hen they contended with me:
What then shall I do when God riseth up?
And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him?

If I have withheld the poor from their desire,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;
Or have eaten my morsel alone,
And the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
Or that the needy had no covering;

If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
Because I saw my help in the gate: {212}

Then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,
And mine arm be broken from the bone.

If I have made gold my hope,
And have said to the fine gold,
Thou art my confidence;
If I rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because mine hand had gotten much;

If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
Or lifted up myself when evil found him;

If the men of my tent said not,
Who can find one that hath not been satisfied with his food?
The stranger did not lodge in the street;
But I opened my doors to the traveller.

Oh that I had one to hear me!
(Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me;)
And that I had the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
Surely I would carry it upon my shoulder;
I would bind it unto me as a crown.
I would declare unto him the number of my steps;
As a prince would I go near unto him.

If my land cry out against me,
And the furrows thereof weep together;
If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money,
Or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: {213}
Let thistles grow instead of wheat,
And cockle instead of barley.

IN THE THIRD CYCLE OF SPEECHES

The three friends still try to show Job that he must have sinned.
_Eliphaz_ charges him directly with the sins that a rich man in his
position could most easily commit. _Bildad_ only repeats in feebler
phrase former statements about man's impurity in the pure sight of
God. _Zophar_ either does not appear at all, or maintains his former
position with no new argument. _Job_ still wishes he might find God to
plead his cause, and, at the end, affirms formally his innocence of
the sins with which Eliphaz had charged him.

The argument has ended. Neither side has moved the other a single step
from the position taken at the beginning. The question of why Job
suffers is still unanswered. If it is ever to be answered, some other
solution than that of th