THE WHOLE BOOK OF JOB PARAPHRASED, OR, Made easy for any to understand.  
By GEORGE ABBOTT.  
JAMES 5. 11.  
You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.  
LONDON, Printed by Edward Griffin for Henry Overton, and are to be sold at his shop at the entrance into Popes-head-Alley, out of Lumbard-street, 1640.   

TO HIS MUCH HONOURED Father in Law, William Purefey of Calldecoate in Warwkickshire, ESQUIRE.  
SIR,  
THat I am yours, both you deserve it, and I publish it, and therefore for what is mine, whilst I have you for my Father, my thoughts shall not rove to seek any other Patron, next under God, who, if he have made me an Instrument of any good upon so good a subject, I wish he may have the glory, and I the prayers of all that taste it.  
Sir, I have heard you with serious desires, sometimes wish, that some would undertake the rendering of the Bible throughout, in an easy Paraphrase, after this manner. And might your wishes have effect, doubtless, it would prove a useful work, and serviceable to God, and to his Church; yea, (if my judgement fail me not) in the next place to the translation of the Scripture into our mother tongue; whereunto the Lord stir up the hearts of those whom he hath designed for so happy an employment as is the holding forth of so great light, and facilitating of Scripture studies, to the filling of the 
Hab. 2. 14.  earth with knowledge, as waters cover the Sea.  
Your ever obliged Son in Law, GEORGE ABBOTT.   

TO THE READER.  
THis Book of Job in respect of the dialect of those times, being of acquaint expressions, must needs be explained by other and more familiar language: and being also difficult in the coherence (which is very material) many texts or verses besides their proper senses must therefore in their explications carry their dependant, and coherent meanings in them, else they cannot be fully rendered, nor the discourse by its right joints and ligaments continued, and knit together; but must needs be imperfect, blind, and lame, which I have laboured the cure of, by perspicuity of phrase and dependence.  
A Paraphrase (and not a commentary) is the thing that I endeavour, which is a bare rendering of the sense plain and easy, the better to enable the Reader to be a commentator to himself. And if any place seem to bear another meaning than I have given it, know, that there goes more to the true stating of a text then an overly view or a present consideration of the sense it seems to hold forth in the letter of it: some places require much peasing, and many candles to be lighted at once in the mind of the expositor to give their true intended meaning, else he may err in benè divisis ad malè conjuncta, and cause a falling out of the text either with its coherence and scope, or else of one text with another.  
The story is well known to be as principal a pillar to support a Christian in strong trials, by pattern and precept of faith and patience, as any the whole Bible affords, and so I trust it may prove being well understood and applied to all such as read it with an heart to use it. Besides which there is excellent matter for other graces to work upon, God being upon the occasion of their dispute admirably set forth with powerful and spiritual elegancy, and man abased in like manner, which to a considerate humble-hearted Reader will administer sweet occasions of reducing his graces suitable to such subjects, by the assistance of the spirit, into fresh acts and lively motions; the way to evidence his truth, and to further their growth.  
And, which I also desire the Reader to take prime notice of, he shall further see for his learning the strong consolation and undaunted courage that singleness and sincerity of heart (which in a word is, The animating and giving life to our dead works by doing them in conscience to God through faith and love) brings with it, even to the facing of God in an holy boldness (though through temptation job exceeded) by the faith of his Gospel, when he pleads against us his greatest severity, & highest Majesty, and to the outfacing of all besides God, men or devils.  
Other flowers there are which a spiritual quick sensed Reader, will not lose the savour of, as he spends his time in this garden of God, whereto his spirit will guide him better than I can point him, and to which end I shall pray with the 
Cant. 3. 16.  spouse for the spouse. Awake o Northwind, and come thou South, blow upon my Garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth.  
Thine to his Talon in the service of Christ, GEORGE ABBOTT.   

THE ARGUMENT.  
GOD, for whose pleasure all things 
Rev. 4. 11.  are, and were created, having made Job fit for use, resolveth to employ him, and having first tried him in a calm sea of prosperity, and not finding him to leak, at last launcheth him into the deep, and engageth him in a long and dangerous voyage of adversity, where he must undergo many a fight and storm, to prove God a Master-builder.  
Hereupon, because Satan knew not God's design, God himself hints it to him by commending Job, which his malice not abiding to hear, and desiring to contradict, presently becomes a suitor, to God, to have the winnowing of him, which God for many reasons granteth to him: Partly, in respect to show him that he is the only discerner of the heart: Partly, in 
heb. 4. 12.  respect of the error of those times wherein it was generally received, that God afflicted not in sovereignty, but only for, and according to the proportion of sin: Partly, in respect of Job, for his after-honour and preferment: And lastly, in respect of aftertimes, to leave upon record a pattern of patience, and a seal of God's power and faithfulness in upholding the righteous, and in delivering them out of all their troubles.  
Satan having received his commission to work he goeth, and dischargeth all his Ordinance at once upon Job, thinking through force and policy, to wring some discontented blasphemy from him, and so to disprove God, but Job abide the shock, and uttered not a misbeseeming word, till at last his sores began to smart, and therewith also the light of God's countenance through the thick cloud of those many afflictions began to shine dim upon his spirit, and then he opened his mouth, not as Satan hoped, to blaspheme, but to ease his forrwfull soul, with breathing forth a doleful wish or two; as that either he had never seen life, or might now see death.  
Which impatiency of Jobs, his friends standing by, took fire at, and thereupon they being ignorantly prejudiced of God, that he afflicted not but in proportionable punishment to sin committed, and consequently were opinionated of Job, that for all his fair show, he must needs be but a hollowhearted hypocrite; they with vehement importunity, pressed these sore upon him as infallible maxims, thereby to have disarmed him both of his sword of faith, and shield of sincerity, but Job, though conscious to his own infirmities which he ingenuously confesseth, yet was also privy to his own uprightness, which he as manfully maintaineth against all his opposites, and the more they laboured to lose his hold on God, the faster he clung unto him, yea, though God himself seemed to take their part, by suffering Satan afresh to face him with his forepast sins accompanied with present terrors, and himself too utterly benighted his soul with an absolute sunset of all present sight and sense of immediate favour: yet in this great desertion God gave him underhand for his secret support, a little chink of light whereby he was able to see, and sustainingly too remind himself of God's former favours (though he felt none present) which made him able to lean upon his God, yea, and which enlightened him clearly to see also his own sincerity, though it were sore shot at by his friends, which did drive him to appeal from man to God (the only Judge of secret things) with whom he desired to plead his cause (with some exceed) in that behalf, provided he would substitute one that was his equal in his stead.  
Which Elihu hearing, when his time came to speak accordingly addressed himself unto him in God's behalf, wisely, both justifying Job against his friends, and condemning their ungrounded opinion in judging him an hypocrite, because of his great afflictions; and also justifying God against Job, who, through his friends unadvised spurring him on, had overreached. Wherefore Elihu showeth job his fault which God struck at by his affliction, to wit, pride, whereof he convinceth him by his saufie capitulating with God, who both in right of prerogative, over his creature, yea and in justice for his sin, (though not for his hypocrisy) might justify all he did against him, and was by no means to be disputed withal touching any thing he did, because of his excelling power, unsearehable wisdom, and undeniable justice.  
Which Elihu having spoken, God himself secondeth him with a large expression of his own transcendent greatness in wisdom and power beyond Jobs capacity, consequently showing him his presumption and folly, and his own unquestionableness in all his works, however they appear to humane reason.  
Which, when Job understood from God himself, his mouth was stopped, saving in abasing himself and confessing of his fault, which was no sooner done, but God shaketh hands with Job, Brings forth his righteousness 
Psal. 37, 6.  as the light, and his judgement as the noonday, in the sight of all his accusers; preferreth him to be Mediator for his friends, and finally maketh him a large amends, even double to all he lost.   

Errata.  
Chapter 1. Verse 2. godly, read goodly.  
Chapter 5 verse 21. reproach, read approach.  
Chap. 8. verse 7 (in the Text) shall, read should,  
Verse 20. rejected, read reject,  
Chap. 9 verse 19 my body, read any body,  
Verse 24 it is not apparent, read is it not apparent,  
Chap. 10. verse 1. affection, read affections,  
Chap. 11. verse 15. in safe condition, read in a safe condition,  
Chap. 12. verse 14. as rhat, read so as that,  
Chap. 14. verse 7, 8, 9 his vegetative life, read its vegetative life,  
Verse 11. evaporate, read evaporates,  
Verse 12. (in the Text) moret, hey, read more they,  
Verse 15. one whom, read on whom,  
Chap. 15. verse 18. (in the Text) there is (me) too much,  
Chap. 18. verse 4. (in the Text) he removed, read be removed,  
Chap. 19 verse 28. injurious occasions, read injurious accusations,  
Chap. ●0. v. 23. whom he least looks for it, read when he lest looks for it.  
Chap 24. verse 16. vexatious, read vexatious,  
Chap. 29. verse 17. could I, read would I.   

THE BOOK OF JOB PARAPHRASED.  

CHAP. I.  
1 THere was a man whose 
1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was job, and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.  Story the Lord would have recorded for example, and believed for a truth; and therefore for further confirmation, know, that for the Country where he lived, it was the land of Uz, lying upon the borders of the Chaldeans, Sabeans and Canaanites; and for his name, it was Job, who was of the Posterity of Abraham by Keturah. This man was faithful, believing in the promised Messiah, and sincere in heart, devoting himself to serve & please the Lord always, in all things, and he walked accordingly in his life and conversation, for fearing to offend him, he was therefore diligent, with care and circumspection to avoid all sin, and the occasions thereof in the time & place when and where he lived.  
2. Upon which holy Man, God bestowed 
2. And there was born unto him seven Sons and three Daughters.  a liberal portion of temporal blessings; and the better to illustrate the exemplariness of his virtue and patience, (when by the hand of God he was quite stripped naked of them all) know more particularly what they were. And first, he was the father of many godly children, in number seven sons and three daughters.  
3. Secondly, he abounded in wealth, 
3. His substance also was seven thousand Sheep, and three thousand Camels, and five hundred yoke of Oxen, and five hundred she-Asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East.  having no less than seven thousand Sheep, three thousand Camels, five hundred yoke of Oxen, five hundred she-Asses, and answerably enriched with servants, and all other accommodations; So that indeed there was none in all those Eastern parts where he lived that went beyond him, or that was equal to him in temporal felicity.  
4. And further, to add to his happiness, 
4. And his Sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day, and sent and called for their three sisters, to eat and to drink with them.  and to sweeten these blessings to him the more, he saw the happy fruit of his virtuous care in educating his children by their mutual love, so unanimously expressed in their orderly intercourse of friendly feasting and welcomming each one all the rest of his brethren at his own house, being also ever mindful to invite their three sisters, that so their number and amity might be complete.  
5. And though this thing pleased 
5. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did job continually.  Job, yet such was his religious care, that when their turns of feasting were expired, he summoned them all jointly, and made them solemnly to examine and prepare themselves, and then rising up early in the morning, he being Father, and chief of the family, offered for every one of his children a burnt offering for (fearing God, and knowing the corruption of nature, and the temptation of such occasions) he thought with himself; It may be, that my children in these their feast, have fallen into some sins incident to such actions, and through overmuch sensual liberty, may, perhaps, have forgotten their duty, and overseen themselves towards God, not bearing him that awfulness, nor rendering him the thankfulness due unto him. And this was Jobs constant custom, which he never failed to perform so oft as their course of feasting gave him occasion.  
6. Now, to come to the Story it 
6. Now there was a day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.  self, I must lead you into it by a borrowed allusion from the Kings and Princes of this world, for the help of our humane understandings. There was a time when God summoned his ministering Spirits, the holy Angels to appear before him, who with a filial readiness presenting themselves to give their account, and to receive his commands for the service of his Church, Satan by the will of God came also among them to render his account, and to receive his charge, as also of his own will to espy advantages.  
7. And yet further, to speak after 
7. And the Lord said unto Satan: Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.  the manner of men, for the better instructing us according to our capacities; God seeing Satan there among them, enters into speech with him, thereby to administer an occasion to manifest Jobs uprightness, and to bring to pass his purpose concerning him. And in the first place he asks him whence he came, and from what doing, to give us to understand the Devil's solicitousness from his own reply; who answered, I come from off the earth, from my continual employment of soliciting my cause and kingdom up and down every where among men by watching and taking the fittest opportunities to tempt and entrap them.  
8. Why then, says God, sure thou 
8. And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?  canst not choose but have taken special notice of Job the Uzzite, to be my servant in an extraordinary manner, so as there is not the like to him upon the whole earth for a faithful and upright-hearted man, that truly reverenceth and fears me, and is careful to do nothing that shall offend me.  
9 'Tis true, says Satan, I know him 
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth job fear God for nought?  well, and that he makes a fair show of honouring and serving thee, and no wonder, seeing he hath thriven so well by thee; but thou art mistaken in his uprightness: for it is not with a filial but a mercenary fear that he regards thee, the better to compass his own ends.  
10. For thou know'st, and so doth 
10. Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.  he too, full well, how thou hast hitherto encompassed him and all that is his, with thy protection, so that neither I, nor any could do him any hurt whereby to try him, and thus thou continuest to do still, neither is he ignorant how it is thou that prosperest him, and makest him thrive in every thing he doth, and hast so wondrously enriched him above all that are near him, and therefore no marvel if for such extraordinary favours he (in this time of his prosperity and and plenty) seem to do thee extraordinary service, and to bear thee great good will.  
11. But as hitherto thou hast employed 
11. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.  thy power to preserve him and to bless him with such abundance, so now, do but show it in taking away that which thou hast given him, and then he will quickly appear another manner of man than thou takest him to be; for, in stead of honouring and reverencing thee in fear, thou shalt find, that he'll cast off all respect, and not stick to blaspheme thee to thy face.  
12 Well (says God) that thou mayst 
12. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.  see that I am the searcher of hearts, and have said nothing of my servant job, but what I know to be true, take thy course, try him as thou hast desired, thou hast free leave to do whatsoever thou wilt with all that is his, only I will restrain thee from harming his own person. Whereupon Satan hasted to put in execution what God permitted him with the first opportunity.  
13. And therefore watched his time 
13. And there was a day when his Sons and his Daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brothers house.  when as jobs children, according to their foresaid custom of love-feasts, were met together in their eldest brothers house, upon which opportunity he purposed to plant his main battery for the gaining of his conquest, and therefore reserved it until the last, making way thereto, by a methodical discharge of lesser ordinance.  
14. The first whereof is a messenger 
14. And there came a messenger unto job, and said, The Oxen were ploughing, and the Asses feeding beside them.  in all haste, bringing Job the sad news of the loss of all his five hundred yoke of Oxen at once, with the hopes of all the next years profits of their labours, and also of all his Asses.  
15. By a violent surprisal of the 
15. And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away, yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.  Sabeans, who came and carried them quite away; and to make the matter worse to pitifull-hearted Job, he tells him they had also slain all his servants that were at work with them, save himself, and his escape was ordained, doubtless, only to the end he might bring him those heavy tidings of discomfort.  
16. Secondly, to set home the sorrow 
16. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fall'n from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.  of this message upon jobs heart, so soon as ever he had heard it, before he could bethink himself, another in like haste bespeaks him with worse news, and said, There fell fire from heaven, no doubt, by the immediate hand of God, and hath most strangely and suddenly burned up and utterly consumed all thy seven thousand sheep at once, and hath devoured also thy very servants that tended them: Only I am escaped to the end, it seems, that I should bring thee this evil news.  
17. Lest he should have any thing 
17. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the Camels, and have carried them away, yea and slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.  left to sustain him in hope, and to ease his grief; Satan dispatcheth a third messenger, contriving him to arrive in the very nick of opportunity for the enforcing of jobs misery, and provoking him thereby to impatiency against God, by telling him all in haste; by that time he had well heard out the other. How that the Chaldeans came with no less than three bands of men, and fell furiously upon the Camels, and the men that kept them; so that they have driven away the Camels, and killed all the servants to boot, saving myself, who, it seems, had my life given me by a special providence, to bring thee the news.  
18. And just as he had finished his 
18. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating & drinking wine in their eldest brothers house.  tale, comes there yet another messenger, by whom Satan was confident, (having thus contrived and managed his foregoing temptations) to work his will upon job. And he tells him, That his sons and his daughters fearing nothing, were feasting & making merry, in their eldest brothers house.  
19 And unexpectedly, npon a sudden, 
19 And behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.  there blew a mighty wind fromward the wilderness, and in a moment overthrew all the house upon the young men thy sons, and they are every one slain, only I have escaped, I know not how, but it seems miraculously, to bring thee these woeful tidings.  
20. Whereat job, who had abide and 
20. Then job arose and rend his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,  sat out all the rest, now arose, and in the grief, but not impatiency of his heart, he rend his garment, and in token of sorrow, after the custom of those countries he shaved his head, and after that he prostrated himself upon the ground in reverence to the Majesty of God, and in stead of repining, humbly worshipped the Lord,  
21. Saying, I brought none of all 
21. And said, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.  these I have lost, into the world with me, but came as naked into it, as other men, and so whensoever my time had come must have gone out of it: It is only the Lord, that of his free goodness and bounty, hath both given and hitherto sustained all these to me, and so it is the same Lord, that according to his good pleasure, hath taken them from me, for they were his; so far be it from me therefore to repine thereat as that I adore and magnify his name therefore, acknowledging him to be both just and good in all his ways.  
22. Now therefore, in all that passed 
22. In all this job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.  hitherto, in despite of Satan, job sinned not, nor for all these sufferings and temptations could Satan prevail with him so far to forget himself toward God, as to utter a misbelieving word against him.   

CHAP. II.  
1. Again, in like manner, as aforesaid, 
1. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.  there was another time, when as God summoned his ministering Spirits the Angels before him, who, (as at the first time) presented themselves to the Lord, and so did Satan also.  
2. Of whom the Lord asked the 
2. And the Lord said unto Satan; From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.  same question; Whence he came, etc. thereby to give a further occasion, more fully to convince Satan of jobs integrity, and to perfect his own purpose concerning him. To whom Satan returned the same answer; That he came from going to and fro upon the earth, to find advantages to tempt men.  
3. Why then says the Lord, thou 
3. And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him to destroy him without cause.  canst not but have taken special notice of my servant job, what manner of man he is, who besides all that I told thee of him touching his faith and honesty, which in despite of thee he hath made good to the utmost, thou seest still to continue in his upright-heartednesse and humble obedience towards me, although thou prevailed with me, thus seemingly to declare myself against him (and that in such a manner, as none but such an one as I have told thee he is, could possibly have borne it as he hath done) by laying such heavy afflictions upon him, and that without any provocation, or cause on his part procuring it.  
4. 'Tis true, says Satan, I cannot deny 
4. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.  it but he hath held out well, and I have got no ground of him hitherto, but yet for all that, the reason is not as thou sayest, from his uprightness, but from the nature of his sufferings, and his own selfe-respect; for hitherto thou hast only tried him with foreign afflictions, and hast made him to suffer only in the sufferings of others, but hast not touched him at all in his own person, and thou knowest it is natural to every man nothing so much to lay to heart, or be moved with relative, as with personal afflictions, as is seen by common experience; for who will not, if he may be his own chooser, rather suffer in any other, though never so near unto him than in himself, and think it a good bargain to lose all he has to save his life?  
5 And that thou mayst see that this 
5. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.  is true, let me prevail with thee once more, to try him a little further with this kind of trial which I have spoken of, lay but thine afflicting hand upon his own person, by some bodily pressure, and then tell me whether he retain his uprightness, nay, then see if my words prove not true, that he will cast off all respect of thee, and blaspheme thee to thy face.  
6. Well says God, seeing thou art 
6. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life.  not yet convinced, go on, I grant thee thy desire, do thy worst to his person also: but as before I restrained thee from harming his body, so do I now forbid thee to take away his life.  
7. Satan glad he had sped so well, 
7. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote job with sore boyles from the sole of his foot, unto his crown.  quickly left communing with God, and went straightway while the anguish of jobs other afflictions were fresh upon him, to put his commission in execution, for the trying of him by bodily pressures, which he fulfilled to the uttermost, by overrunning him in every part from head to foot with a painful disease, strangely breaking out all over his body in grievous and noisome boils.  
8. In so much that every one loathed 
8. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.  him, nor would any endure to lend him their helping hand, wherefore being destitute of all other means, he himself was forced, (being driven to that poverty, and enduring that misery) to take for want of better, a piece of a broken pot, from off the dunghill, and there (as unfit for any other place) to sit down, and scrape the abundant filth from off his body.  
9 Satan seeing all these temptations 
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.  would not make Job blaspheme, puts him at last directly upon the very point itself, by the desperate counsel and provoking suggestion of his bosom-friend, his wife, who in stead of administering conjugal help to him, by the Devil's instigation, she takes the opportunity of this his deep dejection to spur him on to a further evil, under the plausible pretence of remedy, by tempting him no longer to fear and adhere to such a God in dependence and reverence, nor any longer to bear his afflicting hand with patience, that had thus unmercifully and without cause tormented him, but being that he sped no better by his integrity, rather to spite God, as God had spited him, by easting off his fruitless faith and patience, and turning it into blasphemy; for so should he get more from God by provoking him therewith to destroy him out and out, than he had done by blessing him, which all this while had gained him no good, but procured God to sustain him alive under insupportable miseries, and so was like to do still.  
10. But herein also Satan came short 
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh; What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not job sin, with his lips.  of his hopes, as we see by Jobs smart reproof, together with his faithful and humble answer: For, says he to his wife, How darest thou utter these words, that hast been brought up in the knowledge of God; it were a speech fitter to have come out of the mouth of one of those ignorant heathenish women that have no knowledge of the true God, than from thee, who hast been otherways instructed, and oughtest to know, that all the good that we, or any enjoy, is of his free gift, without our procuring, or deserving; and how comes it to pass then, that thou art so far devoid of godliness and reason, as not to know it is but equity in God, when his good pleasure is, to take that from us, which of his only good pleasure he freely gave unto us; In all which trial of Job, though in spirit he was sore troubled, yet could not Satan get one misbeseeming word from him against God.  
11 Now when Eliphas the Temanite, 
11. Now, when Jobs three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him.  and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, which were all godly men, and the three special friends of Job, had heard of all jobs miseries, they came all of them together, by joint appointment from the places where they lived, with intent to testify themselves his true and faithful friends in a voluntary sympathising his afflictions, and so to mitigate his sorrows by their friendly condolings, and to support his spirit by their godly advice.  
12. But as they drew towards the 
12. And when they lift up their eyes a far of, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept, and they rend every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.  end of their journey, they cast their eyes toward jobs house, and of a sudden seeing him in his own person in that manner and estate to sit upon the dunghill, and his distress to go so far beyond report and their own imaginations of him, they through amazement could not believe their own eyes for a while that it was he, whom before they had never seen but in a splendidous fashion, but by beholding him, being at length assured that pitiful spectacle was their very friend job, they could not but through amazement and affectionate sympathy, break out into a transported manifestation of their abundant sorrow both in words and tears, and deforming themselves with rending their mouths, and sprinkling dust upon their heads in token of their humbling themselves before God at the sight of his judgements.  
13. Thus all of them having at the 
13. So they sat down with him upon the ground, seven days, and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him; for they saw that his grief was very great.  first sight of him their hearts stricken with the awful fear of God, as also in pity of him whom they beheld in such misery, when they came to him, sat them down by him in that very place, upon the ground, eyeing and considering him with such astonishment, as that they spent the most part of seven days and seven nights in that very place with him, without giving almost any regard to their ordinary rest and sustenance. And all that while they kept silence, because they thought him uncapable of discourse, by reason of his extreme pain and grief.   

CHAP. III.  
1. AFter this long time spent in 
1. After this opened job his mouth and cursed his day.  silence wherein Job had hoped to have heard a word of comfort from his companions, but perceiving none, and therefore seeing every thing helping on his misery and empty of relief, he himself at last, to give his heart some ease, gave liberty to his lips to vent his grief, but still retaining the fear of God, he broke not out in an enraged manner, immediately against the Lord himself, as Satan hoped, but discharged his passions upon his own original, and through the weakness of the flesh to stand it out any longer, his infirmities so far prevailed, as that he fell foul upon the day of his birth and cursed it.  
2. In this manner: 
2. And job spoke & said,   
3. O that I might have my will upon 
3. Let the day perish wherein I was borne, and the night in which it was said, There is a manchild conceived.  my birthday, and the night belonging to it, which gave original to all these miseries, that they might henceforth be utterly rejected of God and unserviceable to man, so that not a minute thereof may ever be useful or comfortable any more.  
4. O that it may be branded with 
4. Let that day be darkness, let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.  unpleasing darkness, and may never be favoured of God with vouchsafing the dew of heaven and such like blessings on it as on other days, yea, let the Sun break off his course, and make a stand at that day, not daining to afford it the honour of his light.  
5. But in stead thereof let its beauty 
5. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it, let a cloud dwell upon it, let the blackness of the day terrify it.  be turned into a black darkness, even such an one as may resemble the very grave itself, and let there be no intermission, but let a thick and gloomy cloud uncomfortably overshadow it from end to end; let it be so eclipsed with darkness, as may represent such a dismal blackness that may not only beget discomfort, but the very terror of a final and immediate dissolution of all things.  
6. As for the night belonging to 
6. As for that night, let darkness seize upon it, let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.  this day, which nature itself hath appointed to be dark, let darkness herself henceforth, make it her habitation; yea, let nature quite disclaim it and utterly abandon it for having any place in the computation of time, either by Sun or Moon.  
7. Yet further, let that night bring 
7. Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.  forth nothing but mourning and disconsolation, let there be no pleasing stillness therein as in other nights to invite the melody of music.  
8. Let those mourning women, 
8. Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.  which for hire are wont at funerals with doleful execrations, to lament the day of their benefactors death, always remember this for one, yea, with their joint forces and bitterest exclamations let them curse it.  
9 Let it not be blessed with the 
9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark, let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the dawning of the day.  common blessings of other nights, let it neither (according to the course of nature) partake of the light of the stars in the beginning, but in stead thereof be overtaken with an unwonted and unexpected darkness, neither let it be so happy, as to give occasion (which else of course it should do) to the next day's dawning.  
10. These curses I lay upon that 
10. Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.  day and night wherein first I came into the world, and not without cause, for that was the time which made me capable of all these calamities, and gave beginning to this my miserable being, which it might have prevented by hindering me to have been borne.  
11. O therefore that I had been 
11. Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?  borne dead, or else that I had received my ending together with my beginning, and had left the world by death, so soon as I came into it with life.  
12. Or that the Midwife had not 
12. Why did the knees prevent me? or why the the breasts that I should suck?  been so careful of me, but had exposed me to my fatal helplessness in the moment of my birth, or that my Nurse had after let me famish.  
13. Then should I not now need to 
13. For now should I have lain still, and been quiet, I should have slept; then had I been at rest.  have complained thus, but in stead thereof have lain unmolested in the grave, and been quiet from these troubles; I should then have slept without sense of any these pains, and been at rest from them.  
14. And (in stead of this miserable 
14. With Kings and Counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves.  state) then had I been equal in condition with the most renowned of the world for power and policy, who ambitiously people and edify the waste and uninhabited countries of the world, for the enlargement of their dominions, and spreading of their fame.  
15. Or be they otherways famous for 
15. Or with Princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver.  riches, though they abounded in never so great wealth, yet then had neither these nor those gone beyond me.  
16. Or (which is all one to me, so 
16. Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.  I had never known these calamities) I should have been as those that never were known to be, nor never knew themselves to have a being.  
17. Then had I been in an estate 
17. There the wicked cease from troubling: and there the weary be at rest.  capable of no earthly molestation; for there the wicked neither by power nor policy can do any harm, and those that either by their travels or troubles are weary of this life, do there enjoy a perpetual freedom and rest from both.  
18. There the poor slaves enjoy 
18. There the prisoners rest together, they hear not the voice of the oppressor.  their freedom, and are from under the command of their merciless taskmasters.  
19 There cannot be but freedom, 
19 The small & great are there, and the servant is free from his Master.  because there is an equal parity. The great is as the small, and the servant is as his Master, no better and worse.  
20. Seeing then that death affords 
20. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul?  remedy for all miseries, why is it denied to me, and why in stead thereof do mine eyes still enjoy the light of the Sun, or why is my life any longer continued, seeing, that though these are desirable and commodious to others, yet because of my misery, I account not of them but as burdensome evils?  
21. I take no felicity in them, but 
21. Which long for death, but it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures?  do infinitely prefer death before them; It is strange than I cannot have my desire to exchange light for darkness, and life for death, which how ever▪ it be a thing odious to other men, yet do I desire and prise it above all the riches that the bowels of the whole earth can afford.  
22. Wherefore then is it denied 
22. Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the graves.  me that am so far from fearing or refusing it, that I should exceedingly rejoice, and be glad at my very heart (and no doubt, so would all men in my case) if my hour were now to die?  
23. Why doth God continue to bestow 
23. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?  light and life on me, whom he regards not, and whom he hath made unavoidably miserable?  
24. For alas, my extremity is such, 
24. For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roar are poured out like the waters.  that I cannot enjoy one moment of ease, in so much as that my spirits are so exhausted with continual grief, that I can relish no meat, nor have any strength to digest it: And as is my grief, such are my complaints, vehement and incessant, which things must needs end me.  
25. And blame me not for thus 
25. For the thing which I greatly feared, is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of, is come unto me.  complaining: For though I have ever greatly feared to provoke the Lords displeasure, and have therefore carefully eschewed all manner of evil that might procure it, yet for all that you see in hath befallen me.  
26. Yea, though all my life long 
26. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet: yet trouble came.  when I was at my best, I reposed no great confidence, nor put no extraordinary content in my prosperity, so as to cause me any whit to abate my fear of God, yet I speed never the better for this my moderation of mind and care to please him, but see notwithstanding what misery comes upon me.   

CHAP. IU.  
1. Jobs three friends that came to 
1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,  comfort him, having all this while diligently attended to his passionate discourse; Eliphaz the Temanite, having his spirit stirred therewith, at length attempts to address himself to Job, seeing that he himself had broken the silence, and had administered such an unexpected occasion of reproof: And said,  
2. We have purposely forborn all 
2. If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?  this while, therefore, now at last, let it not grieve thee to hear us speak. But how ever thou takest it at our hands, there are none of us that hears thee, that either can or may with a good conscience forbear to reply to this thy sinful unbeseeming discourse.  
3. Therefore consider with thyself 
3. Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.  how unworthy of thee is this thy passionate exclamation (now that it pleaseth God to lay his afflicting hand upon thee) and how devoid of all religious integrity: For that always heretofore thou hast been a forward instructor of others how to bear afflictions, and by thy counsel thou hast strengthened them to a patient enduring their distresses.  
4. In so much that by thy comfortable 
4. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.  speeches, very many feeble ones have been encouraged and upheld from fainting, and with faith and patience have been enabled to go throughstitch with their calamities.  
5. But now that the same lot is fall'n 
5. But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest, it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.  to thee, and that thou shouldst make good thy words with thy actions, thou now contrary to all men's expectations, and to the scandal of thy profession, in stead of honouring religion by manifesting thy faith and patience under the hand of God, most shamefully degenerates into a faithless pusillanimity, and unbeseeming impatiency, contradicting by thine own practice (in expressing such extreme trouble at the first touch of these calamities) all that ever thou hast heretofore advised to others.  
6. But see now I pray thee by this, 
6. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence; and the uprightness of thy ways, thy hope?  that which (it appears) hath hitherto been hid from thine eyes, I mean, the deceit of thine own heart touching those graces which till now thou thoughtest to have been sincerely in thee, and eftsoons made thy brags of, Thou mayst now plainly see by this alteration which affliction hath wrought in thee, what was thy fear, thy faith, thy uprightness and thy hope heretofore in the time of thy prosperity; for had thy graces been any other than counterfeit pretences, and thy ways been any other than sinister practices, not aiming 〈◊〉 and directly at God, but indirectly at thyself and thine own advantage they would never have suffered thee thus to have forgot thyself, and broken out into their contrary vices against God, neither certainly 〈◊〉 God have laid this great punishment upon thee.  
7. For, where ever canst thou call 
7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?  to mind so much as any one that being truly such as thou salsely mistakest thyself to be, was ever plagued with the destroying hand of God as thou art; or in the whole world, where canst thou reckon one that ever thou knewst sincerely righteous, that ever God showed such formidable wrath upon?  
8. But on the contrary, I have continually 
8. Even as I have seen, they that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.  observed in sundry examples, how that it hath ever been God's way of proceeding, only to bring evil sufferings upon such as either do or purpose evil, which we have reason the rather to believe to be true, because this is so agreeable to justice, for men to reap as they sow, that is, for God to bring the evil they purposed to others, upon their own heads, which otherways it were not.  
9 And such men indeed, I have 
9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.  commonly seen (with the manifestation of a most evident wrath from God) to be like thee, all of a sudden strangely ruined, and quite brought to nought in a moment.  
10. For be men never so potent and 
10. The roaring of the Lion, and the voice of the fierce Lion, and the teeth of the young Lions are broken.  able to do mischief, or be they never so well furnished with will and power thereunto; yet God, who sees men's hearts a far off, can, and does ordinarily, in the midst of their career, disable and intercept them, which no doubt, but God foresaw in thee and thy children, though thou seest it not in thyself.  
11. And therefore to show his exceeding 
11. The old Lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout Lion's whelps are scattered abroad.  great power, in preventing the great evil which he foresaw, was towards, by the power which thou hadst got into thine hand to work it, and withal, to intimate a reason of his action, hath he thus wonderfully disappointed thee by an utter disablement both in thyself and thy posterity, bringing upon thee the same evil which doubtless, else thou wouldst have brought upon another.  
12. And that thou mayst be the better 
12. Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.  persuaded, of the truth of that which I have said concerning thee; Know that for certain (after the manner of revealing heavenly messages to our humane capacities, which understand them but in part) I lately had a revelation thence to this very purpose, which I have spoken of to thee, and that upon this very occasion of thy affliction.  
13. For when that I had heard what 
13. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men.  had befallen thee, and the manner of it; One night seriously thinking of thee, and pondering thy case, as I lay awake in the dead time of the night, when other men were asleep, and disputing within myself, how the innocency of thy life, and these punishments could in justice stand together;  
14. Of a sudden an extreme fear 
14. Fear came upon me, & trembling, which made all my bones to shake.  seized upon me, in so much that it made me exceedingly to tremble, and my very bones to lose their strength, and to shake as if they had been all over me out of joint, and while I marvelled what should be the reason of it, I straight way perceived it was to prepare my mind with reverence, and better discerning to entertain the vision that immediately ensued.  
15. For presently there appeared 
15. Then a spirit passed before my face, the hair of my flesh stood up.  a spirit before me, the sight whereof made my very hair to stand an end.  
16. And though it stood still before 
16. It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying.  my face, yet could I not distinctly comprehend in my mind the form thereof, only this I can say for certain, that I saw an image before mine eyes; And whilst I was in this amazement, silently waiting the issue, at last it spoke to me, and said these very words concerning thee, of whom I was even then thinking.  
17. Why dost thou thus wonder at 
17. Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?  God's proceedings towards Job, and secretly in thine heart question his Justice, because of Jobs innocent life? canst thou with any reason or equity conceive mortal man to be righteous; and the eternal God to be unrighteous, or the creature to be pure and innocent, and yet his Creator to be culpable and blame worthy in what he shall do?  
18. Alas, how art thou deceived, 
18. Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his Angels he charged with folly.  as thou mayest easily see, if thou dost but consider, that those glorious Angels, which are now his special domestic servants in heaven, stand not in that estate by their own power and worth, but by the mere support and firm decree of God, which in grace he passed upon them, knowing that else they would have fallen as well as other their fellows did, who though they were Angels, and so the best of all his creatures far surpassing man, yet he found fault enough in them to condemn them everlastingly.  
19 If this be so of the Angels which 
19 How much less on them that dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?  are in their natures such excellent spiritual and immortal creatures, so far exceeding man, and which were so near to God in heavenly mansions; How much more than is man, what ever he think of himself, sinful before God, and unfit to be justified against God, being nothing else but infirmity and sin, and justly liable to confusion, who comes so far short of Angelical perfection: For his soul whereby he comes the nearest them, that dwells far from God, officiating here below on earth in a body composed of nothing but corruptible clay, and then in respect of his nature, he has no better a foundation to trust to than the dust whereof he is made, and who by reason of sin is so subjected to mortality, as that through inward diseases and outward casualties he is become as frail and transitory as the weakest creature living.  
20. His whole life is nothing but a 
20. They are destroyed from morning to ening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.  lingering death, the one shortening, the other hastening every moment, and his departure hence, though it be everlasting, and never to return again, yet it is so ordinary, that therefore it is made no matter of, but accounted as a thing of course even among men themselves.  
21. And what are they when they 
21. Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.  are dead? Why they turn to clay from whence they were taken; for than their soul quite leaves them wherein all their excellency consisted, and they die even as brute creatures without any power or skill to help themselves and hinder it.   

