foot of the lame.
16
I was the father of the helpless; and I searched out the cause which I knew not.
17
And I broke the jaw-teeth of the unrighteous; I plucked the spoil out of the midst of their teeth.
18
And I said, My age shall continue as the stem of a palm-tree; I shall live a long while.
19
My root was spread out by the water, and the dew would lodge on my crop.
20
My Kavod was fresh in me, and my bow prospered in his hand.
21
Men heard me, and gave heed, and they were silent at my counsel.
22
At my word they spoke not again, and they were very glad whenever I spoke to them.
23
As the thirsty eretz expecting the rain, so they waited for my speech.
24
Were I to laugh on them, they would not believe it; and the light of my face has not failed.
25
I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the midst of warriors, as one comforting mourners.
Chapter 30 But now Iyov is mocked by the basest of men, an outcast's by-word; his skin blackened, his bones burning, he cries to Elohim who answers not — 'thou hast counted me as clay; my portion is in dust and ashes' — and his harp is turned to mourning
1
But now the youngest have laughed me to scorn, now they reprove me in their turn, whose fathers I set at nought; whom I did not deem worthy to be with my shepherd dogs.
2
Yea, why had I the strength of their hands? for them the full term of life was lost.
3
One is childless in want and famine, such as they that fled but lately the distress and misery of drought.
4
Who compass the salt places on the sounding shore, who had salt herbs for their food, and were dishonourable and of no repute, in want of every tov thing; who also ate roots of trees by reason of great hunger.
5
Thieves have risen up against me,
6
whose batim were the caves of the rocks, who lived under the wild shrubs.
7
They will cry out among the rustling bushes.
8
They are banim of fools and vile men, whose name and Kavod are quenched from off the eretz.
9
But now I am their music, and they have me for a by-word.
10
And they stood aloof and abhorred me, and spared not to spit in my face.
11
For he has opened his quiver and afflicted me: they also have cast off the restraint of my presence.
12
They have risen up against me on the right hand of their offspring; they have stretched out their foot, and directed against me the ways of their destruction.
13
My paths are ruined; for they have stripped off my raiment: he has shot at me with his weapons.
14
And he has pleaded against me as he will: I am overwhelmed with pains.
15
My pains return upon me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my safety as a cloud.
16
Even now my life shall be poured forth upon me; and days of anguish seize me.
17
And by night my bones are confounded; and my sinews are relaxed.
18
With great force my disease has taken hold of my garment: it has compassed me as the collar of my coat.
19
And thou hast counted me as clay; my portion is in dust and ashes.
20
And I have cried to thee, but thou hearest me not: but they stood still, and observed me.
21
They attacked me also without mercy: thou hast scourged me with a strong hand.
22
And thou hast put me to grief, and hast cast me away from safety.
23
For I know that death will destroy me: for the eretz is the bayit appointed for every mortal.
24
Oh then that I might lay hands upon myself, or at least ask another, and he should do this for me.
25
Yet I wept over every helpless man; I groaned when I saw a man in distress.
26
But I, when I waited for tov things, behold, days of ra'ot came the more upon me.
27
My belly boiled, and would not cease: the days of poverty prevented me.
28
I went mourning without restraint: and I have stood and cried out in the assembly.
29
I am become a brother of monsters, and a companion of ostriches.
30
And my skin has been greatly blackened, and my bones are burned with heat.
31
My harp also has been turned into mourning, and my song into my weeping.
Chapter 31 Iyov's closing oath of innocence: he made a Beriyt with his eyes, and calls down curses on himself if he has walked in falsehood, wronged eved, widow, or orphan, trusted in gold, worshipped sun or moon, or hidden his sin — 'and Iyov ceased speaking'
1
I made a Beriyt (covenant) with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
2
Now what portion has Elohim given from above? and is there a Nachalah (inheritance) given of the Mighty One from the highest?
3
Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
4
Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
5
But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
6
(for I am weighed in a just balance, and Elyon knows my innocence:)
7
if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;
8
then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the eretz.
9
If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
10
then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
11
For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, in the case of defiling another man's wife.
12
For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
13
And if too I despised the judgment of my eved or my handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
14
what then shall I do if Elyon should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?
