Bible in Basic English
JOB 32
Elihu became angry
32:1 So these three men gave no more answers to Job, because he seemed to himself to be right.
2 And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry, burning with wrath against Job, because he seemed to himself more right than God;
3 And he was angry with his three friends, because they had been unable to give him an answer, and had not made Job's sin clear.
4 Now Elihu had kept quiet while Job was talking, because they were older than he;
5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he was very angry.
6 And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, made answer and said, I am young, and you are very old, so I was in fear, and kept myself from putting my knowledge before you.
7 I said to myself, It is right for the old to say what is in their minds, and for those who are far on in years to give out wisdom.
8 But truly it is the spirit in man, even the breath of the Ruler of all, which gives them knowledge.
9 It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.
10 So I say, Give ear to me, and I will put forward my knowledge.
32:11 I was waiting for your words, I was giving ear to your wise sayings ; while you were searching out what to say,
12 I was taking note ; and truly not one of you was able to make clear Job's error, or to give an answer to his words.
13 Take care that you do not say, Wisdom is here ; God may overcome him, but not man.
32:14 I will not put forward words like these, or make use of your sayings in answer to him.
32:15 Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give ; they have come to an end of words.
16 And am I to go on waiting while they have nothing to say ? while they keep quiet and give no more answers ?
17 I will give my answer ; I will put forward my knowledge :
18 For I am full of words, I am unable to keep in my breath any longer :
19 My stomach is like wine which is unable to get out ; like skins full of new wine, it is almost burst.
20 Let me say what is in my mind, so that I may get comfort ; let me give answer with open mouth.
21 Let me not give respect to any man, or give names of honour to any living.
22 For I am not able to give names of honour to any man ; and if I did, my Maker would quickly take me away.
JOB 33
Elihu reproves Job
33:1 And now, O Job, give ear to my words, and take note of all I say.
2 See, now my mouth is open, my tongue gives out words.
3 My heart is overflowing with knowledge, my lips say what is true.
4 The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Ruler of all gives me life.
5 If you are able, give me an answer ; put your cause in order, and come forward.
6 See, I am the same as you are in the eyes of God ; I was cut off from the same bit of wet earth.
7 Fear of me will not overcome you, and my hand will not be hard on you.
33:8 But you said in my hearing, and your voice came to my ears:
9 I am clean, without sin ; I am washed, and there is no evil in me:
10 See, he is looking for something against me ; in his eyes I am as one of his haters;
11 He puts chains on my feet ; he is watching all my ways.
33:12 Truly, in saying this you are wrong ; for God is greater than man.
13 Why do you put forward your cause against him, saying, He gives no answer to any of my words ?
14 For God gives his word in one way, even in two, and man is not conscious of it:
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep comes on men, while they take their rest on their beds;
16 Then he makes his secrets clear to men, so that they are full of fear at what they see;
17 In order that man may be turned from his evil works, and that pride may be taken away from him;
18 To keep back his soul from the underworld, and his life from destruction.
33:19 Pain is sent on him as a punishment, while he is on his bed ; there is no end to the trouble in his bones;
20 He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;
21 His flesh is so wasted away, that it may not be seen, and his bones. ...
22 And his soul comes near to the underworld, and his life to the angels of death.
23 If now there may be an angel sent to him, one of the thousands which there are to be between him and God, and to make clear to man what is right for him;
24 And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:
25 Then his flesh becomes young again, and he comes back to the days of his early strength;
26 He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him ; he sees God's face with cries of joy ; he gives news of his righteousness to men;
27 He makes a song, saying, I did wrong, turning from the straight way, but he did not give me the reward of my sin.
28 He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.
33:29 Truly, God does all these things to man, twice and three times,
30 Keeping back his soul from the underworld, so that he may see the light of life.
31 Take note O Job, give ear to me ; keep quiet, while I say what is in my mind.
32 If you have anything to say, give me an answer ; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.
33 If not, give attention to me, and keep quiet, and I will give you wisdom.
JOB 34
Elihu justifies God
34:1 And Elihu made answer and said,
2 Give ear, you wise, to my words ; and you who have knowledge, give attention to me;
3 For words are tested by the ear, as food is tasted by the mouth.
4 Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right ; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good.
5 For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right;
6 Though I am right, still I am in pain ; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong.
7 What man is like Job, a man who freely makes sport of God,
8 And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners ?
9 For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God.
34:10 Now then, you wise, take note ; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.
11 For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways.
12 Truly, God does not do evil, and the Ruler of all is not a false judge.
13 Who put the earth into his care, or made him responsible for the world ?
14 If he made his spirit come back to him, taking his breath into himself again,
15 All flesh would come to an end together, and man would go back to the dust.
34:16 If you are wise, take note of this ; give ear to the voice of my words.
