"I made a covenant with my eyes,
so how could I look closely upon a virgin?
And what is the portion of God from above
or the heritage of Shaddai from on high?
Is not disaster for the evil one
and ruin for the workers of mischief?
Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
"If I have walked with falseness,
and my foot has hastened to deceit,
let him weigh me in the balance of justice,
and let God know my blamelessness.
If my steps have turned aside from the way,
and my heart has walked after my eyes,
and my hand has clung to a spot,
let me sow, and let another eat,
and let my crops be rooted out.
"If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and at my neighbor’s doorway I have lain in wait,
let my wife grind for another,
and let other men kneel over her,
for that is a shameful act,
and that is a criminal offense.
Indeed, that is a fire that will consume up to Abaddon,
and it would uproot all my crop.
"If I have rejected my male or female slave’s case
when their complaint was against me,
then what shall I do when God rises up?
And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?
Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
"If I have withheld the desire of the poor from them,
or I have caused the widow’s eyes to fail,
or I have eaten my morsel alone,
and the orphan has not eaten from it
(for from my childhood he grew up with me like a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided her),
if I have seen the one who perishes because of no clothing
or that there is no covering for the poor,
if his loins have not blessed me,
or by means of my sheep’s fleece he has warmed himself,
if I have raised my hand against an orphan
because I saw my supporters at the gate,
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
Indeed, the disaster from God was a dread for me,
and I was powerless because of his majesty.
"If I have made gold my trust,
or I have called fine gold my security,
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great
or because my hand found a fortune,
if I looked at the sun when it shone
or at the moon moving in splendor,
and I was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss,
this also is an iniquity to be judged,
for I have deceived God above.
"If I have rejoiced at the ruin of the one who hated me
or have exulted when evil overtook him—
no, I have not allowed my mouth to sin,
to ask his life with a curse.
Have the people of my tent not said,
‘O that someone had not been satisfied with his meat’?
An alien has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my door to the traveler.
Have I concealed my transgressions as other human beings
to hide my iniquity in my bosom
because I dreaded the great multitude,
and the contempt of clans terrified me,
so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of the doorway?
O that I had someone hearing me!
Here is my signature;
let Shaddai answer me!
As for the written communication that my adversary has written,
I would surely carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me like a crown.
I would give him an account of my steps;
I would approach him like a noble.
If my land has cried out against me,
and its furrows have wept together,
if I have eaten its yield without payment,
or I have caused the breath of its owners to die,
let thorns grow in place of wheat
and noxious weeds in place of barley."
The words of Job are ended.

Then these three men ceased from answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. So Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, from the clan of Ram, became angry. He became angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God, and he became angry at his three friends because they had not found an answer, and they had declared Job guilty. Thus Elihu had waited for Job to speak because they were older than he. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he became angry. Then Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up and said,

"I am young, but you are old;
therefore I feared and became afraid of explaining my knowledge to you.
I thought, ‘Let days speak,
and let many years teach wisdom.’
"Truly, it is a spirit in a human being,
and the breath of Shaddai teaches them.
It is not the aged who are wise,
or it is not the elders who understand justice.
Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
let me also declare my knowledge myself.’
"Look, I waited for your words;
I listened for your insight,
until you searched out what to say.
And I directed my attention to you;
and, look, there is no one for Job who refuted,
answering his words among you.
So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
let God refute him, not a man.’
But he did not direct his words to me,
and I will not answer him with your words.
"They are dismayed; they no longer answer;
they have nothing to say.
And I have waited because they do not speak,
because they stand there and no longer answer.
I myself will answer my share also;
I myself will declare my knowledge also,
for I am full of words;
the spirit within me urges me.
"Look, my internal organs are like unopened wine,
like new wineskins it is ready to burst open.
Let me speak that I may find relief;
let me open my lips, and let me answer.
Please let me not show partiality to anyone,
and let me not show flattery to human beings,
for I do not know how to flatter,
else my Maker would soon put an end to me.