15
Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we were formed in the same womb.
16
But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
17
And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart of it to the orphan;
18
(for I nourished them as a father from my youth, and guided them from my mother's womb.)
19
And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
20
and if the poor did not barach me, and their shoulders were not warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
21
if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior to his:
22
let then my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
23
For the fear of Elyon constrained me, and I cannot bear up by reason of his burden.
24
If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
25
and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable treasures:
26
(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not power to continue:)
27
and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
28
let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I should have lied against Elyon.
29
And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
30
let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a by-word among my people in my affliction.
31
And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
32
for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came:)
33
or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
34
(for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare boldly before them:) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:
35
(Oh that I had a hearer,) and if I had not feared the hand of Elyon; and as to the written charge which I had against any one,
36
I would place it as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
37
And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
38
If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
39
and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if too I grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking aught from him:
40
then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Iyov ceased speaking.
Chapter 32 The three friends fall silent, and young Elihu ha-Buzi, angered that Iyov justified himself and that the elders found no answer, breaks in: it is not age but the Ruach in man and the inspiration of El Shaddai that gives Chokmah — and, full of words, he must speak
1
And his shalosh friends also ceased any longer to answer Iyov: for Iyov was tzaddik before them.
2
Then Elihu (Elius) ben Barach'el (Barachiel), ha-Buzi (the Buzite), of the kindred of Ram, of the country of Utz, was angered: and he was very angry with Iyov, because he justified himself before Elyon.
3
And he was also very angry with his shalosh friends, because they were not able to return answers to Iyov, yet set him down for an ungodly man.
4
But Elihu had forborne to give an answer to Iyov, because they were older than he.
5
And Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men; and he was angered in his wrath.
6
And Elihu ha-Buzi ben Barach'el answered and said, I am younger in age, and ye are elder; wherefore I kept silence, fearing to declare to you my own knowledge.
7
And I said, It is not time that speaks, though in many years men know Chokmah:
8
but there is a Ruach (the Spirit) in mortals; and the inspiration of El Shaddai is that which teaches.
9
The long-lived are not wise as such; neither do the aged know judgment.
10
Wherefore I said, Hear me, and I will tell you what I know.
11
Hearken to my words; for I will speak in your hearing, until ye shall have tried the matter with words:
12
and I shall understand as far as you; and, behold, there was no one of you that answered Iyov his words in argument,
13
lest ye should say, We have found that we have added Chokmah to Elyon.
14
And ye have commissioned a man to speak such words.
15
They were afraid, they answered no longer; they gave up their speaking.
16
I waited, (for I had not spoken,) because they stood still, they answered not.
17
And Elihu continued, and said, I will again speak,
18
for I am full of words, for the spirit of my belly destroys me.
19
And my belly is as a skin of sweet wine bound up and ready to burst; or as a brazier's labouring bellows.
20
I will speak, that I may open my lips and relieve myself.
21
For truly I will not be awed because of man, nor indeed will I be confounded before a mortal.
22
For I know not how to respect persons: and if otherwise, even the moths would eat me.
Chapter 33 Elihu reasons with Iyov: formed of the same clay, he speaks by the Ruach of Elohim; Elyon does answer man — by dreams in the night and by the chastening sickbed — to turn him back and ransom his nefesh from the pit, that his life may see the light
1
Howbeit hear, Iyov, my words, and hearken to my speech.
2
For behold, I have opened my mouth, and my tongue has spoken.
3
My heart shall be found pure by my words; and the understanding of my lips shall meditate purity.
4
The Ruach of Elohim is that which formed me, and the neshamah of El Shaddai that which teaches me.
5
If thou canst, give me an answer: wait therefore; stand against me, and I will stand against thee.
6
Thou art formed out of the clay as also I: we have been formed out of the same substance.
7
My fear shall not terrify thee, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee.
8
But thou hast said in mine ears, (I have heard the voice of thy words;) because thou sayest, I am pure, not having sinned;
9
I am blameless, for I have not transgressed.
10
Yet he has discovered a charge against me, and he has reckoned me as an adversary.
11
And he has put my foot in the stocks, and has watched all my ways.
