he days of my warfare would I wait,
Till my release should come.
Thou shouldest call, and I would answer thee:
Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thine hands.

THE FIRST CYCLE OF SPEECHES IS ENDED.

The three friends center their thought about God. The question is, why
has Job suffered? Their answer is, because he has sinned. God is just,
and would never make a man suffer unless he had sinned. _Eliphaz_ says
that all men are imperfect, and so {196} suffer. Let Job acknowledge
that he has sinned, and this suffering will be only discipline, and
God will again bless him. _Bildad_ says that the fathers have always
understood that God was just. The man who does not believe as they did
must be wicked. _Zophar_ says that God knows Job has sinned, even if
Job himself is too blind to see it; else he would not make Job suffer.
_Job_ is perplexed. Has he sinned so as to merit this suffering? No.
If they say that God is just--yes, but what does God mean, then, by
dealing thus with him? He had expected sympathy from his friends. Why
do they not give it? He can only turn helplessly to God himself. Would
that he could meet God as one might a man, and plead his cause! But,
no! Even that chance for justice is cut off. And yet they can talk of
God as being just!

II

ELIPHAZ.

Should a wise man make answer with vain knowledge,
And fill his belly with the east wind?
Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
Yea, thou doest away with fear,
And restrainest devotion before God.
For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth,
And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I;
Yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
Art thou the first man that was born?
Or wast thou brought forth before the hills?
Hast thou heard the secret counsel of God?
And dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
What knowest thou, that we know not? {197}
What understandest thou, which is not in us?
With us are both the grayheaded and the very aged men,
Much older than thy father.
Are the consolations of God too small for thee,
And the word that dealeth gently with thee?
Why doth thine heart carry thee away?
And why do thine eyes wink?
That thou turnest thy spirit against God,
And lettest such words go out of thy mouth.

JOB.

I have heard many such things:
Miserable comforters are ye all.
Shall vain