Page:JPS-1917-Universal.djvu/975

Rh :If I have seen any wanderer in want of clothing,
 * Or that the needy had no covering;
 * If his loins have not blessed me,
 * And if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
 * If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
 * Because I saw my help in the gate;
 * Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade,
 * And mine arm be broken from the bone.
 * For calamity from God was a terror to me,
 * And by reason of His majesty I could do nothing.
 * If I have made gold my hope,
 * And have said to the fine gold: 'Thou art my confidence';
 * If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
 * And because my hand had gotten much;
 * If I beheld the sun when it shined,
 * Or the moon walking in brightness;
 * And my heart hath been secretly enticed,
 * And my mouth hath kissed my hand;
 * This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
 * For I should have lied to God that is above.


 * If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
 * Or exulted when evil found him—
 * Yea, I suffered not my mouth to sin
 * By asking his life with a curse.
 * If the men of my tent said not:
 * 'Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his meat?'
 * The stranger did not lodge in the street;
 * My doors I opened to the roadside.


 * If after the manner of men I covered my transgressions,
 * By hiding mine iniquity in my bosom—
 * Because I feared the great multitude,
 * And the most contemptible among families terrified me,
 * So that I kept silence, and went not out of the door.


 * Oh that I had one to hear me!—
 * Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me—
 * And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
 * Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;
 * I would bind it unto me as a crown.
 * I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
 * As a prince would I go near unto him.


 * If my land cry out against me,
 * And the furrows thereof weep together;
 * If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,
 * Or have caused the tillers thereof to be disappointed—
 * Let thistles grow instead of wheat,
 * And noisome weeds instead of barley.

The words of Job are ended.

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram; against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God. Also against his three