12
For how sayest thou, I am tzaddik, yet he has not hearkened to me? for he that is above mortals is eternal.
13
But thou sayest, Why has he not heard every word of my cause?
14
For when Elyon speaks once, or a second time,
15
sending a dream, or in the meditation of the night; (as when a dreadful alarm happens to fall upon men, in slumberings on the bed:)
16
then opens he the understanding of men: he scares them with such fearful visions:
17
to turn a man from unrighteousness, and he delivers his body from a fall.
18
He spares also his nefesh from death, and suffers him not to fall in war.
19
And again, he chastens him with sickness on his bed, and the multitude of his bones is benumbed.
20
And he shall not be able to take any food, though his nefesh shall desire meat;
21
until his flesh shall be consumed, and he shall shew his bones bare.
22
His nefesh also draws nigh to death, and his life is in She'ol.
23
Though there should be a thousand messengers of death, not one of them shall wound him: if he should purpose in his heart to turn to Elyon, and declare to man his fault, and shew his folly;
24
he will support him, that he should not perish, and will restore his body as fresh plaster upon a wall; and he will fill his bones with marrow.
25
And he will make his flesh tender as that of a babe, and he will restore him among men in his full strength.
26
And he shall pray to Elyon, and his prayer shall be accepted of him; he shall enter with a cheerful countenance, with a full expression of praise: for he will render to men their due.
27
Even then a man shall blame himself, saying, What kind of things have I done? and he has not punished me according to the full amount of my sins.
28
Deliver my nefesh, that it may not go to destruction, and my life shall see the light.
29
Behold, all these things the Mighty One works in a threefold manner with a man.
30
And he has delivered my nefesh from death, that my life may praise him in the light.
31
Hearken, Iyov, and hear me: be silent, and I will speak.
32
If thou hast words, answer me: speak, for I desire thee to be justified.
33
If not, do thou hear me: be silent, and I will teach thee.
Chapter 34 Elihu vindicates the justice of Elyon: far be it from El Shaddai to do wrong; He who made the eretz and holds every breath renders to each man according to his ways, surveys all in secret, and is no respecter of kings or princes — but Iyov has spoken without knowledge
1
And Elihu continued, and said,
2
Hear me, ye wise men; hearken, ye that have knowledge.
3
For the ear tries words, and the mouth tastes meat.
4
Let us choose judgment to ourselves: let us know among ourselves what is right.
5
For Iyov has said, I am tzaddik: Elyon has removed my judgment.
6
And he has erred in my judgment: my wound is severe without unrighteousness of mine.
7
What man is as Iyov, drinking scorning like water?
8
saying, I have not sinned, nor committed ungodliness, nor had fellowship with workers of iniquity, to go with the ungodly.
9
For thou shouldest not say, There shall be no visitation of a man, whereas there is a visitation on him from Elyon.
10
Wherefore hear me, ye that are wise in heart: far be it from me to sin before Elyon, and to pervert tzedakah before El Shaddai.
11
Yea, he renders to a man accordingly as each of them does, and in a man's path he will find him.
12
And thinkest thou that Elyon will do wrong, or will El Shaddai who made the eretz wrest judgment?
13
And who is he that made the whole world under heaven, and all things therein?
14
For if he would confine, and restrain his Ruach with himself;
15
all flesh would die together, and every mortal would return to the eretz, whence also he was formed.
16
Take heed lest he rebuke thee: hear this, hearken to the voice of words.
17
Behold then the one that hates iniquities, and that destroys the wicked, who is for ever just.
18
He is ungodly that says to a king, Thou art a transgressor, that says to princes, O most ungodly one.
19
Such a one as would not reverence the face of an honourable man, neither knows how to give honour to the great, so as that their persons should be respected.
20
But it shall turn out vanity to them, to cry and beseech a man; for they dealt unlawfully, the poor being turned aside from their right.
21
For he surveys the works of men, and nothing of what they do has escaped him.
22
Neither shall there be a place for the workers of iniquity to hide themselves.
23
For he will not lay upon a man more than right.
24
For Elyon looks down upon all men, who comprehends unsearchable things, glorious also and excellent things without number.
25
Who discovers their works, and will bring night about upon them, and they shall be brought low.