"But now, please hear my speeches, Job,
and hear all my words.
Please look, I open my mouth;
my tongue in my mouth speaks.
My words declare my heart’s uprightness,
and my lips sincerely speak what my lips know.
The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of Shaddai gives life to me.
"If you are able, answer me.
Present your argument before me; take your stand.
Look, before God I am like you;
I myself was also formed from clay.
Look, dread of me should not terrify you,
and my hand will not be heavy upon you.
"Surely you have spoken in my ears,
and I have heard the sound of your words:
‘I am clean, without transgression;
I am pure, and there is no guilt in me.
Look, he finds fault against me;
he reckons me as his enemy;
he puts my feet in the block;
he watches all my paths.’
"Look, in this you are not right—I will answer you:
Indeed, God is greater than a human being.
Why do you contend against him,
that he will not answer all a person’s words?
Indeed, God speaks in one way,
even in two, yet someone does not perceive it.
"In a dream, a vision of the night,
when a deep sleep falls on men slumbering on their bed,
then he opens the ear of men,
and he frightens them with a warning
to turn human beings aside from their deeds,
and he keeps man from pride.
He spares his life from the pit
and his life from passing over the river of death.
"And he is reproved with pain on his bed,
even with the strife of his bones continually,
so that his life loathes bread,
and his inner self loathes appetizing food.
His flesh is wasted away from sight,
and his bones, which are invisible, are bared.
And he draws near to the pit
and his life to the killers.
"If there is a messenger beside him, a mediator, one of a thousand,
to declare to a human being his uprightness
so that he is gracious to him, and he says,
‘Deliver him from descending into the pit;
I have found a ransom.’
His flesh is renewed with his youth;
he returns to the days of his youthful strength.
He prays to God, then he accepts him,
and he sees his face with a shout of joy,
and he repays to the human being his righteousness.
"He will sing to men, and he will say,
‘I have sinned and have perverted what is right,
and it was not paid back to me.
He redeemed my life from going down into the pit,
so I will enjoy the light.’
Look, God does all these things
twice, three times with a person
to bring his life back from the pit
so that he may enjoy the light of life.
"Listen attentively, Job; listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak, for I desire to justify you.
If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my trouble.
Incline your ear to me.
In the day I call, answer me quickly,
for my days vanish in smoke,
and my bones are charred like a hearth.
My heart is struck like grass and withers.
Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.
Because of the sound of my groaning
my bones cling to my skin.
I am like an owl of the wilderness;
I am like a little owl of the ruins.
I lie awake and I am
like a lone bird on a roof.
All the day my enemies reproach me;
those who mock me swear oaths against me.
Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
and mix my drink with tears
because of your indignation and anger,
for you have picked me up and thrown me away.
My days are like a lengthened shadow,
and I wither like grass.
But you, O Yahweh, abide forever,
and your remembrance from generation to generation.
You rise up and take pity on Zion,
because it is time to favor it,
for the appointed time has come.
Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and show favor to its dust.
Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For Yahweh will rebuild Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
He will turn his attention to the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.
Let this be written for the next generation,
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah,
that he looked down from his holy height.
Yahweh looked from heaven over the earth
to hear the groaning of the prisoner,
to liberate those destined to die,
so that they may make known in Zion the name of Yahweh,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
when the peoples assemble,
together with kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.
He has broken my strength along the way;
he has cut short my days.
I say, "My God, do not carry me off
from my life in the middle of my days."
Your years continue throughout all generations.
Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will endure.
And like a garment they will all wear out,
you will replace them like clothing, and they will be set aside.
But you are the same,
and your years do not end.
The children of your servants will continue,
and their descendants will be established before you.

After these things I heard something like the loud sound of a great crowd in heaven saying,

"Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
    because his judgments are true and righteous,
because he has passed judgment on the great prostitute
    who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,
and has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by her hand!"

And a second time they said,

"Hallelujah!"

And her smoke goes up forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,

"Amen! Hallelujah!"

And a voice came out from the throne, saying,

"Praise our God
    all his slaves,
and those who fear him,
    the small and the great!"