17 How may a hater of right be a ruler ? and will you say that the upright Ruler of all is evil ?
18 He who says to a king, You are an evil-doer ; and to rulers, You are sinners;
19 Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.
20 Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night : the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.
34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.
22 There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover.
23 For he does not give man a fixed time to come before him to be judged.
24 He sends the strong to destruction without searching out their cause, and puts others in their place.
25 For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.
26 The evil-doers are broken by his wrath, he puts his hand on them with force before the eyes of all onlookers.
27 Because they did not go after him, and took no note of his ways,
28 So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears.
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34:31 . . .
32 . . .
33 . . .
34 Men of knowledge, and all wise men, hearing me, will say,
35 Job's words do not come from knowledge ; they are not the fruit of wisdom.
36 May Job be tested to the end, because his answers have been like those of evil men.
37 For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart ; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him.
JOB 35
God does not hear an empty cry
35:1 And Elihu made answer and said,
2 Does it seem to you to be right, and righteousness before God, to say,
3 What profit is it to me, and how am I better off than if I had done wrong ?
4 I will make answer to you and to your friends:
5 Let your eyes be turned to the heavens, and lifted up to see the skies ; they are higher than you.
6 If you have done wrong, is he any the worse for it ? and if your sins are great in number, what is it to him ?
7 If you are upright, what do you give to him ? or what does he take from your hand ?
8 Your evil-doing may have an effect on a man like yourself, or your righteousness on a son of man.
35:9 Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief ; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.
10 But no one has said, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;
11 Who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the heaven ?
12 There they are crying out because of the pride of the evil-doers, but he gives them no answer.
13 But God will not give ear to what is false, or the Ruler of all take note of it;
14 How much less when you say that you do not see him ; that the cause is before him, and you are waiting for him.
15 And now, because his angry feeling does not give pain, and he does not greatly give attention to steps over the limit ;
16 And Job's mouth is open wide to give out what is of no profit, increasing words without knowledge.
JOB 36
Perfect in knowledge
36:1 And Elihu went on to say,
2 Give me a little more time, and I will make it clear to you ; for I have still something to say for God.
3 I will get my knowledge from far, and I will give righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words are not false ; one who has all knowledge is talking with you.
36:5 Truly, God gives up the hard-hearted, and will not give life to the sinner.
6 His eyes are ever on the upright, and he gives to the crushed their right;
7 Lifting them up to the seat of kings, and making them safe for ever.
8 And if they have been prisoned in chains, and taken in cords of trouble,
9 Then he makes clear to them what they have done, even their evil works in which they have taken pride.
10 Their ear is open to his teaching, and he gives them orders so that their hearts may be turned from evil.
11 If they give ear to his voice, and do his word, then he gives them long life, and years full of pleasure.
12 But if not, they come to their end, and give up their breath without knowledge.
36:13 Those who have no fear of God keep wrath stored up in their hearts ; they give no cry for help when they are made prisoners.
14 They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.
15 He makes the wrong done to the poor the way of their salvation, opening their ears by their trouble.
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36:17 . . .
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20 . . .
21 Take care not to be turned to sin, for you have taken evil for your part in place of sorrow.
22 Truly God is lifted up in strength ; who is a ruler like him ?
23 Who ever gave orders to him, or said to him, You have done wrong ?
36:24 See that you give praise to his work, about which men make songs.
25 All people are looking on it ; man sees it from far.
26 Truly, God is great, greater than all our knowledge ; the number of his years may not be searched out.
27 For he takes up the drops from the sea ; he sends them through his mist as rain,
28 Flowing down from the sky, and dropping on the peoples.
29 And who has knowledge of how the clouds are stretched out, or of the thunders of his tent ?
30 See, he is stretching out his mist, covering the tops of the mountains with it.
31 For by these he gives food to the peoples, and bread in full measure.
32 He takes the light in his hands, sending it against the mark.
33 The thunder makes clear his passion, and the storm gives news of his wrath.
JOB 37
Greatness of God
37:1 At this my heart is shaking ; it is moved out of its place.
2 Give ear to the rolling noise of his voice ; to the hollow sound which goes out of his mouth.
3 He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth.
4 After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power ; he does not keep back his thunder-flames ; from his mouth his voice is sounding.
5 He does wonders, more than may be searched out ; great things of which we have no knowledge;
6 For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet ; and to the rain-storm, Come down.
7 He puts an end to the work of every man, so that all may see his work.
8 Then the beasts go into their holes, and take their rest.
9 Out of its place comes the storm-wind, and the cold out of its store-houses.
10 By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in.
11 The thick cloud is weighted with thunder-flame, and the cloud sends out its light;
12 And it goes this way and that, round about, turning itself by his guiding, to do whatever he gives orders to be done, on the face of his world of men,
13 For a rod, or for a curse, or for mercy, causing it to come on the mark.
37:14 Give ear to this, O Job, and keep quiet in your place ; and take note of the wonders worked by God.