26
And he quite destroys the ungodly, for they are seen before him.
27
Because they turned aside from the Torah (the law) of Elohim, and did not regard his ordinances,
28
so as to bring before him the cry of the needy; for he will hear the cry of the poor.
29
And he will give quiet, and who will condemn? and he will hide his face, and who shall see him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man also:
30
causing a hypocrite to be king, because of the waywardness of the people.
31
For there is one that says to the Mighty One, I have received berachot; I will not take a pledge:
32
I will see apart from myself: do thou shew me if I have done unrighteousness; I will not do so any more.
33
Will he take vengeance for it on thee, whereas thou wilt put it far from thee? for thou shalt choose, and not I; and what thou knowest, speak thou.
34
Because the wise in heart shall say this, and a wise man listens to my word.
35
But Iyov has not spoken with understanding, his words are not uttered with knowledge.
36
Howbeit do thou learn, Iyov: no longer make answer as the foolish:
37
that we add not to our sins: for iniquity will be reckoned against us, if we speak many words before Elyon.
Chapter 35 Elihu asks what Iyov's tzedakah or sin can add to or take from the Most High: such things touch only fellow men; the oppressed cry out but do not seek Elohim their Maker, who gives songs in the night — so Iyov multiplies empty words
1
And Elihu resumed and said,
2
What is this that thou thinkest to be according to right? who art thou that thou hast said, I am tzaddik before Elyon?
3
I will answer thee, and thy shalosh friends.
4
Look up to the sky and see; and consider the clouds, how high they are above thee.
5
If thou hast sinned, what wilt thou do? and if too thou hast transgressed much, what canst thou perform?
6
And suppose thou art tzaddik, what wilt thou give him? or what shall he receive of thy hand?
7
Thy ungodliness may affect a man who is like to thee; or thy tzedakah a son of man.
8
They that are oppressed of a multitude will be ready to cry out; they will call for help because of the arm of many.
9
But none said, Where is Elohim that made me, who appoints the night-watches;
10
who makes me to differ from the four-footed beasts of the eretz, and from the birds of the sky?
11
There they shall cry, and none shall hearken, even because of the insolence of wicked men.
12
For Elyon desires not to look on error, for he is El Shaddai.
13
He beholds them that perform lawless deeds, and he will save me: and do thou plead before him, if thou canst praise him, as it is possible even now.
14
For he is not now regarding his wrath, nor has he noticed severely any trespass.
15
Yet Iyov vainly opens his mouth, in ignorance he multiplies words.
Chapter 36 Elihu magnifies the greatness of Elyon, mighty in Chokmah and just: He exalts the tzaddik, chastens to turn men from sin, and vindicates the meek — great beyond knowing, numbering the drops of rain and spreading the clouds over innumerable mortals
1
And Elihu further continued, and said,
2
Wait for me yet a little while, that I may teach thee: for there is yet speech in me.
3
Having fetched my knowledge from afar, and according to my works,
4
I will speak just things truly, and thou shalt not unjustly receive unjust words.
5
But know that Elyon will not cast off an innocent man: being mighty in strength of Chokmah,
6
he will not by any means save alive the ungodly: and he will grant the judgment of the poor.
7
He will not turn away his eyes from the tzaddik, but they shall be with kings on the throne: and he will establish them in triumph, and they shall be exalted.
8
But they that are bound in fetters shall be holden in cords of poverty.
9
And he shall recount to them their works, and their transgressions, for such will act with violence.
10
But he will hearken to the tzaddik: and he has said that they shall turn from unrighteousness.
11
If they should hear and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in honour.
12
But he preserves not the ungodly; because they are not willing to know Elyon, and because when reproved they were disobedient.
13
And the hypocrites in heart will array wrath against themselves; they will not cry, because he has bound them.
14
Therefore let their nefesh die in youth, and their life be wounded by messengers of death.
15
Because they afflicted the weak and helpless: and he will vindicate the judgment of the meek.
16
And he has also enticed thee out of the mouth of the enemy:
17
there is a deep gulf and a rushing stream beneath it, and thy table came down full of fatness. Judgment shall not fail from the tzaddik;
18
but there shall be wrath upon the ungodly, by reason of the ungodliness of the bribes which they received for iniquities.