CHAP. V.  
1. SO that as I said before, bring 
1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and to which of the Saints wilt thou turn?  forth the man if thou canst that ever did or could say of himself, that God punished him being righteous, see if among all the holy worthies of former times, there was ever any such precedent, that God plagued the innocent?  
2. Nay, from the difference of thy 
2. For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.  carriage to them that are godly righteous, it is evident that thou hast but flattered thyself all this while, and what ever thou hast thought of thyself, thou art but a wicked man, and hast not the knowledge of God in thee as appears plainly, now it comes to trial: For didst thou know him aright, thou wouldst never have suffered thy pettish frowardness so to have transported thee against God to the aggravating thine own ruin, nor thine envious quarrelings (through thy conceited righteousness above others, and the opinion therefore of thine undue sufferings) so to have increased thy torment, and robbed thee of that comfort and content thou mightest have taken in God, in the midst of all thy misery through an humble patience.  
3. No, but as I know thou canst not 
3. I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.  instance any that ever were punished but for sin, or that perished being innocent: So on the contrary, I can assure thee, that I have observed divers who like thee have made a fair show, and withal have exceedingly prospered in all outward felicity, but I have withal quickly seen an end of it; for God hath made them manifest and with evident judgements most remarkably accursed them and theirs.  
4. For he has brought unavoidable 
4. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.  ruin upon their posterity, and that in such an exemplary manner, as that he has exposed them openly to the condemning censure of all men without pity or partaking of any.  
5. And just as he hath done to thee, 
5. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.  so hath he raised up against them a rout of needy wretches, that have despoiled them of the very bread wherewith they should subsist, violently taking away the very uttermost ear of corn, and has brought it so to pass upon them; that thiefs have even swept away all that ever they have had.  
6. It is not the creature, nor natural 
6. Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.  causes here below, that of themselves bring forth these afflictions, which men suffer.  
7. And yet there is no property 
7. Yet man is borne unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.  more natural to his subject, than trouble is to men. The very sparks of fire ascend not more ordinarily than men suffer afflictions; which then must needs be inflicted from above by the divine hand of supreme and infinite justice because of sin.  
8. Therefore were thy cause mine, 
8. I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause.  I would not in the vain opinion of mine own innocency afflict myself by exclaiming on my birthday, or complaining on the creature as the cause of my calamities; but I would humble myself, and confess my sins, and go directly to God, seeing him the author, and seeking to him for redress of these punishments, committing myself wholly and only to his mercy.  
9 And the rather because thy sufferings 
9 Which doth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number.  are extraordinary, and thou canst not find the reason of them, be persuaded to think them to be of God, and therefore humble thyself, and seek unto him; And then think not thy case remediless, or that it is beyond the power of God to relieve thee: for who knows, but God may have brought thee into this estate of purpose, upon thy humiliation to glorify his power and goodness in thy restauration? For it is ordinary with God to do extraordinary things, and such as are beyond our imagination.  
10. Have we not daily experience 
10. Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields.  of it in this very kind, as when the earth wanteth rain, and the fields are scorched with drought, how does he in such a strait, and forlorn hope, send seasonable showers and plenty of them?  
11 To supply those that in their 
11. To set up on high those that be low, that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.  want and necessity humbly depend on him, and to cheer up those which mourn under the sense of God's just displeasure, with an assured hope of plenty.  
12. Whereas also on the contrary, 
12. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.  how do we see him defeat by his powerful wisdom, the subtle devices of those that in their own conceit are able to support themselves; so that what they enterprise, they fail to effect.  
13. And every foot he entraps the 
13. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.  wise of this world in their own gins, and the proud politicians he brings to ruin by their own counsels.  
14. In the midst of all their hopes 
14. They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.  he frustrates their designs, and makes their wisdom fail them, sending them events cross to what they confidently promised themselves, leaving them utterly to seek of their expectation.  
15 But he that humbleth himself, 
15. But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.  and seeks to the Lord, he as powerfully preserves him, as he defeats them, both from the bloody sword, malicious mouth, and destroying hand of the wicked, be they never so mighty.  
16. So that then it is certain, that 
16. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stopeth her mouth.  the humble man, and he that seeks to the Lord with repentance and selfe-abasing, be his case never so desperate, may ask and wait in hope, but the proud presumptuous-spoken man disables himself for getting any good from God.  
17. Behold then, how ever thou 
17. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.  thinkest, and notwithstanding thy impatient outrage, yet for certain it is a happiness to a man (that takes this way) to be corrected of the Lord, therefore let not thy pride make thee swell against God, nor bear not thyself so high in thine own imaginary justification, but rather improve this goodness of the Lord to thee by making it a means to bring thee to repentance, and to humble thee before him in the acknowledgement of thy faults.  
18. Who in so doing as he hath 
18. For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.  plagued thee for thy pride, so will he upon thy humiliation take away thy smart, and turn all thy woe into weal.  
19 Be thy troubles multiplied to 
19 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.  never so great a number, if thou humblest thyself under his hand, he shall deliver thee from them all, and thou shalt be sure of a happy issue, though for present they increase upon thee.  
20. For take but this course, and then 
20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war, from the power of the sword.  in the greatest mortality of famine, though thou wert at death's door, yet shall he deliver thee, and in all devouring war where thousands presuming of their own strength and courage are slain, yet by an humble dependence upon God shalt thou be preserved.  
21. Yea, it shall shield thee from 
21. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue, neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.  every evil, even from the very reports of slanderous and backbiting tongues, to which all men are obnoxious: neither shalt thou fear at the reproach of the greatest destruction, when every man else shall tremble.  
22. But in stead thereof through 
22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh, neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.  tranquillity of mind, and security in God, thou shalt set at naught the things which are most terrible to other men, to wit, the sword and famine, neither shalt thou fear the power of any creature under heaven to do thee harm.  
23. For hereby thou art reconciled 
23. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.  to God, and art at one with him, and if so, who dare be against thee, or what can hurt thee? Nay, the most senseless and unreasonable creatures, whose benefit and obedience sin hath lost our right to, and turned into rebellion, shall then be so far from working thee evil, as that they shall become God's instruments, and join together for thy use and service.  
24. And moreover, hereby thou 
24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace, and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.  shalt find a wonderful change; for by taking this course, thou shalt assuredly have peace, and be wholly restored to thy former condition, thine own eyes shall see it; and further, thou shalt have this benefit which above all is most to be set by, thou shalt then cease to sin, and no more forget thyself towards God as before.  
25. And withal, thou shalt live to 
25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.  see thy children which now God hath taken from thee, restored to thee in a far greater number.  
26. And also in so doing thou shalt 
26. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.  prevent the Lord, and not provoke him thus to cut thee off in anger; but for all this shalt live to be crowned with a hoary head, and shalt go down into thy grave in a complete age, like as a shock of corn is inned into the barn in its due ripeness.  
27. Be sure that this is the only 
27. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.  way; for it hath ever been found so by all, and can be denied of none, give heed to it therefore, and make use of it for thy good, to order and steer thy course by, if ever thou wouldst land safe out of the troublesome sea of these thy miseries.   

CHAP. VI  
1. ELiphaz having thus ended his 
1. But job answered, and said,  speech to Job, partly consisting of reproof, and partly of advice; Job replies as followeth:  
2. Thou blamest me for bewailing 
2. Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!  myself, when as woe is me, my griefs are an insupportable burden, as thou wouldst soon perceive, didst thou but feel the weight of them all together as I do.  
3. Being for number and weight 
3. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea, therefore my words are swallowed up.  like the very sand of the sea, dost thou blame me then for bewailing, seeing my affliction is so exceeding great that I want words to complain enough?  
4. For the grievous pains which I 
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.  endure are as so many poisoned arrows shot into me, and that by the Almighty hand of God himself, which have diffused their venom into all the parts of my body and soul, and have even spent and wasted my spirits and strength with their intolerable grief; for all the terrible afflictions and affrightments of God, have jointly in flesh and spirit combined and set themselves in battle array against me.  
5. Is it not natural for every thing wild or tame to lament itself in case of necessity and why then will not you 
5. Doth the wild Ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the Ox over his fodder?  allow me that liberty, but condemn me for that which is naturally common to all creatures, especially in this my extreme misery?  
6. And doth not sense and experience teach you yourselves, that no unsavoury thing can be relished without 
6. Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?  some seasoning, neither can a man force his appetite to think that to be tasteful which is not so.  
7. And is not this my case? for those very things, which heretofore my soul durst not so much as think upon; 
7. The things that my soul refused to touch, are as my sorrowful meat.  is it not now forced (with what sorrow and grief you may imagine) continually to feed upon them? And will you then be so unnatural and unreasonable as to force me unsensibly to swallow down these afflictions which are so painful, and not give me the liberty to season my unsavoury torments with a little needful lamentation?  
8. But seeing you will not grant me liberty, I must be forced to take it; for seeing I can have no other relief, I 
8. O that I might have my request! and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!  must speak my mind. O therefore that I might have my request, and that the Lord would grant me the thing that I long for.  
9 Even this, That it would please 
9 Even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off.  him to destroy me at once, that he would no longer restrain his hand from making an end of me, but that he would graciously dispatch me out of these torments.  
10. If I could but gain this at his 
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.  hands, to hope to be dispatched by these tortures, that I might come to be judged of God, and not of men, than would I even joy in them, and be so far from being discouraged, as that they should animate me in hope of mine end by them; neither would I entreat the Lord to spare me, but would think them, the worse the better; for I fear not to appear before God, because I know my conscience acquits me as having been faithful in the sincere delivery of his truth to all that I have spoken to, how ever you may judge of it.  
11. Do you blame me for desiring 
11. What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?  to be dissolved, when as alas, what is my strength, compared with these insupportable miseries, that I should think myself able to hold out under them, or hope for long life? and what evil can there be in mine end, that I should desire to prolong my life?  
12. Sure you take me not to be 
12. Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?  made of flesh, or if so, yet not to be sensible that think me able to bear these burdens without bemoaning myself.  
13. Me thinks you should think 
13. Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?  me best able to judge of mine own estate, and best to know my remedy, except you think me deprived of mine understanding.  
14. It is the Lords will and commandment; 
14. To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.  that to him that is afflicted, pity should be showed from his friend; but thou, whom I have always taken for my friend, hast forsaken the fear of the Lord, and hast falsified thy duty to me herein, whilst that thus in stead of comforting me, thou condemnest me.  
15. You whom I esteemed as my 
15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away.  brethren, have approved yourselves but hollow in friendship to me; for because I have always taken you for my friends, and have found you heretofore in my prosperity to stand me in stead, I was in hope to have had supply of comfort from you in this my need; and now you fail me, even like so many land-floods, which when a man hath use of water afford none.  
16. For though in the winter season, 
16. Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid.  when waters abound, they make show to befriend us, and by their ice seem to be our storehouses of preserving snow and water against the scorching time of summer.  
17. Yet when summer comes, they 
17. What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.  themselves grow sensible of the heat, and in stead of yielding the refreshing they promised, as the heat of the Sun increaseth, so they waste away by degrees, till at last, then, when there is most need they vanish quite away as if they had never been.  
18. They either find new ways to 
18. The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing and perish.  bestow themselves, not keeping their wont course, but are drunk up of the earth, or else are utterly exhausted and dried up of the Sun.  
19 This the Caravan or company 
19 The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.  of Merchants that trade unto Tema, and also those which traffic unto Sheba, have experience of, as they travel through the hot desert countries of Arabia; for whereas in the winter time they have seen and traveled over frozen waters, they conceived hope to find refreshing from them as they come that way in Summer.  
20. But when as in Summer they 
20. They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.  had traveled far in confidence of them, and approaching thither, where they hope to have them, they find themselves miserably disappointed, and in so much the worse case, because they trusted in them, and then they are angry and ashamed at themselves for their own credulity and improvidence to rely upon them.  
21. Such like are you to me; for 
21. For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.  whereas I put my confidence in you, because of your former seemingness, now that I have use of you, you stand me in no stead, but have utterly deceived my hopes of kindness and consolation from you, and because you perceive the Sun of affliction to be risen upon me, and fear, if you should show yourselves the same to me as heretofore, I might prove a burden to you; therefore you turn strangers to me.  
22. Me thinks you might afford 
22. Did I say, Bring unto me? or give a reward for me of your substance?  me a few comfortable words, seeing that I neither am, nor desire to be any otherways beholden to you; I am sure I have given you no such cause to fear me, as should move you to assume this distance; for though indeed I be in want, yet I have begged nothing of you to cause you to be thus weary of me.  
23. Neither have I been troublesome 
23. Or deliver me from the enemy's hand? or redeem me from the hand of the mighty.  or chargeable to you in all my sufferings, either for rescue or ransom of me, or any thing that is mine out of the enemies or oppressors hands.  
24. I wonder wherein I should deserve 
24. Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.  so ill of you, I would be loath to excuse myself in any thing wherein I justly deserve to be blamed; therefore if you will undertake to show me my error, I will be willing to learn, and ready to hear, so that you can justly demonstrate to me wherein I am faulty.  
25. For grave, modest, and just reproof 
25. How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?  carries authority with it, and shall ever prevail with me; but how unconsonant to a right reprehension hath your discourse been, being composed of nothing but untrue arguments, issuing from inconsiderate misprision?  
26. And do you imagine that that 
26. Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?  which I have said, either concerning myself or my misery, is but so many idle and hasty words, and do you reprove me thereafter, or think you they are merely the fruits of a brainsick head, begotten by my desperate fortune, and so value them as wind?  
27. Truly in so doing you are both 
27. Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and you dig a pit for your friend.  most uncharitable, and not unlike them that oppress the fatherless by adding misery to misery in your unjust condemning me for my speeches and necessary complaints, and most unrighteous, even as they that betray the trust of a friend to his utter undoing, in going about to overthrow my only support by disputing against my uprightness.  
28. Now therefore be better advised, 
28. Now therefore be content, look upon me, for it is evident unto you, if I lie.  and be no more so rash to condemn me, but consider me well, both what I am, and what I have said, and you will easily be satisfied, that I speak the truth in sobriety and knowledge of myself.  
29. Bethink yourselves I pray you 
29. Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.  of the cruel wrong you have offered me, I wish it for your own good, lest it prove your sin, and procure your punishment; yea, I advise you again to charge me no more so unjustly, but consider that you lay my very righteousness at stake (which is my only prop in this my misery) than which you cannot do me a greater injury.  
30. When thus you charge me 
30. Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?  with sinful speeches, as if I had no conscience nor fear of God to awe me from uttering perverse, unjustifiable things in my own behalf.   

CHAP. VII.  
1. FOr I do but ask you this 
1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?  question; Is not death appointed by God to every man, and whilst he lives here, does not he spin out his life in toil and trouble like a hireling?  
2. Now then, as it is natural for a 
2. As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work.  servant (nor can you blame him for it) being toiled out with the labour and heat of the day to desire earnestly the approach of the night to give him ease and refreshing, and as it is common with every poor labouring man to long for the end of his work, that he may receive his reward and freedom from his toil.  
3. Even so is the case with me, and 
3. So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.  worse; for whereas their toil is measured by the day, my misery is incessant, measured by whole months, and that without so much as the intermission of nights.  
4. For night and day are alike toilsome 
4. When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of toss to and fro unto the dawning of the day.  to me, in so much that I can take no rest, nor find no ease, but so soon as ever I dispose myself to sleep, my easeless mind presently grows weary and restless, longing for day that the night were over, which is full of nothing but disquiet and continual toss to and fro quite throughout.  
5. And you yourselves cannot but 
5. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust, my skin is broken, and become loathsome.  see in what miserable estate I am, beyond all compare; for it is apparent how that my body, even now, whilst I am alive, is overrun with worms, and as with a garment am I covered over with scabby clods of dirt and dust congealed in ulcerous matter which issueth from my sores, which together with my skin is chopped and broken (as the earth in drought) in most loathsome and formidable manner.  
6. Why then should not I desire an 
6. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.  end, seeing my miseries crave it, and every thing tendeth toward it; for you see evidently how all my former days of prosperity are in a moment quite dispatched, and those that remain, you see them also waste without all hope of ever being better.  
7. Consider therefore these two 
7. O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good.  things: to wit, The extraordinary end that my former days have received, how like a puff of wind they are suddenly blown over, and that withal I am never like to see more good in this life.  
8. He that hath seen me in my 
8. The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.  prosperity, shall never see me so again, thou thyself seest how irreparable my state is; so that I have reason to expect and look for no other than an absolute conclusion.  
9 For as the cloud is consumed by 
9 As the cloud is consumed, and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave, shall come up no more.  degrees till it vanish quite away, so he that is going by degrees toward his grave, as I am, must needs look for no recovery but necessarily expect a final determination.  
10. Which shall certainly conclude 
10. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.  him never to enjoy any part of his former condition again.  
11. Seeing therefore that death by 
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.  God's appointment must certainly be the end of these, I will not spare to press him to hasten it, but will lay my misery open to the uttermost, and by all the arguments I can use, will seek to obtain it speedily.  
12. Am I of so robustuous and untamable 
12. Am I a Sea, or a Whale, that thou settest a watch over me?  a disposition, that thou must needs hold me in with such sharp and mighty afflictions?  
13. In so much that when I dispose 
13. When, I say, my bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint:  myself to sleep in hope to find some ease, and to gain some small intermission of my torment:  
14. Even than thou disappointst my 
14. Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions.  hope, interrupting my sleep with frightful dreams and visions, letting me take no rest.  
15. So that if I might be mine own 
15. So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.  carver, I would choose the very worst of deaths, so that I might but be sure to die rather than to live any longer in these intolerable pressures.  
16. Which makes life (how pleasing 
16. I loathe it, I would not live always: let me alone, for my days are vanity.  soever to others) to be most irksome to me, in so much as though other men could be content to live always, yet am I of a quite differing mind, wishing rather not to live at all: and therefore I pray thee, O Lord, prolong not my life, but give way to my miseries to make an end of me, seeing that all the remainder of my life must needs be empty of content and full of vexation.  
17. Lord what is man? is he any 
17. What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?  better than a thing of naught, which thou thus seemest to esteem and make such account of?  
18. Exercising a continual providence 
18. And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment.  over him for his daily preservation, not suffering him rather to turn to dust, as else he would, and exercising him under long and lingering afflictions, not dispatching him at once, as if thou wouldst, thou couldst?  
19 How long wilt thou hold on 
19 How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle.  this extremity, affording me no release, not so much as a breathing while, or whilst I might swallow my spittle?  
20. Wouldst thou by these tortures 
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?  rack the confession of my sins out of me? I confess Lord, I am a sinner, but alas, what recompense can I make thy justice by my suffering? it is not in me to expiate my own sin; it is thy mercy only must save and acquit me, for thou art the one Saviour, why then dost thou, as it were, try thy skill and power upon me in my exquisite torments, so that I am become a very burden to myself.  
21. And dost not rather according 
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.  to thy gracious nature give some comfortable and refreshing testimonies of the pardon of my transgressions, and the doing away of mine iniquities, that so I may praise thee before the Sun of my life be quite set, and I lie down in the grave; for now I shall die, and then when thou lookest to receive thy morning sacrifice of praise, as aforetime, I shall not be found to give it thee.   

CHAP. VIII.  
1. BIldad the Shuhite another of 
1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,  Jobs friends, having all this while given ear to the reply which he made to Eliphaz, at last interposed himself, and said:  
2. How long wilt thou persevere 
2. How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?  to take such liberty of language toward God, and by thy violent passions, and storming speeches bring upon thyself fierce destruction.  
3. Wilt thou make God to be unrighteous 
3. Doth God pervert judgements? or doth the Almighty pervert Justice?  in judgement, and the Almighty to go against the rules of justice, by conceiving him to inflict punishment and not for sin?  
4. Take heed what thou dost, and 
4. If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression:  be not stubborn; but confess the Lord to be just, although (thy children having sinned against him) he hath suddenly and in his fierce displeasure, even utterly thus cut them off for their transgression.  
5. And make timely use of it for 
5. If thou wouldst seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty.  thyself; let it move thee before it be too late, whilst God in mercy gives thee time, to lay aside thy stubbornness, and to repair unto him in humble confession, and with supplication of his pardon for thy own sin.  
6. And doubt not, but if thou dost 
6. If thou wert pure and upright, surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.  now turn unto the Lord in sincerity by repentance, not justifying thyself, but confessing thy sins unfeignedly, without hypocrisy, which hath brought this punishment upon thee from the Lord, he would not any longer thus forget thee, but would certainly remember thee in mercy, and make thee and all that belongs unto thee prosperous and blessed.  
7. And though thou art now but 
7. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly increase.  poor and miserable, yet then shouldst thou see the power of the Lord bringing to pass a wonderful alteration in thy behalf, by making thee both rich and happy.  
8. And that thou mayst be the better 
8. For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to search of their fathers.  persuaded to believe me, and to take this course: consider and call to mind all the former ages of our long-lived forefathers from the beginning of the world.  
9 For we desire not to oversway 
9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow)  thy faith by our own testimony, who in comparison of our fathers are of no experience nor knowledge by reason of the shortness of our lives now, to what theirs was then.  
10. And therefore I gladly put thee over 
10. Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?  to the testimonies of former times, whereat thou canst not, except for partiality, and they will all teach and tell thee, and bona fide confirm unto thee, the very same which I have said, How that God never punished any but for their sin, nor rejected a penitent person  
11. And look how ordinary a thing 
11. Can the rush grow without mire? can the flag g●ow without water?  it is for a mis-rooted rush that quickly springs up out of a little moisture, but not much mire, or the flag that grows without the river in some little quantity of water.  
12. Even then, when it flourisheth 
12. Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.  most and promiseth best unexpectedly to wither and die (the moisture which should feed it, being exhaled and dried up) without any hand cutting it down before other herbs of less show but better rooting.  
13. So usual a thing it is with God 
13. So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrites hope shall perish.  to overthrow the prosperous estate of all such as walk not humbly, nor thankfully before him, & to cause the ungrounded hopes of the hypocrite strangely by his immediate hand to perish, because he was not rooted on God.  
14. The foundation which he hath 
14. Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.  laid to himself to hope and trust in, being rotten and unsound, shall fail him, God shall violently destroy it, and suddenly sweep it quite away by his just judgement.  
15. He shall repose great confidence 
15. He shall lean up on his house, but it sha' not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.  in the felicity of himself, and his posterity, but it shall vanish, he shall promise himself a perpetuity of it, but it shall quickly have an end.  
16. Like a tree in summer he makes 
16. He is green before the Sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.  a fair show whilst the sun of prosperity shines upon him; and grows luxuriantly eminent in the place where he lives, whilst he remains rooted in prosperity and pleasure.  
17. Possessing himself amply and 
17. His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.  securely of all earthly happiness, lengthening his teather to the very uttermost bounds thereof; like a flourishing tree, whose roots are deeply entrenched, and strongly incorporated into the ground, and which spread themselves so far as ever there is any earth to receive and nourish them.  
18. But for all that, when the time 
18. If he destroy him from his place, than it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.  comes that God will destroy and root him out, the very place where he thus grew shall spew him out, and by any remaining symptom shall not so much as be acknown that ever he was there.  
19 This is the upshot of an hypocrites 
19 Behold, this is the joy of his way and out of the earth shall others grow.  happiness, and this is his portion at last, that both he and all that was his shall come to ruin, whereas others by the blessing of God shall grow great out of a little.  
20. For the case is otherways with 
20. Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers.  the humble and upright man. God will not rejected him, nor leave him succourless, no more than he will have pity upon the proud presumptuous hypocrite.  
21. But will be sure to remedy thy 
21. Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.  afflictions, and not to leave thee till he have advanced thee from this lowest step of misery, to the highest step of consolation, if thou wilt but take this way of humbling thyself in confession and supplication before him.  
22. Then shall all thine enemies (who 
22. They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, & the dwelling place of the wicked, shall come to nought.  now are risen by thy downfall) be as thou art, stripped naked of all their glory; and thou thyself restored, and this thy becoming righteous shall make the Lord punish their wickedness committed against thee with the same desolation that now he hath brought upon thee, even with the ruin of them and theirs.   

CHAP. IX.  
1. THen Job answered Bildad also, 
1. Then Job answered and said;  and said;  
2. You have misunderstood 
2. I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?  me, if you have thought me proudly to contend with God, or that I had meant to justify myself before him, by what I have said, as if I took myself to be without sin in his sight, whereby to have deserved these plagues; for I both know and yield it to be true which you say, that God's afflictions imports us to be sinners, but would you not have a man know himself to be righteous, except he know himself to be without sin? this were utterly to overthrow the consolation of the godly; for how is it possible for any man in such a way to appear just before God?  
3. Who, if any should be so foolish 
3. If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.  as to think so of himself, is able quickly to stop his mouth, by objecting infinite sins and failings against him, one whereof he is not able to answer.  
4. And as he is thus transcendently 
4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?  holy and righteous, so he is able to judge otherways of us, and of our actions than we can: and besides all this, his greatness and might also, as well as his wisdom and holiness is infinitely beyond us; All this I know, and therefore I am not ignorant, how that no man can put himself into the lists to justify himself, and contest against God, but he shall come off with sin and shame.  
5. Seeing how far the Lord in 
5. Which removeth the mountains, and they know not; which overturneth them in his anger.  his hidden wisdom, and secret ways of proceeding transcends us, ofttimes manifesting his anger, even upon unsensible things; as in over-throwing the mountains without rendering a reason.  
6. And by mighty earthquakes, dislocating 
6. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.  the globe of the whole earth, staggering the very centre itself, whereon it is established.  
7. Commanding also the Sun contrary 
7. Which commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.  to his course to stand still, and it obeys, and dares not do its office to the day, neither the stars to the night when he forbids.  
8. Nor am I ignorant of the manifestation 
8. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the Sea.  of his mighty power in his glorious works, in that he alone spreads forth the spacious Canopy of the heavens, and commands the furious Seas.  
9 And framed the glorious constellations 
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleyades, and the chambers of the South.  in the heavens to their ends and purposes, appointing the more remarkable ones, to order and distinguish the four grand seasons of the year by their appearance; as Arcturus the Autumn, Orion the Winter, Pleiades (or the seven stars) the Spring, and those more remote Southern stars, Midsummer; for so they take their turns.  
10. And is infinite in works, and 
10. Which doth great things past finding out, yea, and wonders without number.  wonders beyond any man's capacity.  
11. And therefore I know myself 
11. Lo, he goeth by me and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.  and my reason and understanding to be as unable to judge of his works and ways, though they be both reasonable and just, as my bodily eyes are to see him which is invisible, though near unto me, and conversant about me.  
12. And also I know that there can 
12. Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, what dost thou?  be no man, either so powerful to withhold what he is minded to take from him, nor yet so righteous to question him for it, seem it never so strange.  
13. And I know too, that he purposely 
13. If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.  continueth his anger upon proud contenders and disputers, till he have convinced them, of their insufficiency, and compelled them to stoop to him.  
14. And seeing I both know, and acknowledge 
14. How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?  all this, to wit, God's righteousness, wisdom and power to be thus transcendent to man's, I would have you know, that I am far from contending against God, or justifying myself before him.  
15. Whom, I know so well, that 
15. Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my Judge.  there is not that thing, be it never so righteous in my conceit, wherein I would dare to justify myself before him: but in stead thereof, I would humble myself, and supplicate his grace, knowing God to be my Judge, whose eyes are so far brighter and purer than mine.  
16. And though I should have been 
16. If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had harkened unto my voice.  so foolhardy, to have challenged God to discuss my righteousness, and he had done it; yet have I small cause to believe he found me righteous.  
17. For his hand is as heavy upon 
17. For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.  me now, as ever, continuing the same tempestuous storms against me still, without any mitigation, or so much as she wing me a reason why he thus multiplies miseries upon my head, and is so extreme against me.  
18. Not giving me so much as any 
18. He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.  the least respite or intermission, but incessantly pursuing me with calamities.  
19 So that I have little reason to contest against his power, that know 
19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong; and if of judgement, who shall set me a time to plead?  it better than my body, or to answer the suit against him whom I know so well to exceed in justice and judgement; for the making good whereof, I am sure there is none will be my surety.  
20. If I should undertake to justify 
20. If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.  myself, God in interrogating me upon particulars would make mine own mouth condemn and witness against me, and for him; if I should stand upon my perfection with him, he would show such cause to the contrary, that he would make me with mine own lips, pronounce myself faulty, and a fool for mine undertaking.  
21. Yea, if I were so blind as to see 
21. Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.  nothing blame-worthy by myself, yet knowing God as I do, I would not believe mine own heart, nor know mine own soul upon terms of innocence, but would attribute it to mine ignorance, and in the matter of justification would utterly disclaim the innocence of my life and conversation. 
22. This is one thing, therefore I said it; he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.   
22. But notwithstanding, yet is the point true which I have maintained, to wit, That God in his outward proceedings & dispensations, maketh no difference many times, but scourgeth and takes away both the upright and the wicked alike: and therefore do I still affirm, that because of mine afflictions, you have no just cause to judge and condemn me for an hypocrite, or wicked person. 
23. If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.   
23. In regard that daily experience contradicts your rule (wherewith you ignorantly limit and measure God's proceedings) palpably evidencing, That God exempts not the upright from afflictions, no, not from his suddenest and most remarkable judgements, but that in these outward things all comes alike to all: God scorning the allegation of innocency, or the justification and plea of the most upright man breathing, in the way of exemption or prevention of these his just and wise dispensations when he pleaseth to inflict them.  
24. As also it is not apparent how 
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?  the honour and pleasure of the world is transferred upon the worse sort of men, that are wicked, and abuse it, when in the mean time, those that to us seem deservedly to be respected and honoured for their wisdom and uprightness are despised and disgraced, and pray you, how, or by whom comes it to pass, but by God's all-disposing hand? so that you must either grant what I say, or deny common experience and God's providence.  
25. 26. And may not I myself pass 
25. Now my days are swifter than a post: they fly away, they see no good.  as a lively pattern of Gods proceeding in this kind; For what availeth my uprightness in this day of my visitation? 
26. They are passed away as the swift ships: as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey.  hath not God (who in all the former part of my life, made me honourable among men, notwithstanding it) now laid all mine honour in the dust, even in a moment, and given the wicked leave to trample on me? 
27. If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:   
27. And hath he not so bitterly afflicted me, that if I go but about to seek a little ease or comfort.  
28. The sense and weight of mine 
28. I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.  accumulated sorrows, straightway affright me, and tell me it is in vain, assuring me, that the Lord, according to his high and just prerogative, hath chosen me out to be the example of this age to show forth his transcendent righteousness upon, notwithstanding my uprightness.  
29. And truly, Lord, if thou be'st 
29. If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?  pleased to go this way to work with me, to set thyself in the rigour of thy Justice to find out my sins, and so to judge me according to my wickedness: In vain then I confess, Lord, do I seek to comfort myself; for in thy sight no flesh can be justified and acquit.  
30. For though I could prove mine 
30. If I wash myself with snow-water, and make my hands never so clean;  innocency never so, and that I were in mine own account and the world's blameless;  
31. Yet art thou able so to lay me 
31. Yet shalt thou plunge me into the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.  open, if in thy righteous severity thou wilt judge me, as that I shall appear monstrously filthy to myself and all the world, yea, mine own very righteousness wherein I cloth myself, shall renounce and abhor both itself and me. 
32. For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgement.   
32. For alas, he being God, judgeth me with another manner of judgement than I can judge myself, or then one man can judge another, he seeth further, and knoweth more by me, than I am able to do by myself being but man, and therefore it were a very vain thing in me to offer to wage Law with God in mine own justification.  
33. Neither if I had such a mind, 
33. Neither is there any daies-man betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.  could I be ever the better; for where is there any fit to be umpire between us, his way of judging and accusing far transcending both Angels and men?  
34. But if the Lord would deal so 
34. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me.  graciously with me, as not to proceed against me in the rigour and perfection of his judgement and justice whereat I tremble, and against which I am able to plead nothing for myself; and dispute mine uprightness with me in your stead as man:  
35. Then I durst plead for myself, 
35. Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.  and could soon make it appear, that I am innocent, and no hypocrite, as you would force upon me; but since the Lord is pleased not to go that way to work, but that he is determined to set himself as God against me, my mouth must needs be stopped.   

