Study Desk

Death is rest to such a man, for God has hedged him in.

For my groaning comes before my food, and I weep being beset with terror.

For the terror of which I meditated has come upon me, and that which I had feared has befallen me.

For whereas thou hast instructed many, and hast strengthened the hands of the weak one,

Accordingly as I have seen men ploughing barren places, and they that sow them will reap sorrows for themselves.

The old lion has perished for want of food, and the lions’ whelps have forsaken one another.

But as for them that dwell in houses of clay, of whom we also are formed of the same clay, he smites them like a moth.

For he blows upon them, and they are withered: they have perished for lack of wisdom.

For wrath destroys the foolish one, and envy slays him that has gone astray.

For what they have collected, the just shall eat; but they shall not be delivered out of calamities: let their strength be utterly exhausted.

For labour cannot by any means come out of the earth, nor shall trouble spring out of the mountains:

for he causes a man to be in pain, and restores him again: he smites, and his hands heal.

For the wild beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

Then shalt thou know that thy house shall be at peace, and the provision for thy tabernacle shall not fail.

For the arrows of the Lord are in my body, whose violence drinks up my blood: whenever I am going to speak, they pierce me.

What then? will the wild ass bray for nothing, if he is not seeking food? or again, will the ox low at the manger, when he has a fodder?

For my wrath cannot cease; for I perceive my food as the smell of a lion to be loathsome.

For oh that he would grant my desire, and my petition might come, and the Lord would grant my hope!

Let the grave be my city, upon the walls of which I have leaped: I will not shrink from it; for I have not denied the holy words of my God.

For what is my strength, that I continue? what is my time, that my soul endures?