For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth;
But trouble is man's fate from birth, as the flames go up from the fire.
But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:
Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number:
Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields:
Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place;
Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.
He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.
In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.
But he keeps safe from their sword those who have no father, and the poor from the power of the strong.
So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped.
Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the ruler of all.
For after his punishment he gives comfort, and after wounding, his hands make you well.
He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you.
When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
He will keep you safe from the evil tongue; and you will have no fear of wasting when it comes.
You will make sport of destruction and need, and will have no fear of the beasts of the earth.
For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.
You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth.
You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.
See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.
And Job made answer and said,
If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble!
For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled.
For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.
Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?
Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?
My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.
If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire!
If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off!
So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the holy One.
Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to?
Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh brass?
I have no help in myself, and wisdom is completely gone from me.
He whose heart is shut against his friend has given up the fear of the Ruler of all.
My friends have been false like a stream, like streams in the valleys which come to an end:
Which are dark because of the ice, and the snow falling into them;
Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.
The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction.
The camel-trains of Tema were searching with care, the bands of Sheba were waiting for them:
They were put to shame because of their hope; they came and their hope was gone.
So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear.
Did I say, Give me something? or, Make a payment for me out of your wealth?
Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones?
Give me teaching and I will be quiet; and make me see my error.
How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?
My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind.
Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.
Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.
Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.
Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?
Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?
As a servant desiring the shades of evening, and a workman looking for his payment:
So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me.
When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.
My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again.
My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope.
O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.
The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone.
A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again.
He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.
So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.
Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me?
When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease;
Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;
So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.
I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.
What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him,
And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?
How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?
If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself?
And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.
Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said,
How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
Does God give wrong decisions? or is the ruler of all not upright in his judging?
If your children have done evil against him, then their punishment is from his hand.
If you will make search for God with care, and put your request before the Ruler of all;
If you are clean and upright; then he will certainly be moved to take up your cause, and will make clear your righteousness by building up your house again.
And though your start was small, your end will be very great.
Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers:
(For we are but of yesterday, and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are gone like a shade:)
Will they not give you teaching, and say words of wisdom to you?
Will the river-plant come up in its pride without wet earth? will the grass get tall without water?
When it is still green, without being cut down, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant.
So is the end of all who do not keep God in mind; and the hope of the evil-doer comes to nothing:
Whose support is cut off, and whose hope is no stronger than a spider's thread.
He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.
He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden.
His roots are twisted round the stones, forcing their way in between them.
If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.
Such is the joy of his way, and out of the dust another comes up to take his place.
Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.
The time will come when your mouth will be full of laughing, and cries of joy will come from your lips.
Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.
And Job made answer and said,
Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?
If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions.
He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?
It is he who takes away the mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his wrath:
Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:
Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.
By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea:
Who made the bear and Orion, and the Pleiades, and the store-houses of the south:
Who does great things not to be searched out; yes, wonders without number.
See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him.
If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?
God's wrath may not be turned back; the helpers of Rahab were bent down under him.
How much less may I give an answer to him, using the right words in argument with him?
Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.
If I had sent for him to be present, and he had come, I would have no faith that he would give ear to my voice.
For I would be crushed by his storm, my wounds would be increased without cause.
He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.
If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day?
Though I was in the right, he would say that I was in the wrong; I have done no evil; but he says that I am a sinner.
I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.
It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.
If death comes suddenly through disease, he makes sport of the fate of those who have done no wrong.
The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?
My days go quicker than a post-runner: they go in flight, they see no good.
They go rushing on like reed-boats, like an eagle dropping suddenly on its food.
If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;
I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.
You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?
If I am washed with snow water, and make my hands clean with soap;
Then you will have me pushed into the dust, so that I will seem disgusting to my very clothing.
For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge.
There is no one to give a decision between us, who might have control over us.
Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me:
Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.
My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.
I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.
What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?
Have you eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees?
Are your days as the days of man, or your years like his,
That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,
Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?
Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction.
O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust?
Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese?
By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles.
You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe.
But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts:
That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:
That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.
And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me:
That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me.
Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,
And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.
Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,
Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,
A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.
Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said,
Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?
Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame?
You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes.
But if only God would take up the word, opening his lips in argument with you;
And would make clear to you the secrets of wisdom, and the wonders of his purpose!
Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the ruler of all?
They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;
Longer in measure than the earth, and wider than the sea.
If he goes on his way, shutting a man up and putting him to death, who may make him go back from his purpose?
For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.
And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching.
But if you put your heart right, stretching out your hands to him;
If you put far away the evil of your hands, and let no wrongdoing have a place in your tent;
Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear:
For your sorrow will go from your memory, like waters flowing away:
And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.
And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet;
Sleeping with no fear of danger; and men will be desiring to have grace in your eyes;
But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.