CHAP. X.  
1. MY anguish drives me to those 
1. My soul is weary of my life, I will leave my complaint upon myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul  extremities, that it makes me weary of my life. And seeing that hitherto I have acknowledged my guiltiness in hope to have found ease thereby, and yet notwithstanding my grief remains unasswaged: Now therefore I am determined to accuse myself no longer before God's secret Justice, but to seek mine own ease by giving vent to mine affection.  
2. And therefore I will take the 
2. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me wherefore thou contendest with me?  boldness to enter more familiar parley with God, and to entreat of him, That he will either cease to proceed against me as a guilty person, being innocent, or else that he will show me the cause of this his quarrel with me.  
3. As first whether he dealeth thus 
3. Is it good unto thee, that thou shouldest oppress; that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands; and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?  with me, because it is either profit or pleasure to him to oppress me, which I cannot think it is, for it cannot be that God should be a gainer, or should take delight to oppress, or to reject and despise his own workmanship, as I am, especially when as thereby he shall fulfil the desires, and confirm the unjust surmises of the wicked.  
4. Or secondly, Whether is it that 
4. Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?  he needeth to do by me as earthly judges do by malefactors, that is, torture me, to discover the truth, whether I be sincere or no; neither is this likely; for he hath all-seeing eyes, and therefore need not helps to make discoveries.  
5. 6. Neither thirdly is it because he 
5. Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days?  is mortal and short-lived like man, That he thus heapeth these punishments 
6. That thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?  upon me in this sudden and severe manner, as if else he should not have time enough to try me, and to revenge himself upon me, for the iniquity and sin which thereby he should discover, for he is everlasting.  
7. It is not because thou know'st me 
7. Thou knowest that I am not wicked, and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.  not, and therefore wouldst find me out, that thou thus handlest me; for I know thou knowest me well enough, that I am upright. Neither is it for want of power to make me forthcoming; but of thine own just prerogative: for were I not approved in thy sight, yet thou hast no need to hold me thus fast in fetters; for thou knowest it is impossible for me by any means to escape thy hands, either by flight or rescue.  
8. For I am no stranger to thee, but 
8. Thine hands have made me, and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.  thine own very workmanship, even every part and portion of me from top to toe is both created and framed by thee, and none but thee. And yet (strange to consider) for all these reasons to the contrary, thou thus destroyest me.  
9 But I beseech thee remember 
9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and wilt thou bring me into dust again?  that as I am the work of thine hands; so again, of what matter thou hast made me; how that originally I am but clay, and what honour and event canst thou expect to follow upon thy fight against such a worm with these thy omnipotent weapons, but to turn dust into dust?  
10. And as in Adam I am but clay, 
10. Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and cruddled me like cheese?  so alas, thou knowest, how in myself I am framed by thee, of a weak and imperfect substance, to wit, the liquid seed of mine immediate parents.  
11. From whence, indeed, by thy 
11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.  wisdom and power thou hast made to proceed skin and flesh as clothing to every part of my body, and an orderly juncture of bones and sinews.  
12. In which fabric of my body 
12. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.  thus composed in the womb, thou hast further magnified thyself by adding a reasonable soul thereunto, with all requisite & favourable accommodations for my life and well-being, which very life and soul, as thou only gavest it, so also hast thou alone hitherto preserved it by thy providence and good grace; for it long ere this had been inanimated, hadst not thou kept it alive, by thy careful preservation, sweet influences, and often visitations of my spirit which thou hast made me sensible of.  
13. And therefore I know, that however 
13. And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.  thou seemest outwardly to deal with me, yet thou art secretly mindful of this fabric, which thou hast thus built, and that this my spirit is especially precious with thee.  
14. Or in the fourth place, is it as 
14. If I sin, than thou markest me; and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.  they affirm? am I hypocritically sinful, and therefore dost thou punish me? Indeed if I be such an one, than I know it is true, thou wilt be sure to mark me and not to let me escape unpunished.  
15. If thou shouldest know this 
15. If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head: I am full of confusion, therefore see thou mine affliction.  wickedness by me, than woe unto me; and though in this sense I know myself to be righteous, yet will I not justify myself before thee, because I know my sins otherways to have deserved thine indignation. And now that I have thus vented myself by expostulating with thee, I am but the further plunged into confusion, not being able to satisfy myself, or to give my mind any ease; so that I see this is not the way neither, but when all is done, I must petition thy supremacy, and entreat thee with pity to behold my misery.  
16. For it grows insupportable, 
16. For it increaseth: thou huntest me as ' a fircce Lion: and again, thou showest thyself marvellous upon me.  thy pursuit of me being so Lion-like extremely fierce and violent: and as if no one torment could be sufficient for thee to plague me with, thou assault'st me again and again, in a marvellous manner to express thy wrath upon me.  
17. Thou showest wondrous enmity 
17. Thou renewest thy witnesses againd me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.  against me, by charging so thick upon me with such succession of afflictions; and store of troubles by thine appointment execute thy severe indignation upon me: yea, even all variety of evils both severally in their turns, and jointly in one set-battle, do make war against me.  
18. If thou hast conceived such displeasure 
18. Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb: Oh that I had given up the Ghost, and no eye had seen me!  against me, why didst thou not rather in thy foreknowledge, decree it, that I should never have been borne to cause thine anger, or else have died so soon as I had been born? O that I had been so happy never to have known, or been known of any!  
19 The very imagination whereof 
19 I should have been, as though I had not been, I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.  delights me in this mine extremity, to think what happiness it would have been to me, either not to have been at all, or to have been in such a way, as that my being had been equivalent to no being, considering that as the womb delivered me, so the grave should have received me.  
20. But seeing thou hast ordered it 
20. Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little.  otherways, and that thou hast ordained me to live, yet consider that my life is but short, in which time slack thy hand, and allow me some little ease and comfort.  
21. 22. And cause me not to die 
21. Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death;  whilst I live, nor to be in darkness whilst I enjoy light, seeing ere long I shall sustain thine indignation in the grave (by the concluding punishment 
22. A land of darkness, as darkness itself, and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.  of death) certainly never to return again to life, nor to enjoy this light; where I expect no better than confusion, and an absolute deprivation of the comforts both of life and light; for there I am sure is no vicissitude or order of time between night and day, but all the comfortable days of life and prosperity shall certainly be turned into uncomfortable lasting darkness, than which it can afford no other.   

CHAP. XI.  
1. THen Zophar the Naamathite, 
1. Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,  another of Jobs friends, having been attentive to all that he had said, in reply to his two former companions, rejoines upon him with another like vexing discourse, thus:  
2. Should we suffer him thus to proceed, 
2. Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?  and not answer him, but let him think to carry the cause of his own justification by his much speaking, and in the mean time, we through silence become guilty of his sin by a tacit consent?  
3. Should we swallow such an unsufferable 
3. Should thy lies make men hold their peaces? and when thou mockest, should no man make thee ashamed?  untruth and not reply, and wouldst thou thus carry it against God and man, and not be made to see thine error?  
4. In maintaining such a blasphemous 
4. For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.  opinion for true doctrine; That God destroyeth the righteous, and that thou whom God hath so branded for a wicked person, yet dares to affirm thyself not to be wicked?  
5. But I could wish that God would 
5. But oh that God would speak and open his lips against thee!  vouchsafe to answer thee in stead of us by his way of conviction, that so thou mightest be made to believe by sense, what now thou wilt not by reason. 
6. And that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! know therefore, that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.   
6. And that he would but make thee to know what he in his wisdom knows by thee, then shouldest thou soon be confuted and put to shame, and the vain imaginations of thine own righteousness would quite vanish, because than thy conscience would show thee how that thy sins are infinite more than thou imaginest, so that though now thou complainest of hard dealing, thou wouldst then see that God in justice might deservedly for thy sins inflict double upon thee to that thou now sufferest. 
7. Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?   
7. Thou hast been foolhardy to speak thy mind over-freely concerning Gods dealing with thee, and by presumptuous reasonings thou hast thought to plum his depth, and either thou wilt see such cause as thou in thy weak capacity shalt think reasonable for his thus afflicting thee, or else thou wilt dare to quarrel him; but now vain man, what art thou the better? hast thou so little reason as to think that thou art able to see so into thyself as God, and so equal him in wisdom, and fathom his perfection?  
8. 9 Wilt thou offer to give bounds 
8. It is as high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know?  to, and comprehend within thy weak reason the unsearchable wisdom of God's incomprehensible Judgement 
9 The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.  and Justice which is of as large and larger extent than heaven and hell, sea and land?  
10. If he change his course or way 
10. If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, than who can hinder him?  of proceedings toward men, either to deliver them into the hands of enemies, or if he will protect and save them, who can control or hinder him; for he doth invincibly whatsoever he will.  
11. For he hath both reason and 
11. For he knoweth vain men; he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?  justice on his side for what he doth to man, who although by searching he cannot attain to know the perfection of the wisdom and righteousness of God; yet does God easily know him what ever he thinks of himself; how that his best perfection is but vanity: neither (if we were able to judge aright) have we reason to think that he punisheth or afflicteth causlessely; for though one selfe-flattery mistake, yet he sees wickedness to deserve it. And think we then that he should do well to let us go on in our error, and should not rather take notice of it to punish us for it, and to rectify our judgement in it?  
12. For man would have some understanding, 
12. For vain man would be wise, though man be borne like a wild Ass' colt.  pragmatically to discern and expostulate the ways of God by his weak and shallow reason, though he be as far short of conceiving and comprehending them, as the brutishest creature living is to conceive and apprehend rational matters.  
13. 14. Therefore be persuaded to 
13. If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands towards him;  lay down the wasters, to give over reasoning the matter, and to begin now at last to change thy course, and 
14. If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.  in sincerity and humility of heart to submit thyself, confessing thy sins, and putting them away by repentance.  
15. For then mayst thou with good 
15. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot, yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear.  hope and confidence draw near to God without any check of conscience, and be established in safe condition, and shalt need to fear neither the continuance nor the return of these thy troubles upon thee.  
16. For in so doing thou shalt be 
16. Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away.  restored, and made to remember thy griefs as past, and no longer to feel them as present.  
17. And so shall the rest of thy life 
17. And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.  which thou givest for lost, be the very prime part of thy time for glory, and thou shalt shine again in reputation and honour, and shalt appear in the eyes of all men as the Sun rising after the departure of a cloudy and dark night.  
18. And though heretofore for all 
18. And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope, yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.  thy potency thou hast been despoiled of all, yet (hereby) for hereafter thou shalt enjoy both thee and thine in security; for because then thou shalt have God for thy God to rest thy hope upon, who shall so encompass thee with his safe protection, as if thou dost but dig a place to pitch thy tent in, thou shalt enjoy thyself safelier therein (than otherways thou wouldst do in a walled City.)  
19 Nor shalt thou need to secure 
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid, yea, many shall make suit unto thee.  thyself by watch and ward, because than thou shalt have no cause to fear, for thy very enemies shall make suit for thy favour and protection.  
20. But if thou perseverest in thy 
20. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.  wicked way, long mayst thou look for better before thou find it; for God will never ease thee, till he have humbled thee: And therefore, if thou thus continuest, thy hope shall be utterly forlorn, and at an end for any good ever to befall thee.   

CHAP. XII.  
1. ANd Job answered and said; 
1. And job answered, and said;   
2. In the blind confidence 
2. No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.  of your own wisdom you take upon you to condemn me as ignorant, and to censure that which I have said, to be but as the babbling of a fool, as if none were wise besides yourselves.  
3. But notwithstanding that you 
3. But I have understanding as well as you, I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?  thus slight me, yet am I sure that God hath given me grace to know and understand the truth better than you that are so overweening, and, that you have said nothing hitherto, but what are common things, and which I know as well as you.  
4. But it is befallen me as it is common 
4. I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.  in the world: That he that is poor and in misery, in stead of being comforted, is contemned of his nearest friends, so that the things which I speak are set light by and scorned, and which is worst of all, because of God's indulgency to your particulars for present, you are puffed up in your own opinions, and stick not also to trample upon, and scoff at my very innocence.  
5. In so much as now, because I am 
5. He that is ready to slip with his feet, is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.  fall'n into misery, and am near unto mine end, I must be rejected, as if I were a thing offensive and useless, like a candle which is almost consumed to the snuff, though formerly shining and giving light to others, having now all the light of my former understanding quite extinguished, and mine innocency condemned for hypocrisy, and I scorned as refuse, and judged as a castaway in the opinion of these men, and that for no other reason, but because they are in prosperity, and I in adversity.  
6. Whereas, alas, their maxim is 
6. The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.  utterly false; for prosperity is no sign of honesty (and consequently adversity no sign of hypocrisy) as we may see by daily experience; for who abound more in external felicity than those whom we see to be notoriously wicked?  
7. 8. It is strange you should be ignorant 
7. But ask now the beasts & they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee.  of this common truth, which all the creatures are able to demonstrate; for do not you see the earth and all the things that are in it given 
8. Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.  for the most part into the hands of the wicked, what large possessions and sumptuous fare they enjoy?  
9 And who, I pray, under wilful 
9 Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?  ignorance, can be said, not to know that it is God who order it thus?  
10. For, is it not he that disposeth 
10. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.  of every creature, both small and great, better and worse, man or beast?  
11. Oh that then you would not be 
11. Doth not the ear try words, and the mouth taste his meat?  so rash to speak, but would let your ears do their office, and would ponder what I say! then you could not but conceive that I speak with understanding, and that this doctrine of God's administration of things in this way which I have said, is an undoubted truth.  
12. Especially, seeing you are men 
12. With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of day's understanding.  of great years, and therefore cannot but have attained to much understanding by observation and frequent experience, and therefore must needs know.  
13. That God is often times wonderfully 
13. With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.  transcendent in his wisdom and power wherewith he order and disposeth things; and how that he brings to pass his ends and purposes in an unknown and incomprehensible way.  
14. As may appear by these following 
14. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.  instances (whereby you shall see that I both know, & acknowledge the unsearchable wisdom and wonderful ways of God as well as you, in all which he is righteous, (though we know not the reason of them:) For behold, he brings some men, and some things to their utter destruction: for, as that all the wit and power of man cannot repair them, ofttimes so disabling a man, that all the helps in the world cannot relieve him.  
15. Again, we see how various 
15. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.  and wonderful he is in rain and drought, how by this he often famisheth the earth, and by that he gluts and overwhelmeth it.  
16. So that both I and all the world 
16. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.  must needs acknowledge, what hath been said, not only of the wonderful power, but also of the unsearchable wisdom of God, if we do but consider these effects aforesaid: But much more if we well weigh those which follow, which are more strange to reason than any thing that hath been alleged; and yet I know they are of God too; For it is of his Almighty and wise disposing, even that such a man is a deceiver, and such an one is deceived.  
17. And that all the eminent and 
17. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.  wonderful changes which we see in the world do come to pass: It is of him, that those men, who have been advanced for their wisdom, and are the bulwarks of a state to keep out foreign enemies, are themselves ofttimes made a prey; and also that those learned Judges, who by administering right, and maintaining peace, keep the Commonwealth from civil dissension and ruin, do themselves (when pleaseth him) become fools, and lose their labour.  
18. And that those mighty Monarches, 
18. He looseth the bond of Kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.  whose regiment extendeth far and near, and had much people in subjection, have those bonds loosed wherein they held others, and they themselves become tributary.  
19 And so also national princes, 
19 He leadeth Princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.  he ofttimes causeth them to be overcome and disthroned, thus doth he drive the mighty men of the earth into exigents and distresses by his disposing power, notwithstanding their confidence in their strength.  
20. Or if they trust in their wisdom 
20. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.  and abundance of Counsellors it is all one; for when he pleaseth, he removes faithful Counsellors, sending flatterers in stead of friends, and infatuates the aged men that are men of experience on whom they build.  
21. Nor can the Majesty of their 
21. He poureth contempt upon Princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.  place secure them; for God when he is pleased to bring his purpose to pass, often makes them notwithstanding their dignities to be despised both at home and abroad. And thus he layeth all their confidences whatsoever in the dust.  
22. Nor do I think that he doth 
22. He discovereth the deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.  these things to exercise a tyrannical power over his creatures, but that he hath just reason for what he doth, though we know it not, which sometimes also he is pleased to discover; for many times we see what hellish secrets he brings to light, which when we know, we cannot but conclude his righteous judgements.  
23. And as thus he manifesteth 
23. He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straitneth them again.  his righteous (though transcendent) power and wisdom upon Princes; so also upon people: for how have we known him to increase nations, and anon to ruin them, and to enlarge their reputation and authority, and straightway to diminish it?  
24. And lastly, who is it but he that 
24. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness, where there is no way.  doth dispose the greatest part of the people of the world to have no right understanding, but to waste their lives in error?  
25. Not vouchsafing to reveal to 
25. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.  them the light of truth, but suffering them to go from error to error.   

CHAP. XIII.  
1. SO that you may see I am not a 
1. Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.  stranger to the power and wisdom of God, in his wonderful ordering and disposing of things, but have taken diligent notice of it in the whole course of my life.  
2. And therefore am not to be condemned 
2. What ye know, the same do I know also, I am not inferior unto you.  as one that is ignorant of God by you, that can say no more of him than what I both know and believe, nor to be thought to have spoken what I have said all this while touching Gods dealing with me, out of an ignorant presumption, but out of a faithful knowledge both of God and myself.  
3. In so much as I desire to confer 
3. Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.  with God in stead of you; for because I know him to be perfectly wise and able to judge aright of things, which I find you are not.  
4. For through your ignorance, 
4. But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all Phyficians of no value.  you create false maxims to judge me by, and so like unskilful Physicians you administer mistaken physic.  
5. O therefore that I could but entreat 
5. O that you would altogether hold your peace, and it should be your wisdom!  you to be your own friends and mine, so far as to keep silence, wherein you should show more wisdom by far, than in what you have said.  
6. And have patience to hear what 
6. Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the plead of my lips.  I shall say for myself against your allegations, and for your instruction.  
7. Know therefore, that whereas you 
7. Will you speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?  judge me to sin against God, in that which I speak for myself, the offence is on your part; sor how think you? Is it not a sin with unjust arguments to patronise God's justice, and as if he stood in need of your lies, to plead his cause with forged untruths?  
8. Think you to please God by 
8. Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?  showing him any unjust favour in the maintenance of his cause against me, or, as if he were too weak to do it himself; therefore do you think to do him a pleasure in taking upon you to frame arguments for him?  
9 Be well advised, Do you think 
9 Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?  that this kind of dealing will hold water with God, and will you venture him to find out your colloguing, and by-respects? think you by flattery and partaking to deceive and curry favour with God, as with man?  
10. How ever you may think you 
10. He will surely reprove you, if you do secretly accept persons.  do him acceptable service in these your unjust gratifications, yet assuredly he will show that he abhorreth such dealings, and that he will be maintained by his own righteousness without borrowing men's leasings: Nay, and though you do it with never so plausible reasons in the eyes of men, yet you shall find that he that knoweth the heart, and hateth all accepting of persons, if he spy unjust partiality there, though never so secret, he will certainly punish you for it.  
11. Shall not the majesty and excellency 
11. Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?  of God make you afraid to have such base thoughts of him? and his dreadful greatness affright you out of such low conceits?  
12. What? are such frail creatures 
12. Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.  as you able to advantage God? who shall yourselves be utterly extinct and forgotten as a thing of naught, and whose bodies shall be turned to earth.  
13. Pray, vouchsafe me the favour 
13. Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.  to hold your peace, and let me speak my mind without interruption, and at my peril be it, take you no thought.  
14. Seeing you have so grossly erred 
14. Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?  in what you have said, both concerning God and myself, and that for certain it is God's way to exercise the righteous under afflictions; wherefore then should I be so foolish thus to torment myself, and cast away my confidence, for any thing that you say, 
15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.  or that I suffer?  
15. No, I will never do it, in so much, as if God should proceed, not only to lay upon me the extremity of affliction, but should also thereby bring me to death's door, yet I would continue to rely upon his mercy, and withal, I would defend mine honest sincerity before him to the last.  
16. For I am sure, notwithstanding 
16. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.  my extreme affliction, the Lord both is, and will be my salvation, pardoning my sin, and accepting my person; in confidence whereof, I dare put myself into the presence of God, which no hypocrite dare do.  
17. Therefore, do not rashly censure 
17. Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.  me, but give good heed to that which I speak, and to the profession of my faith which I make.  
18. For though you through ignorance 
18. Behold now, I have ordered my cause, I know that I shall be justified.  and prejudice know not how to judge of me, yet be sure I have examined myself, and maturely considered mine own case, my faith and good conscience; and therefore whatsoever you think, I know upon good grounds, that for all mine affliction, God doth not punish me for my sins, but that still he accounts me innocent and righteous.  
19 Whereof I am so confident, as 
19 Who is he that will plead with me? for now if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.  that I dare encounter any upon this point; and indeed, you have so tormented me by your reasonings, as that if I have not liberty granted me to justify mine own innocency, my heart will burst within me.  
20. And if it shall please the Lord 
20. Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.  himself to argue this case with me, I will but desire two conditions of him, and then I will not fear even to appear before him.  
21. One is, that he would take off 
21. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.  from me this heavy hand of his present affliction which overwhelmeth me with the violence of it, till my matter be heard: the other is, that he would give me courage to bear out this my humble contestation, so as I may not be confounded with the terror of his dreadful greatness so far surpassing me.  
22. Then oppose thou, and I will 
22. Then call thou, and I will answer; or let me speak, and answer thou me.  answer, or let me speak, and answer thou me.  
23. Therefore I humbly ask of 
23. How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.  thee, is it for any such greatness and multitude of iniquities and sins (as these men would bear me in hand) that thou thus afflictest me? Then I beseech thee, make me to know that great transgression and sin that hath so enraged thee against me; for I am not conscious to myself of any such, nor can I make it sink into my mind, that thou thus afflictest me upon any such ground.  
24. And if not, then wherefore dost 
24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?  thou thus terribly frown upon me, so as to give the world cause to think thou hatest me? Alas, am I fit to be esteemed an enemy worthy thy contesting with?  
25. Or dost thou think it will be 
25. Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?  any glory to thee to try thy strength, and to fight hand to hand with me, who am a weak and feeble creature, not able to stand against thee, no more than a leaf before the wind, or stubble before the fire?  
26. For thou arrestest me with manifold 
26. For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.  & bitter plagues, and seemest as if thou couldst not be severe enough against me, and makest me ofttimes to remember my former sins of old with fresh fear, as if they were unpardoned, and as if thou didst lay the punishment of them all on me now at once.  
27. For thou proceedest with all 
27. Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.  severity against me, as against a grand malefactor, laying me fast in afflictions, as in stocks, so that I can move no way to find ease, and hast set, as it were, a watch over me, surrounding me with plagues, lest any way I should get liberty, and followest me with continual pursuit as a prisoner that is dogged at heels by his keeper from place to place lest he should escape.  
28. And now, alas, what glory will 
28. And he as a rotten thing consumeth, as a garment that is moth-eaten.  all this be to thee at last, seeing I a man am not able to stand against thee, but rot and consume away under thy plagues, which wasteth me as a moth wasteth a garment?   

CHAP. XIV.  
1. THou know'st also, that if thou 
1. Man that is borne of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.  didst not use extraordinary means against me, yet by my very nature and kind coming of mortal parents, I like other men, should in a short time, consume and die; and this life, as short as it is, is also of itself full of troubles.  
2. We, thou knowest, bring mortality 
2. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.  and transitoriness into the world with us, and that little temporal felicity which we enjoy, is quickly at an end; for as the flowers, so we have no more than a spring and a fall; or as the shadow of a dial, our lives are continually hasting to their period, and never make stop.  
3. And dost thou set thyself strictly 
3. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, & bringest me into judgement with thee?  to view the imperfections of such a creature, and to question me in the rigour of thy righteous judgement?  
4. Why, thou knowest, if thou proceed 
4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.  in that way, I must needs be cast, that am even borne a sinner, as every man else is; for must not a corrupt tree needs bring forth corrupt fruit?  
5. But seeing that as we are sinners 
5. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.  by nature, so by sin we are mortal, and that thou hast determined death as a condign punishment unto man (and so to me) so that he must certainly undergo it at the time appointed by thee, nor is he able to lengthen his life a minute further than thy decree.  
6. O then in mercy let that suffice 
6. Turn from him that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.  thee, and make not his whole life a death, but take thy heavy hand off him, that he may be able to fulfil his appointed time in thy service here, which is but short.  
7. 8. 9 For what will it avail thee 
7. For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.  to destroy man, seeing it is not with him, as it is with other of thy creatures? for let a tree be felled and though the root thereof lie in the earth (as a dead man does in the grave,) yet there is a 
8. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground:  great deal of difference; for there is hope to him that owneth it that it will spring again, and be profitable to 
9 Yet, through the sent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.  him, by reason of some sap and moisture that it will draw out of the earth, whence it hath his vegetative life and being.  
10. But it is quite otherways with 
10. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?  man; for, when he dieth, the earth, nor nothing else, can contribute any thing to him to make him live again, or in the least measure be serviceable to his owner here; but on the contrary, he consumeth to dust, and becometh utterly useless: for, when man once gives up the ghost, there is no further hope of him.  
11. For, as the waters which after 
11. As the waters fail from the sea, & the flood decayeth and drieth up:  some exundation of the Sea, or some great river are separated and left (upon the reflux thereof) behind the rest upon the land, which cannot return nor continue, but therefore utterly drieth up and evaporate:  
12. So man, having once given up 
12. So man lieth down, and riseth not, till the heavens be no moret, hey shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.  the ghost, is quite separated from the source of life, never to be united, nor to live again, till the day of the utter dissolution of all things.  
13. O, that this were my lot, and 
13. O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me.  that thou wouldst grant me the grave for my portion, so to escape the horrors that are upon me, and that (so doing) thou wouldst set down even what time thou pleasest to raise me out again, so that thou wouldst but be sure at last to remember me.  
14. Then should I think myself 
14. If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of mine appointed time will I wait, till my change come.  happy, because, if I be once dead, I know I shall no more return to these miseries, upon which condition, I would be glad to wait with patience what time soever thou shouldest allot me to lie in the grave, in assurance of a happy change to follow.  
15. For though thou afflictest me 
15. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.  in this life, yet am I sure in the resurrection to feel thy mercies; so as that when thou callest, I shall not need to fear (as the hypocrites will) to show my face; for I know that thou thyself, for the love thou bearest me of thy goodness, who am thy creature, and one whom thou hast shown favour, and reprinted thine Image: wilt long after the consummation of my happiness.  
16. And indeed, seeing such happiness 
16. For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sins?  would certainly ensue, who can blame me to desire my dissolution, to be rid of this woeful pressure that lies upon me? For now thou persecutest me with thy utmost severity, seeming to take most strict notice of every by-way that ever I have trod, and as if thou didst watch over my sins, that not one of them should escape unpunished.  
17. Thou hast, as it were, sealed 
17. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sowest up mine iniquity.  up and made sure work with all my sins that ever I committed, to have them now forthcoming for the increase of my punishment.  
18. And now, Lord, if the strong 
18. And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought: and the rock is removed out of his place.  mountains and hard rocks are not able to stand when thou thunderest with thy power upon them, but that they come to nought, and remove out of their place:  
19 And if the very stones be worn, 
19 The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth, and thou destroyest the hope of man.  and do waste with the falling of waters upon them, and that the things that are rooted in the earth cannot resist a deluge, but are washed away therewith, what hope then has weak man (such an one as I am) who is neither rock nor mountain, stone nor tree, to be able to stand under such an insupportable power, and overwhelming inundation as this of mine?  
20. No, it is impossible for him to 
20. Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.  sustain himself when thine hand is upon him to destroy him: thou canst not be prevented, but he shall certainly, fade away, he himself, and all that behold him shall see him consume by the change that thine afflicting hand worketh in his temperament and feature, till at last he waste away to nothing.  
21. Yea, by reason of his dolour, 
21. His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not, and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.  even whilst he yet lives thou canst make him to be as good as dead, so as that he can regard no earthly thing how nearly soever it concern him; as for instance, be his children advanced, or be they cast into adversity, shall neither joy nor sorrow in it.  
22. But be altogether taken up 
22. But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.  with the thoughts and sense of his own misery, because of the outward pain, which thou layest upon his body, and the inward trouble which thou inflictest upon his mind at once.   

CHAP. XV.  
1. THen Eliphaz the Themanite 
1. Then answered Eliphaz the Themanite, and said,  being further confirmed in his ill conceit of Job, by his discourse, thus the second time replies upon him.  
2. Is it the property of a wise man, 
2. Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the East-wind?  such an one as thou wouldst be thought to be, under a pretence of much knowledge thus to abound in vain discourse, and satisfy himself with feeding upon, not only unprofitable and airy, but hurtful reasonings; blasting thereby all hopes of better to himself?  
3. Or if thou wert wise, as thou 
3. Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherein he can do no good?  sayest, why then hast thou pleaded for thyself all this while with so much empty and fruitless talk, no whit serving to thine advantage, but contrarily making against thee, both in respect of thine uprightness which thou talkest of, and the ease which we wish thee?  
4. For thy discourse hath been 
4. Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.  most presumptuous and arrogant, savouring of nothing but folly and hypocrisy, in all this time neither humbling thyself under the hand of God, nor calling upon him for grace and mercy, which is the only upright, wise, and safe way.  
5. But in stead thereof hast made 
5. For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.  thy mouth the trumpet of thine own evil heart, rather choosing deceitfully to make good an evil cause, than to confess thy sin.  
6. So that thou hast no cause to 
6. Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.  think hardly of me and my fellows, as if we did unjustly condemn thee, for thine own mouth is evidence enough against thee.  
7. Art thou the only man of experience 
7. Art thou the first man that was borne? or wast thou made before the hills?  or knowledge, beyond all that now is, or that ever was?  
8. Hath God made thee of his privy 
8. Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?  council, and told thee more than he hath revealed to others, and dost thou think all the world fools beside thyself?  
9 What knowest thou that we 
9 What knowest thou that we know not? What understandest thou, which is not in us?  know not? What understandest thou more than we?  
10. Nay, me thinks modesty and 
10. With us are both the gray-headed, and very aged men, much elder than thy father.  reason should persuade thee, that we are abler to instruct thee, than thou us, we being more for number, and having the advantage of experience and observation (which maketh wise men) by reason of our years, which are so far beyond thine, that thy father was younger than some of us.  
11. And wherein canst thou say 
11. Are the consolations of God small with thee? Is there any secret thing with thee?  that we have erred; for have we not showed thee the true way to be happy and freed from these miseries? and dost thou set so light by our advice, which tendeth to so good an end as to reconcile thee with God? Dost thou know any better way to compass thy happiness than this which we have told thee? If thou dost, it is such an one as neither we nor our fathers never knew nor heard of.  
12. If not, why dost thou give thine 
12. Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thine eyes wink at?  heart such liberty to rove out of the right way, and pervesly shut thine eyes against the truth, scornfully rejecting it?  
13. For thou in stead of humbling 
13. That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?  thyself under the punishment of thy sin, sufferest thyself with an incensed mind to contest against God, and to speak such proud impenitent speeches, justifying thine own righteousness, and maintaining (contrary to truth and equity) that these punishments are not laid upon thee for thy sins.  
14. Whereas the perfectest man 
14. What is man, that he should be clean? and he that is borne of a woman, that he should be righteous?  living is unclean before God, and justly liable to his wrath; for there neither is, nor ever was, or can be, any that can justly affirm that of himself which thou arrogatest, to wit, that he is righteous in the sight of God.  
15. Why man, his excellentest creatures, 
15. Behold, he putteth no trust in his Saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.  the glorified Angels, which indeed are, and ever shall be, Saints in heaven, yet they stand not in that holy and happy estate, by their own power and sufficiency, but by the mere decree of God, which in grace he passed upon them, knowing, that else they would have sinned, as other their fellows did, which, though they were Angels, which of all his creatures are the best and perfectest, and dwelled in heaven, which of all places is the best and holiest; yet even in them, and there, his holy and pure eyes found uncleanness.  
16. How much more than must 
16. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?  man that dwells here on earth, needs be exceeding sinful and unclean in his sight, who does as familiarly sin, as eat and drink, and to whom it is naturally as pleasing as water is to one athirst.  
17. Thou hast had leave to speak 
17. I will show thee, hear me: and that which I have seen I will declare.  thy mind, and now give me the like liberty, and the like ear, and I will show thee no fable, but a known truth; which both I have learned out of mine own experience;  
18. And which hath not been mine 
18. Which wise men have told me from their fathers, and have not hid it?  observation only, but hath received confirmation from wise men of former times, who have carefully taught it as a doctrinal truth from the tradition of their forefathers also; and have not concealed it from us their successors, as is well enough known.  
19 I say, from their fathers, the first 
19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.  heads of the world, who in those days of prime antiquity were free from the injuries and molestations of foreigners and enemies (which we are too apt to make the sole or principal cause of our suffering) people being then few and rare in the earth, and known to one another.  
20. Even this, the wicked man's portion 
20. The wicked man traveleth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.  in this life, which is; That God is wont to lay upon him lasting pains, and (weary of his life) to make him waste his days in discomfort, and that the oppressors gain is to get the cutting short the thread of his own life in judgement.  
21. And a terrifying conscience 
21. A dreadful sound is in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.  shall fill him with distracting fears; together with an unexpected ruin in the midst of all his wealth and worldly glory.  
22. And then, when God has cast 
22. He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.  him into affliction, to be without all hope of better, his heart telling him that God will never take his hand off again, but that in stead of being delivered from this, a further evil, even utter destruction waits upon him.  
23. When the Lord hath made him 
23. He wandereth abroad for bread, saying. Where is it? ke knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.  taste adversity, and thereby ruined his comfortable subsistence in the creature, then shall he through want of acqua intance with God and faith in him, in a wrong way impatiently, indirectly, and fruitlessely seek to relieve and help himself; his affrighted conscience and distrustful heart (quite banishing all hope of better) misdoubting every day to be his doomsday.  
24. He shall live in continual fear 
24. Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a King ready to the battle.  by reason of his inward and outward trouble and grief, which he shall not be able to avoid nor resist, but shall be brought under their extreme pressure, because of the vehement fury and irresistible power wherewith on all hands they shall assault him.  
25. And there is reason for it, why 
25. For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.  God should thus proceed against him, because he behaves himself as a proud enemy toward God, not walking humbly before him; but disobediently and presumptuously through an overweening opinion, sticketh not to cast away all fear, and arrogantly to make head against even the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth, forgetting him to be such an one, through the haughty and presumptuous imaginations of his heart.  
26. Daring with a full forehead 
26. He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:  and strange kind of arrogancy to encounter God, even upon the points of his justice and righteous judgements, wherein he is the ablest to give us the shock, and which is the dangerousest for us to oppose or question.  
27. And the cause of this his swelling 
27. Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks  pride against God, is his abounding in the creature, and his voluptuous usage of it.  
28. Together with his large signiories 
28. And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.  and ample possessions, made up out of the ruins of other men's livelihoods and habitations, which they have been forced to relinquish and leave desolate through his oppressions.  
29. Yet for all this confident preparation, 
29. He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue; neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.  he shall come short of his aim; for he shall neither attain that height of riches which he strives for, or the stability of an happy estate which he promiseth himself by them, neither shall he perpetuate his name with that renown and pre-eminence, that he makes confident of to himself and his posterity thereby.  
30. But in steed thereof, he shall 
30. He shall not depart out of darkness, the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.  be cast into calamitous poverty and reproach under which he shall irrecoverably lie, all his flourishing state shall wither, and his large posterity be utterly consumed through the indignation of the Lord, and when he hath lived to taste and see this, then at last God shall breathe forth his final displeasure upon him, and so shall he quite perish, who but erewhile promised to himself certain felicity.  
31. Let not the man then that hath 
31. Let not him that is deceived, trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompense.  already miscarried by his foolish pride, still take that way, and be vainly blinded by it, for he shall still receive the same reward, vanity and misery shall be his recompense.  
32. In his own life he shall see 
32. It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.  his pride have a fall, his eyes shall behold his present happiness and future confidence come to nought. 
33. He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the Olive.   
33. He shall live to see the untimely death of his children, and the utter loss of his after expectation.  
34. For it is certain that God will 
34. For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.  unnest & ruinate the hypocritestocke and family, and the fire of his wrath shall consume what they have built up by secret fraud and injustice.  
35. So that in the end all their mischievous 
35. They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.  devises prove vain and ineffectual, and all their painful travel to compass ambitious designs, is but lost labour, and shall end in selfedeceit.   