19
Let not thy mind willingly turn thee aside from the petition of the feeble that are in distress.
20
And draw not forth all the mighty men by night, so that the people should go up instead of them.
21
But take heed lest thou do that which is wrong: for of this thou hast made choice because of poverty.
22
Behold, the Mighty One shall prevail by his strength: for who is powerful as he is?
23
And who is he that examines his works? or who can say, He has wrought injustice?
24
Remember that his works are great beyond those which men have attempted.
25
Every man has seen in himself, how many mortals are wounded.
26
Behold, the Mighty One is great, and we shall not know him: the number of his years is even infinite.
27
And the drops of rain are numbered by him, and shall be poured out in rain to form a cloud.
28
The ancient heavens shall flow, and the clouds overshadow innumerable mortals:
29
he has fixed a time to cattle, and they know the order of rest.
30
Yet by all these things thy understanding is not astonished, neither is thy mind disturbed in thy body.
31
And though one should understand the outspreadings of the clouds, or the measure of his ohel;
32
behold he will stretch his bow against him, and he covers the bottom of the sea.
33
For by them he will judge the nations: he will give food to him that has strength.
34
He has hidden the light in his hands, and given charge concerning it to the interposing cloud.
35
Elyon will declare concerning this to his friend: but there is a portion also for unrighteousness.
Chapter 37 Elihu ends in awe of the storm: Elyon thunders wonderfully, commanding snow and rain and frost, sealing up the hand of man; from the north the clouds shine like gold, and great are the Kavod and honour of El Shaddai — whom the wise in heart shall fear
1
At this also my heart is troubled, and moved out of its place.
2
Hear thou a report by the anger of Elyon's wrath, and a discourse shall come out of his mouth.
3
His dominion is under the whole heaven, and his light is at the extremities of the eretz.
4
After him shall be a cry with a loud voice; he shall thunder with the voice of his excellency, yet he shall not cause men to pass away, for one shall hear his voice.
5
The Mighty One shall thunder wonderfully with his voice: for he has done great things which we knew not;
6
commanding the snow, Be thou upon the eretz, and the stormy rain, and the storm of the showers of his might.
7
He seals up the hand of every man, that every man may know his own weakness.
8
And the wild beasts come in under the covert, and rest in their lair.
9
Troubles come on out of the secret chambers, and cold from the mountain-tops.
10
And from the neshamah of the Mighty One he will send frost; and he guides the water in whatever way he pleases.
11
And if a cloud obscures what is precious to him, his light will disperse the cloud.
12
And he will carry round the encircling clouds by his governance, to perform their works: whatsoever he shall command them,
13
this has been appointed by him on the eretz, whether for correction, or for his land, or if he shall find him an object for mercy.
14
Hearken to this, O Iyov: stand still, and be admonished of the power of Elyon.
15
We know that Elohim has disposed his works, having made light out of darkness.
16
And he knows the divisions of the clouds, and the signal overthrows of the ungodly.
17
But thy robe is warm, and there is quiet upon the land.
18
Wilt thou establish with him foundations for the ancient heavens? they are strong as a molten mirror.
19
Wherefore teach me, what shall we say to him? and let us cease from saying much.
20
Have I a book or a scribe by me, that I may stand and put man to silence?
21
But the light is not visible to all: it shines afar off in the heavens, as that which is from him in the clouds.
22
From the north come the clouds shining like gold: in these great are the Kavod and honour of El Shaddai.
23
and we do not find another his equal in strength: as for him that judges justly, dost thou not think that he listens?
24
Wherefore men shall fear him; and the wise also in heart shall fear him.
Chapter 38 Then Elyon answers Iyov out of the whirlwind: Where wast thou when I founded the eretz, and the stars sang? Who shut up the sea with gates, commands the morning, walks the springs of the deep, and lays up the treasures of snow and hail — canst thou bind the Kimah or loose Kesil?
1
And after Elihu had ceased from speaking, Elyon spoke to Iyov through the se'arah (the whirlwind) and clouds, saying,
2
Who is this that hides counsel from me, and confines words in his heart, and thinks to conceal them from me?