And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,

"Hallelujah!
For the Lord God, the All-Powerful, reigns!
Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give him the glory,
because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has prepared herself.
And it has been granted to her that she be dressed in bright, clean fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).

And he said to me, "Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." And I fell down before his feet to worship him, and he said to me, "Do not do that! I am a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called "Faithful" and "True," and with justice he judges and makes war. Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows. And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies that are in heaven, dressed in clean, white fine linen, were following him on white horses. And out of his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he could strike the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod, and he stomps the winepress of the wine of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: "King of kings and Lord of lords."

And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly directly overhead,

"Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God,
in order that you may eat the flesh of kings,
and the flesh of military tribunes,
and the flesh of the powerful,
and the flesh of horses and those seated on them,
and the flesh of all people,
both free and slave,
and small and great!"

And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with the one who is seated on the horse and with his army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. And the rest were killed by the sword of the one who is seated on the horse—the sword that comes out of his mouth—and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

"Indeed, there is a mine for silver
and a place for gold to be refined.
Iron is taken from dust,
and he pours out copper from ore.
He puts an end to darkness,
and he searches out the farthest limits
for the ore in gloom and deep shadow.
He breaks open a mine shaft away from where people dwell;
those who are forgotten by travelers,
they dangle, they sway far away from human beings.
As for the earth, from it comes food,
but underneath it, it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphire,
and the earthen dirt has gold.
"It is a path a bird of prey does not know
and the black kite’s eye has not seen.
Proud wild animals have not trodden it;
the lion in its prime has not prowled over it.
He puts his hand on the hard rock;
he overturns mountains by the roots.
He cuts out tunnels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every treasure.
He dams up rivers from their sources,
and he brings secret things to the light.
"But from where will wisdom be found?
And where in the world is the place of understanding?
A human being does not know its proper value,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
"Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir,
for precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot be compared with it,
and its substitution cannot be an ornament of refined gold.
Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned,
and wisdom’s price is more than red corals.
The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be bought for pure gold.
Indeed, from where does wisdom come?
And where in the world is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and it is concealed from the birds of the heaven.
Abaddon and Death say,
‘We heard its rumor with our ears.’
"God understands its way,
and he knows its place,
for he himself looks to the end of the earth;
he sees under all the heaven.
When he gave weight to the wind
and he apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a rule for the rain
and a way for the thunder’s lightning bolt,
then he saw it and talked about it;
he established it, and moreover, he explored it.
And to the human beings he said,
‘Look, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,
and to depart from evil is understanding.’"

Then Job again took up his discourse and said,

"O that I were as in the months before,
as in the days when God watched over me,
when his shining lamp was over my head—
by his light I walked through darkness—
as when I was in the days of my prime,
when God’s confiding was over my house,
when Shaddaiwas still with me,
my children were all around me,
when my paths were washed in sour milk,
and the rock poured out streams of oil for me.
"At my going out the gate to the city,
I secured my seat in the square.
Young men saw me and stepped aside,
and the aged rose up and stood.
Officials refrained from talking,
and they laid their hand on their mouth.
The voices of nobles were hushed,
and their tongue stuck to their palate.
"When the ear heard and commended me,
and the eye saw and testified in support of me
because I saved the needy who cried for help,
and I saved the orphan for whom there was no helper.
The blessing of the wretched came upon me,
and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a headband.
"I was eyes to the blind,
and I was feet to the lame.
I was a father to the poor,
and I investigated the stranger’s legal dispute.
And I broke the evil one’s jaw bones,
and I made his prey drop from his teeth.
"And I thought, ‘I will pass away in my nest,
and like the phoenix I shall multiply my days.
My roots were open to water,
and dew spent the night on my branches;
My glory was new with me,
and I was revitalized regularly.’
"They listened to me and waited,
and they kept silent for my counsel.
After my word, they did not speak again,
and my word dropped down like dew upon them.
And they waited for me as for the rain,
and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
I smiled for them when they had no confidence in anything,
and they did not extinguish the light of my face.
I chose their way, and I sat as head,
and I dwelled like a king among the troops,
like one who comforts mourners.