15 Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen ?
16 Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom ?
17 You, whose clothing is warm, when the earth is quiet because of the south wind,
18 Will you, with him, make the skies smooth, and strong as a polished looking-glass ?
19 Make clear to me what we are to say to him ; we are unable to put our cause before him, because of the dark.
20 How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him ? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me ?
37:21 And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds ; but a wind comes, clearing them away.
22 A bright light comes out of the north ; God's glory is greatly to be feared.
23 There is no searching out of the Ruler of all: his strength and his judging are great ; he is full of righteousness, doing no wrong.
24 For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.
JOB 38
The Lord answers Job
38:1 And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
2 Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge ?
3 Get your strength together like a man of war ; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
38:4 Where were you when I put the earth on its base ? Say, if you have knowledge.
5 By whom were its measures fixed ? Say, if you have wisdom ; or by whom was the line stretched out over it ?
6 On what were its pillars based, or who put down its angle-stone,
7 When the morning stars made songs together, and all the sons of the gods gave cries of joy ?
38:8 Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;
9 When I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
10 Ordering a fixed limit for it, with locks and doors;
11 And said, So far you may come, and no farther ; and here the pride of your waves will be stopped ?
38:12 Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;
13 So that it might take a grip of the skirts of the earth, shaking all the evil-doers out of it ?
14 It is changed like wet earth under a stamp, and is coloured like a robe;
15 And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.
38:16 Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep ?
17 Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you ?
18 Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth ? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.
38:19 Which is the way to the resting-place of the light, and where is the store-house of the dark;
20 So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house ?
21 No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.
22 Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,
23 Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting ?
24 Which is the way to the place where the wind is measured out, and the east wind sent out over the earth ?
38:25 By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;
26 Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;
27 To give water to the land where there is waste and destruction, and to make the dry land green with young grass ?
38:28 Has the rain a father ? or who gave birth to the drops of night mist ?
29 Out of whose body came the ice ? and who gave birth to the cold mist of heaven ?
30 The waters are joined together, hard as a stone, and the face of the deep is covered.
38:31 Are the bands of the Pleiades fixed by you, or are the cords of Orion made loose ?
32 Do you make Mazzaroth come out in its right time, or are the Bear and its children guided by you ?
33 Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens ? did you give them rule over the earth ?
38:34 Is your voice sent up to the cloud, so that you may be covered by the weight of waters ?
35 Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are ?
36 Who has put wisdom in the high clouds, or given knowledge to the lights of the north ?
37 By whose wisdom are the clouds numbered, or the water-skins of the heavens turned to the earth,
38 When the earth becomes hard as metal, and is joined together in masses ?
38:39 Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
40 When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood ?
41 Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God ; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food ?
JOB 39
Job's ignorance
39:1 Have you knowledge of the rock-goats ? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young ?
2 Is the number of their months fixed by you ? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you ?
3 They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.
4 Their young ones are strong, living in the open country ; they go out and do not come back again.
39:5 Who has let the ass of the fields go free ? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast ?
6 To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.
7 He makes sport of the noise of the town ; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;
8 He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.
39:9 Will the ox of the mountains be your servant ? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store ?
10 Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you ?
11 Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great ? will you give the fruit of your work into his care ?
12 Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor ?
39:13 Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,
14 That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,
15 Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field ?
16 She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers ; her work is to no purpose ; she has no fear.
17 For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.
18 When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.
39:19 Do you give strength to the horse ? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power ?
20 Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath ?
21 He is stamping with joy in the valley ; he makes sport of fear.
22 In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.
23 The bow is sounding against him ; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.
24 Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth ; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;
25 When it comes to his ears he says, Aha ! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.
39:26 Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south ?
27 Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high ?
28 On the rock is his house, and on the mountain-top his strong place.
29 From there he is watching for food ; his eye sees it far off.
30 His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.
JOB 40
God's Power
40:1 Moreover ; the LORD answered Job, and said,
2 Will he who is protesting give teaching to the Ruler of all ?
Let him who has arguments to put forward against God give an answer.
