14 If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

is And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

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.

20 Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

21 His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth i not of them.

22 But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

CHAPTER XV.

THEN answered Eliphaz the

Temanite, and said,

2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

5 For thy mouth uttereth thine niquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

6 Thine owu mouth condemneth thee, and not I; yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills ?

8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

9 What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

Job foresaw, or at least enjoyed, some strong intimation of the doctrine of the resurrection; but we must not look for any expression of certainty on subjects of this nature. in the ancient books of Scripture, since it was for Christ to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel. Ver. 17. That is, Thou preservest them in continual

remembrance.

Ver. J. A new section of the book begins here, the first speaker recommencing the dialogue.- Ver. 4. The reproofs of Eliphaz are as unjust as they are severe. Job had not restrained prayer; nor had he spoken iniquity, though his words. were dark and impatient. - Ver. 10. An argument is derived from the present verse, that this divine poem must have been composed in the very earliest times, for the expression of Eliphaz could not have been used to man of Job's age, except at the period when the years of men were prolonged far beyond the time to which human

12 Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

13 That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth?

14 What is man, that he should be clean and he which is born of a woman, that he should be right

eous?

15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight;

16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

17 I will shew thee, hear me ; and that which I have seen I will declare;

18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it;

19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

20 The wicked man travelleth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

21 A dreadful sound is in his ears in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses. of his bucklers;

27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

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.

31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity; for vanity shall be his recompence.

32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

things: miserable comforters are ye all.

3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboideneth thee that thou answerest?

41 also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.

5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged; and though I forbear, what am I eased?

7 But now he hath made me weary thou hast made desolate all my company.

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.

9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out any gall spon the ground.

14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach; he runneth upon ine like a giant.

15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.

16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

17 Not for any injustice in mine hands also my prayer is pure.

18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.

19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

90 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.

21 Oh that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour !

22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not returr.

CHAPTER XVII.

grape as the vine, and shall cast of his flower as the olive.

34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit."

CHAPTER XVI.

THEN Job answered and said,

2 I have heard many such

life now extends.-Ver. 14. This is pure and true doctrine; but Job had not asserted his freedom from sin, but only declared that he had not committed offenees which could be considered, by his fellow-men, as meriting such punishment as he suffered.

are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

2 Are there not mockers with me?

Ver. 5. There is great beauty and pathos in this mingled reproof and complaint of Job's: he knew that his own misery had been increased by the conduct of his friends; but he still felt a glow of sympathy and pity for the afflictions of others, which enabled him to speak thus with an assurance of sincerity, Ver. 9. Job began to discover that it was the author of evil, and not God, who was Alling his soul with horror.-Ver. 18. That is, let my blood remain as a testimony against him who has so cruelly persecuted me; and let not my cry be ever hushed. See Gen. iv. 10; Isaiah, xxvi. 21.

and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?

4 For thou hast hid their heart from understanding. therefore

shalt thou not exalt them.

5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.

6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret.

7 Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.

8 Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.

9 The righteous also shall hold on his way; and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

10 But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.

11 My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.

12 They change the night into day the light is short because of darkness.

13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

14 I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister.

15 And where is now my hope! as for my hope, who shall see it?

16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THEN answered Bildad the Shu

hite, and said,

2 How long will it be ere ye make ar end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.

3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?

4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?

5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.

8 For he is cast into a net by his owu feet, and he walketh upon a

snare.

9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.

10 The snare is laid for him la

Ver. 3. That is, be thou, O God, my sponsor: do thou answer for me to these my unjust accusers; for who otherwise will plead my cause? -Ver. 8. That is, the innocent, astonished at seeing the wicked prosperous, and unpunished, will themselves undertake to vindicate the laws of truth and justice.

Ver. 3. Bildad, deeply stung with the reproaches of Job, again pours forth a train of sentences to confirm the general assertion, that sin is always punished with misery; but it is to be observed, that he does not directly apply his remarks

the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.

12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.

13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the first-born of death shall devour his strength.

14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his : brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.

16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name the street.

18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.

21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

CHAPTER XIX.

THEN Job answered and said,

2 How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

3 These ten times have ye reproached me ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to

me.

4 And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

5 If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach;

6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

7 Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.

9 He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

10 He hath destroyed me on every

to Job, but leaves him to draw the conclusion for himself.