"But now those younger than I, as far as days, laugh at me,
whose fathers I rejected for setting with the dogs of my sheep and goats.
Moreover, what use to me is the strength of their hands?
With them, vigor is destroyed.
Through want and through barren hunger
they are gnawing in the dry region in the darkness of desolation and waste.
They are picking salt herbs, the leaves of bushes,
and the roots of broom trees to warm themselves.
They were driven out from fellow people;
they shout at them as at a thief,
so that they dwell
in holes of the ground and in the rocks.
They bray among the bushes;
they are gathered under the nettles.
A senseless crowd, yes, a disreputable brood,
they were cast out from the land.
"But now I am their mocking song,
and I have become a byword for them.
They abhor me; they keep aloof from me,
and they do not withhold spit from my face
because he has loosened his bowstring and humbled me,
and they have thrown off restraint in my presence.
On the right hand the brood rises up;
they put me to flight,
and they build up their siege ramps against me.
They destroy my path;
they promote my destruction;
they have no helper.
As through a wide breach they come;
amid a crash they rush on.
Terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is pursued as by the wind,
and my hope of deliverance passed by like a cloud.
"And now my life is poured out onto me;
days of misery have taken hold of me.
At night I am in great pain;
my pains do not take a rest.
He seizes my clothing with great power;
he grasps me by my tunic’s collar.
He has cast me into the dirt,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me;
I stand, and you merely look at me.
You have turned cruel to me;
you persecute me with your hand’s might.
You lift me up to the wind—you make me ride it,
and you toss me about in the storm.
Indeed, I know that you will bring me to death
and to the house of assembly for all the living.
"Surely someone must not send a hand against the needy
when, in his misfortune, there is a cry of help for them.
Have I not wept for the unfortunate,
and grieved myself over the poor?
Indeed, I hoped for good, but evil came,
and I waited for light, but darkness came.
My bowels are in turmoil, and they are not still;
days of misery come to confront me.
I go about in mourning garb, but not in sunlight;
I stand up in the assembly, and I cry for help.
I am a companion for the jackals
and a companion for ostriches.
My skin turns black on me,
and my bones burn with heat.
So my lyre came to be used for mourning,
and my flute for the voice of those who weep.

After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,
and it has become a dwelling place of demons
and a haunt of every unclean spirit
and a haunt of every unclean bird
and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal.
For all the nations have drunk
from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have become rich
from the power of her sensuality."

And I heard another voice from heaven saying,

"Come out from her, my people,
so that you will not participate in her sins,
and so that you will not receive her plagues,
because her sins have reached up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
Pay back to her as she herself also paid out,
and pay back double according to her deeds;
in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.
As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
give to her so much torment and mourning,
because in her heart she said,
‘I sit as a queen, and am not a widow,
and I will never see mourning!’
Because of this her plagues will come in one day—
death and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!"

And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing far off because of the fear of her torment, saying,

"Woe, woe, the great city,
    Babylon the powerful city,
because in one hour your judgment has come!"

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves and human lives.

"And the fruit your soul desires has departed from you,
and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you,
    and they will never find them any more."

The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off, weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, saying,

"Woe, woe, the great city,
    dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth,
    and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
because in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!"

And every shipmaster and every seafarer and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off and began to cry out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "Who is like the great city?" And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,

"Woe, woe, the great city,
    in which all those who had ships on the sea
        became rich from her prosperity,
because in one hour she has been laid waste!"
Rejoice over her, heaven
    and the saints and the apostles and the prophets,
because God has pronounced your judgment on her!"

And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

"In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence,
    and will never be found again!
And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters
    will never be heard in you again!
And every craftsman of every trade
    will never be found in you again!
And the sound of a mill
    will never be heard in you again!
And the light of a lamp
    will never shine in you again!
And the sound of a bridegroom and bride
    will never be heard in you again!
For your merchants were the most important people of the earth,
    because with your sorcery they deceived all the nations.
And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints
    and all those who had been slaughtered on the earth.

