Today's Reading

Job 4-6

Job Chapter 4
1 - Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 - If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 - Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
4 - Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.
5 - But now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
6 - Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways?
7 - Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
8 - Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 - By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
10 - The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
11 - The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
12 - Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 - In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 - Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 - Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
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,
17 - Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 - Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 - How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 - They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 - Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

Job Chapter 5
1 - Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?
2 - For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
3 - I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
4 - His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.
5 - Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
6 - Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;
7 - Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
8 - I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
9 - Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
10 - Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:
11 - To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.
12 - He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
13 - He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
14 - They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
15 - But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
16 - So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
17 - Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
18 - For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
19 - He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
20 - In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
21 - Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
22 - At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
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.
24 - And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
25 - Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 - Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
27 - Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

Job Chapter 6
1 - But Job answered and said,
2 - Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
3 - For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.
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.
5 - Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
6 - Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 - The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat.
8 - Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 - Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
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.
11 - What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?
12 - Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?
13 - Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?
14 - To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.
15 - My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;
16 - Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:
17 - What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
18 - The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.
19 - The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.
20 - They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.
21 - For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.
22 - Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?
23 - Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?
24 - Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 - How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?
26 - Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?
27 - Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.
28 - Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.
29 - Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.
30 - Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?