CHAP. XVI.  
1. JOb having with much long-suffering 
1. Then job answered, and said,  heard out Eliphaz, at last thus maketh answer:  
2. Since you began to speak, I have 
2. I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.  heard much from you severally, but all to the same purpose, which stands me in no stead, and therefore I must conclude you all alike vain reasoners and miserable comforters, not (as becometh friends) endeavouring to mitigate, but to increase my grief.  
3. Hast thou done thy idle talk, 
3. Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?  which hath been all this while to no purpose? and now, I pray thee, what moved thee to let fly the second time against me this uncharitable and impudent reply? Know'st thou me to be the man thou speakest of?  
4. I could suppose all these things 
4. I also could speak as you do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.  of you, as you do of me, and urge them against you, and sit as judge upon you: if you were under affliction as I am, I could then show you how good it is to endeavour the vexation of a grieved spirit, by multiplying uncharitable and discomforting words against you, and could act your part upon you with showing the like jealous and surmising behaviour toward you, and how do you think it would please?  
5. But I know my duty, and how I 
5. But I would strengthen you with my mouth: and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief.  ought to behave myself to those that are in my case better than so, and therefore my care and study should be to uphold and strengthen you in your pressures, with faithful and consolatory speeches, and all my talk should tend to administer ease, and not to add to your afflicted minds.  
6. It is wont to be the way for men 
6. Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?  in misery, to find relief in the company of their friends, by complaining themselves, and laying open their griefs unto them, but it is not so with me; but whether I speak or hold my peace, it is all one; I have them all against me that should be for me, inventing matter to afflict me further, instead of endeavouring to comfort me.  
7. But now I see the hand of God, 
7. But now he hath made me weary, thou hast made desolate all my company.  as in the rest, so likewise in this estranging my friends from me, thereby making me on all hands miserable, and my life wearisome; sor thou hast brought my whole family to ruin and desolation.  
8. Yea, thou hast every way so filled 
8. And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me, beareth witness to my face.  and affected my heart with sorrow, as that it woefully appears upon my body by its macerated and wasted state, having no smooth part in it, but every where deformed with careful wrinkles, which together with my extreme leanness (my flesh through my grievous anguish being fall'n from my bones, which rise up in a ghostly manner) do all of them witness thy mind against me.  
9 Thou hast exposed me to the 
9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me; he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.  malice of mine enemy, so that he that hated me hath had liberty to execute and act his uttermost spite upon me, and bitterly in a disdainful and insulting manner to affront me.  
10. They have every way that can 
10. They have gaped upon me with their mouth, they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully, they have gathered themselves together against me.  be thought or named, vilified and reproached me, yea, they have wrought me all the mischief, that with all their combined counsels and power they could contrive and bring to pass.  
11. Thus it hath pleased the Lord 
11. God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.  to deal with me, even to expose me unto the malice and injury of the ungodly Chaldeans and Sabeans, and to resign me up to be disposed of at the wills of those wicked men, giving them leave to execute their full power upon me, in my whole estate.  
12. I was in a happy condition, but 
12. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by the neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.  he was pleased not to let me stay therein, but hath violently snatched me out of it, and hath parted me and it never to be pieced again, yea, he hath left nothing undone, that may magnify the greatness of his power and manifest the fierceness of his severity upon me; for by the one he hath utterly disjointed all my happiness, never to be set together; and by the other, he hath openly in the eye of the world, set me as a mark to shoot all his deadly arrows at.  
13. He hath made every one against 
13. His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.  me, my wife and my friends, as well as mine enemies discharge upon me, and with such bodily smart doth he himself torment me, as if my back were chining, and my very reins were cleaving in two; nor does he abate one jot of mine extremity, for all it is so great, but as if he could not be too cruel, against me, he cuts my gall in pieces, such torture do I sustain within and without.  
14. He maketh no spare of me any 
14. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a Giant.  way, but heapeth plague upon plague upon me, laying me open every way to ruin and desolation, in his most mighty power and fury he assaulteth me.  
15. I have deeply humbled my 
15. I have sowed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.  self before him, having made sackcloth mine immediate clothing next my very skin, and in token of my selfeabasing I have covered my head with dust and ashes, which but of late was exalted.  
16. My face can testify how I have 
16. My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death:  wept unto him, and my sorrow may be evidently seen upon mine eyes and eyelids, which with extremity of grief, and multitude of tears are now (as when I am dead they shall be) even wasted away, and sunk into my head.  
17. Not that he hath thus plagued 
17. Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.  me, or I thus humbled myself, for any allowed or dissembled unrighteousness toward men, known either to him or me; for mine actions have been just and innocent; no, nor for any such like impiety toward him; for in the uprightness of mine heart have I worshipped and served him.  
18. And therefore I desire not to 
18. O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.  die as the brute beasts do, for the earth to receive me, never to depart with me again, as hypocrites desire to do, through self-guiltiness, but I long after my resurrection, that I may appear before God, that so, though not here, yet there mine innocency may appear, according to my hope and desire, which I hope shall not be frustrate:  
19 For be it known to you, that I 
19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.  am well assured, that God who is in heaven knows my uprightness, and that there I am witnessed for, and not against.  
20. Though here on earth I have 
20. My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.  none to take my part; for even those which are my friends, and should know me to speak for me, do with scornful rebukes censure me for an hypocrite, but I know whom I have to appeal unto in this case; even to God who judgeth righteously, which accordingly▪ put in practice; for I pour out tears unto him, who I hope will right my wrong, and clear mine innocency.  
21. How happy were it for me, if 
21. O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!  I might exchange my argumentation from man to God, and might expostulate familiarly with him, touching mine innocency, who is able to judge a right, and at whose hands I should be sure of just and impartial dealing.  
22. But my hope and happiness 
22. When a few years are come, than I shall go the way whence I shall not return.  is, that after I have borne these vexations the while God hath appointed me, I shall then be eternally freed from them, by death.   

CHAP. XVII.  
1. NOr can I be far from it; for 
1. My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.  my breath which maintains my life, beginneth to be mortally tainted with mine inward diseases, portending death at hand, and my days to be at a period, I am every way ready and fit for the grave.  
2. And yet for all this (would not 
2. Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?  one think it strange?) these men that pretend to come to comfort me, will yet administer none to me in this pitiful state, but utterly defeat my hopes from one to another; for am not I forced to endure their endless lying provocations, and false accusations, wherewith they continue to vex me to my face, not withstanding all that I have said to the contrary?  
3. But seeing I can have no better 
3. Lay down now, put me in a 〈◊〉 with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?  from them, I humbly turn to thee, O Lord, praying thee to deposit a pawn, and give me some assurance, that without being judged by thy perfect righteousness, and dealt withal after thy transcendent greatness; I may argue my uprightness with thee, and then let who will undertake for thee, and enter the lists in thy behalf against me.  
4. For thou hast blinded them that 
4. For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.  they have no understanding to speak right things to me, either concerning myself or thee; and therefore shall they lose the reward they should have received from thee, had they righteously behaved themselves toward me, and in stead thereof receive condign punishment.  
5. They preach a strange and ignorant 
5. He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.  kind of doctrine, that because thou afflictest me, therefore I must needs be, and certainly am an hypocrite: and that prosperity is a sign of a righteous man, which is a dangerous untruth to be broached, knowing the curse that belongs to them that with flattering deceit shall dare to bolster men up through erroneous principles in a false opinion of themselves, and their mistaken happiness; how that their children shall be so served, to wit, deceived and seduced in like manner, and shall perish for want of discerning.  
6. And I am not only miscensured 
6. He hath made me also a byword of the people, and aforetime I was as a tabret.  by these men, but (because of thine unwonted dealings with me) it is also upon this same foolish principle, every man else his report and opinion, that I am an hypocrite, though heretofore in the time of my prosperity, report gave a pleasant sound of me to all men's ears.  
7. So that thou hast every way consumed 
7. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.  me, my good name is quite blasted, and my body also is wasted; for mine eyes have almost quite lost their sight by reason of mine excessive sorrowing, and all my members are so meagerd, that they are become a very skeleton, and have so lost their substance, that they are, as it were, the shadow of themselves.  
8. When all things are thus against 
8. Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.  me, and that I have nothing but mine uprightness for me, mine example shall make others admire the virtue and powerful support of a good conscience: So that I shall make thee upright, to be in love with his uprightness, for the extraordinary supporting strength and courage which it enables a man withal, and he that is truly innocent shall learn of me, not to be baffled out of his sincerity, but to maintain and take comfort in his integrity of heart, against all his false accusers.  
9 Yea, the upright-hearted righteous 
9 The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.  man shall learn with an undaunted confidence, to put himself into the presence of God, and not to be disheartened from it, nay, the more he that is pure of heart receives opposition, the more he shall gather strength to oppose his adversaries and comfort and confirm himself, by me and mine example.  
10. So that you see you lose your 
10. But as for you all, do you return, and come now; for I cannot find one wise man among you.  labour by going about to stagger me in mine uprightness, even all of you, for any thing you have, or can say, therefore I would wish you all to spare the pains and travel you take in a wrong way, and to change your minds, and close with me; for in the opinion you hold so stiffly and unanimously (that God would not afflict me thus, were I not an hypocrite, and that because of mine afflictions I am forsaken and hated of him) you are utterly in an error, and show yourselves ignorant of the ways of God.  
11. I have not much more to speak 
11. My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.  to you, therefore be warned; for you see how my days draw to an end, besides that what I would say to you, my pain interrupts me that I cannot speak it, the thoughts of my heart being through my distempers, full of distractions and disorder,  
12. Filling me with confusion, being 
12. They change the night into day: the light is short, because of darkness.  never at rest, but always working, and ever in motion upon and about my miseries, as well night as day, so that I can have no quiet, and day as night, so that I can have no comfort; no time for them.  
13. And touching the restauration 
13. If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.  you promise me; for my part, I believe no such thing, I make account of no other receptacle, than the grave, nor ever to find rest but by death.  
14. Nor ever to enjoy any other 
14. I have said to corruption, thou art my father: to the worm, thou art my mother, and my sister.  friend or kindred, than what they yield me, that is, corruption and worms.  
15. And if you ask me then where 
15. And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it?  my hope is? (because you say an hypocrite is hopeless) why, I confess it is in nothing this life yields; for I verily believe that neither I, nor any living man shall ever see me have good day again in this world.  
16. But they that will see wherein 
16. They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the grave.  my hope consists, must pass through the gates of death to behold it, and lie down in the grave with me, and then it shall appear.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
1. JOB having the second time given 
1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,  Eliphaz his answer, Bildad the Shuhite also taketh his turn to give his second onset upon Job, and therefore when Job had made an end, he beginneth thus:  
2. How long will it be before thou 
2. How long will it be ere thou make an end of thy words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.  yield to the truth, and cease thy vain contradicting? Give good heed now, that we may no more speak in vain to thee, as it seems through thy heedlessness and want of due consideration we have done hitherto.  
3. Why dost thou set so light by us, 
3. Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?  as if we had no understanding, nor our counsel were nothing worth, or why is our talk so distasteful, seeing we tell thee the truth?  
4. It is not we, but thyself, who 
4. He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock he removed out of his place?  is thine own tormentor, through thy proud impatiency; wouldst thou have us belie God's administration to thee? or wouldst thou have him to alter it for thee? thou mayst sooner expect him to overturn the whole world for thy sake, and put every thing out of that order he hath decreed and made it in, than cease to be just in punishing the wicked.  
5. So that though thou frettest never 
5. Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.  so much at it, yet for certain, this is, must be, and ever was, an infallible Principle. That the wicked man's glory shall (by God's just judgement for his sins) be quite extinguished, shine he never so bright, and with the waters of affliction God will quench his ambitious preparations and designs that he shall not be eminent.  
6. But chose, the honour of 
6. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.  his house shall be brought low, yea, the glory he hath raised shall expire even in and with himself.  
7. Go he never so confidently on 
7. The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.  he shall be withstood, and his wisdom wherein he reposeth so much trust, shall ruin him at last.  
8. For his own ways which he 
8. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.  chooseth to walk, and taketh to be freest from danger, shall most certainly bring him to ruin, and every step he taketh in those paths of wickedness and worldly wisdom, shall one day assuredly prove a further intrapping to him, though for a while he perceives nor fears it not.  
9 Till that at the last he see and 
9 The grin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.  feel himself unavoidably caught, which also shall then befall him when he least heeded or suspected it, and when he is most confident in his own strength, safety and riches; God will set some body a work that maugre all his power shall disable and impoverish him.  
10. God in his secret purpose, means 
10. The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.  to entrap him at last, yea, even in the very way which he puts most confidence in, and chooseth to walk in for his security.  
11. God shall so distress and fill 
11. Terrors shall make him afraid on every fide, and shall drive him to his feet.  his mind with fears, as that he shall not have the least chink of hope left to see any comfort through; but give all for lost, and be driven utterly to abandon his former confidence as vain.  
12. Be he never so strong in his 
12. His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.  own opinion, God will weaken it, and so burden him that he shall be glad to seek strength to bear his own burden, when he thought himself strong enough to burden others: he shall see a strange alteration, even destruction and ruin which he put far from him in his own opinion, notwithstanding suddenly to surprise him.  
13. It shall seize upon him as well 
13. It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the first borne of death shall devour his strength.  in body as estate, perishing his very bones which support his skin; yea, even all the extremest miseries and deadliest torments that are, shall violently seize upon him to pull down his pride, and ruin all his strong holds.  
14. He shall see the fruitlessness of 
14. His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the King of terrors.  carnal confidence, how that all his outward hopes shall be turned upside down, and nothing shall be left for him to lay hold upon. Yea, destruction shall pursue him to utter ruin, not only of all that is his, but also of himself too; for it shall never leave him till it have brought him through a multitude of horrors to that which is worst of all, even to death itself.  
15. Destruction shall put him quite 
15. It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.  out of all, and shall take possession of all which he hath so unjustly come by; nothing of all he hath shall escape the consuming fire of the Lords indignation.  
16. God will make a clean riddance 
16. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.  of him, and all his whole house; he will quite cut him off, root and branch, father and son, even he and all his posterity, from off the face of the earth.  
17. And let him have been of never 
17. His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.  so great note, yet as he, so his memory and reputation shall perish with him, and he shall be quite forgotten, and had in no esteem, even in that very place where he once lived in so much glory.  
18. He shall first have all things 
18. He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.  clouded upon him, his glory and prosperity shall become ignominy and adversity, and they shall make him weary of his life, never ceasing to vex him, and to increase upon him, till they have hunted him to death.  
19 There shall none of his offspring 
19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.  remain to uphold his house or name, and the place of his abode shall become quite desolate.  
20. God shall make him notorious 
20. They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.  to all; for the very report of what fearful things befell him, when God executed his severe judgements upon him in the day of his visitation, shall beget amazement in men of after ages when they hear of it, though they never saw it, even as it did in them who were eye-witnesses of the vengeance which was inflicted on him.  
21. Be not thou so wilful to oppose 
21. Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knows not God.  a known and undeniable truth; for as sure as God is just, so sure it is, That these things do befall the wicked man, and only him in his family and habitation. And such as this which I have said hath ever been known and observed to be the lot and portion only of him that is an hypocrite and fears not God aright in the place where he liveth.   

CHAP. XIX.  
1. TO this speech of Bildad's Job 
1. Then job answered, and said.  made answer, and said:  
2. How long will you persevere 
2. How long will you vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?  thus impiously and uncharitably to endeavour my vexation, and to torment me as upon a rack, with multiplying unjust and uncomfortable language against me?  
3. You have I know not how often 
3. These ten times have ye reproached me: you are not ashamed that you make yourselves strange to me.  unjustly upbraided me, and which is strange, you that are mine old acquaintance, and which make show to be my friends, never blush to consider in what an unfriendly and strange manner you behave yourselves toward me, as if you neither bare any love to me, nor had any knowledge of me.  
4. But be it granted that I and my 
4. And be it indeed▪ that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.  ways have been too-blame, yet you have not at all convinced me of any error, that I might know what to amend, in all this time and talk, and till you can do that (which I know you can never do) all that you say is but mere surmises, and serves me to no use, but that still I am the same I was, never better.  
5. But if your flourishing estate do 
5. If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:  make you value yourselves above me, and that you will needs insultingly reproach me with mine afflictions:  
6. Then know and consider, that it 
6. Know now, that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.  is God that hath thus cast me down, and if I be caught, it is he that hath ensnared me with that you call his net, who can for all your high conceits (as justly when he pleaseth) do as much for you.  
7. O that the Lord would hearken 
7. Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgement.  to mine outcry, which I am forced to make, by reason of the unjust calumnies that these men lay on me, but he is pleased not to grant me audience, yea, though mine injuries compel me to make earnest and vehement prayer, yet can I find no relief, nor have any right done me on these my false accusers.  
8. He hath every way hedged me 
8. He hath sensed up my way, that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.  out of happiness and content, so that though I seek it never so, I cannot find it, yea, he hath so eclipsed me, that I cannot see which way to take to administer the least comfort to myself.  
9 The good report and esteem 
9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown. from my head.  wherewith once I was dignified, he hath quite stripped me of, in the hearts of all men, and turned it into disgrace.  
10. He hath indeed, every way, and 
10. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.  in every thing, destroyed mine hope and happiness, and I am quite out at all; yea, there is no more hope of me for hereafter, than of a tree that is plucked up by the roots.  
11. He hath mightily opposed 
11. He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him, as one of his enemies.  himself against me, and seems to account no better of me, than an utter enemy that he means to pursue to death.  
12. He hath mustered his forces together 
12. His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.  against me, even a whole army of plagues, which have blocked me up, and shut me out of all hope, and have besieged me so straightly, that I can no way in all the world find relief.  
13. He hath not left me a friend to 
13 He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.  help or comfort me, but those which were as near and dear to me as brethren, and which should have been so to me, he hath quite turned their hearts from me; my very bosome-friends and acquaintance will not now own me for any friend of theirs, but behave themselves as strangers toward me.  
14. Those of mine own blood and 
14. My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.  kindred (from whom I expected other) have refused to do the offices of of love and kindness to me in this my misery, and those that daily frequented me, and were intimately acquainted with me, make now as if they never knew me.  
15. Those that should owe me special 
15. They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.  respect, who have lived under me in mine own house, yea, and my maids which by their sex should be of a more tender and pitiful disposition, and more dutiful carriage notwithstanding all decorums and obligations to the contrary, show me no respect, but now by reason of this condition which they see me in, they cast me off, as if they never had had any relation to me.  
16. I called my servant as I was 
16. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my mouth.  wont to do, and in a regardless manner he turned his back upon me, yea, I entreated him with this same mouth, that was wont to command him, but all would not do.  
17. My very wife thinks much to 
17. My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body.  come near me, that was wont to lie in my bosom, yea, although I prayed and importuned her, with the strongest and endearingest persuasions I could use, and that which I thought likeliest to prevail, even for the conjugal bond sake that was between us, and the motherly respect she bore to the children, that in it she hath had by me, yet I could not prevail.  
18. Yea, to make up my misery, 
18. Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spoke against me.  that which I little expected, even young children that should be better nourtured, and which usually are more pitifully and respectfully disposed, have yet despisingly behaved themselves toward me, and if I do but show myself, so sooneas ever they see me in what case I am, they speak against me, and pass their opinion upon me, as they have heard others do.  
19 There is not any one for me; 
19 All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved, are turned against me.  all my most inwardest and bosome-friends have me in detestation, because of my affliction, and their ill opinion of me for it, and they whom I most entirely loved, requite me with injury and opposition.  
20. I am so pined away, that my 
20. My bone cleaveth to my skin and (or as in the margin, as) to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.  bones and skin are met and grow together, as once did my flesh and they, having now no flesh left to part them; But indeed, to speak properly, I have nothing that I can call skin about me (being all over of a scab) saving my gums, which only have escaped this contagion.  
21. O consider my misery, and be not 
21. Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me.  so hard-hearted toward me, but be entreated of me to show me some compassion, you that I have ever taken for my friends, which is your duty to do, and the thing which God expecteth from you, now that he afflicts me.  
22. Why do you take upon you to 
22. Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?  afflict me because God doth so (have you the like authority) or so masterfully to censure and judge me for an hypocrite, which is proper only to God (who searcheth the heart) both to know and punish; is it not enough for you to see my body thus tormented, but you will heap more extremity upon me, labouring to oppress my spirit also?  
23. O that what I am about to 
23. O that my words were now written, o that they were printed in a book!  speak were eternised to all posterity in the usual way of writing and printing!  
24. Or rather in some more legible 
24. That they were graven with an iron pen and lead, in the rock for ever!  and permanent way, as by graving them with capital letters in some durable stone, for the vindicating of my sincerity to after ages, and for the learning and encouraging of all upright hearted men against afflictions and oppositions.  
25. For this with a good conscience 
25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the later day upon the earth.  I dare, and can affirm, which no hypocrite can say after me; That upon good proofs and infallible evidences I assuredly know, That (howsoever I seem, and am judged by you here a castaway and reprobate man) I truly and faithfully rest upon the promise; and that my soul is safe (by the mercy of God) in him whom he hath appointed to redeem it, who shall one day live and triumph over all his sufferings, and so shall I over mine, by and with him; I mean no fantastical Saviour, such as vain men through self-love take up and make to themselves, but him whom I know full well, is, and must be, as well a Judge as a Saviour, and therefore it booteth me little to dissemble, who (it rejoiceth my heart to think) shall one day judge the world in righteousness, and then shall mine innocency appear.  
26. And though not only my skin, 
26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.  but this whole body be utterly consumed & eaten to death of worms, both skin, flesh, and bones; yet for my Saviour's sake who shall rise from death, and live in despite of it, my flesh (so consumed) shall be framed a new into such a body, and raised again to such a life as wherein I shall see God completely, face to face.  
27. I mean, I shall not see him as 
27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.  the wicked shall at the last day, to be another's God, and none of theirs, but that I shall so see him, as that I shall enjoy him for my God, Father and Saviour, I say, mine own eyes shall see him and rejoice in him, for mine own God, and not another's, though now he be pleased thus extremely to afflict me, both within and without.  
28. One would think this faithful 
28. But ye should say, why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?  confession & profession of my faith in the pureness of my conscience, should make you better bethink yourselves, than thus to persecute me with false and injurious occasions, seeing that however you may condemn me for a sinner, which I confess to God and all the world, yet there is apparently in me that which may and doth interest me in Gods saving and special favour, notwithstanding both my sins and his afflictions, to wit, a faithful uprightness which you ought to cherish, and not to oppose and suppress.  
29. And look well to it; be ye 
29. Be ye afraid of the sword, for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgement.  afraid to go on in this way, lest God unsheathe his sword against you for it; for if you persevere in your persecuting injustice and uncharitableness till his wrath be kindled against you, punishment will befall you, that so you may learn to fear to do wrong, and know there is a just revenger thereof, and that judgement belongs thereto.   

CHAP. XX.  
1. ZOphar the Naamathite, longing 
1. Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said:  till his time came to reply upon Job, being full of aggravated displeasure, thus at last also venteth himself upon him:  
2. Saith he, I am even in travel till 
2. Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.  I answer thee, I must needs break in upon thee, however thou mayst take it, and that for this reason:  
3. Because thou hast reproachfully 
3. I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer.  taunted that truth, which I and my companions (thy friends) have suggested to thee for thy good: In so much as being well assured of that I have said, to be no other than a certain and known truth, to wit, that God will punish the wicked, and that it shall go ill with them, and not with the righteous; thy disdainful contradicting it hath so whetted my spirit, that I can no longer contain myself, but must needs out of a right under-standing and certain knowledge of it, urge this truth yet more home upon thee.  
4. How can it be, that thou shouldest 
4. Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth?  be ignorant of this, or how darest thou deny it, which God hath made apparent in all ages since the beginning of the world, and which hath been ever received and taught for an infallible truth.  
5. Even this, that God suffers not a 
5. That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?  wicked man long to enjoy his earthly happiness and worldly triumph, but makes it of short continuance: and that the joy which an hypocrite taketh in his prosperity shall not long last, but shall speedily end in endless sorrow.  
6. Though he over-top all men, 
6. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds.  and be never so high in the repute of the world.  
7. Yet he shall have such a fall, as 
7. Yet he shall perish for ever, like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say: Where is he?  he shall never rise again, yea, the time shall come, that God will make him as loathsome and detestable to himself and others, as his own excrements were wont to be; yea, even those very men that have seen and admired his condition shall ere long, as much wonder at his downfall.  
8. A man you know is no sooner awaken, 
8. He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.  but his delightful dream is forgotten; just so, on a sudden, when God awakes in judgement, upon him shall all his former honour and happiness be quite lost and taken from him, not any of it remaining: yea, like as when a man awaketh, all the imaginary visions of his fancy vanish, so shall all his temporal felicity by the sight and feeling of the anger and displeasure of God against him.  
9 Those which are able to say, 
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.  they can remember the time they saw him thus and so, shall never live to see the like again, neither shall the place where he lived so splendidously ever enjoy him so any more.  
10. His children to stop the clamorous 
10. His children shall seek to please the poor; and his hands shall restore their goods.  mouths of the oppressed poor shall be forced to stoop to observe and entreat them with good words, and fair promises; whom once their father, and they insulted over with proud oppression, and had them for their observers and suppliants; yea, the heavy wrath of God upon him shall make him with his own hands restore to the poor, what by oppression he had unjustly taken from them, and glad he may.  
11. He shall be made to feel the 
11. His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.  weight of his former sins, by the tormenting plagues that God shall heap upon him, which shall pursue him to the death.  
12. Though his sins have been never 
12. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue.  so pleasing to him in their acting, and though that still his mind stands that way, being loath to forgo them.  
13. Although he be exceeding loath 
13. Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth.  to leave them, and hardly brought to repent of them, but with close hypocritical dissembling would feign excuse them, that so he may retain them still.  
14. Yet as well as he loves them, 
1. 4 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of Asps within him.  and as sweet as they have been in acting, in the end they will prove of a quite contrary effect, bringing deadly plagues upon him, and filling, him with inward bitterness.  
15. He hath by ravenous oppression 
15. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.  gotten abundance, but what though? he shall never be able to keep them, but shall be compelled to part with them again, God shall so torment and fill him with anguish and trouble of mind that he shall be sick of them, and wish with all his heart to be rid of them to purchase his ease and quiet.  
16. He shall be for all his seeming 
16. He shall suck the poison of Asps; the Viper's tongue shall slay him.  happiness in his ill gotten goods, but as a man that by mistake hath sucked the most deadly poison in stead of honey; in the just wrath of God he shall be tormented to death, as if he were stung with Vipers.  
17. Though he hath promised 
17. He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.  himself large contentment and felicity by his lawless and sinful courses, yet he shall find himself quite mistaken, and his expectation utterly frustrated; neither enjoying less nor more of all that happiness he hoped for.  
18. He shall be quite stripped of all 
18. That which he laboured for, shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.  that which with careful thought taking he hath gained, and shall part with it to others, himself shall have no good by it, how happy soever he promised himself to be: yea, to the utmost farthing shall he be disseized of all that ever he has, for in retaliating justice, God shall beggar him, take it from him and distribute it to other men: he shall take but little joy, and find but small benefit in that he hath gathered together, for he shall lose it every jot.  
20. Because he hath come naughtily 
19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not.  by it, oppressing the poor, and to enrich himself by bribery and subornation, hath refused to do him right, and also by injustice and violence, unlawfully possessed himself of other men's estates, which he had no manner of right unto.  
20. He shall be incessantly pursued 
20. Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.  with vexations, and shall enjoy no hearts-ease; he shall keep nothing of that which he hath got; but shall part with all that whereon he had set his heart, and built his felicity.  
21. God shall never cease taking 
21. There shall none of his meat be left, therefore shall no man look for his goods.  from him, and giving it to others, whilst he hath any thing left, and till folk see that he hath not wherewith to sustain himself, they shall not give over to rob and spoil, and to take from him what he has.  
22. Then, when he takes himself 
22. In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.  to be in his prime and height of happiness, shall he be brought to the greatest indigency and want, God shall let loose every wicked unconscionable man to molest and impoverish him, like as aforetime he himself hath done to others.  
23. When he hath satisfied his desires 
23. When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.  to the full, and hath gotten every thing that his heart could wish, to make him happy, so soon as ever he beginneth to joy himself in them, God, whom he least looks for, it shall blast his hopes, and disturb his security, by executing a furious and wrathful judgement upon him in great abundance, very then, when he bids his heart make merry, and assures himself unchangeable happiness.  
24. The Lord shall wrathfully fight 
24. He shall fly from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.  against him as a man of war, with sharp and strong weapons, such as he shall desire and endeavour to avoid and fly from, but shall by no means escape, nor be able to withstand or to stand under, but what one fails to do, another shall certainly bring to pass, so that one way or other he shall be sure to receive his death's wound by a fierce discharge of God's wrathful plagues upon him.  
25. God will be sure to shoot home, 
25. It is drawn and cometh out of the body; yea, the glistering sword cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him.  so that his arrow shall pierce through and through, he shall make it appear that it was shot in anger, and that it is his powerful hand that doth it, yea, he shall make his most formidable plagues to appear upon him, they shall pierce his very entrails, so that with bitterness of spirit he shall be forced to lament himself, his inward terrors shall so affright and perplex him.  
26. All manner of dismal fears, 
26. All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him, it shall go ill with him that is left in his Tabernacle.  surmising thoughts, and misgiving despair shall enter and take possession of his soul, and no comfortable hope shall appear in him. He and all his substance shall by the wrath of God hastily consume to nothing as the stubble by the fire, yea, so incensed is God against him, as that for his oppression and hypocrisy sake, such a curse shall cleave to him, and to all that comes of him, yea, to the very place of his abode, as that whosoever remains in it shall partake it.  
27. God by punishments from heaven, 
27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity: and the earth shall rise up against him.  shall lay him open sufficiently to all the world to be a grievous sinner, and a notorious hypocrite, whatsoever he saith to the contrary; yea, he shall make the very creatures to abhor him for it, and utterly to deny their comfort and service to him, to signify what he is.  
28. All his posterity shall be destroyed, 
28. The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.  and so shall his prosperity too; even all at once with a sudden ebb, in the day that God visits him with his wrath and righteous judgements.  
29. This that I have told thee is the 
29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.  portion that a wicked hypocritical oppressor must look for, and shall certainly receive from God, and none but such; God in his just purpose hath set it a part, and assigned it for him, and will when his sins are ripe, and the time fit, most certainly execute it upon him, as his works have ever declared.   

