They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me

for a stranger;

I am an alien in their sight.

I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer,
Though I entreat him with my mouth.

My breath is strange to my wife,

And my supplication to the children of my body.

Even young children despise me;

If I arise, they speak against me.

All my inward friends abhor me:

And they whom I loved are turned against me. My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,

And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends,

For the hand of God hath touched me!

Why do ye persecute me as God,

And are not satisfied with my flesh?

Oh that my words were now written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
That with an iron pen and lead
They were graven in the rock for ever!

For I know that my vindicator liveth,

And that he shall stand up at the last upon the earth;

XX, 4-29.

And after my skin hath been thus destroyed,
Yet without my flesh shall I see God!

Whom I shall see on my side,

And mine eyes shall behold, and not another.54

ZOPHAR

Knowest thou not this of old time,

Since man was placed upon earth,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless but for a moment?

Though his excellency mount up to the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds;

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung:
They which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
The eye which saw him shall see him no more;
Neither shall his place any more behold him.
His children shall seek the favour of the poor,
And his hands shall give back his wealth.

His bones are full of his youth,

But it shall lie down with him in the dust.

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
Though he hide it under his tongue;
Though he spare it, and will not let it go,
But keep it still within his mouth ;
Yet his meat in his bowels is turned,
It is the gall of asps within him.

He hath swallowed down riches,
And he shall vomit them up again :
God shall cast them out of his belly.
He shall suck the poison of asps :
The viper's tongue shall slay him.
He shall not look upon the rivers,

The flowing streams of honey and butter.
That which he laboured for

Shall he restore,

And shall not swallow it down

;

According to the substance that he hath gotten,

He shall not rejoice.

For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor;

He hath violently taken away an house which he builded not.

Because he knew no quietness in his greed,

He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth.
There was nothing left that he devoured not,

Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

In the fulness of his sufficiency

He shall be in straits:

The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.

When he is about to fill his belly,

God shall cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him,
And shall rain it upon him while he is eating.
He shall flee from the iron weapon,

And the bow of brass shall strike him through;
He draweth it forth and it cometh out of his body:
Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall;
Terrors are upon him;

All darkness is laid up for his treasures;

A fire not blown by man shall devour him;

It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
The heavens shall reveal his iniquity,

And the earth shall rise up against him.

The increase of his house shall depart,

His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Hear diligently my speech,

Јов

And let this be your consolations.

Suffer me, and I also will speak :

And after that I have spoken, mock on. As for me, is my complaint to man?

And why should I not be impatient? Mark me, and be astonished,

And lay your hand upon your mouth. Even when I remember I am troubled, And horror taketh hold on my flesh.

Wherefore do the wicked live,

Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?

Their seed is established with them in their sight,

And their offspring before their eyes.

Their houses are safe from fear,

Neither is the rod of God upon them.

Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;

Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.

xxi, 2—15.

JOB'S

PRINCIPAL
ANSWER