Job Chapter 31
Other Translations
asv (asv) - eBible.org engASV USFM
1
And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
2
Behold, he putteth no trust in his holy ones;
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Yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight:
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How much less one that is abominable and corrupt,
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A man that drinketh iniquity like water!
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I will show thee, hear thou me;
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And that which I have seen I will declare
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(Which wise men have told
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From their fathers, and have not hid it;
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Unto whom alone the land was given,
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And no stranger passed among them):
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The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days,
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Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.
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A sound of terrors is in his ears;
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In prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
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He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness,
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And he is waited for of the sword.
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He wandereth abroad for bread,
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saying, Where is it?
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He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
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Distress and anguish make him afraid;
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They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
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Because he hath stretched out his hand against God,
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And behaveth himself proudly against the Almighty;
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He runneth upon him with a
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stiff neck,
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With the thick bosses of his bucklers;
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Because he hath covered his face with his fatness,
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And gathered fat upon his loins;
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And he hath dwelt in desolate cities,
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In houses which no man inhabited,
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Which were ready to become heaps;
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He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
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Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.
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He shall not depart out of darkness;
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The flame shall dry up his branches,
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And by the breath of
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God’s mouth shall he go away.
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Let him not trust in vanity, deceiving himself;
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For vanity shall be his recompense.
darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext
1
I made a covenant with mine eyes; and how should I fix my regard upon a maid?
2
For what would have been [my] portion ofGod from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high?
3
Is not calamity for the unrighteous? and misfortune for the workers of iniquity?
4
Doth not he see my ways, and number all my steps?
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If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot hath hasted to deceit,
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(Let me be weighed in an even balance, andGod will take knowledge of my blamelessness;)
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If my step have turned out of the way, and my heart followed mine eyes, and if any blot cleaveth to my hands;
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Let me sow, and another eat; and let mine offspring be rooted out.
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If my heart have been enticed unto a woman, so that I laid wait at my neighbour's door,
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Let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her.
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For this is an infamy; yea, it is an iniquity [to be judged by] the judges:
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For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.
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If I have despised the cause of my bondman or of my bondmaid, when they contended with me,
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What then should I do whenGod riseth up? and if he visited, what should I answer him?
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Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not One fashion us in the womb?
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If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
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Or have eaten my morsel alone, so that the fatherless ate not thereof,
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(For from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and I have guided the [widow] from my mother's womb;)
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If I have seen any perishing for want of clothing, or any needy without covering;
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If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
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If I have lifted up my hand against an orphan, because I saw my help in the gate:
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[Then] let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone!
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For calamity fromGod was a terror to me, and by reason of his excellency I was powerless.
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If I have made gold my hope, or said to the fine gold, My confidence!
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If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;
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If I beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,
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And my heart have been secretly enticed, so that my mouth kissed my hand:
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This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied theGod who is above.
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If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, and exulted when evil befell him;
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(Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;)
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If the men of my tent said not, Who shall find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat? —
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The stranger did not lodge without; I opened my doors to the pathway.
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If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom,
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Because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and went not out of the door, ...
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Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold my signature: let the Almighty answer me! And let mine opponent write an accusation!
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Would I not take it upon my shoulder? I would bind it on to me [as] a crown;
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I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I come near to him.
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If my land cry out against me, and its furrows weep together;
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If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have tormented to death the souls of its owners:
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Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and tares instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.
lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM
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I made a covenant with mine eyes, and I will not think upon a virgin.
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Now what portion has God given from above? and is there an inheritance [given] of the Mighty One from the highest?
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Alas! destruction to the unrighteous, and rejection to them that do iniquity.
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Will he not see my way, and number all my steps?
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But if I had gone with scorners, and if too my foot has hasted to deceit:
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(for I am weighed in a just balance, and the Lord knows my innocence:)
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if my foot has turned aside out of the way, or if mine heart has followed mine eye, and if too I have touched gifts with my hands;
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then let me sow, and let others eat; and let me be uprooted on the earth.
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If my heart has gone forth after another man's wife, and if I laid wait at her doors;
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then let my wife also please another, and let my children be brought low.
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For the rage of anger is not to be controlled, [in the case] of defiling [another] man's wife.
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For it is a fire burning on every side, and whomsoever it attacks, it utterly destroys.
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And if too I despised the judgment of my servant or [my] handmaid, when they pleaded with me;
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what then shall I do if the Lord should try me? and if also he should at all visit me, can I make an answer?
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Were not they too formed as I also was formed in the womb? yea, we were formed in the same womb.
