LII

THE FRAILTY OF MAN

Job xiv. 1-12

JAN that is born of a woman

Is of few days, and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is
cut down:

He fleeth also as a shadow, and con-
tinueth not.

And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one,
And bringest me into judgment with thee?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
not one.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee,

Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

Turn from him, that he may rest,

Till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

And that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, And the stock thereof die in the ground;

Yet through the scent of water it will bud,

And bring forth boughs like a plant.

But man dieth, and wasteth away:

Yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

As the waters fail from the sea,

And the flood decayeth and drieth up:

So man lieth down, and riseth not:

Till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, Nor be raised out of their sleep.

LIII

OMNES EODEM COGIMUR

Job xxi. 23-33.

INE dieth in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and quiet:
His breasts are full of milk,

And his bones are moistened with

marrow.

And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul,

And never eateth with pleasure.

They shall lie down alike in the dust,

And the worms shall cover them.

Behold, I know your thoughts,

And the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

For ye say, Where is the house of the prince?
And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?
Have ye not asked them that go by the way?
And do ye not know their tokens,

That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?

They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.
Who shall declare his way to his face?

And who shall repay him what he hath done?
Yet shall he be brought to the grave,

And shall remain in the tomb.

The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him,

And every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

LIV

THE TRUE WISDOM

Job xxviii.

JURELY there is a vein for the silver, And a place for gold where they fine it.

Iron is taken out of the earth,

And brass is molten out of the stone.
He setteth an end to darkness,

And searcheth out all perfection:

The stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant;

Even the waters forgotten of the foot:

They are dried up, they are gone away from men.
As for the earth, out of it cometh bread:

And under it is turned up as it were fire.
The stones of it are the place of sapphires:
And it hath dust of gold.

There is a path which no fowl knoweth,
And which the vulture's eye hath not seen :
The lion's whelps have not trodden it,
Nor the fierce lion passed by it.

He putteth forth his hand upon the rocks;
He overturneth the mountains by the roots.
He cutteth out rivers among the rocks;

And his eye seeth every precious thing.
He bindeth the floods from overflowing;

And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

Man knoweth not the price thereof;

Neither is it found in the land of the living.

The depth saith, It is not in me:

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

It cannot be gotten for gold,

Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

The gold and the crystal cannot equal it:

And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
Whence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
Destruction and death say,

We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
God understandeth the way thereof,

And he knoweth the place thereof.

For he looketh to the ends of the earth,
And seeth under the whole heaven;

To make the weight for the winds;
And he weigheth the waters by measure.
When he made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Then did he see it, and declare it;

He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord,

that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.

LV

GOD'S MIGHTY WORKS

Job xxxviii.-xxxix.

HEN the Lord answered Job out of the
whirlwind, and said,

Who is this that darkeneth counsel
By words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man;
For I will demand of thee, and

answer thou me.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?

Or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
Or who laid the corner stone thereof;
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut up the sea with doors,

When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

When I made the cloud the garment thereof,

And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

And brake up for it my decreed place,

And set bars and doors,

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further:

And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy

days;

And caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, That the wicked might be shaken out of it?