XLIII

Do ye imagine to rebuke words?

But the words of the desperate are spoken to the wind.

Will ye even a.s.sail me, the blameless one?

And harrow up your friend?

XLIV

But now vouchsafe to turn unto me, For surely I will not lie to your face.

I pray you, return; let no wrong be done.

Return, for justice abideth still within me.

XLV

Is there iniquity in my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern misfortunes?

Hath not man warfare upon earth?

And are not his days like to those of an hireling?

XLVI

As a slave panting for the shade, and finding it not, As an hireling awaiting the wage for his work, So to me months of sorrow are allotted, And wearisome nights are appointed to me.

XLVII

Lying down I exclaim: When shall I arise?

And I toss from side to side till the dawning of the day;[203]

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust, My skin grows rigid and breaks up again.

XLVIII

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, And have come to an end without hope;[204]

Remember, I pray, that my life is wind, That mine eye shall see good no more.

XLIX

As the cloud is dispelled and vanisheth away, So he that goes down to the grave shall not come up again; He shall never return to his house, Neither shall his place know him any more.

L

I too will not restrain my mouth, I will speak out in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I a sea or a sea-monster,[205]

That thou settest a watch over me?

LI

When I say: "My bed shall comfort me, My couch shall ease my complaint;"

Then thou scarest me with dreams, And terrifiest me with visions.

LII

Then my soul would have chosen strangling, And death by my own resolve: But I spurned it, for I shall not live for ever; Let me be, for my days are a breath.

LIII

What is man that thou shouldst magnify him?

And that thou shouldst set thine heart upon him?

That thou shouldst visit him every morning, And try him every moment?[206]

LIV

Why wilt thou not look away from me?

Nor leave me in peace while there is breath in my throat?

Why hast thou set me up as a b.u.t.t, So that I am become a target for thee?

LV

Why dost thou not rather pardon my misdeed, And take away mine iniquity?

For now I must lay myself down in the dust, And thou shalt seek me, but I shall not be.

LVI

BILDAD:

How long wilt thou utter these things, And shall the words of thy mouth be like a storm wind?

Doth G.o.d pervert judgment?

Or doth the Almighty corrupt justice?

LVII

If thou wouldst seek unto G.o.d, And make thy supplication to the Almighty, He would hear thy prayer, And restore the house of thy blamelessness.

LVIII

For inquire, I pray thee, of the bygone age, And give heed to the search of the forefathers; Shall they not teach thee, And utter words out of their heart?

LIX

Can the papyrus grow without marsh?

Can the Nile-reed shoot up without water?

Whilst still in its greenness uncut, It withereth before any herb.

LX

Such is the end of all that forget G.o.d, And even thus shall the hope of the impious perish, Whose hope is as gossamer threads, And whose trust is as a spider's web.

LXI

For he leans upon his house, And has a firm footing to which he cleaves; He is green in the glow of the sun, And his branch shooteth forth in his garden.