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But the helpless missed not whatever need they had, and I did not cause the eye of the widow to fail.
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And if too I ate my morsel alone, and did not impart [of it] to the orphan;
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(for I nourished [them] as a father from my youth, and guided [them] from my mother's womb.)
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And if too I overlooked the naked as he was perishing, and did not clothe him;
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and if the poor did not bless me, and their shoulders were [not] warmed with the fleece of my lambs;
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if I lifted my hand against an orphan, trusting that my strength was far superior [to his]:
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let then my shoulder start from the blade-bone, and my arm be crushed off from the elbow.
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For the fear of the Lord constrained me, and I cannot bear up by reason of his burden.
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If I made gold my treasure, and if too I trusted the precious stone;
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and if too I rejoiced when my wealth was abundant, and if too I laid my hand on innumerable [treasures]:
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(do we not see the shining sun eclipsed, and the moon waning? for they have not [power to continue]:)
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and if my heart was secretly deceived, and if I have laid my hand upon my mouth and kissed it:
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let this also then be reckoned to me as the greatest iniquity: for I [should] have lied against the Lord Most High.
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And if too I was glad at the fall of mine enemies, and mine heart said, Aha!
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let then mine ear hear my curse, and let me be a by-word among my people in my affliction.
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And if too my handmaids have often said, Oh that we might be satisfied with his flesh; (whereas I was very kind:
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for the stranger did not lodge without, and my door was opened to every one that came:)
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or if too having sinned unintentionally, I hid my sin;
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(for I did not stand in awe of a great multitude, so as not to declare boldly before them:) and if too I permitted a poor man to go out of my door with an empty bosom:
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(Oh that I had a hearer,) and if I had not feared the hand of the Lord; and [as to] the written charge which I had against any one,
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I would place [it] as a chaplet on my shoulders, and read it.
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And if I did not read it and return it, having taken nothing from the debtor:
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If at any time the land groaned against me, and if its furrows mourned together;
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and if I ate its strength alone without price, and if too I grieved the heart of the owner of the soil, by taking [aught] from [him]:
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then let the nettle come up to me instead of wheat, and a bramble instead of barley. And Job ceased speaking.
vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)
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Pepigi fœdus cum oculis meis ut ne cogitarem quidem de virgine.
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Quam enim partem haberet in me Deus desuper, et hereditatem Omnipotens de excelsis?
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Numquid non perditio est iniquo, et alienatio operantibus iniustitiam?
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Nonne ipse considerat vias meas, et cunctos gressus meos dinumerat?
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Si ambulavi in vanitate, et festinavit in dolo pes meus:
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Appendat me in statera iusta, et sciat Deus simplicitatem meam.
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Si declinavit gressus meus de via, et si secutum est oculos meos cor meum, et si manibus meis adhæsit macula:
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Seram, et alium comedat: et progenies mea eradicetur.
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Si deceptum est cor meum super muliere, et si ad ostium amici mei insidiatus sum:
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Scortum alterius sit uxor mea, et super illam incurventur alii.
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Hoc enim nefas est, et iniquitas maxima.
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Ignis est usque ad perditionem devorans, et omnia eradicans genimina.
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Si contempsi subire iudicium cum servo meo, et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum me.
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Quid enim faciam cum surrexerit ad iudicandum Deus? et cum quæsierit, quid respondebo illi?
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Numquid non in utero fecit me qui et illum operatus est: et formavit me in vulva unus?
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Si negavi, quod volebant, pauperibus, et oculos viduæ expectare feci:
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Si comedi buccellam meam solus, et non comedit pupillus ex ea:
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(Quia ab infantia mea crevit mecum miseratio: et de utero matris meæ egressa est mecum.)
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Si despexi pereuntem, eo quod non habuerit indumentum, et absque operimento pauperem:
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Si non benedixerunt mihi latera eius, et de velleribus ovium mearum calefactus est:
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Si levavi super pupillum manum meam, etiam cum viderem me in porta superiorem:
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Humerus meus a iunctura sua cadat, et brachium meum cum suis ossibus confringatur.
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Semper enim quasi tumentes super me fluctus timui Deum, et pondus eius ferre non potui.
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Si putavi aurum robur meum, et obrizo dixi: Fiducia mea.
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Si lætatus sum super multis divitiis meis, et quia plurima reperit manus mea.
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Si vidi solem cum fulgeret, et lunam incedentem clare:
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Et lætatum est in abscondito cor meum, et osculatus sum manum meam ore meo.