"Why are not times kept by Shaddai,
and why do not those who know him see his days?
They remove border stones;
they seize flocks, and they pasture them.
They drive away the donkey of orphans;
they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
They thrust the poor off the road;
the needy of the earth hide themselves together.
"Look, like wild donkeys in the desert
they go out to their labor as searchers for the prey;
the wilderness is their food for the young.
They reap their fodder in the field,
and they glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
They spend the night naked, without clothing,
and they have no garment in the cold.
They are wet from the rainstorm of the mountains,
and they cling to the rock without refuge.
"They snatch the orphan from the breast,
and they take a pledge against the needy.
They go about naked, without clothing,
and hungry, they carry the sheaves.
Between their terraces they press out oil;
they tread the presses, but they are thirsty.
From the city people groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
yet God does not regard it as unseemly.
"Those are among the ones rebelling against the light;
they do not recognize his ways,
and they do not stay in his paths.
At dusk the murderer rises;
he kills the needy and the poor,
and in the night he is like a thief.
And the eye of the adulterer waits for dusk,
saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
and he places a covering on his face.
He digs through houses in the darkness;
by day they shut themselves in—
they do not know the light
because morning likewise is to them deep darkness;
indeed, they know about the terrors of deep darkness.
"He himself is swift on the water’s surface;
their portion is cursed in the land.
No one turns toward the path of their vineyards.
Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters,
like Sheol snatches away those who have sinned.
The womb forgets him.
The maggot feasts on him until he is no longer remembered,
and wickedness is broken like a tree.
He feeds on the barren, who does not have a child,
and does no good to the widow.
Yet he carries off the tyrants by his strength;
if he rises up, then he cannot be certain of life.
He gives security to him, and he is supported,
but his eyes are upon their ways.
They are exalted a little while, then they are gone.
And they are brought low; they are cut off like all others,
and like the heads of grain they wither away.
"And if it is not so, then who can prove me a liar
and reduce my word to nothing?"

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

"Domination and dread are with him
who makes peace in his high heavens.
Is there a number to his troops?
And upon whom does his light not rise?
"Indeed, how can a human being be righteous before God?
And how will he who is born of a woman be pure?
Look, even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure in his sight.
How much less for a human being who is a maggot,
and a human who is a worm?"

Then Job answered and said,

"How you have helped one who has no power!
How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!
How you have advised one who has no wisdom!
And what sound wisdom you have made known in abundance!
With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come forth from you?
"The spirits of the dead tremble
below the waters and their inhabitants.
Sheol is naked before him,
and there is no covering for Abaddon.
He stretches out the north over emptiness;
he hangs the earth over nothing.
He ties up the water in its clouds,
and the cloud is not torn open beneath it.
He covers the face of the full moon;
he spreads his cloud over it.
He has described a circle on the face of the water
between light and darkness.
"The pillars of heaven tremble,
and they are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the sea,
and by his understanding he struck down Rahab.
By his breath the heavens were made clear;
his hand pierced the fleeing snake.
Look, these are the outer fringes of his ways,
and how faint is the word that we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?"

