CHAP. XII.

Zophar's Observation.

"Zophar then boldly his presumption check'd, And bade him God and his decrees respect.”

1. My thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. I have been reproached, but the spirit of my understanding causeth a reply.

2. Knowest thou not of old, since mortals were placed on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked man is short, and his joy but for a moment ?-3. Though his name be universally renowned, though his power be under no control, and his commands every where obeyed;4. Yet if he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor, and hath violently taken away the scanty substance of the needy, with out justice and without restitution,——5. The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

6. In the fulness of his abundance, he shall be in straits, and that which he laboured for shall be forfeited; the increase of his house shall depart, and his goods be scattered abroad.

7. When he is about to gratify his appetite, God will send his anger against him; surely he shall not feel quietness, but shall be deprived of those good things he so much desired.

8. Yea, he shall perish forever, and his remembrance shall flee away as a dream, and shall not be found; it shall be chased away

as a vision in the night.-9. The eye which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him.

10. And will God withhold reproving you through fear? Will he not enter into judgment with you? Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquities infinite?

11. Therefore temptations beset you, and sudden fear troubleth you.

12. For can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to himself? 13. Is it interesting to the Almighty that thou art righteous, or gain to him that thou makest thy ways perfect?

14. Verily your thoughts are not hid from him, and be it known to you, that there is no darkness or secret place, where the workers of iniquity can secure themselves.

15. For he will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

16. Do not, therefore, attempt to hide iniquity in thy heart, but acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace with him, and thereby good shall come unto thee.

17. Presume not to search into the hidden decrees of the Almighty.

He has thus loudly spoke,

"Can thine arm measure with an arm divine,
And canst thou thunder with a voice like mine,
Or in the hollow of thy hand contain
The bulk of waters, the wide spreading main,
When mad with tempest, all the billows rise
In all their rage and dash against the skies?
Where dwells the light, in what refulgent dome ?
And where has darkness made her dismal home?

What powerful breath from northern regions blown,
Touches the sea, and turns it into stone;

Who launch'd the clouds in air, and bid them roll
Suspended seas aloft from pole to pole?
Who can refresh the burning sandy plain,
And quench the summer with a wash of rain?
Who in rough desarts, far from human toil,
Make rocks bring forth, and desolation smile?
There blooms the rose, where human face ne'er shone,
And spread its beauties to the sun alone.

?

Dost thou pronounce where daylight shall be born,
And draw the purple curtain of the morn?
Awake the sun, and hid him come away,
And glad the world with his obsequious ray
Hast thou enthron'd in flaming glory driven
Triumphant round the spacious ring of heav'n ?
That pomp of light what hand so far displays,
That distant earth lies basking in the blaze ?
To check the show'r who lifts his hand on high,
And shuts the sluices of the exhausted sky;
When earth no longer mourns her gaping veins,
Her naked mountains, and her russet plains ;
But, new in life, a cheerful prospect yields
Of shining rivers, and of verdant fields;
When groves and forests lavish all their bloom,
And earth and heaven, are fill'd with rich perfume ?"

CHAP. XIII.

"Yet Job proceeds his sorrows to declare,
And pours his spirit in the zeal of pray'r,
Why do I seek thee, if thou art not here ?
Or find thee not, if thou art every where ?
For thee I pine, and am for thee undone ;
As drooping flowers that want their parent sun."

1. WHY still upbraid me for past errors that are blotted out of the book of God? even your reproaches to day are bitter to me, your censures are heavier than my groaning.

2. Why so powerfully plead against me? Why withhold compassion in these trying afflictions?3. I have suffered enough already, and ye need not make my case more desperate by your repeated insinuations.

4. Oh that I knew where I might find God! behold I go forward, but he is not there; and backward but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him.

5. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments, were I permitted to approach the throne of grace, and make known my complaint.-6. With full confidence I would, therefore, rejoice at his presence, as he will perform that which is appointed for me.

7. God knoweth the way 1 have taken; my feet have held his steps; his laws I have kept, and not declined from his statutes.

8. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more my necessary food, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

9. I am not one of those who think their deeds are hidden from the Almighty.

10. Ye say truly, that he seeth all things ; and yet the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, no eye shall see me.

11. The murderer riseth with the darkness to destroy the helpless. The morning to him is as hateful as the shadow of death, for suspicion and terrors of mind ever await him.

12. The extortioner driveth away the ass of the fatherless, and taketh the widow's ox

as a forfeit! The unjust remove the ancient landmarks, they violently take away the flocks and feed, and even pluck the orphan from the breast as a pledge.

13. They cause the distressed to go naked and destitute, by taking their vintage from the presses, which yielded them comfort and support for their families.

14. Alas! the inhabitants groan from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out. The oppressors are those who rebel against the light, departing from the paths of virtue, and the way that leads to it.

15. For a little time they are exalted, but soon brought low and gone, and their remem brance perisheth from the earth.-16. This is the portion of the unjust man; terrors will take hold of him as waters, and tempests carry him away in the night, and storms hurl him from his dwelling.

17. If bis children are multiplied, they are for war; and his offspring shall not be satisfied, and those who adopt his principles shall not be buried.

18. Though he may heap up riches as the dust, and prepare raiment in abundance ; he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide his sub. stance.

19. This is the end and portion of all oppressors, which God will inflict unless there be repentance.-20. Why do they then boast themselves in mischief? for what is the hope of a hypocrite when God takes away his soul?