11 January Job 29-31

Jude Sat Aug 18, 2018 4:12 am

My soul doth magnify my YAH, and my spirit hath rejoiced in EL my Saviour; For HE that is mighty hath done to me great things; and Holy is HIS Name. Now unto HIM who is ever present in my helpless estate; who is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the only wise EL our Saviour be honour and glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and for ever Halleluyah!

JOB 29

1And Iyoḇ again took up his discourse, and said,

2“Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when Eloah protected me;

3when His lamp shone on my head, when I walked in the dark by His light;

4as I was in the days of my autumn, when the intimacy of Eloah was on my tent;

5when the Almighty was still with me, when my children were around me;

6when my steps were bathed with cream, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me.

7When I went out to the gate by the city, to take my seat in the open square,

8the young men saw me and hid, and the aged rose up, they stood;

9rulers held back their words, and laid a hand on their mouth;

10the voice of leaders was hushed, and their tongue clung to the roof of their mouth.

11For when the ear heard, it blessed me, and when the eye saw, it gave witness of me;

12because I rescued the poor who cried out, and the fatherless who had no helper.

13The blessing of the perishing one would come upon me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

14I put on righteousness, and it robed me; right-ruling was my cloak and turban.

15I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame.

16I was a father to the poor, and I investigated the case which I did not know.

17And I broke the jaws of the perverse, and snatched the prey from his teeth.

18Then I thought I would die in my nest, and increase my days as the sand,

19my root reaching out to the waters, and dew lying all night on my branch,

20my esteem fresh within me, and my bow renewed in my hand.

21To me they listened, and they waited, and kept silence at my counsel.

22After my words they did not speak again, and my speech settled on them.

23And they waited for me like the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

24I smiled at those who did not believe, and the light of my face they did not dim.

25I chose the way for them, and sat as chief, and I dwelt like a sovereign in the army, like one who comforts mourners.

JOB 30

1“But now they laugh at me, those younger than I, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

2Of what use to me is the strength of their hands, since their manhood power has perished?

3They are dried up from lack and hunger, they flee to a parched land, formerly a waste and ruin.

4They pluck salt herbs by the bushes, and broom tree roots for their food.

5They were driven out from among men, they shouted at them as at a thief,

6to dwell in the gullies of wadis, holes of the ground and clefts.

7Among the bushes they cry out, under the nettles they huddled together –

8sons of fools, even sons without a name, they have been whipped out of the land.

9And now I have become their song, and I am a byword to them.

10They have loathed me, they have kept far from me, and did not refrain from spitting in my face.

11Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, they have thrown off restraint in my presence.

12At my right hand a brood rises; they pushed away my feet, and they raise up against me their destructive ways.

13They have broken up my path, they gain by my ruin; no one restrains them.

14They come as through a wide breach; rushing on me under the ruins.

15Destructions are turned upon me; they pursue my life as the wind, and my welfare has passed like a cloud.

16And now my life pours itself out; days of affliction seize me.

17My bones have been pierced in me at night, and my gnawings never lie down.

18By great exertion is my garment changed – it girds me as the collar of my coat,

19throwing me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, but You only look at me.

21You have become cruel to me; with the power of Your hand You oppose me.

22You lift me up to the wind, making me to ride it; and You melt me in a storm.

23For I have known that You bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

24Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, or in calamity cry out for help?

25Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Was my being not grieved for the poor?

26When I looked for good, then evil came to me. And when I waited for light, darkness came.

27My inward parts boiled and did not rest; days of affliction went before me.

28I went about blackened, but not by the sun; I stood up in the assembly, I cried for help.

29I became a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches.

30My skin became black upon me, and my bones burned with heat.

31So my lyre becomes mourning, and my flute the sound of weeping.

JOB 31

1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze at a maiden?

2For what is the portion of Eloah from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

3Is it not calamity to the perverse, and strangeness to the workers of wickedness?

4Does He not see my ways, and number all my steps?

5If I have walked with falsehood, or if my foot has hurried to deceit,

6let Him weigh me in a right scale, and let Eloah know my integrity.

7If my step does turn from the way, or my heart has gone after my eyes, or if any spot has clung to my hands,

8let me sow, and another eat; and let my harvest be rooted out.

9If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbour’s door,

10let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down over her.

11For that would be a wicked scheme, and a punishable crookedness.

12For that would be a fire that burns to destruction, and take root among all my increase.

13If I have refused the plea of my male servant or my female servant when they complained against me,

14then what should I do when Ěl rises up? And when He punishes, what should I answer Him?

15Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?

16If I have withheld the poor from pleasure, or caused the widow’s eyes to fail,

17or eaten my piece of bread by myself, and the fatherless did not eat of it –

18but from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided her –

19if I have seen anyone perish for lack of garments, or a poor one without covering;

20if his loins have not blessed me, and he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep;

21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, when I saw I had help in the gate;

22let my arm fall from my shoulder, and my arm be broken from the bone.

23For I am in dread of destruction from Ěl, and from His excellence I could not escape.

24If I have put my trust in gold, or called fine gold my refuge;

25if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much;

26if I have looked at the sun when it shines, or the moon moving in brightness,

27so that my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand –

28that too is a punishable crookedness, for I would have denied Ěl above.

29If I have rejoiced when he who hated me was ruined, or lifted myself up when evil found him –

30also I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for a curse on his life –

31if the men of my tent did not say, ‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’

32The stranger did not have to spend the night in the street, for I have opened my doors to the way.

33If I have covered my transgressions like Aḏam, by hiding my crookedness in my bosom,

34then let me fear the great crowd, and dread the scorn of clans, then I would be silent, and go out of the door!

35Who would give me a hearing? See, my signature, let the Almighty answer me, and let my accuser write a bill!

36Would I not take it up on my shoulder, bind it on me for a crown?

37I would declare to Him the number of my steps – I would approach Him like a prince.

38If my land cries out against me, or its furrows weep together;

39if I have eaten its fruit without payment, or caused its owners to die;

40let thistles grow instead of wheat, and useless weed instead of barley.” The words of Iyoḇ are ended.