Then Job again took up his discourse and said,

"As God lives, he has removed my justice,
and Shaddai has made my inner self bitter.
For as long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nose,
my lips surely will not speak falseness,
and my tongue surely will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me that I would say that you are right;
until I pass away, I will not put away from me my blamelessness.
I hold fast to my righteousness, and I will not let it go;
my heart will not blame any of my days.
"Let my enemy be like the wicked
and my opponent like the unrighteous,
for what is the hope of the godless when he cuts them off,
when God takes away his life?
Will God hear his cry of distress
when distress comes upon him?
Or, in Shaddai will he find delight?
Will he call upon God at all times?
"I will teach you about God’s hand;
I will not conceal that which is with Shaddai.
Look, you all have seen,
and why in the world have you become altogether vain?
"This is the portion of the wicked human being with God,
and they receive from Shaddai the inheritance of the ruthless.
If their children multiply, it is for the sword,
and his offspring do not have enough to eat.
Their survivors are buried through the plague,
and their widows do not weep.
If he heaps up silver like the dust
and fashions clothing like the clay,
he makes it ready, and the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide the silver.
"He builds his house like the moth,
and like a booth that a watchman has made.
He goes to bed with wealth, but he will do so no more;
he opens his eyes, and it is gone.
Terrors overtake him like the water;
a storm wind carries him off in the night.
The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone,
and it sweeps him away from his place.
And it hurls at him, and it has no compassion;
he will quickly flee from its power.
It claps its hands over him,
and it hisses at him from its place.

And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality." And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: "Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth." And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

And I was greatly astonished when I saw her. And the angel said to me, "Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits and they are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and whenever he comes it is necessary for him to remain a short time. And the beast that was, and is not, is also himself an eighth, and is of the seven, and he is going to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make a unanimous decision and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.

Then Job answered and said,

"Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your consolation.
Bear with me, and I myself will speak;
then after my speaking you can mock.
As for me, is my complaint for human beings?
And if so, why cannot I be impatient?
Turn to me and be appalled,
and place your hand on your mouth.
And when I think of it, I am horrified,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
"Why do the wicked live,
grow old, even grow mighty in power?
With them their offspring are established before them,
and their descendants before their eyes.
Their houses are safe without fear,
and the rod of God is not upon them.
His bull breeds and does not fail;
his cow calves and does not miscarry.
They send out their little ones like the flock,
and their children dance around.
They sing to the tambourine and lyre,
and they rejoice to the sound of the long flute.
They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
And they say to God, ‘Turn away from us,
for we do not desire to know your ways.
Who is Shaddai that we should serve him,
or what would we benefit when we plead with him?’
Look, their prosperity is not in their hands;
the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.
"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
and their disaster comes upon them?
He distributes pains in his anger.
How often are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff that the storm carries away?
‘God stores up his iniquity for his children’?
Then let him repay it to him that he may know.
Let his eyes see his decay,
and let him drink from the wrath of Shaddai,
for what does he care for his house after him,
when the number of his months is cut off?
Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he himself judges high ones?
This one dies in full prosperity,
completely at ease and secure.
His vats are full with milk
and the marrow of his bones is moist.
Yet another dies with a bitter inner self
and has not tasted prosperity.
They lie down together in the dust,
and maggots cover them.
"Look, I know your thoughts
and the schemes you devise against me.
For you say, ‘Where is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked dwell?’
Do you not ask those traveling the roads,
and do you not take notice of their accounts?
Indeed, the wicked is spared from the day of disaster;
he is delivered from the day of wrath.
Who denounces his way to his face?
And who repays him for what he has done?
When he is brought to the grave,
then someone stands guard over the tomb.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
everyone will follow after him,
and before him they are innumerable.
So how will you comfort me with emptiness,
when fraud is left in your answers?"

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

"Can a man be of use to God?
Yes, can the wise be of use to him?
Is it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous,
or a gain if you make your ways blameless?
Does he reprove you because of your reverence
or enter into judgment with you?
Is not your wickedness great,
and there is no end to your iniquities?
"Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing,
and you have stripped off the clothes of the naked.
You have given no water for the weary to drink,
and you withheld food from the hungry.
And the land belongs to the man of power,
and the favored lives in it.
You have sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms of orphans were crushed.
Therefore trapping nets are all around you,
and panic suddenly terrifies you,
or it is so dark you cannot see,
and a flood of water covers you.
"Is not God in the height of the heavens?
But see how lofty are the highest stars.
And you ask, ‘What does God know?
Can he judge through deep gloom?
Thick clouds are a covering for him, so that he does not see;
and he walks about on the dome of heaven.’
Will you keep to the way of old
that the people of mischief have trod,
who were snatched away before their time,
whose foundation was washed away by a current?
Those who said to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and ‘What can Shaddai do to us?’
Yet he himself filled up their houses with good things,
but the schemes of the wicked are repugnant to me.
The righteous see, and they rejoice,
but the innocent one mocks at them.
Surely our foe perishes,
and fire has consumed their remainder.
"Please reconcile yourself with him,
and be at peace; in this way, good will come to you.
Please receive instruction from his mouth,
and place his words in your heart.
If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored;
if you remove wickedness from your tent,
and if you put gold ore in the dust,
and the gold of Ophir in the rock of wadis,
then Shaddai will be your gold ore
and your precious silver.
Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai,
and you will expect that God will be good to you.
You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will pay your vows.
And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
When they are humiliated, you say, ‘It is pride,’
for he saves the humble.
He will deliver the guilty,
and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands."

