XLVIII

A VISION OF THE NIGHT

Job iv. 12-21.

OW a thing was secretly brought to

me,

And mine ear received a little thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the

night,

When deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake.
Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair of my flesh stood up:

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,

Shall mortal man be more just than God?

Shall a man be more pure than his maker?

Behold, he put no trust in his servants;

And his angels he charged with folly:

How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust,

Which are crushed before the moth ?

They are destroyed from morning to evening:

They perish for ever without any regarding it. Doth not their excellency which is in them go away?

They die, even without wisdom.

XLIX

THE BLESSED LIFE

Job v. 6-26.

LTHOUGH affliction cometh not forth of the dust,

Neither doth trouble spring out of

the ground;

Yet man is born unto trouble,

As the sparks fly upward.

I would seek unto God,

And unto God would I commit my cause:
Which doeth great things and unsearchable;
Marvellous things without number:

Who giveth rain upon the earth,
And sendeth waters upon the fields:
To set up on high those that be low;

That those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
He disappointeth the devices of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness:

And the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the daytime,

And grope in the noonday as in the night.

But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth,

And from the hand of the mighty.

So the poor hath hope,

And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth : Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

For he maketh sore, and bindeth up:

He woundeth, and his hands make whole.

He shall deliver thee in six troubles:

Yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
In famine he shall redeem thee from death:
And in war from the power of the sword.

Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue : Neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh:

Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field:

And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with

thee.

And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace;

And thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not

sin.

Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great,
And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age,
Like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

And as an hireling looketh for the reward of his

work:

So am I made to possess months of vanity,

And wearisome nights are appointed to me.

When I lie down, I say,

When shall I arise, and the night be gone?

And I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;
My skin is broken, and become loathsome.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
And are spent without hope.

O remember that my life is wind:
Mine eye shall no more see good.

The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no

more:

Thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away:
So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up

no more.

He shall return no more to his house,

Neither shall his place know him any more.
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.
Am I a sea, or a whale,

That thou settest a watch over me?
When I say, My bed shall comfort me,
My couch shall ease my complaint;
Then thou scarest me with dreams,
And terrifiest me through visions:
So that my soul chooseth strangling,
And death rather than my life.

I loathe it; I would not live alway:
Let me alone; for my days are vanity.

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?
And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?
And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?

How long wilt thou not depart from me,

Nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

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?

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.

know?

LI

VAIN WISDOM

Job xi. 7-12.

JANST thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do?

Deeper than hell; what canst thou

The measure thereof is longer than the earth,
And broader than the sea.

If he cut off, and shut up,

Or gather together, then who can hinder him?
For he knoweth vain men:

He seeth wickedness also; will he not then con

sider it?

For vain man would be wise,

Though man be born like a wild ass's colt.