Ver. 5. Job now confesses that he is a sinner, but pathetically asks why his friends should have sought such a time to magnify their own worth or wisdom; and then pours forth new and heart-piercing lamentations, recalling to mind all the sorrows he suffered, and the bitter scorn with which he was treated by those from whom he might have looked for only tenderness and sympathy.-Ver. 7. Out of wrong: or, out of violence. There is no judgment: that is, my enemy is left loose; he is unrestrained by the punishment due to his iniquity and injustice. We might, with Job himself, wonder how this could be; but God was proving the strength of his grace, and was preparing for his heavily afflicted servant a full measure of glory, as a reward for his perseverance. This explains not only the case of Job, but vindicates the

25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

28 But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

29 Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of

united mercy and justice of the Almighty in those numerous other occurrences in which the righteous are seen to suffer from the machinations of Satan.-Ver. 25. Whether this passage be taken in a prophetical sense, or simply as a declaration of faith, it is equally worthy of profound admiration; for what can be more animating to the Christian than to find, that the foundation of his hopes is that rock of ages on which the children of God have ever fixed their regards; that the salvation which is in Christ shed light through the remotest periods of the world; and that whatever consolation the afflicted could obtain in their sorrows was derived from him with whom they live in the happy communion of children redeemed by his blood, sanctified by his Spirit, and filled with the knowledge of a glorious immortality.-Ver. 28. Seeing the root of the matter, &c.: that is, Why do we persecute him on the subject, seeing that the cause of the controversy has its sole origin in his own personal condition, and that, if it be as we say, he alone will have to bear the continued weight of God's displeasure.

the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

CHAPTER XX.

THEN answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

2 Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to an

swer.

4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

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

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

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.

9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

10 His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods.

11 His boxes are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

13 Though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth :

14 Yet his meat in his bowels is turned, it is the gall of asps within him.

15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

16 He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay

him.

17 He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

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.

19 Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

20 Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

21 There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

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.

24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through.

25 It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering

Ver. 5. Zophar continues the general argument by shewing the perishableness of whatever the wicked possess; the brief duration of their triumphs, and the cer tainty of the punishment which they may expect for their injustice.

sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

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.

27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

28 The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

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

CHAPTER XXI.

BUT Job answered and said,

2 Hear diligently my speech; and let this be your consolations. 3 Suffer me that I may speak ; and after that I have spoken, mock

on.

4 As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?

5 Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your

mouth.

6 Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh.

7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down

to the grave.

14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

16 Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from nie.

17 How oft is the candle of the wicked put out? and how oft cometh their destruction upon them? God distributeth sorrows in his anger.

18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

19 God layeth up his iniquity for

Ver. 7. Job answers the remarks of Zophar by proving that the position he took was a false one, for that instead of the wicked being punished in this life by disgrace, sickness, and poverty, they are commonly left in full possession of the good things of the world, and that it is not till they are suddenly snatched from this into the invisible world, that they receive the meed of their deserts. Ver. 16. The patriarch now confirms his assertion respecting the mode in which the wicked are usually punished, shewing how often they perish in the midst of their enjoyments, and leave their houses to become the prey of deso

his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst ?

22 Shall any teach God know. ledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

23 Que dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet :

24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with

29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him

what he hath done?

32 Yet he shall be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

CHAPTER XXII.

THEN Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee will he enter with thee into judgment ?

5 Is not thy wickedness great ? and thine iniquities infinite?

6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

lation. Ver. 19. His iniquity: that is, the iniquity of the wicked, and its consequences.

Ver. 5. Eliphaz, taking the principle, that the righteousness of man cannot profit God, as the foundation of his discourse, shews thereby that Job, however holy he had been, ought not to have spoken as he did, but that it night, in reality, be properly assumed that he had been guilty of many and grievous offences; and he then instances those which the situation of Job appeared to render it most probable he might have committed:

9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken:

10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

13 And thou sayest, How doth God know! can he judge through the dark cloud?

14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden ? 16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood;

17 Which said unto God, Depart from us; and what can the Almighty do for them?

18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19 The righteous see it, and are glad; and the innocent laugh them

to scorn.

20 Whereas our substance is not cut down; but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.

22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

CHAPTER XXIII.

4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would know the words which he would auswer me, and understand what he would say unto

me.

6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would. put strength in me.

7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

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.

10 But he knoweth the way that I take when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

11 My foot hath held his steps; his way have I kept, and not declined.

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.

13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me; and many such things are with him.

15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I cousider, I am afraid of him.

16 For God naketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

CHAPTER XXIV.