3
Gird thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
4
Where wast thou when I founded the eretz? tell me now, if thou hast knowledge,
5
who set the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it?
6
On what are its rings fastened? and who is he that laid the corner-stone upon it?
7
When the stars were made, all my malachim praised me with a loud voice.
8
And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out of its mother's womb.
9
And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist.
10
And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates.
11
And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.
12
Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and did the morning star then first see his appointed place;
13
to lay hold of the extremities of the eretz, to cast out the ungodly out of it?
14
Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the eretz?
15
And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?
16
Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep?
17
And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of She'ol quake when they saw thee?
18
And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the whole eretz under heaven? tell me now, what is the extent of it?
19
And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? and of what kind is the place of darkness?
20
If thou couldest bring me to their utmost boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths;
21
I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great.
22
But hast thou gone to the treasures of snow? and hast thou seen the treasures of hail?
23
And is there a store of them, for thee against thetime of thine enemies, for the day of wars and battle?
24
And whence proceeds the frost? or whence is the south wind dispersed over the whole world under heaven?
25
And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for the thunders;
26
to rain upon the land where there is no man, the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited land,
27
and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?
28
Who is the rain's father? and who has generated the drops of dew?
29
And out of whose womb comes the ice? and who has produced the frost in the sky,
30
which descends like flowing water? who has terrified the face of the ungodly?
31
And dost thou understand the band of Kimah, and hast thou opened the barrier of Kesil?
32
Or wilt thou reveal Mazzarot (the constellations) in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt thou guide them?
33
And knowest thou the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven?
34
And wilt thou call a cloud with thy voice, and will it obey thee with a violent shower of much rain?
35
And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to thee, What is thy pleasure?
36
And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery?
37
And who is he that numbers the clouds in Chokmah, and has bowed the heaven down to the eretz?
38
For it is spread out as dusty eretz, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.
39
And wilt thou hunt a prey for the lions? and satisfy the desires of the serpents?
40
For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods.
41
And who has prepared food for the raven? for its young ones wander and cry to Elyon, in search of food.
Chapter 39 Elyon continues among the wild creatures: the mountain goats and hinds, the untamed wild ass and Re'em, the heedless ostrich, the war-horse who mocks fear and smells the battle at the shofar, and the hawk and eagle that soar by no Chokmah of man's
1
Say if thou knowest the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and if thou hast marked the calving of the hinds:
2
and if thou hast numbered the full months of their being with young, and if thou hast relieved their pangs:
3
and hast reared their young without fear; and wilt thou loosen their pangs?
4
Their young will break forth; they will be multiplied with offspring: their young will go forth, and will not return to them.
5
And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? and who loosed his bands?
6
whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts.
7
He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax-gatherer.
8
He will survey the mountains as his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.
9
And will the Re'em (the wild ox) be willing to serve thee, or to lie down at thy manger?
10
And wilt thou bind his yoke with thongs, or will he plough furrows for thee in the plain?
11
And dost thou trust him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou commit thy works to him?
12
And wilt thou believe that he will return to thee thy seed, and bring it in to thy threshing-floor?
13
The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, it is worthy of notice,
14
for the ostrich will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on the dust,
15
and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them.
16
She has hardened herself against her young ones, as though she bereaved not herself: she labours in vain without fear.
17
For Elohim has withholden Chokmah from her, and not given her a portion in understanding.
18
In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.
19
Hast thou invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror?
20
And hast thou clad him in perfect armour, and made his breast glorious with courage?
21
He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain.
22
He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword.
23
The bow and sword resound against him; and his rage will swallow up the ground:
24
and he will not believe until the shofar (the horn) sounds.
25
And when the shofar sounds, he says, Aha! and afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
26
And does the hawk remain steady by thy Chokmah, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south?
27
And does the eagle rise at thy command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest,
28
on a crag of a rock, and in a secret place?
29
Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far.
30
And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcases may be, immediately they are found.
Chapter 40 Elyon Elohim challenges the fault-finder to array himself in Kavod and humble the proud if he can; then Iyov lays his hand on his mouth. And Elyon unveils Behemoth, chief of His works, who eats grass like an ox and fears no flood — whom no man can take by force
1
And Elyon Elohim answered Iyov, and said,
2
Will any one pervert judgment with the Mighty One? and he that reproves Elohim, let him return it for answer.
