words have an end?
Or what provoketh thee that thou answerest?
I also could speak as ye do;
If your soul were in my soul's stead,
I could join words together against you,
And shake mine head at you.
But I would strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips should assuage your grief.

God delivereth me to the ungodly,
And casteth me into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, and he brake me asunder;
Yea, he hath taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces:
He hath also set me up for his mark.
His archers compass me round about, {198}
My face is red with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Although there is no violence in mine hands,
And my prayer is pure.

O earth, cover not thou my blood,
And let my cry have no resting place.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And he that voucheth for me is on high.
My friends scorn me:
But mine eye poureth out tears unto God;
That he would maintain the right of a man with God,
And of a son of man with his neighbour!
For when a few years are come,
I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,
The grave is ready for me.
Surely there are mockers with me,
And mine eye abideth in their provocation.
But return ye, all of you, and come now:
And I shall not find a wise man among you.
My days are past, my purposes are broken off,
Even the thoughts of my heart.
They change the night into day:
The light, say they, is near unto the darkness.
If I look for Sheol as mine house:
If I have spread my couch, in the darkness;
If I have said to corruption, "Thou art my father";
To the worm, "Thou art my mother, and my sister"; {199}
Where then is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
It shall go down to the bars of Sheol,
When once there is rest in the dust.

BILDAD.

How long will ye lay snares for words?
Consider, and afterwards we will speak.
Wherefore are we counted as beasts,
And are become unclean in your sight?
Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?
Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out,
And the spark of his fire shall not shine.
The light shall be dark in his tent,
And his lamp above him shall be put out.
The steps of his strength shall be straitened,
And his ow