3 And Job said in answer to the Lord,
4 Truly, I am of no value ; what answer may I give to you ? I will put my hand on my mouth.
5 I have said once, and even twice, what was in my mind, but I will not do so again.
40:6 Then the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
7 Get your strength together like a man of war : I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
8 Will you even make my right of no value ? will you say that I am wrong in order to make clear that you are right ?
9 Have you an arm like God ? have you a voice of thunder like his ?
40:10 Put on the ornaments of your pride ; be clothed with glory and power:
11 Let your wrath be overflowing ; let your eyes see all the sons of pride, and make them low.
12 Send destruction on all who are lifted up, pulling down the sinners from their places.
13 Let them be covered together in the dust ; let their faces be dark in the secret place of the underworld.
14 Then I will give praise to you, saying that your right hand is able to give you salvation.
40:15 See now the Great Beast, whom I made, even as I made you ; he takes grass for food, like the ox.
16 His strength is in his body, and his force in the muscles of his stomach.
17 His tail is curving like a cedar ; the muscles of his legs are joined together.
18 His bones are pipes of brass, his legs are like rods of iron.
40:19 He is the chief of the ways of God, made by him for his pleasure.
20 He takes the produce of the mountains, where all the beasts of the field are at play.
21 He takes his rest under the trees of the river, and in the pool, under the shade of the water-plants.
22 He is covered by the branches of the trees ; the grasses of the stream are round him.
23 Truly, if the river is overflowing, it gives him no cause for fear ; he has no sense of danger, even if Jordan is rushing against his mouth.
24 Will anyone take him when he is on the watch, or put metal teeth through his nose ?
JOB 41
God's power
41:1 Is it possible for Leviathan to be pulled out with a fish-hook, or for a hook to be put through the bone of his mouth ?
2 Will you put a cord into his nose, or take him away with a cord round his tongue ?
3 Will he make prayers to you, or say soft words to you ?
4 Will he make an agreement with you, so that you may take him as a servant for ever ?
5 Will you make sport with him, as with a bird ? or put him in chains for your young women ?
6 Will the fishermen make profit out of him ? will they have him cut up for the traders ?
7 Will you put sharp-pointed irons into his skin, or fish-spears into his head ?
8 Only put your hand on him, and see what a fight you will have ; you will not do it again !
9 Truly, the hope of his attacker is false ; he is overcome even on seeing him !
10 He is so cruel that no one is ready to go against him. Who then is able to keep his place before me ?
11 Who ever went against me, and got the better of me ? There is no one under heaven !
41:12 I will not keep quiet about the parts of his body, or about his power, and the strength of his frame.
13 Who has ever taken off his outer skin ? who may come inside his inner coat of iron ?
14 Who has made open the doors of his face ? Fear is round about his teeth.
15 His back is made of lines of plates, joined tight together, one against the other, like a stamp.
16 One is so near to the other that no air may come between them.
17 They take a grip of one another ; they are joined together, so that they may not be parted.
18 His sneezings give out flames, and his eyes are like the eyes of the dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go burning lights, and flames of fire are jumping up.
20 Smoke comes out of his nose, like a pot boiling on the fire.
21 His breath puts fire to coals, and a flame goes out of his mouth.
22 Strength is in his neck, and fear goes dancing before him.
23 The plates of his flesh are joined together, fixed, and not to be moved.
24 His heart is as strong as a stone, hard as the lower crushing-stone.
25 When he gets ready for the fight, the strong are overcome with fear.
26 The sword may come near him but is not able to go through him ; the spear, or the arrow, or the sharp-pointed iron.
27 Iron is to him as dry grass, and brass as soft wood.
28 The arrow is not able to put him to flight : stones are no more to him than dry stems.
29 A thick stick is no better than a leaf of grass, and he makes sport of the onrush of the spear.
30 Under him are sharp edges of broken pots : as if he was pulling a grain-crushing instrument over the wet earth.
31 The deep is boiling like a pot of spices, and the sea like a perfume-vessel.
32 After him his way is shining, so that the deep seems white.
33 On earth there is not another like him, who is made without fear.
34 Everything which is high goes in fear of him ; he is king over all the sons of pride.
JOB 42
Job's confession accepted
42:1 And Job said in answer to the Lord,
2 I see that you are able to do every thing, and to give effect to all your designs.
3 Who is this who makes dark the purpose of God by words without knowledge ? For I have been talking without knowledge about wonders not to be searched out.
4 Give ear to me, and I will say what is in my mind ; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers.
5 Word of you had come to my ears, but now my eye has seen you.
6 For this cause I give witness that what I said is false, and in sorrow I take my seat in the dust.
42:7 And it came about, after he had said these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am very angry with you and your two friends, because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.
8 And now, take seven oxen and seven sheep, and go to my servant Job, and give a burned offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will make prayer for you, that I may not send punishment on you ; because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.
9 And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the Lord had said. And the Lord gave ear to Job.
42:10 And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends : and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much.
11 And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house ; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him ; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring.
12 And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start : and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
13 And he had seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he gave the first the name of Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch ;
15 And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth : and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers.
16 And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.
17 And Job came to his end, old and full of days.
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