So the poor hath hope,

And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth:
Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the
Almighty:

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up:

He woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles :

Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death:

And in war from the power of the sword.

Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue :

Neither shalt thou be afraid of desolation when it cometh. At desolation and famine thou shalt laugh:

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

And thou shalt muster thy homestead, and shalt miss nothing.

Thou shalt know also that thy seed is great,

And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

Thou shalt come to thy grave

in a full age,

Like as a shock of corn is brought in in its season. Lo this we have searched out; so it is;

Hear it, and know it for thy good.

'It is come upon thee': i.e. trouble or woe. The lion is a figure for the violent oppressor. "Affliction cometh not forth,' &c., i. e. calamity does not come without cause, and the cause is sin. But the four lines seem in a wrong connexion here. They belong rather to a lament over the mournful nature of man with which trouble seems inseparably connected. They belong rather to Job than to Eliphaz. Hence the bracket.

§ 13. Job's first reply.-Job urges that his calamities compel his laments and explain them. He implores God to end his pains by death. His friends have abandoned him, or are timid and unsympathetic. They refuse to face the facts; their words are idle. He would know if he spoke falsely or wickedly as well as they. He bewails his own miseries, and bids God remember that the time for deliverance will soon be gone. He will have passed away from earth to Sheol and can come back no more. Why should God

JOB'S DESPAIR

'visit' (i.e. chastise) a man as if he were his equal?

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Even if he be a sinner, he can have done God no harm. Let God then forgive ere it be too late. He will soon be dead, when it will be even for God too late to restore him to favour.

But Job answered and said,

Oh that my vexation were thoroughly weighed,
And my calamity laid against it in the balance!
For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea:
Therefore my words are wild.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,

The poison whereof my spirit drinketh in ;
The terrors of God do perturb me.

Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass?
Or loweth the ox over his fodder?

Can that which is insipid be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
My soul refuseth to touch it;

It is as loathsomeness in my food. (?)

Oh that I might have my request;

And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

Even that it would please God to crush me;

That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

Then should I yet have comfort;

Yea, I would exult amid my relentless pain.

What is my strength, that I should hope?

And what is mine end, that I should have patience?

Is my strength the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh of brass?

Behold, there is no help in me;

And rescue is driven away from me.

God hath withdrawn his favour from me,

The care of the Almighty hath abandoned me. (?)

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
And as a channel of brooks which pass away;
Which are blackish by reason of the ice,

And wherein the snow hideth itself:

What time they are burnt up, they vanish:

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

The caravans turn aside on their way;

They go up into the waste, and perish.

The caravans of Tema looked,

The companies of Sheba hoped for them.
They were confounded because they had trusted;
They came thither, and were put to shame.
So are ye now become unto me,

Ye see my ruin and are afraid.

Did I say, 'Bring unto me'?

Or, 'Give me presents of your substance'?
Or, 'Deliver me from the enemy's hand'?
Or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty'?

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue :

And cause me to understand wherein I have erred. How forcible are right words!

But what doth your reproving reprove?

Do ye purpose to reprove words?

Like the wind are the speeches of the desperate.

But ye would even assail the innocent,

And ye would traffic with your friend. (?)

Now therefore, I pray you, look upon me;
Surely I would not lie to your face!

Return, I pray you, let there not be injustice;
Yea, return again, my cause is righteous still.
Is there injustice in my tongue ?

Cannot my taste discern iniquity?

Is there not a hard service for man upon earth?
Are not his days like the days of an hireling?

As a servant who panteth for the shadow,

And as an hireling who looketh for the reward of his work? So am I allotted months of trouble,

And nights of travail are appointed to me.

When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise?'

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

the day.

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;

My skin closeth and breaketh out again.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,

And are consumed without hope.

O remember that my life is wind :

Mine eye shall no more see good.

THE HARD SERVICE OF MAN

The eye of him that looketh for me shall not see me :
If thine eyes seek me, I shall not be.
As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth

away:

So he that goeth down to Sheol shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house,

Neither shall his place know him any more.

Therefore I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,

That thou settest a watch over me?
When I say, 'My bed shall comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint;
Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions:
So that my soul chooseth strangling,
Death rather than these my pains.
I shall not live alway:

Let me be; for my days are vanity.

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him,
And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon
And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?

How long wilt thou not look away from me,

him?

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Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? Grant that I have sinned; what do I unto thee, O thou watcher of men?

Why hast thou set me up as a butt,

So that I am become a burden to myself? Why dost thou not pardon my transgression, And take away mine iniquity?

For now shall I lie down in the dust;

And thou shalt seek me, but I shall not be.

Job's lamentations are no more causeless than the hungry ass's bray. His calamities are compared to foul and insipid food, which is distasteful to every man. The eye of him that looketh,' i. e. God. Let me alone': if God looks away,' his woes may cease, and he may have a short period of ease before the inevitable coming of death.

§14. The first speech of Bildad.-Bildad defends Gods justice. The death of Job's sons must have been due to their sins. Let Job seek God earnestly, and he will restore him to prosperity. For the prosperity of the wicked is but short-lived, while the calamities of the righteous end in joy. All the speakers lay stress on 'the end.' We may again compare the story of Croesus and Solon in Herodotus. Neither side seems to reflect that there are many sorrows (e.g. the loss of children) which cannot be cancelled.

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

How long wilt thou speak these things?

And how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?

Doth God pervert judgement,

Or doth the Almighty pervert justice?

If thy children sinned against him,

He gave them over to their transgression.

If thou wilt seek earnestly unto God,

And make thy supplication to the Almighty;-
If thou art pure and upright;-

Surely he will awake for thee,

And restore the dwelling of thy righteousness.

Then thy beginning shall seem small,

And thy latter end shall greatly increase.

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,

And attend to that which the fathers have searched out, (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,

Because our days upon earth are a shadow :)

Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee,

And utter words out of their heart?

'Can the rush grow up without mire?

Can the sedge grow without water?

Whilst it is yet in its full freshness, and not ripe for the cutting,

It withereth before any other herb.

So is the latter end of all that forget God;

And the expectation of the impious shall perish.

His hope is a thread,

His trust is a spider's web.

He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand:
He shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.