Then Job answered and said,

"Even today my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy in addition to my groaning.
O that I knew and that I might find him;
O that I might come to his dwelling.
I would lay my case before him,
and I would fill my mouth with arguments.
I want to know the words with which he would answer me,
and I want to understand what he would say to me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his strength?
No, but he himself would give heed to me.
There an upright person could reason with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
"When I go forward, he is not there,
or backward, I cannot see him.
When he works on the left, I cannot perceive him;
he turns to the right, but I cannot see him.
But he knows the way that I take;
he tests me—I shall come out like gold.
My foot has held on to his steps;
I have kept his way, and I have not turned aside.
From the commandment of his lips, indeed I have not departed;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily food.
"But he is alone, and who can dissuade him?
And whatever he desires, indeed, he does it.
For he will carry out what he appoints for me,
and many things like these are with him.
Therefore, I am horrified because of his presence;
when I consider, I tremble because of him.
Indeed, God has made my heart faint,
and Shaddai has terrified me.
Indeed, I have not been silenced because of darkness,
and because of me he conceals thick darkness.

I will sing of loyal love and justice;
I will sing praises to you, O Yahweh.
I will give attention to the way of integrity.
When will you come to me?
I will walk in the integrity of my heart
in the midst of my house.
I will not set before my eyes
any wicked thing.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it will not cling to me.
A perverse heart will depart from me;
I will not know evil.
One who slanders his neighbor in secret,
him I will destroy.
One haughty of eyes and arrogant of heart,
him I will not endure.
My eyes will be on the faithful of the land,
that they may live with me.
He who walks in the way of integrity,
he shall minister to me.
There will not live in the midst of my house
a worker of deceit.
One who speaks lies
will not remain before my eyes.
Each morning,
I will destroy all the wicked of the land,
cutting off from the city of Yahweh all evildoers.

And I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God." And the first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and there was an evil and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

And the second poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood, like that of a dead person, and every living thing that was in the sea died.

And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying,

"You are righteous, the one who is and the one who was, the Holy One,
    because you have judged these things,
because they have poured out the blood of the saints and prophets,
    and you have given them blood to drink;
they are deserving!"

And I heard the altar saying,

"Yes, Lord God All-Powerful,
    true and righteous are your judgments."

And the fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was granted to it to burn up people with fire. And people were burned up by the great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent to give him glory.

And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, in order that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are the spirits of demons performing signs that go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world, to gather them for the battle of the great day of God the All-Powerful. (Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is on the alert and who keeps his clothing, so that he does not walk around naked and they see his shamefulness!) And he gathered them to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

And the seventh poured out his bowl on the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were lightnings and sounds and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, as has not happened from the time humanity has been on the earth—so great in this way was the earthquake. And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his furious wrath. And every island fled, and mountains were not found. And large hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds, came down from the sky upon people, and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, because the plague of it was very great.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