3
And Iyov answered and said to Elyon,
4
Why do I yet plead? being rebuked even while reproving Elyon: hearing such things, whereas I am nothing: and what shall I answer to these arguments? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
5
I have spoken once; but I will not do so a second time.
6
And Elyon yet again answered and spoke to Iyov out of the cloud, saying,
7
Nay, gird up now thy loins like a man; and I will ask thee, and do thou answer me.
8
Do not set aside my judgment: and dost thou think that I have dealt with thee in any other way, than that thou mightest appear to be tzaddik?
9
Hast thou an arm like Elyon's? or dost thou thunder with a voice like his?
10
Assume now a lofty bearing and power; and clothe thyself with Kavod and honour.
11
And send forth messengers with wrath; and lay low every haughty one.
12
Bring down also the proud man; and consume at once the ungodly.
13
And hide them together in the eretz; and fill their faces with shame.
14
Then will I confess that thy right hand can save thee.
15
But now look at Behemot (the Beast) with thee; they eat grass like oxen.
16
Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17
He sets up his tail like a cypress; and his nerves are wrapped together.
18
His sides are sides of brass; and his backbone is as cast iron.
19
This is the chief of the creation of Elyon; made to be played with by his malachim.
20
And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep.
21
He lies under trees of every kind, by the papyrus, and reed, and bulrush.
22
And the great trees make a shadow over him with their branches, and so do the bushes of the field.
23
If there should be a flood, he will not perceive it; he trusts that Yarden (Jordan) will rush up into his mouth.
24
Yet one shall take him in his sight; one shall catch him with a cord, and pierce his nose.
25
But wilt thou catch Livyatan with a hook, and put a halter about his nose?
26
Or wilt thou fasten a ring in his nostril, and bore his lip with a clasp?
27
Will he address thee with a petition? softly, with the voice of a suppliant?
28
And will he make a Beriyt with thee? and wilt thou take him for a perpetual eved?
29
And wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or bind him as a sparrow for a child?
30
And do the nations feed upon him, and the nations of the Phœnicians share him?
31
And all the ships come together would not be able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither shall they carry his head in fishing-vessels.
32
But thou shalt lay thy hand upon him once, remembering the war that is waged by his mouth; and let it not be done any more.
Chapter 41 Elyon unveils Leviathan, king of the proud: none dare rouse him, for the whole world under heaven is His; sealed in scales, breathing fire and smoke, his heart as hard as stone, he makes the deep boil like a caldron — there is nothing on eretz like him
1
Hast thou not seen him? and hast thou not wondered at the things said of him?
2
Dost thou not fear because preparation has been made by me? for who is there that resists me?
3
Or who will resist me, and abide, since the whole world under heaven is mine?
4
I will not be silent because of him: though because of his power one shall pity his antagonist.
5
Who will open the face of his garment? and who can enter within the fold of his breast-plate?
6
Who will open the doors of his face? terror is round about his teeth.
7
His inwards are as brazen plates, and the texture of his skin as a smyrite stone.
8
One part cleaves fast to another, and the air cannot come between them.
9
They will remain united each to the other: they are closely joined, and cannot be separated.
10
At his sneezing a light shines, and his eyes are as the appearance of the morning star.
11
Out of his mouth proceed as it were burning lamps, and as it were hearths of fire are cast abroad.
12
Out of his nostrils proceeds smoke of a furnace burning with fire of coals.
13
His breath is as live coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.
14
And power is lodged in his neck, before him destruction runs.
15
The flesh also of his body is joined together: if one pours violence upon him, he shall not be moved.
16
His heart is firm as a stone, and it stands like an unyielding anvil.
17
And when he turns, he is a terror to the four-footed wild beasts which leap upon the eretz.
18
If spears should come against him, men will effect nothing, either with the spear or the breast-plate.
19
For he considers iron as chaff, and brass as rotten wood.
20
The bow of brass shall not wound him, he deems a slinger as grass.
21
Mauls are counted as stubble; and he laughs to scorn the waving of the firebrand.
