January 5 Reading – Job 6-9
Chapter 6
1 But Job answered and said,
2 Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty [are] within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there [any] taste in the white of an egg?
7 The things [that] my soul refused to touch [are] as my sorrowful meat.
8 Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant [me] the thing that I long for!
9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
10 Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
11 What [is] my strength, that I should hope? and what [is] mine end, that I should prolong my life?
12 [Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my flesh of brass?
13 [Is] not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
14 To him that is afflicted pity [should be shewed] from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 Which are blackish by reason of the ice, [and] wherein the snow is hid:
17 What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
19 The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
21 For now ye are nothing; ye see [my] casting down, and are afraid.
22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, [which are] as wind?
27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig [a pit] for your friend.
28 Now therefore be content, look upon me; for [it is] evident unto you if I lie.
29 Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness [is] in it.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?
Chapter 7
1 [Is there] not an appointed time to man upon earth? [are not] his days also like the days of an hireling?
2 As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for [the reward of] his work:
3 So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
7 O remember that my life [is] wind: mine eye shall no more see good.
8 The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no [more]: thine eyes [are] upon me, and I [am] not.
9 [As] the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no [more].
10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
11 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.
12 [Am] I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
13 When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, [and] death rather than my life.
16 I loathe [it]; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days [are] vanity.
17 What [is] man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
18 And [that] thou shouldest visit him every morning, [and] try him every moment?
19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?
20 I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?
21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I [shall] not [be].
Chapter 8
1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
2 How long wilt thou speak these [things]? and [how long shall] the words of thy mouth [be like] a strong wind?
3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;
5 If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;
6 If thou [wert] pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.
7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
8 For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
9 (For we [are but of] yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth [are] a shadow:)
10 Shall not they teach thee, [and] tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?
11 Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
12 Whilst it [is] yet in his greenness, [and] not cut down, it withereth before any [other] herb.
13 So [are] the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:
14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust [shall be] a spider’s web.
15 He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.
16 He [is] green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heap, [and] seeth the place of stones.
18 If he destroy him from his place, then [it] shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.
19 Behold, this [is] the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.
20 Behold, God will not cast away a perfect [man], neither will he help the evil doers:
21 Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.
22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
Chapter 9
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 I know [it is] so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
4 [He is] wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened [himself] against him, and hath prospered?
5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see [him] not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
13 [If] God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
14 How much less shall I answer him, [and] choose out my words [to reason] with him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, [yet] would I not answer, [but] I would make supplication to my judge.
16 If I had called, and he had answered me; [yet] would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
19 If [I speak] of strength, lo, [he is] strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time [to plead]?
20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: [if I say], I [am] perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
21 [Though] I [were] perfect, [yet] would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
22 This [is] one [thing], therefore I said [it], He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, [and] who [is] he?
25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle [that] hasteth to the prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort [myself]:
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29 [If] I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
32 For [he is] not a man, as I [am, that] I should answer him, [and] we should come together in judgment.
33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, [that] might lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
35 [Then] would I speak, and not fear him; but [it is] not so with me.
King James Version (KJV): Public Domain