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Quæ est iniquitas maxima, et negatio contra Deum altissimum.
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Si gavisus sum ad ruinam eius, qui me oderat, et exultavi quod invenisset eum malum.
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Non enim dedi ad peccandum guttur meum, ut expeterem maledicens animam eius.
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Si non dixerunt viri tabernaculi mei: Quis det de carnibus eius ut saturemur?
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Foris non mansit peregrinus, ostium meum viatori patuit.
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Si abscondi quasi homo peccatum meum, et celavi in sinu meo iniquitatem meam.
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Si expavi ad multitudinem nimiam, et despectio propinquorum terruit me: et non magis tacui, nec egressus sum ostium.
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Quis mihi tribuat auditorem, ut desiderium meum audiat Omnipotens: et librum scribat ipse qui iudicat.
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Ut in humero meo portem illum, et circumdem illum quasi coronam mihi?
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Per singulos gradus meos pronunciabo illum, et quasi principi offeram eum.
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Si adversum me terra mea clamat, et cum ipsa sulci eius deflent:
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Si fructus eius comedi absque pecunia, et animam agricolarum eius afflixi:
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Pro frumento oriatur mihi tribulus, et pro hordeo spina. Finita sunt verba Iob.
web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV
1
“I made a covenant with my eyes; how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?
2
For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?
3
Is it not calamity to the unrighteous, and disaster to the workers of iniquity?
4
Doesn’t he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5
“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit
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(let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity);
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if my step has turned out of the way, if my heart walked after my eyes, if any defilement has stuck to my hands,
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then let me sow, and let another eat. Yes, let the produce of my field be rooted out.
9
“If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door,
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then let my wife grind for another, and let others sleep with her.
11
For that would be a heinous crime. Yes, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
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for it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase.
13
“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,
14
what then will I do when God rises up? When he visits, what will I answer him?
15
Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
16
“If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
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or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it
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(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, I have guided her from my mother’s womb);
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if I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;
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if his heart hasn’t blessed me, if he hasn’t been warmed with my sheep’s fleece;
21
if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate;
22
then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.
23
For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because of his majesty, I can do nothing.
24
“If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’
25
If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;
26
if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,
27
and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth;
28
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God who is above.
29
“If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him
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(I have certainly not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);
31
if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’
32
(the foreigner has not camped in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);
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if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
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because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn’t go out of the door—
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oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
36
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and I would bind it to me as a crown.
37
I would declare to him the number of my steps. I would go near to him like a prince.
38
If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;
39
if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,
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let briers grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.
ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8
1
A covenant I made for mine eyes, And what--do I attend to a virgin?
2
And what <FI>is<Fi> the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?
3
Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
4
Doth not He see my ways, And all my steps number?
5
If I have walked with vanity, And my foot doth hasten to deceit,
6
He doth weigh me in righteous balances, And God doth know my integrity.
7
If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish,
8
Let me sow--and another eat, And my products let be rooted out.
9
If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait,
10
Grind to another let my wife, And over her let others bend.
11
For it <FI>is<Fi> a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;
12
For a fire it <FI>is<Fi> , to destruction it consumeth, And among all mine increase doth take root,
13
If I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
14
Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do I answer Him?
15
Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One.
16
If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume,
17
And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it,
18
(But from my youth He grew up with me as <FI>with<Fi> a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.)
19
If I see <FI>any<Fi> perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy,
20
If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself,
21
If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in <FI>him<Fi> the gate of my court,
22
My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken.
23
For a dread unto me <FI>is<Fi> calamity <FI>from<Fi> God, And because of His excellency I am not able.
24
If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, `My trust,'
25
If I rejoice because great <FI>is<Fi> my wealth, And because abundance hath my hand found,
26
If I see the light when it shineth, And the precious moon walking,
27
And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand doth kiss my mouth,
28
It also <FI>is<Fi> a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.
29
If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,
30
Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.
31
If not--say ye, O men of my tent, `O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.'
32
In the street doth not lodge a stranger, My doors to the traveller I open.
33
If I have covered as Adam my transgressions, To hide in my bosom mine iniquity,
34
Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families doth affright me, Then I am silent, I go not out of the opening.
35
Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written.
36
If not--on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it a crown on myself.
37
The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.
38
If against me my land doth cry out, And together its furrows weep,
39
If its strength I consumed without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,
40
Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed! The words of Job are finished.
Explanations by Age Level
Explain Like I'm 5
A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!
Explain Like I'm 10
Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.
Explain Like I'm 15
Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).