CHAP. XXI.  
1. BUt Job being no whit more 
1. But job answered, and said:  convinced or confuted by Zophans foregoing discourse, thus again replies upon him:  
2. Do me that favour, as to give 
2. Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.  me also leave to speak, and to lend me your ears, which, seeing you have no other comforts for me, shall be in stead of comfort to me.  
3. Have but patience to hear me, 
3. Suffer me that I may speak, and after that I have spoken, mock on.  and when I have done, say you your pleasure.  
4. I see it is in vain to make my 
4. As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?  moan to man, if I look for help there, the Lord knows I am in a piteous case; for I find no comfort from him.  
5. I beseech you consider what I 
5. Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.  say, that you may reform your error, and together with me, may with amazement admire the ways of God, which are wonderful; and give over thus presumptuously to give boundaries to him in his administration towards men.  
6. And well may I bid you wonder, 
6. Even when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.  and be astonished hereat; for, for mine own part, when I call to mind, and consider Gods wonderful proceedings toward myself, what I was, and what I am, they astonish me with most formidable amazement, nor am I able to plum their depth.  
7. And I pray you, if it be as you 
7. Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?  say, That God only layeth his heavy hand upon the wicked, and that they escape not wrath & punishment, how then comes it to pass (which you cannot deny but are eye-witnesses of) that the wicked live in health and hearts-ease, till they be as old as the oldest, and equal, if not exceed, whomsoever in power?  
8. Their posterity do as well as 
8. Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.  heart can wish, and they live to see them thrive like themselves, and to joy in their present prosperity and undoubted hopes of future happiness.  
9 There is no such fear befalls 
9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.  them as you speak of, but they live secure and free both from the fear and feeling of punishment, God afflicts them not one jot.  
10. But contrarily, all things hit, and 
10. Their Bull gendereth, and faileth not, their Cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.  nothing misseth to make them happy, and rich, they have profit and pleasure at will; for their bull gendereth and faileth less than other men's, and their Cows calve, and miscarry seldom or never.  
11. None are more happy in the 
11. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.  multitude of children than they, nor no men's children lead merrier lives than theirs, dancing and joviallizing.  
12. At the sound of all the choicest 
12. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.  instruments of music, which wit can invent, or money can buy, wherewith they take their fill of pleasure and sport.  
13. And they live all their life long 
13. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.  in this manner, never tasting sorrow, and moreover, when their time comes to die, they have as easy deaths as one would wish, without any sore or lingering pains and diseases, they depart in a trice.  
14. Thus they live, and thus they 
14. Therefore they say unto God, depart from us: for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.  die, yea, not with standing that they are so far from being less wicked for this their prosperous condition, as that it makes them the more sinful and presumptuous against God, even in effect to dare to say (for their lives show as much) we care not for thee, nor have no need of thee, thy ways are not our ways, and therefore keep them to thyself; for we will yield neither subjection nor obedience to thee nor them.  
15. We are able to stand upon our 
15. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?  own legs, and we are free for to do our own wills, why should we then abridge ourselves, and become slaves to one whose power we respect not, nor can it do us any hurt, be it never so great, and to whom we scorn to be beholden for any thing, who need nothing?  
16. Lo, now, how unagreeable this 
16. Lo, their good is not in their hand, the counsel of the wicked is far from me.  is to what you say, that God ever despoiles them of all they have, and leaves them naked; and yet how ever this my necessitous estate differs from that of theirs, so commended by you, yet say you what you will, I am not for all that in love with their prosperous condition; much good do it them, far be it from me to wish their happiness in their way, and upon their terms, for I have never trod their paths.  
17. You cannot deny but that experience 
17. How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? and how out cometh their destruction upon them? God distributeth sorrows in his anger.  proves this true which I have said, that many wicked men do thus pass unpunished, and prosper; nor again, on the other hand do I deny, but that too the glory of the wicked is oft eclipsed, and destruction oft overtakes them, yea, I acknowledge it to be true, that God doth distribute and send afflicting plagues and punishments in his just displeasure upon them many times.  
18. God I know does bring them 
18. They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.  and theirs to ruin and destruction, and disperseth their ill gotten goods up and down into a thousand men's hands.  
19 And maketh their children divers 
19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.  times feel the smart of their father's sins; yea, he makes the wicked man live to see and know the reward of his own evil ways.  
20. He himself is made the spectator 
20. His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.  of his own ruin, and to drink deep of the cup of the Lords anger.  
21. So that the pleasure he took 
21. For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?  in the hope he conceived of making his house famous and honourable after him, shall quite vanish by sudden destruction or death, happening in his prime.  
22. Will you dare then thus to teach 
22. Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high?  God what he should do? will you set bounds to his actions, and measure his judgements by your rule, seeing they are so far beyond us, and his ways past our finding out; and seeing he is Judge of the Angels, who are so far above us in all manner of excellencies, the wisdom of whose ways even they notwithstanding are ignorant of.  
23. Must you not needs confess an 
23. One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.  unsearchableness in God's ways, such as is without the compass of any man's reach, when as he pleaseth to do such wonderful contradictory things in man's reason, and to show himself so free an agent in the things aforesaid, as also in these that follow; sparing whom he pleas●th, and likewise afflicting whom, and for what time, and in what measure himself liketh, as we continually see and behold; for instance, Doth he not summon one a way by death, even then, when he is most likely to live, and when he lest looks for it, or desires it?  
24. When there is not the least decay 
24. His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.  in him to cause it, but that nature is every way perfect and complete.  
25. And doth not another man (we 
25. And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.  know no reason why) lie and die under woeful pressures of mind and body, never enjoying good hour in all his life?  
26. Thus does God do his pleasure 
26. They shall lie down in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.  upon men, and variously dispense his providence to them here, and yet however he seem to favour or disfavour them (which is also strange) death concludes them, and the grave receives them all alike, and there they fare alike, the worms devouring one as well as another.  
27. Alas, I easily perceive you imply 
27. Behold, I know your thoughts, & the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me.  and mean me to be the wicked man that God hath done & executed all these things upon for my supposed wickedness, (wherein (I speak it knowingly) you are utterly mistaken; for I am no such man, and you do me exceeding much wrong to think so of me, whilst ignorantly you judge me by the event and Gods afflicting hand upon me.  
28. The whilst you say in derision, 
28. For ye say, Where is the house of the prince, and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?  where is this man's princely pomp, that but even now was so splendidous? What is become of all the glory, that he in the pride of his heart had thought to have gained and laid up for himself and his? and of all the great revenue and goodly houses that he and they by wicked means had compassed and built to wicked ends and purposes?  
29. Is it not notorious what he was, 
29. Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens?  and cannot every man point him out now for wicked and naught, that seeth these marks and judgements upon him? will any man say, that ever any had the like but such an one?  
30. Do not all men know that the 
30. That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.  time will come, that God will certainly reckon with a wicked man for his wickedness, and at last, without fail, bring ruin upon his head, and will make him an example of his justice to all the world, in the day that he chooseth to execute his wrath upon him?  
31. Although no man dare reprove him, and tell him he doth wrong, nor 
31. Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?  right himself upon him, or attempt to punish him, because of his imperiousness and oppressing might.  
32. Yet shall God bring him low, 
32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.  his judgements shall bring him to his grave, even to an everlasting farewell to his former estate.  
33. God shall so afflict him that he 
33. The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.  shall desire death as the only way that remains to give him ease, and this say you, shall be, and ever hath been the case of every wicked man, as well as his.  
34. Now, how vainly may any one 
34. How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?  judge, do you go about to comfort me, which yet you would be thought to do; when as you apply nothing rightly to me, nor affirm nothing rightly of me; and seeing all your discourses are composed of nothing but mistakes and errors touching God and me, affirming that he afflicts none but wicked men, and that I am and must needs be wicked, because I am afflicted, both which are false.   

CHAP. XXII.  
1. ELiphaz the Temanite, being 
1. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said:  now to speak according to course, falleth the third time upon Job, and saith,  
2. Granting that thou art righteous 
2. Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?  as thou sayest, yet thou takest a wonderful fond course thus to glory in it, and plead it unto God, thereby to bind him to thee, seeing a man's being so, adds nothing to him, it profits him nothing, though it do the owner, who in godly wisdom hath obtained to be so.  
3. Not a jot of benefit God reaps 
3. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?  by it, nay, he is so far from being a gainer by thy pleading the perfection of thy ways, as that thou makest him thereby suffer in his justice, and by pleading thy righteousness, makest him unrighteous.  
4. If he punish thee not for sin, 
4. Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? Will he enter with thee into judgement?  what then doth he plague thee for? Is it for fear that in time thou mayest grow so over good, that he cannot reward thee, or so over great, that he cannot command thee? thinkest thou he hath need to take such course with thee for any such cause?  
5. Man, never speak more of it; 
5. Is not thy wickedness great, and thine iniquities infinite?  God is just, and so are his ways, and therefore, as thy punishments are great and extraordinary, so certainly are thy sins.  
6. For it must needs be, that however 
6. For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.  thou hast carried things cunningly, and we cannot so easily detect thy faults, yet doubtless thou hast been extremely too blame, and thy ways very wicked; wouldst thou but consider and confess them. For no doubt, what ever thou sayest to the contrary, but thou hast been a great oppressor of the poor, and a greedy griper, thou hast questionless uncharitably taken, and unjustly detained thy poor brother's pledge to his great damage, and by thy cruel usage, hast extremely impoverished them.  
7. And as thou hast been an evil-doer 
7. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.  in the ways of injury and violence, so also doubtless thou hast been backward to do any good or charitable work, thou hast not relieved the needy.  
8. But all thy aim and care was, 
8. But as for the mighty man, he had the earth, and the honourable man dwelled in it.  to make thyself mighty, rich, and honourable here on earth, and therefore all thy labour was to engross it to thyself from others.  
9 Thou hast disappointed the 
9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.  poor widow's hope, and hast not righted her upon her wrong-doers, and thou hast suffered the fatherless to be crushed, and hast not afforded them succour when they relied upon, and trusted to thee for it.  
10. Therefore it is, and for no other 
10. Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee.  cause, that thou art thus plagued on all hands, these works and ways of thine, are they that have brought thee into this condition, thus to be captivated, and all at once suddenly surprised with such fearful miseries.  
11. Yea, into worse than the plagues 
11. Or darkness that thou canst not see, and abundance of waters cover thee.  themselves, even into blindness and confusion of mind; so as that thou canst neither see what brought thee into them, nor how to find the way out, but art as a man under water amuzed in these thy afflictions, not knowing which way to take, nor what to do to help thyself.  
12. Is not God infinitely higher and 
12. Is not God in the height of heavens? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are.  more full of light to see and discern, than any of his creatures? consider how high the stars are, and how far distant from thee, and yet they shine down to thee.  
13. Much more does God see thee, 
13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?  and know thy ways and works; yet such is thy hypocrisy and security, that because we who are but men, cannot easily detect thee; therefore, thou thinkest, and thy behaviour speaks as much, that God can see no evil neither by thee; and because thou canst not see him through the clouds that are over thy head, therefore thou thinkest he cannot see nor take notice of thee through them.  
14. And that his sight is not clear 
14. Thick clouds are a covering to him that he seeth not, and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.  enough to see through such a medium, but that thou art safe enough from his eyes who hath so many thick and dark clouds between thee and him, and who dwells at such a distance from thee, as is heaven from earth, where it seems thou thinkest he only manages matters, and bears rule, and not here.  
15. Hast thou observed the ways 
15. Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?  of the wicked, and the course that God hath of old wont to take with them?  
16. Dost thou confess, how they 
16. Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood.  have been cut short of their aims and hopes by an untimely end, and how the foundations which they have laid of riches and honour, have been at last wasted away with sudden destruction and ruin, as of old by the flood?  
17. Even such, as thou sayest, say 
17. Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?  to God, keep thy Laws to thyself, for we'll not obey them, and what care we for what he can do to us, that expect no good from him, nor fear no hurt?  
18. And thou knowest its true too, 
18. Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.  that once he filled their houses with good things, and plenty of them; and now, how canst thou so confidently and securely exempt thyself from their condition, and thy ways from theirs, seeing thou sharest in their plagues?  
19 For the righteous are free from 
19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.  such things, what ever thou sayest to the contrary; they live to see the justice of God executed upon the wicked, and rejoice therein, laughing at their folly for taking such ways, which they knew long before would have such an end and issue.  
20. Whereas we that have been 
20. Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.  content with a little, got in an honest godly way, enjoy it still in peace; but as for proud oppressors, and greedy gripers, rise they never so high, wrath shall quite ruin them at last.  
21. But now therefore, thou for thy 
21. Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee.  part, though thou hast been a stranger to the ways of God, yet stand not out still in rebellion, but come in and make thy peace by confessing thy guiltiness, and acknowledging him just, cav●lling no longer at his dealings; and so shalt thou receive good for evil, and find mercy to relieve thee in thy distress.  
22. I pray thee as a friend, go not 
22. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.  on presumptuously, but humble thyself for thy former sins, and promise amendment; covenant to keep his Commandments which thou hast broken, and to frame both thy heart and life thereby for hereafter.  
23. If thus thou repent and turn to 
23. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy Tabernacles.  the Lord, fear not but that he both can, and will repair thee, and so shalt thou put away sin, and the plagues and punishment that sin hath brought upon thee, far from thee and thine.  
24. Then shalt thou have thy desire; 
24. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.  for thou shalt be rich with content, which is worth a million.  
25. Yea, the Almighty himself 
25. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence (or as in the margin, thy gold) and thou shalt have plenty of silver.  in his love and favour, shall be thy riches and treasure, so that thou shalt think thyself happier and richer than gold or silver can make thee.  
26. For thou shalt then have that 
26. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.  which is worth, and better worth than all, to wit, peace toward God, and the comfortable enjoyment of his grace and favour toward thee, which shall make thee with an holy boldness to look God in the face without fear.  
27. Thou shalt then be able cheerfully 
27. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.  to address thyself to him in prayer, and shalt receive his gracious answers to thine infinite solace; so that thou shalt have continual cause and exercise of thanksgiving.  
28. Yea, thou shalt but say the 
28. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.  word, and it shall be done; such power shalt thou have with God, who shall in favour to thee, approve of all thy ways, and they shall prosper.  
29. When other men are cast 
29. When men are cast down, than thou shalt say, There is lifting up: and he shall save the humble person.  down as thou art now, then shalt thou be able to speak to them, and to God for them, and both to warrant and procure the delivery of the penitent person out of his afflictions.  
30. Nay the humble and upright 
30. He shall deliver the Island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.  man who does righteously, and lives holily, shall not only prevail for one, but for a many, yea, the whole land or place where he lives shall far the better for him. Thy good life and pure prayers when thou art such an one, shall for thy sake do much with God for all the rest, in working their deliverance from many an evil, which would else befall them.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
1. WHen Eliphaz had ended, 
1. Then job answered, and said:  Job thus beginneth:  
2. All this long time of 
2. Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.  suffering I have found no ease, but from the beginning to this very day is cause of complaint still multiplied and increased upon me by injuries from men, and calamities from God; so that the sorrow and misery which I endure, do far exceed my lamentation, and are heavier than my groan can express.  
3. O that I knew where I might 
3. O that I knew where I might find him! and that I might come even to his seat!  meet with God, and how to come to speak with him, that I might be no longer kept at distance from him, but might obtain access unto him, though it were even to his seat in heaven!  
4. That so I might (as I long to do) 
4. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.  even plead my cause, and maintain mine innocency before him, for all his afflicting me.  
5. I would affirm as much to God 
5. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.  himself as I do to you, and would not fear what he could, or would say against it.  
6. Assuring myself beforehand, 
6. Will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me.  that he will not contest against me in any transcendent manner, nor stand upon his rigour and power with me, but that he will graciously enable me to speak the truth unto him touching my sincerity, and to maintain it before him.  
7. I know, however he pleaseth to 
7. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my Judge.  deal with the righteous here, yet there they may speak for themselves, and be heard without repulse; a happy man therefore should I think myself, had I this liberty granted me; for so I should be freed both from the slanders and condemnations of my unjust censurers, and also from the judgement of the Lords transcendent righteousness, and execution of sovereign authority, which it is his will that here I must undergo, and should in mercy receive there the reward of mine innocency.  
8. But alas, he will not allow me 
8. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him.  this happiness to find him out, that I may have speech with him; for he will not in any way, nor by any means I can use manifest himself so to me, as to give me the hearing, I cannot obtain it, though I seek it every way I can devise; for I put myself before him with a confident boldness of purpose to try if that way I can provoke him to it, but he keeps off from me; also I humble myself at my distance, to see if that way I can draw him to it, but all is one, I am never the nearer, he is every whit as far off.  
9 I prayed him for the afflictions 
9 On the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him.  sake which he layeth upon me, but I cannot speed, for he quite contrary is the further off, by how much I desire to draw near to him.  
10. But for all he keeps at this distance, 
10. But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.  and seems so strange to me, and will not grant me this favourto admit me to plead my cause before him; yet I am sure for all this he knows me and my ways to be such as I have said, and when he has held me a while in the fire of affliction, my uprightness shall be made manifest, and shall shine as gold in the eyes of those, that now through prejudice can see nothing but dross in me.  
11. For I know, and dare maintain 
11. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.  it, that I have been no such man as you suspect me for, but that I have constantly walked in the ways of the Lord without deviation or turning aside from them for any respect whatsoever.  
12. Neither have I ever turned my 
12. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips, I have esteemed the words of his mouth, more than my necessary food.  back, or refused to yield obedience to any command of God, but contrarily, I have esteemed them better, and minded them more than my very meat and drink.  
13. But that is all one; for what the 
13. But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doth.  Lord in his infinite wisdom and good pleasure hath determined with himself to do, he will not alter what ever any man allegeth to the contrary, and what ever pleaseth him, however it may displease us, yet that he doth.  
14. And this is my very case now, 
14. For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.  for he doth in this my affliction, but only show his just prerogative upon me, to try me, not to punish me, and many such extraordinary things he pleaseth to decree and execute in his great power and unsearchable wisdom, whereof we can know, nor give no reason.  
15. Therefore though I am troubled, 
15. Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.  yet it is this his greatness which I am to grapple withal, and do now sustain, and not my conscientiousness that troubles me, when I consider his immensity, that is the thing that makes me afraid of him.  
16. For in this respect, God melteth 
16. For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:  and weakeneth my heart and spirit with fear and astonishment, as the wax before the fire; and I confess the thoughts of his Almightiness is no little trouble to me.  
17. For because I see he useth it altogether 
17. Because I was not cut off before the darkness neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.  against me, and not for me, for by an Almighty power it is that he hath brought me into this extremity, and therewith still continues me under it, and hath not rather prevented these intolerable evils by it through death.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
1. IF God be bound by his justice to 
1. Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him, not see his days?  punish evil-doers in this life; why then is it, that he who knows the length of their life, and the time of their departure hence, yet suffers them to die unpunished? and why then do not the godly, and they that serve him, always see it so, but ofttimes the contrary?  
2. Yea, to instance in all sorts of 
2. Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof:  wicked men; some go pointblank against God's Commandment, and privately do injury to their neighbour for their own advantage, robbing him of his right by removing his landmark, and others with strong hand, take away other men's goods and cattle, and securely feed thereon.  
3. They cruelly oppress the fatherless, 
3. They drive away the Ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's Ox for a pledge.  and mercilessely exact upon the widow.  
4. They put poor folk to extreme 
4. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.  shifts, so as they know not how to live, and drive them to so narrow a scantling by enlarging their territories, that they are fain to crowd together like Bees in a hive, and for cruelty and oppression dare not show their faces.  
5. See, if they rather like beasts, 
5. Behold, as wild Asses in the desait, go they forth to their work, rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.  than men, do not rove and ramble up and down the earth for booty for them and theirs, and care for no body else, nor how they come by that they have.  
6. There is nothing escapes them, 
6. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.  but other men's, both corn and wine, by oppression they wickedly usurp, and swallow all.  
7. They are utterly merciless, having 
7. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.  no charity nor pity, but destitute the poor of their very bed-clothes, inhumanely exposing them to the extremity of cold without clothing.  
8. Driving them to endure most 
8. They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.  miserable hardship, even to lie out of doors in vehement storms, and tempestuous weather, and to take up with the holes of the rocks for houses to dwell in.  
9 They cruelly extort even the very 
9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.  necessary food that should maintain and keep alive the widow and the child, and contrary to all law of God and nature, unmercifully take and detain the poor bodies pledge to his utter undoing.  
10. Not sticking to strip him stark 
10. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry.  naked of all, both clothing and food, that should either cover his nakedness, or satisfy his hunger.  
11. These oppressors make the poor 
11. Which make oil within their walls, and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.  labouring man to toil hard, and to scruze out for them their oil and their wine in the places where they themselves dwell safe and at ease; and yet compel him to suffer thirst the while, being by their cruelty abridged of his wages and livelihood dear earned, and not suffered so much as to taste of his own labours.  
12. In so much that the miserable 
12. Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.  groans and outcries of the oppressed, that can have no justice done them are vehemently breathed forth to heaven, even as a man that lieth mortally wounded at the point of death; which one would think were an apt occasion, and a fit season for God to show himself in, to right the poor innocent, and to punish the wicked oppressor, and yet for all this, we see he keeps silence and doth not plague them.  
13. Yea, is not this true, even of 
13. They are of those that rebel against the light, they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.  such men, whose lives are so notorious, that they hate the very light, which reproves and discovers their evil doings? does not (I say) God spare even them, whose own consciences condemn themselves, driving them to act their deeds of darkness by night, and not by day, secretly and not openly.  
14. As for instance; the murderous 
14. The murderer rising with the light, killeth the poor & needy; and in the night is as a thief.  and cruell-minded man, he early executes his mischievous designs with all speed and diligence upon the poor and needy soul, that can make no resistance, and then obscures himself in the night as a thief.  
15. And so again, the adulterous 
15. The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me; and disguiseth his face.  Whoremonger, he contrives and longs to fulfil his sin which he also effects in the dark by close and cunning carriage.  
16. The thief in the like manner 
16. In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the day time: they know not the light.  〈◊〉 the night-bird, making use of the day to plot, and of the night to ex●●●re his villainy, not loving the light as inconvenient for his purpose and vexatious to his mind.  
17. For when the morning comes, 
17. For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.  he is struck with fear, like a man ready to die, he is in miserable dread, lest he should be known or found of any.  
18. He stays not long in a place, he 
18. He is swift as the waters, their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.  flieth all company, his conscientiousness makes him lead a most miserably solitary, and base life, not daring to come ne'er any high way or place of concourse.  
19 And so they spend their days, 
19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.  and will never leave sinning till death, but like as the snow remains unwasted till the Summer sun comes and melts it into the ground, so do the wicked subsist and go on, some in one way of wickedness, some in another, till the period of death finish their course.  
20. Then indeed he shall be extinct, 
20. The womb shall forget him, the worm shall feed sweetly on him, he shall be no more remembered, and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.  and be as if he had never been, returned shall he be to the dust again, and his memory shall perish, and his flourishing in wickedness shall then have an end, as a tree that is broken or blown down with the wind.  
21. But yet in the mean time, God 
21. He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doth not good to the widow.  may let him live long to do much mischief, and to act many injuries unpunished, both evil entreating the solitary barren woman who hath none to pity her or take her part as others have, and to offer violence in stead of yielding succour to the friendless widow.  
22. Yea, not only oppressing the 
22. He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.  poor thus, but also bringing the rich to poverty by his overtopping might, domineering and tyrannising over all sorts of men, and making them live in perpetual fear of him and bondage to him.  
23. But though he live never so long 
23. Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.  in safety and prosperity, exercising these courses, and rest never so confidently on it; yet I know he shall certainly be plagued at last (though not here) for the eyes of God mark him, and he will be sure to reward him with just punishment.  
24. Though God do (which no man 
24. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low, they are taken out of the way, as all other, and cut off, as the tops of the ears of corn.  can deny) exalt them here for a while, yet I acknowledge that in justice he must, and will give an end to their ways, and by death cut them off; but yet ofttimes no otherways than other men, not by any notorious judgement, but by a common and natural death, without making difference, like corn in harvest.  
25. And if this be not true that 
25. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?  God doth many things above, and contrary to man's reason, and that he lets wicked men spend their days in wickedness, and reserves their judgement till death, let any disprove me that can.   

CHAP. XXV.  
1. BIldad the Shuhite, being moved 
1. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,  at Jobs boldness toward God, and confidence in himself, thus briefly makes answer to what he had spoken in the 23. Chapter.  
2. God rules with Majesty in heaven, 
2. Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.  and giveth laws to his Angels there, which they must obey, in which very place that there is peace, it is of his goodness and gracious decree, rather than of their merit.  
3. Hath he not whole armies of 
3. Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?  Angels and other creatures in an infinite number, which are ready to execute his wrath upon whomsoever dare to contest against him? and doth not the Sun behold all men in all corners of the earth, so that God must needs much more see them what they are?  
4. God then being of such perfect 
4. How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?  holiness, so terrible also, and so all-seeing, how dares any man living, or how is it possible for him to stand it out with God (as thou boastest) in his own justification, or for him that is naturally corrupt, begotten and borne of sinful parents, to appear pure in the eyes of such a God?  
5. Consider, that by reason of the 
5 Behold, even to the moon, and it shineth not yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.  fall of man, the very creatures that in themselves are sinless, yea, the very Moon and Stars (that are so far from earth and so near to heaven) have contracted defilement, and are blemished; so that with God for man's sake, and by man's sin, even they are not accounted free from pollution in his sight.  
6. How much less man himself 
6. How much less man, that is a worm: and the son of man which is a worm?  (whence they have taken infection) and all that come of him, who both father and son, are all alike earthly creatures made subject to corruption by sin?   

CHAP. XXVI.  
1. JOB being angry at Bildad's impertinencies, 
1. But job answered, and said:  thus answers him:  
2. What am I the better for 
2. How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?  this thou hast said, how hast thou herein discharged thine office to me, either as a friend or comforter? what help hereby hast thou administered to my helpless state, or how hast thou herewith yielded me any aid or support in this my weak condition?  
3. What friendly advice or useful 
3. How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?  counsel hast thou ministered to me by it, which yet thou takest me to stand in need of, and what ado hast thou kept to tell me what I know?  
4. Who dost thou utter these overplus 
4. To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?  needless speeches to, that is ever the better for them? For my part, I am not, and whose spirit is any whit refreshed, or ever the better for what thou hast said? not mine one jot.  
5. Thinkest thou I know not all 
5. Dead things are form from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.  this? yea, I can tell thee as much, and more than thou hast said, to set forth God withal, whereby thou mayest see that I am not to learn of thee touching him: I can tell thee that he is not only admirable above in the heavens, but beneath also, in so much, as nothing is bred or brought forth, whether animate or inanimate, fish or other things in all the vast and deep Ocean, but it is by his decree and power.  
6. The hiddenest and lowest parts 
6. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.  of all the earth, the Grave and Hell, are open before his all-seeing eyes, so that he sees what becomes of man, and every part of himafter that death hath dissolved him, and the grave consumed him.  
7. His eyes of providence, and 
7. He stretcheth out the North over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.  arm of power, extends to the most remote and uninhabited places of all the earth, he over-spreads those as these with the heavens, and disposeth things there as here, and he wonderfully upholds this heavy fabric and huge ball of the earth pendant in the midst of the heavens without any other support than his mighty power.  
8. He bottells up the abundance of 
8. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rend under them.  rain which falls upon the ground, in clouds made for that purpose, great and thick, which notwithstanding the weight of those waters, he hath made able to keep and contain them, so that they let fall none but when he pleaseth.  
9 He, when he pleaseth, withholdeth 
9 He holdeth back the face of his throne; and spreadeth his cloud upon it.  the Sun from us, that glorious light and beauty of the face of heaven, and causeth it at pleasure to suspend its power and virtue of light and heat, by overclouding the heavens, and masking it as with a veil.  
10. He hath confined the raging 
10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.  and unruly seas with bounds and limits, which (do they what they can) they shall never pass till the end of the world, when all things shall be let loose to devastation.  
11. His terror is formidable even 
11. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof.  to the mighty and high mountains (whereon the heavens seem to rest as on so many pillars) which tremble and shake with his thunderclaps and earthquakes.  
12. The sea, as outrageous as it is, 
12. He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding, he smiteth through the proud.  subjects itself to his command, and against nature divides itself so, that dry land appears in the midst of it, and he knows how to tame it when the waves thereof are at proudest, and rise highest.  
13. In a word, by his powerful 
13. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath form the crooked serpent.  spirit, wherewith he worketh, he hath both beautified and set forth the heavens in such a glorious manner as we see; yea, the same powerful hand it is (which indeed only maketh all things) that hath also form the most deformed and dreadful creature in the earth.  
14. Hereby you may imagine what 
14. Lo, these are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?  I know think, and believe of God by these descriptions I have made of him, which yet I know are but parts of his admirable excellencies, and far short of him; for when you and I have said all we can to set him forth, how little notwithstanding, will it be in comparison of him and his greatness? as may appear by one instance more, which sets him forth most of all, and that is the power and Majesty that he utters in his thunder, which who can sufficiently admire?   

CHAP. XXVII.  
1. JOB having thus taken up Bildad, 
1. Moreover job continued his parable, and said,  his three friends seeing they could do no good on him, held their peace, whereupon he takes occasion to speak his mind fully, and thus goes on:  
2. As the Lord liveth, who hath 
2. As God liveth who hath taken away my judgement, and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;  not cleared me to be what I am, but hath laid it upon me to be thus misjudged; and unjustly censured and condemned for a wicked man, because of mine afflictions, yea, I protest by the Almighty, who I know, hath caused all these grievous vexations to befall me;  
3. That whilst I breath, and God 
3, All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.  lends me life,  
4. No respect in the world shall make me eat my words, or go against 
4. My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.  my knowledge; for no man's pleasure or importunity will I do wickedly and betray the truth by saying otherways of myself than I have said, although never so many should judge against me.  
5. No, God forbid that I should 
5. God forbid that I should justify you; till I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.  bolster you up in that sinful ●●isprision and uncharitableness of yours, by yielding it for a truth, which you say, that God does punish me for mine hypocrisy and wickedness, no, I will never do it whilst I live; I will not belie myself, nor relinquish mine integrity, think how you will, and say of me what you will for it.  
6. I am resolved to maintain mine 
6. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.  uprightness, and not to part with it upon your persuasions or suspicions, my heart shall never be brought by any thing you can do to accuse me falsely of hypocrisy.  
7. For my part, I am sure, I am no 
7. Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me, as the unrighteous.  such man as you conceit me to be, nor do I account myself ever the less righteous, or the less favoured of God for these my sufferings, but it is mine enemy, and he that hath done me wrong, that is, both the unrighteous and the unhappy man; it is the wicked, and not the afflicted, that is out of favour with God.  
8. As may appear by the hopeless 
8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?  and comfortless state which the wicked oppressor is in, though he be never so prosperous, and hath gained never so much, when God once summons him by death.  
9 For how in vain doth God let 
9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?  him cry for comfort, not giving him any, when the conscience of his sins torment him, and the fear of death approaching, seizeth on him.  
10. And what little joy he hath to 
10. Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?  think of God, and how unable he is to sustain or comfort himself with faithful and constant seeking and praying to the Lord.  
11. I will show you by mine own 
11. I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty, will I not conceal.  observation of God's usual proceedings toward wicked men, what he hath in store (if that he pleaseth to execute it) for such wicked wretches as have done me this wrong, thus unjustly to oppress and rob me, being innocent: (for what I know to be a truth touching the Almighty, I will neither deny nor conceal it, though I thereby oppose your false conclusions and collections touching your prescribing God, and wronging me.)  
12. Nor is it any other than what 
12. Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it, why then are ye thus altogether vain?  yourselves have confessed and affirmed to have noted as well as I, only by the way, tell me then how you can be so inconsiderate in what you say, as to affirm outward prosperity and wealth to be the sign of God's favour, and the contrary a sign of his disfavour.  
13. Seeing, as I say, you know; that 
13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors.  this is the portion that God hath allotted to wicked men, and that which is due to them from the Almighty, and which they often actually receive.  
14. That is, that they shall be accursed, 
14. If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.  both they and theirs, and shall be unhappy in their happiness; for though their children multiply never so, it shall be but the more to serve and satisfy Gods revengeful displeasure against them, who will wrathfully devour and cut them off with the sword of his Justice, and though they multiply and lay up never so much for their children, yet God will bring them to want and penury.  
15. Both themselves and all that 
15. Those that remain of him shall be buried in death; and his widows shall not weep.  come of them shall be hated, so that no man shall speak well of them when they are dead, but their name shall be buried and shall rot with them, yea, they shall die undesired and unlamented of their own very wives which they leave behind them, and of those funerall-women which are wont to bewail the deaths of the well-deserving, and to weep over their graves.  
16. How ever they abound in all 
16. Though he heap up silver as the dust, and repair raiment as the clay;  kind of worldly wealth;  
17. Which I confess for present 
17. He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.  God may permit them to do, but they nor theirs shall be never the better for it, it shall come again to the just and innocent from whom they had it.  
18. They may lay up and build, but 
18. He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.  to little purpose, for all shall b● lost and pulled down again in a very little time, even as the moth is brushed out of the garment where she had made her nest; or as the shepherd removes his Cabin.  
19 The rich oppressor for all his 
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.  riches shall one day die, as other men do, but he shall not be brought to his grave as others are with sorrow for his death; upon his deathbed he shall look about for comfort and recovery, but in stead thereof shall see himself departing from all his former happiness, and death at hand.  
20. And then shall an infinite weight 
20. Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.  of terrors oppress him, and the wrath of the Lord shall take him away when he expected it least.  
21. The fierce anger of the Lord 
21. The east-wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and a storm hurleth him out of his place.  shall force him hence, full sore against his will, never to return again, which shall with irresistible strength thrust him out of his Paradise.  
22. For God shall heap afflictions 
22. For God shall cast upon him and not spare; he would fain fly out of his hand.  on him as thick as hailstones, without showing him any mercy at all, and in vain shall he seek to escape him.  
23. Nor shall any man be sorry for 
23. Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.  his death, but he shall depart hence with the reproach and obloquy of all men.   