And Job made answer and said,
No doubt you have knowledge, and wisdom will come to an end with you.
But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?
It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!
In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.
But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;
Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.
Who does not see by all these that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh of man.
Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth?
Old men have wisdom, and a long life gives knowledge.
With him there is wisdom and strength; power and knowledge are his.
Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose.
Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned.
With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands;
He takes away the wisdom of the wise guides, and makes judges foolish;
He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them;
He makes priests prisoners, overturning those in safe positions;
He makes the words of responsible persons without effect, and takes away the good sense of the old;
He puts shame on chiefs, and takes away the power of the strong;
Uncovering deep things out of the dark, and making the deep shade bright;
Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up.
He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way.
They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.
Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it.
The same things are in my mind as in yours; I am equal to you.
But I would have talk with the ruler of all, and my desire is to have an argument with God.
But you put a false face on things; all your attempts to put things right are of no value.
If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom!
Give ear to the argument of my mouth, and take note of the words of my lips.
Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth?
Will you have respect for God's person in this cause, and put yourselves forward as his supporters?
Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man?
He will certainly put you right, if you have respect for persons in secret.
Will not his glory put you in fear, so that your hearts will be overcome before him?
Your wise sayings are only dust, and your strong places are only earth.
Keep quiet, and let me say what is in my mind, whatever may come to me.
I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.
Truly, he will put an end to me; I have no hope; but I will not give way in argument before him;
And that will be my salvation, for an evil-doer would not come before him,
Give ear with care to my words, and keep what I say in your minds.
See now, I have put my cause in order, and I am certain that I will be seen to be right.
Is any one able to take up the argument against me? If so, I would keep quiet and give up my breath.
Only two things do not do to me, then I will come before your face:
Take your hand far away from me; and let me not be overcome by fear of you.
Most of the teaching of Jesus are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Complete Sayings of Jesus presents every word spoken by Jesus in one place and provides an index to assist in finding specific ocassions, places and/or events. It is a must read aid for serious Bible study.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they direct us to imitate his life and character. The Imitation of Christ is guide to following the example of Jesus Christ. Let it be our most earnest study to dwell upon the life and example of Jesus.
The Apocrypha books are 14 books that were included between the old and new testaments in the original King James Version of the bible and many others. Church leaders agreed that these books were valuable for instruction in life and manners, but did not all agree that they should be considered cannon.
The Childrens Bible provides bible lessons from the Old and New testaments. There are 216 stories written in plain english. The stories are easy to read and understand but they are not just for childern. It is a pleasure to read and enjoy these important stories.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God and every one who loves is a child of God and knows God. He who loves not man does not know God, for God is love. God showed his love for us, for he sent his only Son into the world that through him we might have life. Love the stranger.
In Mark 12:30 Jesus said;
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
And the second Mark 12:31 [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The Gospel of The Birth of Mary was attributed to St. Matthew and was received as genuine and authentic by early Christians. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church in the 4th century and is translated from his collection.
The Book of Enoch is ascribed to the great-grandfather of Noah and is included in the cannon of some churches. It describes the fall of the angels (watchers), visions of heaven and hell and the birth of Noah. Quotes from the book of Enoch are found in the New Testament.
The First Book of Adam and Eve. Books 1 begins immediately after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. We learn about the fall but also of the promise to save Adam and his decendents. The story depicts mans struggle against evil, the devil and sin.
The Second Book of Adam and Eve. Discusses Adam's sorrow and death. The history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood until the birth of Noah; the children of Seth on Mount Hermon and Cain's death. It ends with the testament and translation of Enoch.
The Infancy of Jesus Christ (Infancy Gospel of Thomas) relates the life of Jesus from the ages of five to twelve. It is believed that the document was transcribed from oral traditions some time prior to the second century. The ancient writing is possibly Gnostic and many early church leaders considered it heretical.
Daily Bible study is essential. The Bible Verse of the Day provides a collection of enlightening and inspiration bible verses. Improve your knowledge and understanding of the Bible and your life by studying the words of the holy scripture. Explore the King James Bible (kjv) and discover new insights.
The World English Bible was produced to provide speakers of modern English with a version of the Bible that is easily understood. The Bible is in the public domain and available world-wide. It is an accurate modern translation of the original King James Bible, including the Apocryphal books.
Looking for something in the Bible? Want to find a specifc verse or list of words? The Bible search feature makes it easy find verses or words. Enter the verses or words in the search bar or visit the search page to access additional search options. Finding information in the Bible will never be easier.
The favorite verses page is a list of popular bible verses. Each verse includes a link to the chapter and verse of the book where it is found in the bible. Click on any link for a bible verse and it will take you to that location in the bible.
The bible contains great stories. Visit the bible stories page for links to some of the best known and most significant stories and passages in the bible.