WHY, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

2 Some remove the land-marks: they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof;

3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widows' ox for a pledge;

4 They turn the needy out of the way the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work, rising betimes for a prey the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

6 They reap every one his corn

were not spoken so directly in respect to his condition before God, as to his freedom from the guilt with which he was charged by the adversary. But Elihu's answer shews that he was, notwithstanding, unjustified in his assertions of innocence. Ver. 16. God, as we have seen, had special purposes to serve by allowing Job to be afflicted; but had he not hidden the light of his countenance from him for a season, the trial of faith and patience could not have taken place. To know him for a God of mercy, even when thick clouds of darkness surround the mercy-seatto seek him though he seem to have departed from the soul for everis the great triumph of faith, when tried in the fiery furnace, thrice heated by Satan and the world.

Ver. 1. The patriarch now inquires how it is that men can be blind to the danger of wickedness when they so clearly know that the

in the field; and they gather the vintage of the wicked;

7 They cause the naked to lodge. without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold;

8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter;

9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor;

10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.

12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out; yet God layeth not folly to them.

13 They are of those that rebel against the light: they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

14 The murderer, rising with the light, killeth the poor aul needy, and in the night is as a thief.

15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying. No eye shall see me; and disguiseth his face.

16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the day-time: they know not the light.

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.

18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

19 Drought and heat consume the snow-waters; so doth the grave those which have sinned.

20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him he shall be no more remebered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

21 He evil-entreateth the barren that beareth not, and doeth not good to the widow.

22 He draweth also the mighty with his power; he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

23 Though it be given him to be in safety whereon he resteth, yet his eyes are upon their ways.

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.

25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

CHAPTER XXV.

THEN answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

Almighty is present? - Ver. 16. Job here answers the question with which he began this discourse: Men pursue their evil ways with desperate boldness, because, "they know not the light;" their sinful dispositions involve them in darkness, even in the midst of knowledge; and they are in the ter rors of the shadow of death," while they vainly endeavour to satisfy their hearts with pleasure. The expression, they dig through houses," has reference to the particular structure of the ancient Eastern dwellings, which were built of materials that admitted of being easily perforated

2 Dominion and fear are with him; he maketh peace in his high places. 3 Is there any number of his armies and upon whom doth not his light arise?

4 How then can man be justified with God or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight:

6 How much less man, that is a worm; and the son of man, which is a worm ?

CHAPTER XXVI.

UT Job answered and said,

BUT

2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof.

12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

13 By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

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?

CHAPTER XXVII.

MOREOVER, Job continued his

parable, and said,

2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

5 God forbid that I should justify you till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

Ver. 2. Bildad replies more particularly to the last sentence in the speech of Job, which he suddenly takes up, and thinks to refute, by bringing to consideration the infinite power, and perfect purity of God. These he truly and beautifully describes, in powerful, though brief expressions.

Ver. 2. The force of Job's answer consists in this, that he not only fully allowed the truth of Bildad's sentiments, but had the profoundest sense of their sublimity, derived from his own contemplation of the ways of God.

Ver. 5. God forbid that I should justify you: that is, that I should be found guilty of those sins with which you, my harsh judges, charge

6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me so long as I

live.

7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

11 I will teach you by the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

13 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death; and his widows shall not weep.

16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

21 The east wind carrieth him. away, and he departeth; and, as a storm, hurleth him out of his place.

22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

SURELY there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.

3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection; the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.

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.

me. Ver. 8. Job here argues against the folly of that hypocrisy of which his friends accused him, and appears to say, How vain would it have been for me to pretend to a righteousness which I do not possess, when such conduct is perpetually seen to bring upon the offender disgrace and misery at the last. Ver. 19. Shall not be gathered: that is, shall not be placed in the sepulchre with his fathers, or shall not be gathered when the Lord assembles his people.

Ver. 1. Job demonstrates the wonders of God's power by his operations in the depths of the earth in the waste and pathless wilderness which no foot hath trodden in the courses of the

5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; and under it is turned up as it were fire.

6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires; and it hath dust of gold.

7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:

8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it; nor the fierce lion passed by it.

9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.

10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.

11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

14 The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me.

15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.

24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven.

25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;

27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

CHAPTER XXIX.

MOREOVER, Job continued his

parable, and said,

2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

water-floods, and in the revolutions of the warring elements. Ver. 19. The works of God are a proof that wisdom was with him. from the beginning; but where is wisdom to be found by man? It is found, answers the patriarch, by those who fear and hold communion with him to whom alone it essentially belongs.

Ver. 2. This lamentation of the