CHAP. XXVIII.  
1. THe secrets of nature, though 
1. Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.  they be hid and very obscure, yet they are found out, and known, both where they are placed by nature, and how they are to be used by Art, through the natural wisdom that God hath given to man, as we see in the most hiddenest mysteries of nature, such as is the silver vein, which though deep in the earth, and far out of sight, yet is found out and known, as also is the Art of fining it, and gold, from their dross, to make them useful.  
2. So also it is known how Iron 
2. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.  and Brass comes out of the earth, though it be a notable secret in nature, and the art of melting it out of the stone is found out and practised.  
3. By the skill that God hath given 
3. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness and the shadow of death.  to man, he is able to bring to light, and gain the knowledge of the most remote & unknown things, and by searching to find out all the perfection of nature, the preciousest stones and things that are engendered and bred in the darksome and deadly vaults of the earth.  
4. He knows how to divert great 
4. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.  rivers out of their channel, and for his use to turn their course from those that dwelled upon them, so that he leaves them dryfoot, and they wonder what is become of them.  
5. He knows how to put the earth 
5. As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.  to all uses, for the superficies of it, that yields him bread, and lower down, out of the inwards of it he digs the materials of fire; as coals, etc. or finds out bright shining metals, and sparkling stones created of a sulphurous matter.  
6. He knows where the riches 
6. The stones of it are the place of Saphires: and it hath dust of gold.  thereof are; as precious stones and gold, how to come by them, and where to find them, the one among the quarries, the other among the dust and mould of the earth.  
7. He by his skill and industry, 
7. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the Vulture's eye hath not seen.  goes as low under ground for these things, as the fowls fly high; he makes and finds out such ways in the earth, as the most piercing sighted, or most prey-seeking bird in all the air, 
8. The Lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce Lion passed by it.  never found nor saw.  
8. Neither did the most ranging or fierce prey-seeking beast ever tread.  
9 He attempts and effects the hardest 
9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.  matters, and doth difficult things, for the very rocks escape not his hand, neither can the mountains withstand him, but by art and industry he mineth them, and works his will on both, to find the things he seeks for.  
10. By his labour and skill he cuts 
10. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks, and his eye seeth every precious thing.  out passages & soughs in the hard and stony rocks, to convey away the subterranean torrents that would hinder his mining; No rich commodity that nature yields will he let be lost for finding out, but brings all to light through labour and skill, be it never so low hid in the bowels of the earth.  
11. He deviseth ways to keep out 
11. He bindeth the floods from overflowing, and the thing that is hid, bringeth he forth to light.  the floods which are caused by excess of rain, and naturally seeks out the lowest descent to run into; from falling into his pit, or interrupting his work, and whatsoever nature hath hid from him in her lowest depths and concaves, he knows how to compass and get it, notwithstanding all manner of difficulties.  
12. Thus man is able to invent and 
12. But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?  find out ways by nature, art, and industry to discover and compass all things though never so strange and difficult, if they be within the bounds of nature. But now for supernatural and divine wisdom (which is the knowledge of God, and his ways that are unsearchable and past finding out) who is he that can by his art and skill show how to compass that, and find out the way and means to get this understanding?  
13. Herein man is a fool, though 
13. Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.  otherways never so wise, he neither hath what to bid for it, nor knows how to come by it; for it is of higher value, and harder to be compassed than the preciousest things of the world, being no where within the bounds of nature, nor within the work of creation to be had; for it is no earthly, but a heavenly thing, hid in God.  
14. If you dig to the very centre of 
14. The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.  the earth to find it out, you shall lose your labour, or if you dive to the bottom of the sea, you are never the near; for neither sea nor land contain it.  
15. Neither can it be bought at any 
15. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.  rate, God will not merchandise it to man for gold nor silver.  
16. Nothing that can be named 
16. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious Onyx, or the Saphire.  comes near the worth of it, the finest gold nor richest stones.  
17. There is no degree of comparison 
17. The Gold and the Crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold:  between it, and whatsoever you can imagine besides, Gold nor Crystal, nor ought else can equal it, and therefore God, from whom only we must have it, will not give it for any thing we can give for it, not for the finest gold, were there never so much offered him.  
18. It's in vain to tender the rarest 
18. No mention shall be made of Coral, or of Pearls: for the price of wisdom is above Rubies.  or richest things in all the world for it, Coral, or Pearl; for it is infinitely beyond Rubies or the rarest and most unvaluable things of all the earth.  
19 Be they never so far fetched, 
19 The Topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.  or never so much worth, as the Ethiopian Topaz, and the gold of Ophir.  
20. So that I say then, How, or 
20. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?  where is it possible for man to compass this transcendent wisdom and understanding, which yet you would seem to have?  
21. Seeing it is not as other things 
21. Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.  are, within the compass of natural reason, nor by any natural means of art and industry to be attained. Nature is an utter stranger to it, it is hid from the knowledge of all creatures, high or low, one or other.  
22. The most hidden and secret 
22. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.  things, the grave and hell, though this wisdom be in them, and they be ordered by it, yet as deep as they are, it is deeper than they, so that they give not bounds unto it, nor can teach us the way to know it. 
23. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.   
23. God only knows the way of his own supernatural wisdom, he hath reserved it to himself, and with him only it remains.  
24. For it is he, who alone by his 
24. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven.  own wisdom ordereth and disposeth all things at his pleasure, every where throughout the whole Universe.  
25. Weighing forth that proportion 
25. To make the weight for the winds, and he weigheth the waters by measure.  of winds according to his purpose, to blow where and when he pleaseth; and likewise sending forth what quantity of rain him liketh here and there.  
26. Before any thing had being, 
26. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder.  this wisdom was with him; for out of it he decreed the manner and way of the rain, so also of the thunder and lightning.  
27. Even than was he acquainted 
27. Then did he see it, and declare it, he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.  with it in himself, not in the creature, as we are, which he declared by the creature; not learned from the creature, as we do, he decreed all things by it, and brought them forth in their order and manner as they now appear through it.  
28. He hath reserved to himself 
28. And unto man he said. Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.  the wisdom of government, and hath taught man another lesson, than to lesson and prescribe him, to wit, to be obedient to him, to fear his Name, and keep his holy Commandments, that is his duty, and therein is his wisdom and understanding.   

CHAP. XXIX.  
1. JOB after that he had reproved 
1. Moreover, Job continued his parable, and said:  Bildad, justified himself, and convinced his friends of the unsearchable ways of God's wisdom, in the three foregoing Chapters; finding them all mute, and no reply made upon him, thus further proceeds to speak in his own behalf, by wishes, bewailings, and selfe-justifyings in these three Chapters following.  
2. Oh (says he) that it were with 
2. Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me.  me now as it was heretofore, when God smiled upon me, and upheld me in prosperity and happiness.  
3. When I was apparently blessed 
3. When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness.  of him, so that every one saw, and could say, that he exceedingly favoured me, when no cloud overshadowed me, but by the mercy of the Lord being free from sorrow and affliction whereto this life is so subject, I for my part had all happiness and good success attending me in stead thereof.  
4. In my former days thus it was: 
4. As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.  The special and peculiar love of God to me was then acknowledged by all, and seen in evident tokens of good will by his blessing and prospering me and all that belonged unto me; O that it were so now, as it was then!  
5. Before this evil befell me, when 
5. When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me:  as God Almighty was extraordinarily with me in the ample manifestation of his love unto me, and unremoved from me as now he is, when my children were all alive, and were great comforts unto me.  
6. When I had all manner of plenty, 
6. When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil:  abounding in every good thing, and when as there was nothing but by the will of God, it was blessed and made serviceable to me, and conduced to enrich me.  
7. When I went honourably attended 
7. When I went out to the gate, through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street.  to the place of judicature, having many spectators; and had the seat of justice set up, and made ready for me in the place of concourse.  
8. When men of all ages and degrees 
8. The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.  reverenced me; for the young men knowing my wisdom, and seeing my grave deportment, would in a respectful distance, absent themselves from my presence, as awed with it, and fearing the censure of my wisdom and gravity, the aged also had me in such esteem, that they would perform that respect to me which was due to them.  
9 My wisdom and my person was 
9 The Princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.  had in such account, as that the very chief and prime of all the Princes of the people would refrain to speak before me in reverence of me.  
10. The Noble men were so awed 
10. The Nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.  with my wisdom, that they were afraid to speak in my presence.  
11. When ever I spoke, it was known 
11. When the ear heard me, than it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me.  to be with such wisdom and integrity, that they that heard me, would bless me, and bless God for me, and all men when they saw me, would give me the praise thereof, and acknowledged me for my wise and upright carriage of things amongst them to be a blessing to them.  
12. For, because I righted the poor 
12. Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.  that complained of wrong, and befriended the fatherless in like sort, and was ever a helper to the helpless person.  
13. The affectionate prayer of many 
13. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.  a poor soul hath been bestowed upon me, who being hopeless, and not knowing which way to turn him, I have stuck to in his extremity, and kept him from undoing: And the poor distressed widow, when she was wronged, I took her part, and righted her upon her adversary, to the cheering and rejoicing of her sad heart in her friendless and exposed condition.  
14. It was my study and care in all 
14. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgement was as a robe and a diadem.  my ways to be righteous, unblameable, and just both before God and man, for which God greatly blessed me, and men highly honoured me.  
15. I gave advice and counsel to 
15. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.  the simple, and support to the weak and impotent.  
16. I was a pitiful to the poor as 
16. I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out.  a father to his child, and as careful of them; so that they wanted not what I could bestead them in; and the cause which to the poor man's disadvantage was coloured over with deceitful plead, I took pains in it to find out the truth, that the poor might receive no wrong.  
17. And I disappointed the wicked 
17. And I broke the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.  man's covetous and cruel purposes, nor ever could I suffer his power to prevail against the innocent, though it was never so great, but evermore rescued the oppressed out of his malice and rapine.  
18. In those days of my foresaid 
18. Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.  prosperity, which God had so abundantly heaped upon me (to see therefore his wonderful ways) I little thought I should have come to this estate, having such abundance of all things, with God's favour and mine own integrity to secure me; I little thought, I say, I should ever have come to this, but hoped that I should have died in peace and quiet, rich and honourable, after a long life.  
19 For I grew up, and increased 
19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.  wondrously in all manner of felicity, and the blessing of God continually attended on me, and was with and upon every thing I did and all I had.  
20. He increased mine honour daily, 
20. My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.  still supplying me with extraordinary and seasonable wisdom upon every occasion, yea, and he increased my power also to execute my counsels.  
21. Men longed to hear me deliver 
21. Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.  my mind in any matter, waiting for Wisdom and Justice to come from me, and with silence diligently listened to mine advice and counsel.  
22. Which when they had heard, 
22. After my words they spoke not again, and my speech dropped upon them.  they received it as an Oracle, without reply; my speech was precious, and like due drops, brought refreshing to their longing and expecting minds when it fell from me.  
23. The former, nay, the later rain, 
23. And they waited for me, as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide, as for the later rain.  after the Summer's heat, is not more thirsted for, and gaped after of the chawned earth, than my judgement and advice was till I gave it.  
24. If I by my smiles gave any intimation 
24. If I laughed on them, they believed it not, and the light of my countenance they cast not down.  of my suspicion of any report or business, it was presently disinherited and dissented from of all the rest; and on the oath hand, my least countenance or show of approbation to any cause, was observed of others as a rule to go by.  
25. In those days I was the only 
25. I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelled as a King in the army; as one that comforteth the mourners.  man in all matters, chosen by consent of all to be the Prolocutor, and advanced to the first place in all assemblies and places of Judicature, and had my house resorted to like a King's Court in an army for advice, and dispatch of business; yea, I was flocked unto from far and near, as a man of a thousand, that is known to be able to administer words of consolation to mournful and drooping spirits, is wont to be.   

CHAP. XXX.  
1. THus it was with me heretofore: 
1, But now, they that are younger than I, have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.  whilst I prospered, I was had in honour, and esteem of all men, but now that God hath turned the scales, and cast me into affliction, all men (to see how variable their judgements are without reason) have me in contempt, yea, even those that are younger than I, who by all laws of God and nature, owe me respect for mine age sake, and which heretofore stood in awe of me, do now scorn me, whose fathers were beggarly shackrags and base conditioned rascals, whom I scorned to employ in the meanest office I had; for I had none bad enough for such base companions, who were of such conditions that for my part, I valued my very shepherd's curs beyond them.  
2. Men, that neither I, nor any man 
2. Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?  else, could make use of; for they were never good for any thing, but had wasted out their whole time unprofitably in idleness and lewd living.  
3. Such as through their base pranks, 
3. For want and famine they were solitary: flying into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste?  and vile conditions, durst not appear in open view, but were driven to such straits, that they have not known which way to turn them, nor what course to take to get a belly full of meat; for heretofore, when it was otherways with me than now it is, they were glad for fear of me, to take their heels, and fly far enough off, into remote and unfrequented places, and there to lurk where I could not light on them.  
4. Who, to avoid me, have been 
4. Who cut up Mallows by the bushes, and Juniper roots for their meat.  fain to live in a most penurious beggarly manner, feeding on nothing but Mallows and Juniper roots, and such like things in the time of their banishment.  
5. Men of such vile conditions, that 
5. They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief.)  not I only, but no man else could abide them, they were never thought worthy to live in any civil society, but were outlawed of all men, and hated as if they had been the arrantest thiefs in the world.  
6. So as that they were forced for 
6. To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.  fear and shame, to dwell in remote obscure places, and durst not show their heads:  
7. But lived like wild Asses, having 
7. Among the bushes they brayed, under the nettles they were gathered together.  no company but themselves, and their hiding place was among bushes and nettles, where they hoped no body could find them, or would come to seek them.  
8. They were children of most wicked 
8. They were children of fools, yea, child en of base men: they were viler than the earth.  and despicable men, such as were not thought worthy to go upon the ground.  
9 And now these very fellows stick 
9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.  not to come out of their holes, and to show their faces in affront of me, and to triumph over me with scornful ballads and bywords.  
10. They abhor, and disdainfully 
10. They abhor me, they fly far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.  keep a loof of me, as scorning to come near; they beard and affront me in the vilest manner that can be imagined.  
11. Because the Lord hath brought 
11. Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let lose the bridle before me.  me low, & bereft me of that power and honour which I formerly enjoyed, and wherewith I held them straight under; therefore they now take the liberty and opportunity to despise me, and in an unbridled manner without fear, shame, or manners, offer me abuse, and let lose the reins of all disrespect and contempt upon me.  
12. A rout of lawless youngsters 
12. Upon my right hand rise the youth, they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.  that could never abide me; for because I was ever most severe against them, have rebelliously assaulted me, and by strong hand robbed me of all my worldly substance and support at once, utterly disabling me of all power to right or help myself, and have fully compassed my ruin, which they have long wished and intended to me, and have blocked up every door of hope and possibility of better.  
13. They hated my courses, and 
13. They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.  could not away with my ways, and therefore their desire was to overthrow both me and them, and to this end they forwarded my destruction all that ever they could possible: They needed none to animate or put them on to so mischievous a business.  
14. For they were forward enough 
14. They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.  to it of themselves, rushing in upon me with all their violence at once, and slacking no time, but fell pell mel upon all that ever I had, adding one mischief to another, so fast as ever they could act it, when they saw opportunity and the breach once made.  
15. All manner of formidable evils 
15. Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.  have light upon me, they have suddenly and vehemently surprised me, to the great affrighting and amazing of my soul, when as all my welfare is thus vanished in a moment.  
16. In so much as my soul and 
16. And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.  spirit is quite wasted and spent with sorrow, my afflictions have so sore oppressed me.  
17. Besides the loss of my estate, 
17. My bones are pierced in me in the night-season; and my finewes take no rest.  my bodily pain is so great also, that my very bones and sinews which should strengthen me, can themselves gather no strength through pain and restlessness in my very bed.  
18. By the extremity of my disease, 
18. By the great force of my disease, is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.  and by the matter that it forceth outward in boiles and sores, the issue whereof my clothes soak in, it cometh to pass they are utterly stained and spoiled, and so stiffened with that congealed matter, as that they which once sat loose and easy to my body, are all over now as hard and straight upon me as my collar.  
19 God hath, as it were, trampled 
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust & ashes.  me to dirt, and made me like an heap of dust and ashes.  
20. And furthermore, in all this 
20. I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me; I stand up, and thou regardest me not.  extremity I cry to God, and can get no answer nor relief; I present myself before him in prayer, and offer myself to his view, to see if such a pitiful spectacle and suppliant, can move any thing with him, but it avails me nothing.  
21. Thou hast not dealt so well with 
21. Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.  me heretofore, but now thou dealest as ill; thy infinite goodness seems to be turned into infinite severity and hard-hearted cruelty; for one would think that with all the main force of thy mighty power thou opposest thyself 'gainst me, so as that thou couldst not use me worse than thou dost.  
22. As the whirlepust lifts up the 
22. Thou liftest me up to the wind: thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.  dust, and carries it far away; so hast thou as with a sudden blast, translated me out of all health and happiness, that the earth and this life can afford, and hast separated me as such an infinite distance from them, that I am sure we can never meet again; for my flesh is already falling asunder peacemeale, and turning to dust, as if it were in the grave.  
23. And this thou dost, because I 
23. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.  know thou art purposed utterly to make an end of me, and by afflictions to bring me to the grave, whither all men living must come sooner or later, one way or other, as it pleaseth thee.  
24. Howbeit I am sure of this, That 
24. How be it he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.  the Lord will not trouble me here, but that there I shall have rest, both I and others that are innocent like myself, whom yet here he is pleased to exercise under affliction, and to make groan under heavy pressures.  
25. I did not carry myself towards 
25. Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?  other men, as other men carry themselves toward me, and therefore I hoped for better. I am sure I wept for them that were in trouble, and my soul had a fellow-feeling of the poor man's misery that at any time befell him.  
26. And now that I ought to have 
26. When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.  been so dealt withal by others, it's nothing so, but whereas I expected and hoped to have found some pity, I find none; and in stead of that comfort I hoped to have received from my friends and companions, I can find nothing but discomfort.  
27. With most compassionate sympathy 
27. My bowels boiled and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me:  did my bowels earn over the afflicted, so that I could have no quiet in myself, for grieving and taking thought for them, I was seldom or never without sorrow for some one or others affliction.  
28. Such was my fellow-feeling, 
28. I went mourning without the Sun; I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.  and my heart took on so sore for them, that nothing could comfort me, me thought the Sun shone not warm upon me the whilst: yea, so sensible was I of their pressures, that I could not contain myself, but made their cases known in an open and pitiful manner to other men, to raise them more friends, and to move others also as well as myself to pity and pray for them.  
29. But on the contrary, I am unpitied 
29. I am a brother to Dragons, and a companion to Owls.  and forsaken of all men, a solitary and forlorn man in these my miseries.  
30. These things make me in a lamentable 
30. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burnt with heat.  state, so that my skin with sorrow and anguish, is quite changed from white to black, and my bones are, as it were, consumed with inward torment of soul.  
31. Every thing increaseth sorrow, 
31. My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.  nothing in the world affords me any comfort, so that all my musical instruments have quite changed their tune, and now there is nothing but woe and lamentation heard from me.   