22
His lair is formed of sharp points; and all the gold of the sea under him is as an immense quantity of clay.
23
He makes the deep boil like a brazen caldron; and he regards the sea as a pot of ointment,
24
and the lowest part of the deep as a captive: he reckons the deep as his range.
25
There is nothing upon the eretz like to him, formed to be sported with by my malachim.
26
He beholds every high thing: and he is king of all that are in the waters.
Chapter 42 Iyov repents in dust and ashes: 'I have heard of thee by the ear, but now mine eye has seen thee.' Elyon rebukes the three friends and accepts Iyov's prayer for them, then restores him double — new banim and banot, long life, and the promise that he shall rise again
1
Then Iyov answered and said to Elyon,
2
I know that thou canst do all things, and nothing is impossible with thee.
3
For who is he that hides counsel from thee? or who keeps back his words, and thinks to hide them from thee? and who will tell me what I knew not, great and wonderful things which I understood not?
4
But hear me, O Elyon, that I also may speak: and I will ask thee, and do thou teach me.
5
I have heard the report of thee by the ear before; but now mine eye has seen thee.
6
Wherefore I have counted myself vile, and have fainted: and I esteem myself dust and ashes.
7
And it came to pass after Elyon had spoken all these words to Iyov, that Elyon said to Eliphaz ha-Teimani, Thou hast sinned, and thy two friends: for ye have not said anything true before me, as my eved Iyov has.
8
Now then take sheva bullocks, and sheva rams, and go to my eved Iyov, and he shall offer an olah (the burnt-offering) for you. And my eved Iyov shall pray for you, for I will only accept him: for but for his sake, I would have destroyed you, for ye have not spoken the truth against my eved Iyov.
9
So Eliphaz ha-Teimani, and Bildad ha-Shuchi, and Tzophar ha-Na'amati, went and did as Elyon commanded them: and he pardoned their sin for the sake of Iyov.
10
And Elyon prospered Iyov: and when he prayed also for his friends, he forgave them their sin: and Elyon gave Iyov twice as much, even the double of what he had before.
11
And all his brethren and his sisters heard all that had happened to him, and they came to him, and so did all that had known him from the first: and they ate and drank with him, and comforted him, and wondered at all that Elyon had brought upon him: and each one gave him a lamb, and four drachms' weight of gold, even of unstamped gold.
12
And Elyon barach the latter end of Iyov, more than the beginning: and his cattle were fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, a thousand she-asses of the pastures.
13
And there were born to him sheva banim and shalosh banot.
14
And he called the first, Day, and the second, Casia, and the third, Amalthæa's horn.
15
And there were not found in comparison with the banot of Iyov, fairer women than they in all the world: and their father gave them a Nachalah among their brethren.
16
And Iyov lived after his affliction a hundred and seventy years: and all the years he lived were two hundred and forty: and Iyov saw his banim and his banim's banim, the fourth generation.
17
And Iyov died, an old man and full of days:
18
and it is written that he will rise again with those whom Elyon raises up.
19
This man is described in the Syriac book as living in the land of Utz, on the borders of Edom (Idumea) and Arav (Arabia): and his name before was Yovav (Jobab);
20
and having taken an Aravian wife, he begot a son whose name was Enon (Ennon). And he himself was the son of his father Zerach (Zare), one of the banim of Esav (Esau), and of his mother Botzrah (Bosorrha), so that he was the fifth from Avraham (Abraham).
21
And these were the kings who reigned in Edom, which country he also ruled over: first, Bela (Balac), ben Be'or (Beor), and the name of his city was Dinhavah (Dennaba): but after Bela, Yovav, who is called Iyov: and after him Chusham (Asom), who was governor out of the land of Teiman: and after him Hadad (Adad), ben Bedad (Barad), who destroyed Midyan (Madiam) in the plain of Mo'av (Moab); and the name of his city was Avit (Gethaim).
22
And his friends who came to him were Eliphaz, of the children of Esav, king of the Teimanim, Bildad sovereign of Shuach, Tzophar king of Na'amah. Here ends Iyov, the Book of Job — who saw Elyon, and was restored. Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek — Be strong, be strong,