Study Desk

For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth;

For there is hope for a tree: if it be cut down, it will sprout again, and its tender branch will not cease;

For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth away; thou changest his countenance, and dismissest him.

But his flesh hath pain for himself alone, and his soul mourneth for himself.

For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou hast chosen the tongue of the crafty.

Hast thou listened in the secret council of +God? And hast thou absorbed wisdom for thyself?

Are the consolations of God too small for thee? and the word gently spoken to thee?

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is singled out for the sword.

He wandereth abroad for bread,—where may it be? He knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

Distress and anguish make him afraid; they prevail against him, as a king ready for the battle.

For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and strengthened himself against the Almighty:

For he hath covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat upon [his] flanks.

Let him not trust in vanity: he is deceived, for vanity shall be his recompense;

For the family of the ungodly shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

I was at rest, but he hath shattered me; he hath taken me by the neck and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

O earth, cover not my blood, and let there be no place for my cry!

Even now, behold, my Witness is in the heavens, and he that voucheth for me is in the heights.

Oh that there were arbitration for a man with +God, as a son of man for his friend!

For years [few] in number shall pass,—and I shall go the way [whence] I shall not return.