CHAP. XXXI.  
1. BUt however it hath pleased 
1. I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?  God to deal with me, or what ever the world thinks of me, I am sure that I have walked strictly with God, and have given mine heart to him in all points, with full purpose to order all my ways with selfe-deniall according to his will; as to instance first in the most flesh-pleasing lust of carnal concupiscence. I made a covenant with mine eyes touching it, never to look upon a maid unlawfully to lust after her, and set a strict watch over them accordingly, to prevent their sudden surprisal and inconsiderate glances; and like as I watched mine eyes without; so upon the same reason, because I would not offend God, did I also watch my thoughts within, that they entertained no justful speculations, thus taking care, and using all diligence to approve myself every way upright to God, both within and without.  
2. For I knew, and well considered 
2. For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?  the reward of a sinful man and an hypocrite that either lived loosely, or carried it cunningly, how that to such a man, God, who from above seeth all things here below would afford no grace nor favour;  
3. But contrarily hath in his just 
3, Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?  decree appointed destruction for such, and his fearful indignation severely to light upon them.  
4. I evermore set the Lord before 
4. Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?  mine eyes as seeing all my ways, and observing my paths, who I know, knows them well enough.  
5. And therefore I appeal to him, 
5. If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;  whether I have walked in any vain way or sinful course, or if I have delighted or desired to do wrong to any.  
6. I desire with all my heart that 
6. Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.  God would take my judgement into his own hands, where I am sure I should have right done me; for I know his eyes cannot be so blinded with mine afflictions (though men's are) but that for all them he will be able impartially to see and know me to be upright.  
7. For my part I desire no favour, 
7. If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to my hands:  if he find me not so, if he find that I have (as is said of me) stepped aside to do wickedly, or that I have willingly with consent of heart, suffered mine eyes to break their bounds in lust or courting, or that my hands have been guilty of receiving any bribe to the dishonour of my function, and blemish of mine integrity:  
8. Then let God lay what punishment 
8. Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.  he will upon me, let nothing be blessed that I put my hands unto, but let me plow and sow and take much pains for increase to no purpose, let others reap the profit from me; yea, let him root me from off the earth, so that no one of all mine offspring remain thereon to uphold my name.  
9 If I have suffered mine heart to 
9 If mine heart hath been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door:  be seduced from mine own wife by any other woman, or if I have ever wronged any one in that kind:  
10. Then let me be so dealt withal, 
10. Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.  as is but just and equal; let my wife break her bond of duty to me, and subject herself to another, and let her be adulterously prostituted to other men in like manner.  
11. For this is a sin most notoriously 
11. For this is an heinous crime, yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.  vile, and extremely odious to God, which shall not escape unpunished of him, who hath appointed it to be punished even by the civil Magistrate.  
12. If I be guilty of this, I know 
12. For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.  very well what will come of it, That it shall certainly kindle the wrath of God against me, to mine utter ruin and destruction.  
13. Or if ever through pride or 
13. If I did despise the cause of my manservant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me:  passion I was wont by strong hand to bear down, or slight the righteous cause and just plead of those that were my servants, man or maid, when in any business they desired me to hear them clear themselves.  
14. For I had this humbling consideration 
14. What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?  ever in my thoughts, which made me carry myself fittingly toward them: If I reject and scorn mine inferiors, and stop mine ears against their humble entreaties, and just defences, how think I, shall I answer it to God, when he questions me upon it? or how shall I speed with him, who is so infinitely beyond me, when he takes up a controversy against me? how then shall I have my prayers heard, or my answers and humble plead in mine own behalf find acceptance, and take place with him?  
15. And thus I further considered, 
15. Did not he that made me in the womb, make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?  Did not the same God make him that made me, and caused us to be borne alike, and so to be equal in nature, though in civil respects he hath preferred me before him.  
16. If I have detained the poor 
16. If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail:  man's pledge against his will, or have any way wronged him, either by delaying to do him right, or by keeping him from his right, or have given cause to the widow to weep and complain of me, either for doing her wrong myself, or not righting her on others that wronged her.  
17. Or if I have either basely or covetously, 
17. Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof.  unhospitably, or uncharitably been wont to devour my substance myself alone, without imparting it with a free and bountiful mind to the fatherless, and such as had need.  
18. (For I have been ever a harbourer 
18. (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb.)  and succourer of the distressed, and have always had a fatherly care to provide for all such as I saw were helpless and in need, fatherless, or widow.)  
19 If I have seen any poor soul 
19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering:  suffer through nakedness and want of clothing, or any poor man destitute of necessaries to keep him warm:  
20. And have not in pity and charity 
20. If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep:  supplied him, and accommodated him with clothing and all needful conveniences out of the store that God hath given me:  
21. If I have taken advantage by 
21 If I have lift up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:  my power and authority to wrong or oppress any fatherless or helpless one in judgement, though if I would I could have been sure to have had it gone on my side against them:  
22. If these or any of these can justly 
22. Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone.  be laid to my charge, then let the Lord mark me for such an one by some notorious judgement, beyond any that he hath laid upon me yet; Let mine arm rot off, or to make it more remarkable, let it fall suddenly from my shoulder, and be broken from the bone that doth uphold it, to my utter disabling, as a punishment of my sin, and token of my hypocrisy.  
23. I am sure none of these can be 
23. For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.  justly fathered upon me; for I always had the fear of God before mine eyes; I knew how he hated and would punish such things, and therefore durst never be guilty of any of them; his greatness and majesty awed me that I durst do no such matters.  
24. If I have been guilty of spiritual 
24. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence:  Idolatry, making gold my God, by reposing any hope in it to be happy by it, or have built my faith and confidence of future subsistency and welfare in my abundance of the choicest and chiefest riches:  
25. If in a carnal security I have 
25. If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much:  immoderately rejoiced in mine abundance of wealth, or as if because by mine own wit and industry I had heaped up much:  
26. If ever I beheld the Sun in 
26. If I beheld the Sun when it shined, or the Moon walking in brightness:  his glory, or the Moon in her beauty, as do the Idolatrous heathen about me:  
27. And have either secretly in my 
27. And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:  heart and affections been enticed to worship those excellent creatures in stead of the Creator, and ascribe to them the honour and thanks of his providence, as they do; or openly by such outward expressions as they use.  
28. This also, could it be laid to my 
28. This also were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.  charge, were worthy punishment from God; for it were no less than blasphemy and Atheism, and so of due to be punished even by the Magistrate.  
29. If I revengefully rejoiced at 
29. If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lift up myself when evil found him.  the destruction of mine enemy and him that hated me, or proudly trampled upon him in his misery, which I have not.  
30. (Neither have I given way to 
30. (Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to his soul.)  my passion so much as to let my mouth break out sinfully to curse him, or to wish him evil)  
31. Yea, though I have been strongly 
31. If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh I we cannot be satisfied.  pressed by others to revenge myself, who were near unto me, and had power with me in other things, and who themselves, out of love and respect to me, being impatient of mine injury, would fain have wrought my revenge, and offered it, if I would have suffered them.  
32. It's well known, the stranger 
32. The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.  did not lodge harbourless if I knew of it, but that I bid the way-faring weary traveller welcome to my house.  
33. If I at any time have concealed 
33. If I covered my transgression, as Adam: by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom.  my sin from God, as did Adam, and as all men naturally are apt to do, by excuse or extenuation, and have not humbly with selfe-judging confessed it to him, but kept it unuttered in my bosom, as loath to leave it, or to be humbled for it.  
34. No, I did none of these, nor did 
34. Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me: that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?  I ever, either for the fear of a violent and combined multitude, or of the loss of friends and acquaintance, and their falling off from me, (though they were of never so considerable quality and number) at any time keep within doors, and hide my head, or hold my peace, but openly reproved sin, and showed myself always in the behalf of the innocent with impartiality and justice.  
35. O that any one heard me that 
35. O that one would hear me! behold, my desi e is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.  could object any thing against me, nay, if I lie, I desire the Almighty would tell me so, and that any, whomsoever he is, (for I except none) that can object any thing against what I have said, would make his allegations against me, and set down his accusations in writing; that I might read and know them, and so might completely clear myself by my reply.  
36. Surely I would not take it ill 
36. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.  at any man's hands whomsoever, but would think he did me a very great favour in it, and would set choicely by it, nor should it daunt me, but encourage me, for I should not doubt, but upon my reply, it would turn to my exceeding honour; for mine innocency assureth me the triumph and victory over any adversary, or accusations in the world.  
37. I would deal truly with him; 
37. I would declare unto him the number of my steps, as a Prince would I go near unto him.  for I would tell him all that ever I know by myself, and would relate unto him the whole course of my life, nor would I shrink back, or flinch him one jot, but would boldly encounter him, and make good my matter against him whoever he were.  
38. If my land blame me for unjust 
38. If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain.  and cruel dealings toward them that ploughed and husbanded it.  
39 If I have reaped the benefit of 
39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life,  it through other men's labours without wages justly paid them, or have racked my rents to the occupiers undoing.  
40. Then let all my labour and seed 
40. Let thistles grow in stead of Wheat, and cockle in stead of Barley. The words of Job are ended.  be evermore lost; Let thistles grow in stead of Wheat, and cockle in stead of Barley; let me have weeds for corn. The words of Job in expostulation with his three friends are here ended.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
1. FOr these three foresaid men 
1. So these three men ceased to answer job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.  seeing they could not prevail with Job to be otherways opinionated of himself then as an upright & innocent man, gave over now at last to press any more upon him.  
2. Elihu the son of Barachel, who 
2. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of of Ram: against job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.  came of Buz, the son of Nahor, who was the brother of Abraham, having heard all that had passed between Job and his three friends was moved with indignation against both him and them. Now the reason why he was angry with Job, was not because he maintained his own integrity against his friends, but because he over-eyed his own righteousness to the lessening of Gods, pleading it too far (not only against his friends, but) even to God himself in the way of expostulation, and therewith questioning his righteousness in so dealing with him, in stead of acknowledging it, and admiring his ways.  
3. And the reason why he was also 
3. Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned job.  angry with jobs three friends, was, because they could not directly tax job, nor convincingly prove against him, that which all this while upon a bare surmise they had accused him of, namely, of being an hypocrite and and wicked man.  
4. Now Elihu (though with child 
4. How Elihu had waited till job had spoken, because they were elder than he.  to speak) yet had modestly bridled his desire till job had fully ended his last and long reply, nor had he ever offered to interrupt the discourse of jobs three friends in all this time, or put himself in amongst them; for being all his Elders, he gave them precedency of speech.  
5. But when he had heard out job, 
5. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these threemen, than his wrath was kindled.  and saw that those three men were gravelled, and that for all that they had said against him, they were now at last (for want of clear conviction) fain to leave him as they found him, to wit, a righteous man, and innocent of the hypocrisy and crimes they laid to his charge. He hereupon was provoked to utter his mind.  
6. And thus at last, Elihu the son 
6. And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered, and said, I am young, and ye are very old, wherefore I was afraid, and durst not show you mine opinion.  of the a foresaid Barachel the Buzite put forth himself to speak as followeth: I am conscious to myself of my youth, together with the weaknesses accompanying it, and of your precedency of age, and the advantages which usually attend it, which did awe me from speaking all this while, so that I durst not show mine opinion in so weighty a business, nor before such grave personages, till that I had heard all that you could say.  
7. For though my youthful desire 
7. I said, days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.  prompted me to speak, yet I checked it, and refrained myself, giving leave (as was fitting) for those who were my ancients to speak first, who I thought in all probability knew therefore best how wisely to instruct the erring.  
8. But though age hath odds of 
8. But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.  youth, yet one man as well as another hath a spirit of understanding, (reason and judgement) in him, whereby through supply of special inspiration from God that can do all things, he may be able to know that which want of years denies him.  
9 Wisdom is the gift of God, and 
9 Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgement.  therefore those men always have it not that we think are the likeliest; for we see great men, who have advantage of means and education, are not always the wisest men, neither the aged that have advantage of time and experience, have always proportionable understanding and judgement, but may, and do both of them come short (at least in some things) of their inferiors.  
10. My spirit therefore being inspired 
10. Therefore I said, harken to me, I also will show mine opinion.  of God, and also stirred up by him to speak, and having noted your errors, notwithstanding your ages, I am bold to take leave to challenge your attentions, till I also give my judgement, and take my turn in this cause.  
11. Know you all, that I have not 
11. Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst you searched out what to say.  slept the while I have been silent, but diligently waited for, and attended to all you said; I seriously considered the reasons and arguments which fell from you, which I perceived all this while to be the best you could invent to evince your adversary.  
12. Yea, I purposely harkened to 
12. Yea, I attended unto you: and behold, there was none of you that convinced job, or that answered his words:  you to have had some convincing reasons from you of that you accused Job, but the truth is, (for so far I must take his part) there is not any one of you, that hath convincingly proved that you alleged against him, nor answered that which he hath said for himself.  
13. God hath given him the victory, 
13. Lest ye should say, We have found out Wisdom; God thrusteth him down; not man.  that you might see the weakness of your argument, and not continue confident in your erroneous maxim, as if it were an unerring truth. That Job must needs be a wicked hypocrite, because God, who is just and all-seeing, and cannot do wrong, nor mistake as man may, does afflict him.  
14. Now, as hitherto I have given 
14. Now, he hath not directed his words against me; neither will I answer him with your speeches.  Job no cause by siding with you to say any thing against me, so neither will I now do it; for I utterly dislike your course, and therefore will neither take up your Theme against him to condemn him for an hypocrite, nor use your argument to prove it, because of Gods afflicting him; for I hold it a mere Sophism.  
15. They that should have spoken 
15. They were amazed, they answered no more; they left off speaking.  to Jobs reply, fell to wondering at him in stead of convincing him with further and better arguments; for indeed, having no more to say, they were forced to give over their feeble reasoning.  
16. So that when I had waited for 
16. When I had waited, (for they spoke not, but stood still and answered no more.)  their answer as at other times, but heard none from them (for they were all silent and made no reply.)  
17. I was resolved hereupon to take 
17. I said, I will answer also my part, I also will show mine opinion.  the matter in hand, to answer Job myself, and to give mine opinion in the business.  
18. For I have much to say, and 
18. For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.  many reasons to urge against him in God's behalf, and my mind standeth vehemently to utter them.  
19 Yea, I cannot hold, I even swell 
19 Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent, it is ready to burst like new bottles.  with desire to speak my mind, that job may be humbled, and God glorified.  
20. I must needs therefore speak 
20. I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer.  to ease my spirit, yea, I both must, and will make answer for God.  
21. In whose business, let it not 
21. Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattering titles unto man.  be expected from me to spare any man's fault out of respect to his person or condition, nor to soothe you up in your errors and mistakes, with fair words, and flattering encomiums.  
22. For I am not skilled in the way 
22. For I know not to give flattering titles, in so doing, my Maker would soon take me away.  of flattery, nor durst I use it, if I were, for in so doing, I know I should provoke the omniscient God that made me, and who hateth such things, to be avenged on me with speedy destruction.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
1. WHerefore, job, I pray thee, 
1. Wherefore job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to my words.  give good heed to what I shall say, and let it not be tedious to thee, but conceive of it as coming from one that wishes thee well, and have the patience to hear me out.  
2. Thou seest I have not been forward 
2. Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue hath spoken in my mouth.  to speak, but have waited till now that all have done, which I take to be a fit time for me to begin, having heard all that hath been said on both sides, and seriously weighed them, which makes me both the abler and bolder now to speak my mind.  
3. And beforehand, I assure thee 
3. My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart; and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.  this, which also I would have thee credit, that I will speak nothing out of passion or partiality, as thou conceivest others to have done, but what I say shall come from an honest heart, nor will I obtrude mine own conjectures and surmises for doctrinal truths upon thee, as my forerunners have, but I will utter demonstrative things.  
4. Thou hast wished for one like 
4. The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.  thyself in God's stead, to dispute the matter with thee, why, know, that I am he. I am a creature as thou art, neither better nor worse, but in all points the same with thyself, made by the finger of God as thou art, and have my life from him as thou hast.  
5. Therefore now make good thy 
5. If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up.  challenge, and if thou canst, spare not to answer to that which I shall say; for thou mayst boldly speak thy mind, there is no cause of fear.  
6. For, as I say, I am in God's stead 
6. Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead; I also am form out of the clay.  according to thy desire to dispute the matter with thee, who am just such an one as thou art, neither higher nor lower, but a pot by the hand of the Potter, moulded out of the same clay.  
7. So that (as thou conditionedst) 
7. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall mine hand be heavy upon thee.  thou seest there is no cause of fear to deal with me, nor can I do thee any hurt or oppress thee, so as to hinder thee from speaking thy mind fully and freely.  
8. I will lay nothing to thy charge, 
8. Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying:  nor object any thing against thee, but what I have heard come from thee, yea, out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee, for thus thou hast presumptuously spoken.  
9 (Justifying thine own righteousness, 
9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.  and questioning Gods) I have not sinned against God, but am innocent from giving him any offence, neither can he lay any iniquity to my charge, or show cause why he thus afflicts me.  
10. So that he is over rigorous, purposely 
10. Behold, he findeth occasions against me, he counteth me for his enemy.  picking quarrels against me, and of his mere pleasure maketh cruel war upon me without just cause.  
11. Using all manner of hardship 
11. He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.  toward me, keeping me continually fast locked in afflictions, watching me, lest I should make an escape, and find some ease, which he will by no means permit me to have.  
12. Thus, or to this purpose, hast 
12. Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.  thou charged God, thou canst not deny it, and however thou art otherways upright or righteous, I will not take upon me to judge, only in this I am sure, and dare say thou art not justifiable, but worthy to be condemned of sinful and presumptuous arrogance and pride of heart (for which God may and does justly afflict thee) and thus I prove it, from the wonderful disparity between God and man, betwixt whom there is no comparison, God infinitely transcending him, and his capacity to judge.  
13. And consequently, how insolent 
13. Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.  a thing is it for thee to cample and reason it thus unreverently with God as thou hast done, whose will in all things is a law most righteous, nor is he bound to give any other reason but his will for any of his actions.  
14. In all which, yet there is reason 
14. For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.  and a gracious meaning too, if thou knewest it; for God many times, and divers ways solicits and admonisheth man (as now he doth thee) if man would, and could understand him, which partly through the pride and security, and partly through the dulness of his heart he does not.  
15. Out of which spiritual slumber, 
15. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.  God trieth all ways to awaken men; for he teacheth them by nightly molestations, in dreams and visions, to the disturbance of their sleep and rest, as thou complainest.  
16. And this way he taketh to instruct 
16. Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.  men, and remarkably to set his home doctrine upon them.  
17. Which is, to withdraw man 
17. That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.  from cherishing and maintaining himself in his own selfe-valuing conceits, derogatory to God, and to bring him to stoop to an humble and selfe-denying subjection to him, expunging pride, (which God corrects in thee.)  
18. That so he may in mercy keep 
18. He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.  him from perishing for it, both in soul and body, temporally and eternally.  
19 And further also, to work this 
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain.  cure, and purge this pride, he brings highminded man into a woeful condition, easelessely punishing him with tormenting pains, as he does thee, yea, making every bone in his body (as many as they are) to ache with vehement torture.  
20. So that he may be forced 
20. So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.  through extremity of anguish, neither to care to eat necessary nor pleasant meat, but neglect all manner of sustenance.  
21. Yea, he may be brought to that 
21. His flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen, stick out.  pass and such a change wrought in him, as that his flesh which was wont to be plump and smooth, may be utterly wasted to nothing (as thou complainest thine is) and his bones, which before were comelily covered, may most deformedly and ghastly stick out.  
22. Yea, he may be at the very 
22. His soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.  point of death, ready to breath out his soul, and his life in continual jeopardy by his deadly plagues.  
23. Now, when God hath brought 
23. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness.  him to this pass, and he still continues blind, and none of all this will make him perceive his error and God's intention, if then besides this, God so order the matter, as that in his gracious providence he further provide for his instruction, and send as a special messenger (as he does me to thee) a man faithful and able (which is a singular gift of God and very rare) to bring him to a sight of his sin, and to set him upright in the sight of God by repentance.  
24. This soon altereth the case; 
24. Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom.  for hereupon God is presently appeased toward him, and graciously accepts him, comfortably cheering his heart with an assured freedom from death and hell, his sin upon his repentance being done away in the sight of God by the blood of his Son which he sees accepted in his behalf.  
25. And then, as before, through 
25. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth.  anguish of his spirit his body was consumed; so now, through the abundant consolation thereof he grows revived, and becomes as fat and faire-liking as ever he was in his life.  
26. And whereas before all his 
26. He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him, and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.  complain and out-cries stood him in no stead, now he shall humbly put up his suit to God for favour, and shall find it: and whereas, if he did but think of God, he was troubled; now being justified from his sin, he shall have abundance of joy and peace in his soul toward God.  
27. For God longs to be gracious 
27. He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not:  to me, and waits that he may be so, looking when a man will see his sin and confess it, how that he hath gone out of the way, and justly suffers by it.  
28. Such a man shall soon have his 
28. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.  pardon sealed, his fear banished, and his soul comforted; so that for afterwards he shall lead a happy life.  
29. Lo, I have told thee what varieties 
29. Lo, all these things worketh God; oftentimes with man.  of ways, and diversity of means God is oftentimes fain to use toward such a man as he means well to.  
30. Aiming only at his good, that 
30. To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.  his sin unrepented of be not his death and destruction, but that in the sight and feeling of God's grace and favour towards him, he may lead a comfortable and happy life.  
31. job, I pray thee consider well 
31. Mark well, O job, harken unto me, hold thy peace, and I will speak.  what I say, as that which nearly concerns thy good, let me yet further have thine attention without interruption, for I have more to speak.  
32. Not that I desire to stop thy 
32. If thou hast any thing to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.  mouth, if thou questionest any thing that I have said, and hast any just exception against it in thine own defence, if thou hast, speak freely, for I desire not to condemn thee in any thing wherein thou art justifiable; only thy pride I tax, which is apparent.  
33. But if so be thou canst take no 
33. If not, harken unto me; hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.  just exception, then do not needlessely interrupt me, but let me go on, and I make no question but before I have done, I shall make thee understand thine error, and Gods just dealing, and shall show thee the way to find mercy.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
1. WHereupon Elihu goes on 
1. Furthermore, Elihu answered and said:  further to question job of, and to give answer to the words he spoke against God, and appealing to his friends touching them, he said:  
2. I pray you listen well to what I 
2. Hear my words, O ye wise men, and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.  say, and according to your wisdom's judge of it; give ear to what I speak, and let your understandings censure if it be not right.  
3. For a judicious and considerate 
3. For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.  ear can as aptly judge of things that are spoken, as the palate of a man can naturally distinguish and relish meats that are eaten.  
4. Let us not plead against job by 
4. Let us choose to us judgement: let us know among ourselves what is good.  ungrounded conjectures, but let us state the controversy against him, so as it is, that it may hold water; let us go knowingly to work according to apparent truth, which is the likely way to prevail with him.  
5. For Jobs miscarriage of himself 
5. For job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgement.  is evident, and how presumptuously he hath justified himself and accused God, is known to us all, saying, I am righteous, and God doth not do me right accordingly, but dealeth too rigorously with me.  
6. I should lie and wrong myself 
6. Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.  if I should not justify my righteousness, and maintain it, that this my so grievous affliction is without just cause.  
7. Did we ever hear the like? or 
7. What man is like to Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?  was there ever any man that durst in this manner as he hath done so mightily upbraid and reproach God, as if he thirsted to despite him in the way of revenge?  
8. Who hath so far forgot himself, 
8. Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.  as that his carriage under his afflictions is equal, and makes him like to those that never had knowledge of God, but have ever lived in sin and profaneness, yea, he walks just in their steps, and doth as the wicked do when God afflicts them.  
9 Uttering impatient & presumptuous 
9 For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing, that he should delight himself with God.  speeches; for upon the matter he hath said: That a man is never the better for loving God, and walking with him, the whilst he justifies his own righteousness, and taxeth God of cruelty.  
10. Therefore harken to what I 
10. Therefore harken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.  plead against him, and in your wisdoms, judge if he be not to be blamed for it; for, is it not a monstrous thing to fasten injustice upon God, and to dare to lay iniquity to the charge of the Almighty, which is so utterly contrary to his nature, and can by no means belong to him, but to us:  
11. For it is both his covenant and 
11. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.  custom, to render to men according to their works, and to judge them according to their ways.  
12. Which he is well able to make 
12. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgement.  appear, whatsoever we think to the contrary; for there is nothing more certain and sure, than that God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty, who is Judge of all the earth, deal unjustly.  
13. Who hath put him in office, or 
13. Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world?  charged him with the supervisourship of the earth? that he should be questioned by him, and account to him, or who but himself (think we) is fit to dispose of the world, and all things in it in wisdom and justice?  
14. If God set his heart against 
14 If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;  man, and resolve either in his absolute sovereignty, or for punishment of his sin to unmake him again, by taking from him that which at first he gave him to live and subsist by, that is, his soul and spirit.  
15. Then of necessity, mankind 
15. All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.  must all at once perish, and be annihilated or turned into the matter he made him of, that is, to dust, and this may he most justly do.  
16. Now than Job, if thou hast understanding 
16. If now thou hast understanding, hear this; harken to the voice of my words.  (as I know thou hast) consider with thyself, how justly he may do thus by thee, who art but one, seeing that of his good pleasure only it is, that all subsist. And now yet further, harken to what I shall say for thy confuting.  
17. Shall he, whom thou wouldst 
17. Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just?  make to delight in doing wrong, be fit to govern and punish wrong-doers, and wilt thou dare to condemn and tax him thus of injustice, that is even righteousness itself, and the fountain whence all floweth?  
18. Thou knowest both how undecent 
18. Is it fit to say to a King, Thou art wicked? and to Princes, Ye are ungodly?  and dangerous it is, to tax an earthly King, and to say to him, Thou art unrighteous, though he be so, or to say to Princes, that yet are but mortal men, ye are unjust, though it be true.  
19 How much more both dangerous 
19 How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of Princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.  and undecent must it needs be, wrongfully to accuse God hereof, who abhors injustice and partiality, himself not accepting of any whomsoever for personal respects, not the Prince above the Peasant, nor the rich more than the poor; for it is his power that made them equal in nature, and his providence that made them differ in condition.  
20. God brings his plagues ofttimes, 
20. In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.  and in many places suddenly, and never expostulates the matter, but in a trice executes judgement upon all, and makes no difference, but sweeps away the ignorant common people, at a time when they are most secure, and lest fear it, and the great ones also that was fearless of any humane strength, by a way they never dreamt of.  
21. For he is both able and exceeding 
21. For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.  careful to do justice, to that end diligently beholding every man's ways, so that he cannot be mistaken in the execution of judgement, who overseeth and knoweth all their courses better than themselves.  
22. Yea, he sees them all, and that 
22. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, wherein the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.  most clearly; for there is nothing can hide the most secretest sins of a wicked man from the sight of God.  
23. So that however it may seem 
23. For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgement with God.  to us, God hath justice on his side; for he will punish no men wrongfully, nor by any unjust dealing will he give him just cause to complain.  
24. He punisheth all sorts of men, 
24. He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, (or as in the margin, without searching out) and set others in their stead.  not sparing those of the highest rank, who yet are his Vicegerents on earth, but proceeds against them, and that without any legal process and examination of witnesses, but of his own accord, displaceth them, and placeth others in their steads.  
25. Wherefore we may be sure he 
25. Therefore he knoweth their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.  hath just cause for what he does, and that it is for their deservings that on a sudden unlooked for he comes so fiercely upon them without warning or discussion of the cause, and quite destroys them.  
26. Though, as I say, they be his 
26. He striketh them as wicked men in the open sight of others.  Vicegerents, and next to himself, yet he spares them not, but being wicked, they fare alike with others that are so, his justice impartially plaguing them in an exemplary manner.  
27. And the cause, no doubt, is this, 
27. Because they turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways.  for that in the pride of their hearts, which great men are subject to, they refused obedience, and would not learn his ways to walk in them.  
28. So that by their insolences they 
28. So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted.  have caused the poor man's cry to come up to God, and he shows it upon them that he hath heard the cry of the oppressed against them.  
29. God is he that blesseth and afflicteth 
29. When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a Nation, or against a man only.  as he sees good, which no man is able by any reason or allegation, to prevent or alter, and therefore should not dare to quarrel or question him; for when he in grace giveth happiness, who is there that can make unhappy? And on the contrary, if he in his just displeasure withhold his favour, who then can change his mind and countenance when he frowns, whether it be against more or less, a single man, or a whole commonwealth?  
30. Thus does he with great and 
30. That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.  absolute power, and in much justice overrule and order things, that so he may control the insolent wicked man, and hinder his tyrannifing, and prevent the people's oppressing, which themselves cannot.  
31. Surely then, if God be so just and 
31. Surely it is meet to be said unto God; I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more.  so powerful; it is a thing meet when we are under his afflicting hand, not proudly to expostulate the matter with him upon our own innocency, but to acknowledge him just, however absolute he seems in laying his chastisement upon us and ourselves to have deserved it, so as humbly to beg for pardon, and promise amendment.  
32. And if we know not our fault, 
32. The which I see not, teach thou me; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.  yet assuredly to believe we are in fault, and therefore to entreat the Lord to open our eyes, that we may see and know that by ourselves, which hath offended him, and which he would have amended, with humble and hearty promise of it.  
33. Thinkst thou it fit that the great 
33. Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose, and not I: therefore speak what thou know'st.  God of heaven should be counselled by thee, in what measure he should correct, or in what way he should amend sin, no, he'll go his own way, and do as he sees good, say thou what thou canst, or however it please or displease thee; and for mine own part, I dare not entertain a thought of prescribing any manner of course to him in his proceedings, nor censure any of his doings: therefore, if thou canst acquit thyself of this crime and accusation which I have laid to thy charge, as thou didst of theirs, why, speak for thyself what thou canst say.  
34. Nay, I appeal to any man of 
34. Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wiseman hearken unto me.  understanding if I speak not truth, and justly tax thee, yea, let any man that hears me without prejudice, and is able to judge, tax me if I say amiss.  
35. When as I blame thee for thy 
35. job hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.  pride, which is undeniable in thy behaviour and carriage towards God, which hath been very foolish and provoking, as thy speeches can witness.  
36. My desire of God is, that Job 
36. My desire is, that job may be (or as in the margin, my father let job be) tried unto the end, because of his answers for wicked men.  may be throughly convinced of his fault, and at last be brought upon his knees, and made to eat his words, and to glorify the justice of God by humbly confessing his sin, that so the mouths of wicked men may be stopped, to whom he hath given great advantage to blaspheme by his accusing God of hard and unrighteous dealing.  
37. For in stead of humbling himself, 
37. For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands amongst us, and multiplieth his words against God.  and confessing his sin, for which he suffers, and ask pardon for it, he hath added rebellion thereunto, not sticking, as it were, to cry victoria against God himself in his own justification, even to all our faces, and with strange pertinacy to quarrel and upbraid God.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
1. ELihu yet prosecuted his reproof 
1. Elihu spoke moreover, and said.  of Job, to procure his conviction, thus:  
2. Hast thou any plea for thyself, 
2. Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than Gods?  or thinkest thou that thou art not blame-worthy, in uttering as aforesaid, such a blasphemous speech as in effect thou hast spoken, to wit, That thou art more righteous than God?  
3. For thou hast said, that thou art 
3. For thou saidst; What advantage will it be unto thee, and, What profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin?  righteous, and that thou sufferest undeservedly, being thyself vublameable and innocent of any offence against God that might justly cause his displeasure, and that it availeth thee no more to be righteous, than if thou wert the greatest sinner in the world.  
4. I tremble to hear such audaciousness: 
4. I will answer thee and thy companions with thee.  but I will answer thee, and all such men as dare in the pride of their hearts venture to stout it thus, and argue the matter so with God in stead of humbling themselves, and seeking to him in their afflictions.  
5. Look thou up unto the heavens, 
5. Look unto the heavens, and see, and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.  view their height, and the clouds which are so far above thee, and think with thyself, whether thou canst add or diminish, make them better or worse.  
6. And if not, then consider further 
6. If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what dost thou unto him?  of what little advantage or disadvantage, thou must needs be unto God? who is so far above them, that thou shouldest thus capitulate the matter with him, in stead of praying to him; as for example: Thy sins, what is he the worse for them, more than a cloud over thy head, if thou shouldest shoot an arrow at it, remains not he the same in all points notwithstanding? yea, if thy transgressions were never so many, how do, or can they any way harm him, who is selfe-sufficient and independent.  
7. And as it is with thy sins, so likewise 
7. If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?  is it with thy righteousness which thou bearest thyself so much upon; what benefit is that to God, or what adds it to him that thou art righteous, how dost thou make him beholden to thee by it, who needs nothing that is thine?  
8. It is nothing but thy pride that 
8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art, and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.  maketh thee thus forget thyself, otherways thou must needs know, That God is nothing bound to thee for any thing that is thine, but that as he is not the worse for thy being wicked, but thyself, and such as thou art; so on the other hand, neither is he the better for thy being righteous; but if thou, and others like thyself do their duty, it's they that fare the better for it, and not he: small reason therefore hast thou to bear thyself thus high towards God? prayer would better become thee, and more profit thee.  
9 But multitude of pressures do 
9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions, they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.  usually transport all manner of men, and make the oppressed cry and keep ado when they suffer, against them they suffer under.  
10. But few or none are so wise in 
10. But none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?  such a case, as soberly to recollect themselves, and in humility to draw nigh to God in prayer, putting him in mind of his own gracious nature towards the work of his hands to have mercy upon it, and in faith to seek to him for redress and consolation, as to the only he that can relieve and glad the heart in extremity and grief.  
11, Hath not God given us wherewithal 
11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven.  to know how to carry ourselves better in time of affliction, than the beasts of the earth, and to be wiser than the fowls of the air, which can cry and complain, when aught aileth them by instinct of nature, but reason and religion should teach us a better lesson that know who hurts us, and who can only heal us, to wit, humbly, and in faith to seek to him for release.  
12. For want of which, men in 
12. There they cry, (but none giveth answer) because of the pride of evil men.  pressures lie and cry like brute creatures, without either help or hope (and so they may do long enough without answer from God, except they humbly seek to him in faith) though they endure never so much violence and oppression.  
13. For it's certain that God will 
13. Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.  not show mercy, nor grant release for the natural and vain cries, and outrages of men in extremity; however we poor men through self-love, and humane pity, think of them, and are moved by them; yet the Almighty regards them not, but looks for other fruit of affliction, as that they should seek to him with humble and faithful prayer before he'll hear to any purpose.  
14. Wherefore although thou desperately 
14. Although thou sayest, thou shalt not see him, yet judgement is before him, therefore trust thou in him.  givest thyself for lost, never expecting to see God gracious to thee again, (thus complaining, but not praying under thy burden) yet I know it, and dare assure thee of it, that if thou wouldst but take that course whereunto I advise thee, that is, to humble thyself before him in prayer, thou shouldest find that he is graciously righteous to hear and answer thee, therefore trust thou in him, and in faith and hope make thine addresses to him.  
15. But now because thou goest not 
15. But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger, yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:  this way to work, nor carriest thyself toward him as thou oughtest, he is forced thus to entreat thee, and to increase his plagues upon thee, to manifest his anger against thee for thy pride, which yet thou perceivest not (so blind art thou) no not in the midst of all this thy great extremity.  
16. For which cause, and till which 
16. Therefore doth job open his mouth in vain: he multiplieth words without knowledge.  time that thou humble thyself under the mighty hand of God, and seek unto him, thou losest all thy labour, and breathest forth thy complaints in vain, uttering a great many proud and passionate speeches ignorantly to no purpose, saving to provoke God further against thee, whereas thou mightest bestow them more to thine avail.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
1. ELihu goeth on still to vindicate 
1. Elihu also proceeded, and said.  God, and to convince Job of his miscarriage towards him.  
2. Suffer me (says he to Job) a while 
2. Suffer me a little, and I will show thee, that I have yet to speak on God's behalf.  longer, and thou shalt see that I have yet more to say in justification of God against thy calumnies.  
3. That which I say, shall not be 
3. I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.  what first comes to hand, not what humane reason suggests, or what my weak judgement opinionates to be true, but what by special inspiration and enlightening from above I know to be so; whereby I will yet further disprove thy presumptuous taxation, and make it good upon thee, that it cannot otherways be, but that the maker of thee and me, and all mankind must needs be righteous, and not liable to the censure of any creature in whatsoever he does.  
4. For I assure thee thus much, 
4. For truly, my words shall not be false: he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee.  That what I urge either for God or against thee, shall not be of mine own coining, that so thou shouldest tax it of error or mistake, but such as God who cannot err in truth and judgement (by whose spirit and in whose stead I speak unto thee) hath inspired me with, for thy instruction and direction.  
5. Consider therefore, how that 
5. Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.  God is mighty, able to know and do all things aright, and need not through weakness or want of power be driven to use any unrighteous and indirect means to compass his ends; for he hath power enough to effect them in a justifiable way, and on the other hand, as mighty as he is, he affects not tyranny, nor sets he so light by any man as to afflict him causelessely of mere pleasure, no, but he is of power to order all things with justice and wisdom.  
6. And this he does, as we frequently 
6. He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor.  and experimentally see by his carriage towards both sorts of men, bad and good: For first, if men be wicked, and deserve punishment; God, for want of power and understanding, lets them not go without it, but they feel and find him both wise, able, and just to give them their demerits, and to right the poor man's wrong.  
7. And so in the next place, if men 
7. He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne, yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted.  be righteous, God is just, not to forget such, nor is he deficient in power to reward them, but preferreth them to the highest top of honour, yea, and upholds them in happiness that nothing can hinder, and in despite of all malignant opposers, they are exalted by him.  
8. And if it be otherways with them, 
8. And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction.  if they be afflicted, and that pressures be upon them, yet it is not for want of power, wisdom and justice in God.  
9 But he shows them cause for it, 
9 Then he showeth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded.  some one sin or more wherein they have broken their bounds, and been too blame, for which he justly afflicts them.  
10. And as by his rod he teacheth 
10. He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.  them to know their sin, and his justice, so also by it he warneth them of, and learneth them their duty, which is not to cample, but humbly to yield obedience to his command of turning from the iniquity for which they suffer.  
11. And then, if they take out this 
11. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.  lesson, and become obedient to him, the fruit of it will be, That they through the mercy of God, shall be eased of their punishment, and shall spend the remainder of their life, as their hearts can wish, in prosperity and pleasure.  
12. But on the contrary, if they 
12. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.  stubbornly refuse obedience, than God's anger shall slay them, and they shall miserably perish, through their own folly and ignorant presumption.  
13. So that those that are thus disposed, 
13. But the Hypocrites in heart heap up wrath; they cry not when he bindeth them.  and will not convert, but go on to act the Hypocrites part, and affect pride and perverseness, their portion is thereby to add wrath to wrath, for because in humble penitency they sue not to him when he afflicts them:  
14. Therefore they come to an 
14. They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean.  hasty and untimely end, whereas else they might prolong their days; their life perisheth in his anger, and they make without any difference a like end, as doth the most foul and filthy Sodomite, God esteeming no better of them, than equal with the worst of sinners.  
15. But on the other hand, the 
15. He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression.  poor in spirit that cries to him in affliction, them he delivers out of it, and shows them the cause of their oppression, that they may remedy it, and be restored.  
16. Even thus would he have done 
16. Even so would he have removed thee out of the straight into a broad place, where there is no straitness, and that which should be set on thy table, should be full of fatness.  by thee, hadst thou done thus to him, ere this thou hadst been let out of the stocks thou complainest so of, and enjoyed thy liberty to thy hearts desire, and as much, if not more, prosperity and wealth than ever heretofore.  
17. But thou hast neglected to do 
17. But thou hast fulfilled the judgement of the wicked: judgement and justice take hold on thee.  wisely, and gone a foolish way to work, as wicked men are wont to do, repining, and not humbling thyself, and now see what comes of it, thou hast multiplied thy sorrows, and heaped Gods just indignation upon thee by it.  
18. Now therefore, because God 
18. Because there is wrath, beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.  is a wrathful God, fear to persist, lest in his just anger he take thee quite away, and then it will be too late to do what now thou mayst do; for nothing can redeem thee out of that condition, or make thee alive again when thou art dead.  
19 If thou couldst bid never somuch 
19 Will he esteem thy riches? no, no gold, nor all the forces of strength.  for it, it would be in vain, no riches could purchase or procure it, nor could any power or strength enforce it.  
20. Do not thou peevishly desire 
20. Desire not the night, when people are cut off in their place.  death, lest it come too soon, and it do by thee, as it does by many an one whom it cuts off in judgement.  
21. Take heed betime, affect not to 
21. Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.  go on in sinful impatiency, wherein thou hast hitherto been too blame, choosing rather to persevere in that sin, then to submit to the will of God in bearing thy affliction humbly.  
22. But consider well with thyself, 
22. Behold, God exalteth by his power, who teacheth like him?  who must restore thee, if ever thou be'st restored; Is it not God only, that by his power can do it, and who can teach thee this better than himself hath done by keeping thee all this while (that thou hast continued impatient) in an helpless condition for want of humbling thyself to him, hadst thou eyes to see it.  
23. Think but how unwise thou 
23. Who hath enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?  art in thy reasonings against him: For who hath, or can prescribe God his way, that he should be questionable for erring out of it, or what is he that can say (if he speak understandingly) that any thing the Lord does is sinful and unjust.  
24. O remember that another part 
24. Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.  would better become thee to act then this! and that is, to have him in reverence and fear for his works sake, that glorious structure of the heavens, which all men every where behold and see.  
25. For it is hid from no man's eyes, 
25. Every man may see it, man may behold it a far off.  but all may behold it, and should do well to consider the height and vast distance of it from us.  
26. O consider that God is infinite 
26. Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.  in greatness, and that we cannot fathom him, nor the wisdom and power that is in his works, neither can we mortals that measure time by days and years, conceive the dimensions of eternity which belongeth only to him.  
27. We, I say, cannot comprehend 
27. For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof.  his power and wisdom; for he makes (we know not how) the drops of water which fall from above to be such as they are, round and small, and causeth the heavens to send down rain in that manner, according to the proportion of exaled vapours.  
28. Which the clouds suck in, and 
28. Which the clouds do drop, and distil upon man abundantly.  resolving them into water, they send it forth in drops, distilling them usefully in that manner (and not hurtfully by eruption) upon the earth in a sufficient plentiful measure for man's sake.  
29. Again, as thus, we cannot conceive 
29. Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?  the workmanship, that is in engendering rain in the cloud, and the emission thereof in drops, so neither can any under the skill that he shows in spreading forth the clouds to that large extent, and disposing them so universally throughout the whole heavens, as we see they are, which he does by the winds, which he causeth to blow above among them, whereof also we have but little skill to judge.  
30. Consider how he spreads his 
30. Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.  light upon the face of the whole heavens, and also how in like manner he spreads the waters in the vast and deep Ocean, so that no bottom can be seen or felt.  
31. I say, consider thou these, and 
31. For by them judgeth he the people, he giveth meat in abundance.  fear, for by these he judgeth the heathen folk, that have no other knowledge of him, but by the works of his hands, and condemneth them for not improving these to his glory, and much more will he do so by thee: He furthermore gives us all the good creatures which we enjoy for our food and delight, in that wonderful plenty as we see.  
32. By assembling the clouds when 
32. With clouds he covereth the light, and commandeth it not to shine, by the cloud that cometh betwixt.  he pleaseth, he darkneth the sky, and obscures the sun, keeping away the bright shining thereof from us, by his interpofing some one or more gloomy clouds between us and it.  
33. As often experience manifests, 
33. The noise thereof showeth concerning it; the cattle also concerning the vapour.  and more especially, is then to be expected, when as a raine-aboding wind gives foreknowledge of it, or when as the cattle do give their natural presages of an approaching rain, which they know by instinct, being first exhaled in a vapour from the earth, their proper Element.   

CHAP. XXXVII.  
1. BEsides these foresaid works of 
1. At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.  God which we come short of in our understanding and capacity; there is yet one special one that sets him forth extraordinarily, which I never hear, nor can so much as think of but my heart trembleth, and is put out of its bias at the consideration of the wonderousnesse and terror of it.  
2. Namely, the thunder, which I 
2. Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.  would have thee considerately to weigh and hearken to, which is, as it were, the very voice and speech of God, speaking his power and Majesty to man, and commanding fear and reverence from him.  
3. How wonderful is the noise 
3. He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.  thereof, which by his powerful dispensation, is heard both far and near; and in like manner doth he send forth his terrible lightnings far beyond our discerning, even, as it were, from one end of the earth to the other.  
4. And we see, how that so soon 
4. After it a voice roareth; he thundereth with the voice of his excellency, and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.  as ever the lightning is over, presently the thunderclap ensueth, and then immediately upon the crack he poureth forth the aforesaid drops of rain, in a most vehement and impetuous manner, not gently distilling them, as at other times; all which together, wonderfully set forth God to our amazement.  
5. I cannot enough make mention 
5. God thundereth marvellously with his voice, great things doth he, which we cannot comprehend.  of this terrible voice of God, which he so marvellously uttereth in the thunder, besides which, other great and wonderful things he doth, which we are no more able to judge of and understand than this:  
6. For it is only his power that 
6. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.  causeth the snow to fall upon the earth in that quantity which it doth, and only by his appointment is it that it lies there till the time come that it melt away: likewise by the same power and appointment it is, that we have sometimes the small distilling Aprill-showers, and other sometimes the tempestuous storms of rain, thrown out of a mighty hand, so differently befall us.  
7. By the snow lying upon the earth, 
7. He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.  and by the rainy weather, he hinders all men from going abroad about their occasions as at other times, and makes them keep house, that so he may give every man occasion to see and consider his all-disposing hand and providence in things, who forceth them from their employments, and on whom they are compelled to wait, till they be set at liberty, to go about their businesses.  
8. Thereby also he compels the 
8. Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.  wild beasts to lie dormant in their dens, till he let them lose, and give them a fit season to hunt their prey.  
9 Out of the South-parts of the 
9 Out of the South cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the North.  world he hath ordained the strongest winds to blow, and out of the North the coldest.  
10. By which winds sent of God, 
10. By the breath of God, frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.  to that end, it is that the frost befalls us, whereby the broad waters are contracted and condensated into a lesser room.  
11. Also by squeezing the rain out 
11. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud.  of the cloud upon the earth, he utterly draws it dry, and consumes it quite away to nothing, be it, or seem it never so thick and large; and with the wind he blows the bright empty lightsome cloud to pieces, which he brought together, and scattereth it by piece-male hither and thither in the air.  
12. And all that motion of the 
12. And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.  clouds which we see pass and repass over our heads, is ordered his wisdom, so that they are thereby directed to the end and use whereunto he hath ordained them, yea, wheresoever they are disposed throughout the whole heavens, it is in relation to the earth beneath.  
13. He sends them on his errand 
13. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.  whithersoever they go, and wheresoever they settle, for either they are sent for correction and punishment to carry unseasonable and superfluous rain, or else they are sent to fat and fruiten the land which he means well unto, or else in time of drought they are sent in mercy to relieve them that cry unto him.  
14. Mark well these things, O Job, 
14. Harken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.  let them not pass carelessly out of thy mind, but weight and consider all and every the wondrous works of God.  
15. And for thy humbling, call to 
15. Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?  mind thy inequality and distance, with so great a God: Dost thou know the time which was from eternity, or wast thou called to counsel when he thus decreed and disposed all things, and made the transparent clouds? which do not darken the light as others do, but serve to reflect it upon us the brighter.  
16. Dost thou know how the great 
16. Dost thou know the ballancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge.  and ponderous clouds come to hang in the air? Canst thou fathom the depth of that power and wisdom that is in these wondrous works of God? who is only wise, yea, perfect in wisdom.  
17. Canst thou comprehend the 
17. How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the Southwind?  power which he shows in heating the air, so that thou canst not endure thy clothes on thy back, when the season is, that he refresheth the earth with the summer's sun and the warm Southern winds, in stead of the cold nipping Northern blasts?  
18. Wast thou with him, or hadst 
18. Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten lookingglass?  thou any hand in spreading out the heaven over our heads? which is round of form, and consequently of a most strong and perfect frame, and for its matter clear and transparent, like a polished brazen lookingglass.  
19 Now thou hast heard this of 
19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.  him, I appeal to thee; if any man know how to dispute or fault the actions of such a God; for we cannot tell what to allege against him, because we cannot see the depth of his reach and wisdom in things.  
20. Methinks a man as I am, should 
20. Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.  fear to have it come to the ears of such a God, that he hath been so foolhardy, as to open his mouth in such a way; for, if he should be disposed to answer him (whatsoever he is that speaks) he would certainly be confounded, and be made to sit down with sin and shame.  
21. And now, the very true reason 
21. And now men see not the bright light that is in the clouds: but the wind passeth and cleanseth them.  of men's overdaring in this kind, is, because they take no notice of these wonderful works of God, as of the shining and transparent substance whereof he hath framed some clouds, and made them helpful to the light; nor of his skill in causing this, which is by ordaining the winds to refine them from their black and watery mixture, and causing them to blow for that purpose.  
22. And how he sends dry and 
22. Fair weather cometh out of the North: with God is terrible Majesty.  frosty weather by the winds which blow out of the North, which scatter the clouds, and purge the air: Did they, they would then understand that God is of awful and terrible Majesty, not to be dealt withal in such a manner.  
23. And indeed, he that is Almighty 
23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power and in judgement, and in plenty of justice; he will not afflict.  (which God is) we must need think is too deep for us to fathom, and too high for us to reach; for he is every way transcendent, excelling in power and in wisdom, and abounding in justice in all that ever he does: He will not causelessely afflict nor unjustly punish any man.  
24. Therefore he looks that men 
24. Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.  should fear his rod, and be humbled under it, and not dispute his blows, this is not the way to come off well with him, who will never show favour to any man, that through the overweening pride of his own wisdom affects a way of reasoning the matter with God, as thou dost, Take heed therefore.   

