The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 308

4:15. And when a spirit pa.s.sed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up.

4:16. There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind.

4:17. Shall man be justified in comparison of G.o.d, or shall a man be more pure than his maker?

Shall man be justified in comparison of G.o.d, etc... These are the words which Eliphaz had heard from an angel, which, ver. 15, he calls a spirit.

4:18. Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness:

4:19. How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth?

4:20. From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever.

4:21. And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom.

Job Chapter 5

5:1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints.

5:2. Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one.

5:3. I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty immediately.

5:4. His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them.

5:5. Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches.

5:6. Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground.

5:7. Man is born to labour, and the bird to fly.

5:8. Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to G.o.d:

5:9. Who doth great things, and unsearchable and wonderful things without number:

5:10. Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all things with waters:

5:11. Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn.

5:12. Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun:

5:13. Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth the counsel of the wicked:

5:14. They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noonday as in the night.

5:15. But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent.

5:16. And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth.

5:17. Blessed is the man whom G.o.d correcteth: refuse not, therefore, the chastising of the Lord.

5:18. For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal.

5:19. In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch thee.

5:20. In famine he shall deliver thee from death; and in battle, from the hand of the sword.

5:21. Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh.

5:22. In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

5:23. But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee.

5:24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty, thou shalt not sin.

5:25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy offspring like the gra.s.s of the earth.

5:26. Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in in its season.

5:27. Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind.

Job Chapter 6

6:1. But Job answered, and said:

6:2. O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance.

My sins, etc... He does not mean to compare his sufferings with his real sins: but with the imaginary crimes which his friends imputed to him: and especially with his wrath, or grief, expressed in the third chapter, which they so much accused. Though, as he tells them here, it bore no proportion with the greatness of his calamity.

6:3. As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my words are full of sorrow:

6:4. For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me.

6:5. Will the wild a.s.s bray when he hath gra.s.s? or will the ox low when he standeth before a full manger?

6:6. Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt?

or can a man taste that which, when tasted, bringeth death?

6:7. The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through anguish, are my meats.

6:8. Who will grant that my request may come: and that G.o.d may give me what I look for?

6:9. And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may let loose his hand, and cut me off?

6:10. And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy one.

6:11. For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my end, that I should keep patience?