CHAP. XXXVIII.  
1. ELihu being fallen upon the 
1. Then the Lord answered job out of the whirlwind, and said:  right subject, but wanting Majesty to set it forth, so as to take impression upon Job: Hereupon God taketh the word out of his mouth, and himself takes Job to task; for the appaling of whose high spirit, and the better making way for his following discourse to take place, he makes his first onset in a whirlwind, and thus bespeaks him with a terrifying voice:  
2. Who is this whom I have overheard 
2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge.  to miscarry himself in this manner? Is it Job? I had not thought it; that he had been so unwise, or durst have been so bold as to cast aspersions upon my wise and secret proceedings, with his weak reasonings, which faith only can make him understand.  
3. Thou that bravest it so erewhile, 
3. Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.  and gavest me choice of weapon, now come on, let's see thy manhood, betake thyself to thy ward; for I mean to answer thy challenge, and to enter the list, against thee; only I will take the liberty thou hast given me, I will oppose, and thou shalt answer, and judge when we have done, if man be fit to cope with God, or to scan his actions.  
4. Where Elihu left, there I'll begin: 
4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.  Where wast thou, when I at first by my power and wisdom alone, without the help of thee, or any, made the great vast body of the earth to hang upon its centre? If thou canst answer this, do; say man, hadst thou any hand in it, or being at it?  
5. Tell me, Who hath measured 
5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?  it out in that circumference and diameter which it holds? Didst thou? or, knowest thou any besides myself that did it; or, who else hath disposed it in that form, and stretched it forth to those several quantities and proportions of sea and land which it bears?  
6. Or tell me if thou canst, the way 
6. Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof?  and manner how it is done: Thou knowest how a house is built of fit materials, by laying the foundations thereof with choice stones, choicely placed in the earth, and artificially agglutinated one to another. Now, let us see if thy skill serve thee in like manner to tell how this great piece of Architecture is framed, wherein, or whereon are the foundations of it laid, which hangs like a ball in the air, or what skilful workman was there to begin this work, or what materials was there to erect it, which at first was framed by the mere will and wisdom of God out of nothing?  
7. Before man had any being, not 
7. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.  being yet created, when as at the beginning, Those glorious and excelling creatures, the first and best of all the works of mine hands, did so unanimously rejoice; and that all those sons and heirs of heaven, the holy Angels, were so exceedingly ravished to see me about to put forth my power, and manifest my wisdom in such a manner, and in such works for my glories sake.  
8. Or tell me, What man, or whose 
8. Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if it had issued out of the womb?  power and skill was it, that brought the sea within compass, and placed it within its bounds, when as it (not having the restraint which now it has) so universally at the first creation of it, with an unlimited violence, overspread and whelmed the whole earth with such a total inundation and circumvolution; which is the natural and proper course and motion of it; and from which it was then as impossible to be restrained or circumscribed by any humane power, as it is for a woman against nature to withstand her throws, and contain the fruit of her womb, when the time of her delivery is at hand.  
9 I mean, at the very first of all, 
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it.  when it received its being; and I had set it no other bounds as yet, but only darkness, which (before light was made) like a cloud was upon, and covered all the face of the deep, and when only thick darkness (there being then no manner of light) surrounded it, as it surrounded the earth.  
10. And then, when I, from whom 
10. And broke up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors.  it had its being, did also give it the restriction which now it has, gathering it together by a perpetual and powerful decree into that place and pit which now contains the Ocean, placing the sand and banks for bounds and limits.  
11. And laid my commands upon 
11. And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.  it to abide there, and not to pass its station, which restraint, though it seem impatiently to bear by its flowing, yet it cannot prevail or exceed its boundary, but ebbeth back again, nor can it with all its swelling and mountainous waves, though they toss themselves and roar, go onefoot further than I have set it, but they vanish so soon as ever they come to their appointed period.  
12. If thou answerest me that these 
12. Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days? and caused the dayspring to know his place?  things were all before thy time; then I ask thee, Hast thou either lengthened, or hastened the rising of the Sun at any time since thou wast borne? and hast thou ever caused the morning light in any one of those days thou hast seen, to spread itself to its uttermost bounds which I have appointed it?  
13. That so it may shine forth far 
13. That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it.  and near, to give light to the inhabitants of the earth, that by that means those evil-doers and night-birds (who hate the day light) might be affrighted and driven from the face thereof by its rising, into their dens of darkness.  
14. By whose light and rise, the earth 
14. It is turned as clay to the seal, and they stand as a garment.  receives its proper shape and impression in the sight of all men which it lost in the dark, and all the several fruits, flowers, and various workmanship of God in her produced creatures that grow thereupon appear as the beautiful clothing thereof.  
15. But the guilty consciences of 
15. And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.  the wicked shall drive them into dark corners, like banished men; so that they shall not enjoy the comfortable use and sight of those things which the light affordeth; for this shall be the reward of them that rebelliously work wickedness against God, their lives shall be miserable, and they shall be deprived of the good that others do enjoy.  
16. Hast thou ever seen, or been 
16. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?  at the bottom of the sea; or hast thou with all thy skill and labour found out how deep it is?  
17. Hast thou ever descended into, 
17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the door of the shadow of death?  or seen the deep Abyss of the earth, where it is dark and uncomfortable as hell, and where the dead only inhabit?  
18. Hast thou ever placed the 
18. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all?  breadth of the earth, tell me now thou that promisedst to reply, if thou canst give an exact account thereof?  
19 Hast thou traveled to the places 
19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof?  of the sun's rising and setting, so as to know the place of residence for the light, and to tell where darkness dwells.  
20. That when thou seest them 
20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?  spread so wide in the air, and wander so far from home, thou mayst carry them back, and direct them into their way.  
21. Knowest thou the places of 
21. Knowest thou it, because thou wast then borne? or because the number of thy days be great?  light and darkness, either by virtue of thy then being, when they were first created by me, or hast thou gained this knowledge by long experience and much study?  
22. Wast thou ever in my storehouses 
22. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?  of snow and hail, to see them where they are?  
23. Which I create and keep up 
23. Which I have reserved against the time of trouble.  above in my treasuries, till the time come that I think good to send them down to execute my will in the punishment of men, and for to stand my friends in stead against their enemies and mine in the day of battle.  
24. Knowest thou how it comes to 
24. By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the East-wind upon the earth?  pass that the lightning should so forcibly break out of the cloud in a thunder storm, as even to break and interrupt the course of the strongest wind, and suddenly turn and scatter it all abroad into the several corners of the world.  
25. Who is it, thou or I, that divides 
25. Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters? or a way for the lightning of thunder?  and sends the waterclouds (those great bottells of heaven) hither & thither, to pour out their rain, and to cause inundations in this or that place, or that directs the lightning which breaks forth of the thunder-cloud with such swift violence, to go that way it takes, and do the thing it effects?  
26. Causing it by such means to 
26. To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is, on the wilderness, wherein there is no man?  rain, not only in places inhabited, for the use of men, but even on the remotest parts of the world, where no man ever came, and in the vast wilderness, where no man inhabits; (surely then it is not thee.)  
27. Thereby to satisfy the desolate and 
27. To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth.  waste places which no man makes use of, and to cause the grass and herb to grow even there, as I at first decreed it for the use of the wildbeasts also that inhabit there in stead of men.  
28. These things are beyond thy 
28. Hahe the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?  sphere, they are not ordinarily propagated according to thy understanding; for what father hath the rain, or who begets the drops of dew?  
29. Or what woman can the ice 
29. Out of whose womb came the ice, and the hoary frost of heaven? who hath gendered it?  call mother; and the hoary frost that comes down from heaven upon the earth, by what man and woman is it begotten and conceived?  
30. The waters (thou seest) are covered 
30. The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.  with ice as if they were paved over with stone, and the deepest rivers become passable, being frozen over.  
31. Canst thou alter the seasons of 
31. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades? or lose the bands of Orion?  the year, by appointing either the Springtime to come later, by hindering the coming of the seven stars, which are proper to that season, and the distilling of their sweet influences: or canst thou dissolve the Winter frosts, accompanying the constellations of that season, and so expedite and shorten that cold and comfortless quarter.  
32. Canst thou command those remote 
32. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?  and hidden stars of the South to show themselves in their sommer-season, or direct the Northern constellations to know their course, and to appear in Autumn?  
33. Knowest thou the regiment 
33. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?  which is held and exercised up above in the heavenly orbs, what order and laws God hath constituted for the motions and influences thereof; canst thou who livest here below order and dispose them to execute their several uses and operations on earth whereto I have appointed them?  
34. Canst thou command the 
34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?  clouds to do thee service, and to send down rain enough to serve thy turn when thou hast need?  
35. Canst thou send the swift flying 
35. Canst thou send lightnings that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?  lightnings, and cause them go from one end of the heavens to another in an instant, upon thy errand? canst thou bring them to offer themselves to be at thy command, as they are at mine?  
36. Who is it that hath made man 
36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?  a reasonable creature, and given him understanding? hast thou made thyself so?  
37. Who with all his wisdom can 
37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven?  give a perfect account of those numberless clouds in the heavens, but I? Who both made them, and disposeth of them all, as many as they are, to their end and uses; or who but I can restrain the rain, which is heavy of itself, and intends downward, from falling out of the clouds?  
38. When the ground hath had its 
38. When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together.  fill; so that the light dust is turned into lumps of earth, and that which was tossed with every wind, is clodded and agglutinated by water into an heavy substance.  
39 Or, if thou canst not skill of 
39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the Lions? or fill the appetite of the young lions?  these things, because they are above thee; then wilt thou undertake to provide food upon earth, where thou hast thine abode, for the beasts & birds that live thereupon; yea, for the most ravenous of them (which I do) as the Lion and his hungry whelps.  
40. Hast thou given them the Art 
40. When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?  they use in catching their prey, with couchant and covert cunning to steal upon, and suddenly surprise it?  
41. Or, is it by thy or my providence, 
41. Who provideth for the Raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.  that the Ravens are provided for, and that the young ones being early forsaken of the old, and wanting skill to shift for themselves, wand'ring here and there, yet have their cries heard, which nature hath taught them, to put up to God in their necessity, and answered with supply of food?   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
1. DOth thine eye of providence 
1. Knowest thou the time when the wild Goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the Hinds do calve?  overlook and take care for the maintenance of each creature in its kind and species, reacheth it even to wild Goats which are out of any man's dominion, dwelling in unaccessible rocks, so that is it thou that makest them conceive and bring forth in their season; or do the Hinds either, do the like by thine ordination and vigilancy?  
2. Hast thou appointed them the 
2. Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?  time they shall go with young before they bring them forth, and when the time is fulfilled, is it by, or of thee they do it?  
3. Is it thou that hast given them 
3. They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.  the instinct to know the instant of production, and as wild as they are, considerately to go about it in such a manner as may be most easeful to themselves, and least hurtful to their offspring, by bowing their bodies the better to strain themselves, and dilate the passage, so they do, and thereby deliver themselves of their young by this their natural midwifery, and cast out that in a moment which hath been so long time burdensome to them.  
4. And when their young ones are 
4. Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn: they go forth and return not unto them.  brought forth, they appear in good plight, by natures nourishing and caring for them in the mother's belly, and after that, they thrive and come on as well as if they were fed with corn: They leave their dams betime, and yet by nature's instinct, shift well enough for themselves.  
5. Who is it that hath ordained 
5. Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild Ass?  creatures as well wild as tame, who but I have naturally set the wild Ass at liberty, and made him untameable to any man's yoke?  
6. Appointing him the vast and desert 
6. Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.  wilderness to inhabit in, where he rangeth without subjection or control of any, and by my constitution chooseth of his own instinct to abide and feed most upon the very worst soil, whereas other creatures desire the best.  
7. He knows no obedience to any, 
7. He scorneth the multitude of the City, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.  but setteth light by all men, scorning to be subjected by how many or whomsoever, neither will he be ruled as other beasts, to go and come at the command and voice of the driver.  
8. He is not enclosed within hedges 
8. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.  and pales like other cattle, but rangeth at large upon the high and great mountains, where he feeds, and takes his liberty without restraint, to eat what ever likes him.  
9 Canst thou get the Unicorns 
9 Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee? or abide by thy crib?  good will to come under thy yoke, and do thy work? or canst thou tame him like an Ox, to be a domestic beast, and at thy finding?  
10. Canst thou tether or gear him 
10. Canst thou bind the Unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?  like a horse, or will he be brought to drive or lead at Plough or Harrow?  
11. Because he hath strength enough 
11. Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great, or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?  to do thee service (yea, more than those which do) wilt thou therefore conclude he must and shall?  
12. Wilt thou trust to his gentleness 
12. Wilt thou believe him that he will bring home thy seed? and gather it into thy barn?  to bring home thy corn, and to in thy harvest in stead of thy Ox and Horse? if thou dost, thou wilt be deceived?  
13. Gavest thou the Peacock that 
13. Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the Peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the Ostrich?  glorious show which he makes when his tail is spread abroad like the wings of a bird in the air, or didst thou bestow those beautiful feathers upon the Ostrich?  
14. Which differs from all other 
14. Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust.  birds, for when she lays, she unnaturally abandoneth her eggs and exposeth them above ground, only covering them with a little sand or dust to cause them keep their natural heat, in stead of hatching and hurkling them, and so leaves them to receive production from the Sun.  
15. Not heeding what may come 
15. And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.  of them, by exposing them in that manner to the casual mishap either of man, or beast.  
16. And when they are brought 
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear.  forth she is unnaturally strange to them, as though they belonged not to her to provide for: and so through her own carelessness runs hazard (but for me) to lose all the labour which by nature's providence she had taken in engendering, and laying them.  
17. And why doth she thus more 
17. Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.  than others? but because God who hath given instinct of love and providence to other creatures hath denied, and not imparted it to her, as to them?  
18. When she stretcheth up her 
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the Horse, and his rider.  self, and betakes her to her wings and feet (for she flies running, or runs flying, not being able through bulk of body to sore aloft) she cares not for her pursuer, scorning the swiftest horseman should overtake her.  
19 Hast thou put strength into the 
19 Hast thou given he Horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?  horse, hast thou armed him with force and power to bear down all before him, and encounter his enemy with such a shock as if thunder had struck him?  
20. Canst thou make him flinch 
20. Canst thou make him afraid as a Grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.  thee as a Grasshopper? noe, he is anothergates creature. The disdainful snortings which he sends out of his nostrils in his pride, and courage are terrifying.  
21. He paweth up the earth in the 
21. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.  place of battle through the impatiency of his spirit, and glorieth in his strength as unconquerable, fearelesly marching upon the dreadful enemy.  
22. He scorns to fear, nothing 
22. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.  can daunt him, the daring sword cannot make him turn tail.  
23. The rattling of the Arrows, the 
23. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering Spear, and the Shield.  bright steel-headed Spear, or shining Shield appall not his spirit a whit.  
24. In the imagination of his fancy 
24. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, neither believeth he that it is the sound of the Trumpet.  he overturnes all before him, yea the very ground, he stands on, through his fierce desire, to be fight he teareth it with his teeth, or gallops it amain to be at the enemy. Neither doth he respect or conceive any terror at the sound of their trumpet, which threatens the deadly onset, but in the height of his courage counts it as a whistle.  
25. Deafing their noise, and proudly 
25. He saith among the Trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle a far of, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting?  answering them in way of scorn and challenge with his loud and daring neighings, his courage makes him quick scented, so that he smells the battle, and snorts with a hasty desire to be at it, before it be, being provoked by the braving flourishes and tumultuous noise of the approaching Army, which he impatiently sees and hears.  
26 Hast thou by thy wisdom taught 
26. Doth the Hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the South?  the Hawk her dexterity in flight, and learned her by instinct to choose the warm Southern parts of the World to take to for the place of her prey, when cold weather comes.  
27. Is it by thy or my power and ordinance, 
27. Doth the Eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?  that the Eagle is so strong as to mount plum up (which no bird else can do) to an infinite height, and that she build her nest on high in unaccessible places.  
28. She lives & breeds upon the rock, 
28. She dwelleth and abideth on the Rock, upon the crag of the Rock, and the strong place.  upon the Crag of the Rock, which is so steep and dangerous that no man nor beast dare climb it, and so strong that the Sea though with all its force it beat against it, cannot move it.  
29. From whence she goes far 
29. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.  to fetch her prey, and though her sharp sightedness can see it thence at a mighty distance.  
30. She trains up her young ones 
30. Her young ones also suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she.  to her own trade feeding them with flesh, and acquainting them with the sweet of blood, and where the greatest slaughter is made, and most blood shed, there is the place of her delight, thither by a strange sagacity of nature she resorteth, and carrieth her young ones with her.   

CHAP. XL.  
1. HAving said all this, now God 
1 Moreover the Lord answered job, and said.  sets it home upon Job with this sharp reprehension.  
2. Hearest thou this, and by it perceivest 
2 Shall he that contendeth with the All mighty, instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.  thou not thy ignorance and weakness together with my power and wisdom, and thinkest thou now that it is fit for any man whatsoever to contend with one so almighty, and to instruct one so wise; he that dares to question and quarrel God in any his ways, and works, as thou hast not stuck to do, let him make answer to this that I have opposed, that so there may appear to be some equality, and this do thou, if thou canst?  
3. Jobs spirit being appalled by 
3. Then job answered the Lord, and said.  Gods immediate parley, & unexpected apparition in the whirlwind, and his understanding being nonplussed with such high questions, and withal seeing the Lord provoked, humbly addresseth himself to make answerto him in this manner.  
4. I now confess to thee, and all the 
4. Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.  world, my sin and folly in misbehaving myself in such a manner towards such a God, by questioning and not submitting to thee, but in stead of going on to do so, I revoke my chal●●● and humble my sel●e at thy feet, acknowledging myself (compared with thee) every way vile and base, and utterly unable to answer any of thy demands, therefore I beg leave of thee that I may be silent, granting all thou hast said of thy greatness, and my weakness to be true, and bewailing my overdaring rashness.  
5. Once indeed I was so foolish, as 
5. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer: yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.  to desire a dispute between us, but I repent it, and now my turn comes to reply, I will make no answer, but confess mine error, yea, though then in passion I was eager upon it, yet now the case is altered with me, I have enough of it, and my mouth is stopped for ever doing the like again.  
6. But God took the matter so ill 
6. Then answered the Lord unto job out of the whirlwind, and said.  at Jobs hands, that he should so forget himself, and by his carriage in some respect, though not altogether, as it were, disprove him, and make good Satan's words; that he would not accept of this submission, but again quite to break the neck of his pride, angrily breaks in upon Job thus:  
7. What dost thou flinch? Sure 
7. Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.  thou scornest it; Thou wilt certainly make good thy challenge; come therefore, stand to it, and play the man as thou saidst thou wouldst do, I'll do as I did; I'll oppose, and thou shalt answer.  
8. Wilt thou also question and suspect 
8. Wilt thou also disannul my judgement? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?  my justice, as wicked men, and such as know not God are wont to do? I had not thought it by thee, or that thou wouldst have carried the matter so high through pride of spirit, as to go about to condemn me of overmuch rigour, and justify thyself.  
9 Knowest thou me no better? art 
9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?  thou any way my equal, or fit to contend with me; is thy strength like mine; or canst thou equal the noise and terror of my thunder with any speech and power of thine?  
10. Canst thou make thyself a 
10. Deck thyself now with majestly and excellency, and array thyself with glory and beauty.  God as I am? if thou canst, do; and adorn thyself with such majesty and excellency, glory and beauty as mine is.  
11. Canst thou execute judgement 
11. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.  in wrath all the world over, and canst thou perceive the proud behaviour and carriage of men every where, and abase them as I do?  
12. Behold with me every proud-hearted 
12. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.  man, and bring him down, do thou extend thy power like me to root out the wicked in every place wheresoever throughout the world they exalt themselves, and practise wickedness.  
13. Slay them in thy wrath, and bury 
13. Hide them in the dust together, and bind their faces in secret.  them in the grave of forgetfulness, even all and every one, how many, or of what condition soever they be, extinguish thou their pride by death, and make their memories perish.  
14. When thou canst do these 
14. Then will I also confess unto thee, that thine own right hand can save thee.  things, then will I confess and say with thee, that thou art fit and able to encounter with me.  
15. But yet for thy further convincing, 
15. Behold now, Behemoth which I made with thee, he eateth grass as an Ox!  I will instance to thee two of my most remarkable creatures which I have framed, the one by land, the other by sea, which I would have thee take special notice of. And first, for the land, Consider the Elephant which is thy fellow creature, both of you made by me, how far notwithstanding he goeth beyond thee in hugeness and strength and yet by my ordination he is as harmless as any other beast, preying upon nothing but grass, though he were able to devour all afore him.  
16. I have endowed him with wonderful 
16. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.  strength, but how, and where? Why not in any offensive part; his head hath no horns, nor his feet no claws to do mischief with, but to the end he might be more serviceable to man in bearing of burdens and drawing loads, I have placed it elsewhere, and chiefly in his lower parts, as his loins, and about his belly.  
17. In so much that in the heat of his 
17. He moveth his tail like a Cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.  lust he erects his generative part like a strong cedar Tree, being corroborated from nature's cundit-pipes, the sinews of his stones, which are wrapped together like as you see the roots of a great grown Tree, in the earth.  
18. The bones in his body are as 
18. His bones are as strong pieces of brass, his bones are like bars of iron.  strong as if they were made of brass, and like so many bars of iron.  
19 He is if well considered the remarkeablest 
19 He is the chief of the ways of God, he that made him, can make his sword to approach unto him.  piece of creation that the earth affordeth to set forth God's power, and might, and yet as strong as he is, I that made him and gave him his strength, can break his brass and iron bones to pieces at my pleasure, though man be too weak for him.  
20. And surely for all he so far goes 
20. Surely the mountains bring him forth food▪ where all the beasts of the field play.  beyond all other beasts that none can stand against him or are equal to him for strength, yet he is nourished with the same food that they are, with grass, etc. And goes quietly with them, and feeds peaceably among them, without either hurting, or so much as frighting them, by mine appointment.  
21. Through his natural heat and 
21. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.  being bred in hot countries, his abode is in shady places, and for that cause lies much under Trees, and where there are high grown reeds, and fens, thither he resorts.  
22. He haunts out the coolest places, as 
22. The shady Trees cover him with their shadow: the willows of the brook compass him about.  under great Trees and by brook-sides where willows grow thick and afford most shade, there is he most conversant.  
23. Consider what a huge proportion 
23. Behold, he drinketh up a River, and hasteth not, he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.  he drinks to quench his thirst, as if he would quite exhaust and drink the whole river dry, and whilst he is drinking he fears no danger as other cattle do, that through the frightfulnes of their disposition break their drought to stare about them: In the vast imagination of his fancy he conceits he can devour, and drink up whole Jordan at once, when he goes thither to quench his thirst.  
24. If he seeth a snare set for him, it inrageth 
24. He taketh it with his eyes: (or as in the margin, will any take him in his sight) his nose pierceth through snares.  him being privy to his exceeding strength, in so much that with his trunk he makes his way through them with ease, and disdain.   

CHAP. XLI.  
1. HAving thus shown thee, the Elephant 
1. Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord, which thou lettest down?  by land, now in the next place consider well the Whale (or some such extraordinary fish) by Sea. Canst thou angle for him, catch him, and draw him on shore with a line, and hook, as thou dost other lesser Fishes?  
2. Hast thou strength to overmaster 
2. Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?  him & ring him like a Swine or a Bear, or canst thou rule him so as to suffer himself to be led by the nose, as Bears, and some such beasts as thou hast tamed do?  
3 Will he lie down like a Spaniel at 
3. Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?  thy command, and wag his tail to fawn upon thee?  
4. Will he put himself into thy service 
4. Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?  for hay, and corn, as other creatures, and wilt thou undertake to command and employ him, like them, upon all thy affairs, and to do thy businesses?  
5. Canst thou handle him like a Sparrow, 
5. Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?  or tame him so that thy maids may play with him without fear?  
6. Shall the fishermen who join in 
6. Shall the companions make a banquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?  company and partnership, catch him in their nets like other fishes, and for joy of such a draught feast themselves and make merry with him; shall they merchandise him, shall they share and trade away the several commodities which he yields of whale-bone and oil, etc.  
7. Is his skin penetrable like other 
7. Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?  fishes, so that thou canst take him with such tools and fishing instruments as thou takest them?  
8. Draw near and offer but the least 
8. Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.  violence to him if thou darest, and he'll quickly make thee repent it, so that thou wilt have little joy to fight it out with him.  
9 For certain he is a creature that 
9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down, even at the sight of him?  man hath small hopes to bring under his dominion and make serviceable, who is so formidable, that no man dare attempt it, for his very sight a far off is able to scare a man from venturing on him.  
10. Who is he that dare provoke him, 
10. None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?  or that hath the courage to encounter him? not one, and if so, then how dare any attempt the like towards me and think to prevail, or not miscarry, who am the Creator, and he but my creature?  
11. Who hath been aid full to me in the 
11. Who hath prevented me that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.  creation, or who hath made any of my creatures for me, that I may acknowledge it and be thankful to him for it, is not every creature that thou seest or knowest in the land and sea, of what might or strength soever they be, is he not mine, and have not I made him? what manner of apprehension than ought men to have of me, and with what fear ought they to reverence me?  
12. Yea, this great Leviathan is of 
12. I will not conceal his parts; nor his power, nor his comely proportion.  my making, which I will yet further anatomize and set forth unto thee; for I would have thee consider him well in his extraordinary qualities, strength and lineaments, that so thou mayest learn to know thy distance with God.  
13. Who can handle him like a horse, 
13. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can come to him with his double bridle?  to bring him out of the sea to view him, as a horse out of a stable? Who will undertake, or dare, to tame and halter him with all the strength and skill he hath?  
14. Who dare look into his mouth, 
14. Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.  as in a horses, when you buy him, which is like a pair of two leaved doors for wideness; or force a bit between his teeth, which are so monstrous great and terrible on both sides his mouth?  
15. His scales are like so many glistering 
15. His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal.  shields wherein he puts his confidence, and takes his pride, which are so closed and put together, like paper sealed with wax, as that nothing can part them.  
16. Yea, there is such a juncture, as 
16. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them.  that nothing can go between, no, not the thin and subtle air, which yet pierceth the pores of all other things.  
17. They are leapt one over another 
17. They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered.  like tiles on a house, but so close, and stick so fast together, that neither sword nor spear can pierce him.  
18. His forcible snortings which he 
18. By his sneezings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.  utters in his courage, causeth, as it were, fire to break out at his nose and eyes, which whensoever they are seen above water, appear as the breaking out of the Sun in the morning.  
19 He breatheth out of his mouth a 
19 Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out.  strong sulphurous vapour, enkindled in him from the strength and heat of nature, which inflameth his breath like fire.  
20. Out of the two holes of his head 
20. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron.  whereat he breathes out, and takes in air in stead of nostrils, he sends thence such vapour of smoke, as if it did rise out of a great boiling caldron.  
21. His breath is of that nature by 
21. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.  reason of his hot and fiery constitution, that it is able to kindle coals, and warm like fire.  
22. He is infinitely strong and able to 
22. In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.  bear down whatsoever he shall encounter, nor fears he an enemy, but takes pleasure to war with any, joying thereby to put forth his strength and cherish his pride.  
23. And as are his scales without, so 
23. The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves, they cannot be moved.  is his flesh within, firm, solid, and compact in thick and mighty flakes.  
24. He is not timorous like other 
24. His heart is as firm as a stone, yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.  creatures, his heart is as uncapable of fear as a stone, yea, as impenetrable by any such passion as is the nethermost millstone.  
25. When as he shows himself 
25. When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of break they purify themselves.  upon the surface of the water, he affrights the most courageous warrior, yea, with his fierce and violent motion in the sea, wherewith he makes his way, breaking through waves, and sending up foam, he makes the stoutest betake themselves to make peace with God, and beg pardon for their sins, concluding death unavoidably to be at hand.  
26. If any man be so hardy to strike 
26. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon.  him, his sword will fly in pieces, his scales are so impenetrable, that neither sword nor spear, nor dart, nor indeed any other instrument of war can wound him.  
27. He sets as much by iron, or any 
27. He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.  weapon that is made thereof, as a man does by a straw; and so by brass, as a man does by rotten sticks, which he can snap in pieces at his pleasure.  
28. He cares not for a whole shower 
28. The arrow cannot make him fly: sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.  of arrows shot at him, nor for never so many stones, be they never so strongly slung; they fall at his feet, and are no more to him than the stubble which a man treads upon.  
29. Darts, though thrown at him 
29. Darts are counted as stubble, he laugheth at the shaking of the spear.  never so thick, are no more esteemed and cared for by him, than a man respects dried straw; he fears no threatening a man can use towards him, the shaking of the spear appalls not him a jot.  
30. He rests himself upon the hard 
30. Sharp stones are under him, he spreadeth sharpe-pointed things upon the mire.  and sharpe-pointed stones of the rock, and yet they never pierce him, but he by his weight and strength breaks them off, and tumbles them down into the bottom of the sea.  
31. When he moves in his might, he 
31. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.  makes the Ocean to foam and to boil like a pot on the fire, he raiseth a thick scum upon the face of the waters, as if the whole sea were a pot of ointment.  
32. He raiseth such a white shining 
32. He maketh a path to shine after him, one would think the deep to be hoary.  foam all along as he swimmeth, and so changeth the colour of the water, that one would think a hoary frost covered the deep and wide sea.  
33. I told thee before of Behemoth, 
33. Upon earth there is not his like: who is made without fear.  but this is far beyond him, the whole earth hath not the like creature upon it for a dreadless spirit.  
34. In his own conceit he so exalts 
34. He beholdeth all high things; he is a king over all the children of pride.  himself, that through the confidence of his strength and height of his spirit he scornfully opinionates even the mightest and greatest monsters by Sea and Land to be inferior to him, and believeth himself, as indeed he is, for might and power, to be the supreme of all elementary creatures how ever excellent.   

CHAP. XLII.  
WHen Job had heard out 
1. Then job answered the Lord, and said.  God, he thus makes answer.  
2. I humbly acknowledge it, that thou 
2. I know that thou canst do every thing; and that no thought can be withholden from thee.  and thou only hast made all the creatures, and works of wonder which thou hast spoken of, yea that thou canst do even whatsoever pleaseth thee to do, and that thy power is of such large extent, that not so much as a thought of any man's heart (which also is of thy making) can be hid from thee, nor can any thought or intention of thine be withstood or hindered from being brought to pass by thee.  
3. Well mightest thou tax me as thou 
3. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.  didst of my foolish questioning thy wise decrees and proceedings with my weak reasonings, which by an eye of faith issuing from an humble heart are only discernible, therefore I humbly confess my fault, That I have been too bold and saucy with so great a majesty and with thy sacred decrees and actions, uttering things ignorantly of thee and them, I wist not what, which now repent me.  
4. I am not the man I was, therefore 
4. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, & declare thou unto me.  now that thou hast done, I beseech thee hear me speak, which shall be in another manner then at first when I pass my foolish challenge, desiring now to be instructed and not disputed with by thee.  
5. I confess I have been ignorant 
5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.  of thee to this very day, for though I have had some manner knowledge of thee by hearsay of what hath been taught me of old from my forefathers who were but men like myself, as also even now by Elihu; Yet now this short lesson of thine own immediate teaching hath learned me more, and to more purpose in a little time being an eyewitness of thy glory, than all that ever I knew before.  
6. In so much that now I eat my 
6. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.  words and abhor myself for my presumptuous misbehaviour, repenting it with as lowly a spirit as I sinned it with an high.  
7. When God had finished his business 
7. And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words into job, the Lord said to Elipha●, the Temanit●. My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.  with job, & matters were reconciled between them two, having quickly brought him to see his folly and repent his pride; Then God turns himself to jobs three friends to convince them also of their miscarriage, and because Eliphaz was the ancientest and had first broached the error whereof the other two were after guilty, he addresses himself to him by name and tells him, That he was justly angry with him, and his two companions, for because you have preached false doctrine touching me, and have been too bold to limit my sovereignty, by chalking me out ways, and prescribing me rules of justice in the execution of my will, and dispensation of my providence, as if I always must and did afflict men for, and according to the measure of their sins, & spare them for their righteousness and innocency sake, which is a gross untruth, and the contrary to which my servant job maintained, to wit, That I am free to do my will, and incomprehensible in my ways, which is right.  
8. Therefore to expiate your offence 
8. Therefore take unto you now seven Bullocks, and seven Rams, and go to my servant job, and offer up for yourselves a hurnt offering, and my servant job shall pray for you, for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant job.  take with you such a sacrifice as I shall appoint, that is, seven Bullocks and seven Rams, and go to my servant job, reconcile yourselves to him as touching the wrong you have done him as well as me, and give them him that he may do the office of a Priest, that is, offer up sacrifice and prayers for you all jointly, who have all been guilty of the same sin; and the prayers of my servant Job who is an upright man, and one whom I much respect, how ever you misjudged him, shall prevail with me (through the office and person of my son which herein he resembles) to pardon you: I say do this, thus, and excuse not the matter by your ignorance or well-meaning towards me, nor dispute my command, as loath to eat your words, or to justify job whom you have already condemned; but dispatch, and go about this business, lest I give you your desert and make you feel the effects of your foolish presumption, in that you have dared to measure me out by your meet▪ wands, and prescribe me ways to walk in, and so have falsified the truth, which my servant job maintained against you.  
9 Whereupon these three aforesaid 
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naaneathite, went and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted job.  friends of job, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naaneathite went straightway, having received so strict a charge from God, and did what the Lord commanded them; for whom at their requests, Job put up his petitions to God, and was so accepted in his person, sacrifice and prayer, being a figure of Christ therein, that at his intercession their offence was forgiven them.  
10. And as job in his meekness and 
10. And the Lord turned the captivity of job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave job twice as much as he had before.  charity forgave his friends their trespasses, and prayed for them; so God forgave him his, and at that instant released him of his misery which he had been held in so long, and turned his sorrow into joy, by testifying his love to him in his acceptance of him, and by vindicating his uprightness and innocency against his accusers: moreover, God recompensed the loss and sufferings which job sustained, with double to what he had before.  
11. And brought him into favour 
11. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.  again with those parties that partly for his poverty, and partly upon suspicion of his hypocrisy had cast him off, so that now there flocked to him from far and near, all his brethren and sisters and his old acquaintance, which it seems though they were near to him, and had been intimate with him, yet upon this occasion had been of late estranged, till now that they saw the face of things were changed, and then they come themselves to visit him, and to pity him for what he had suffered, and to comfort him with gratifying his deliverance and freedom from all the afflictions that God had laid upon him; moreover, besides their visiting him, every man further congratulated his recovery (God moving their hearts) with a present of money and jewels, in testimony of their love and respect.  
12. Thus the Lord humbled Job 
12. So the Lord blessed the later end of job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand Camels, and a thousand yoke of Oxen, and a thousand she-Asses.  very low, to be a pattern of faith and patience to his Saints in aftertimes, by remembering his later end, which God made far to exceed his beginning in abundance of all good things, yea, double to what he had; for whereas before he had but seven thousand sheep, now he had fourteen thousand, and so likewise his former three thousand Camels were now multiplied into six thousand, and his five hundred yoke of Oxen were doubled into a thousand, and his five hundred she-Asses into as many.  
13. And whereas all his children 
13. He had also seven sons and three daughters.  you heard were taken from him, he had them restored him again, even their full number; seven sons and three daughters. 
14. And he called the name of the first Jemima, and the name of the second Kezia, and the name of the third Keren-happuch.   
14. Whom he thus named: The eldest daughter he called jemima, or long life: The second he called Kezia, or pleasant spice: the youngest he called Keren-happuch, or the horn of beauty; prophesying in them the long life, together with the comfortable and happy condition which by the bounteous goodness of God he should yet enjoy.  
15. Which three daughters, for a 
15. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.  further blessing unto job, were the fairest women in all the land where he lived, and were had in greatest reputation for their beauty, and as God gave them an extraordinary blessing to him, so he made them an extraordinary precedent; for out of his love to them, and in reward of their virtues he gave to every of them severally, as to his sons, a portion of his land in stead of money to inherit, to them and to their heirs for ever; so that they shared proportionably with their brethren by their father's Will and Testament, and were coheires with them in his estate. 
16. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his son's sons, even four generations.   
16. And thus all these sorrows which job thought he should never have seen an end of, he survived, and after them lived in prosperity and plenty a hundred and forty years, so that he became a great Grandfather before he died. 
17. So job died being old, and full of days.   
17. And so job ended his days in a good old age, and was carried to his grave like as a shock of corn cometh in, in his season.  
FINIS.    

Imprimatur.  
Tho. Wykes. junij 14. 1638.