"How long will you hunt for words?
Consider, and afterward we shall speak.
Why are we considered as animals?
Why are we taken as stupid in your eyes?
"You who are tearing yourself in your anger,
will the earth be forsaken because of you?
Or will the rock be removed from its place?
Furthermore, the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of his fire will not shine.
The light becomes dark in his tent,
and his lamp above him is put out.
"His strong steps are shortened,
and his own schemes throw him down,
for he is thrust into a net by his feet,
and he walks into a pitfall.
A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare takes hold of him.
His rope is hidden in the ground,
and his trap on the path.
"Sudden terrors terrify him all around,
and they chase him at his heels.
His wealth will become hunger,
and disaster is ready for his stumbling.
It consumes parts of his skin;
the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
He is torn from his tent in which he trusted,
and it brought him to the king of terrors.
"Nothing remains for him in his tent;
sulfur is scattered upon his dwelling place.
His roots dry up below,
and its branches wither away above.
His remembrance perishes from the earth,
and there is not a name for him on the street.
"They thrust him from light into darkness,
and they drive him out from the world.
There is no offspring for him nor a descendant among his people,
and there is not a survivor in his abode.
Those of the west are appalled over his fate,
and those of the east are seized with horror.
Surely these are the dwellings of the godless,
and this is the dwelling place of him who knows not God."

Then Job answered and said,

"How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
These ten times you have disgraced me;
you are not ashamed that you have attacked me.
And what is more, if I have truly erred,
my error remains with me.
If indeed you must magnify yourselves against me,
and you must let my disgrace argue against me,
know then that God has wronged me
and has surrounded me with his net.
"Look, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
I cry out, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass;
and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has taken my glory from me,
and he has removed the crown of my head.
He has broken me down all around, and I am gone.
And he has uprooted my hope like a tree,
and he has kindled his wrath against me,
and he has counted me as one of his foes.
His troops have come together
and have thrown up their rampart against me
and have encamped around my tent.
"He has removed my kinsfolk from me,
and my acquaintances have only turned aside from me.
My relatives have failed,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
The sojourners in my house and my slave women count me as a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I must personally plead with him.
My breath is repulsive to my wife,
and I am loathsome to my own family.
Little boys also despise me;
when I rise, then they talk against me.
All my intimate friends abhor me,
and these whom I have loved have turned against me.
My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
"Pity me, pity me, you my friends,
for God’s hand has touched me.
Why do you pursue me like God?
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
"O that my words could be written down!
O that they could be inscribed in a scroll!
That with a pen of iron and with lead
they might be engraved on a rock forever!
But I myself know that my redeemer is alive,
and at the last he will stand up upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
but from my flesh I will see God,
whom I will see for myself,
and whom my eyes will see and not a stranger.
My heart faints within me.
"If you say, ‘How will we persecute him?’
And ‘The root of the trouble is found’ in me,
be afraid for yourselves because of the sword,
for wrath brings punishment by the sword,
so that you may know that there is judgment."

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

"Therefore my disquieting thoughts bring me back
for the sake of my inward excitement.
I hear discipline that insults me,
and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
"Did you know this from of old,
since the setting of the human being on earth,
that the rejoicing of the wicked is short,
and the joy of the godless lasts only a moment?
Even though his stature mounts up to the heaven,
and his head reaches to the clouds,
he will perish forever like his dung;
those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
He will fly away like a dream, and they will not find him,
and he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw him will not see him again,
and his place will no longer behold him.
His children will seek favors from the poor,
and his hands will return his wealth.
His bones were full of his vigor,
but it will lie down with him on the dust.
"Though wickedness tastes sweet in his mouth,
and he hides it under his tongue,
though he spares it and does not let it go
and holds it back in the midst of his palate,
in his bowels his food is turned,
the venom of horned vipers is within him.
He swallows riches, but he vomits them up;
God drives them out from his stomach.
He will suck the poison of horned vipers;
the viper’s tongue will kill him.
He will not enjoy the streams,
the torrents of honey and curds.
Returning the products of his toil, he will not swallow;
according to the profit of his trade, he will not enjoy,
for he has oppressed; he has abandoned the poor;
he has seized a house but did not build it.
Because he has not known satisfaction in his stomach,
he lets nothing escape that he desires.
There is nothing left after he has eaten;
therefore his prosperity will not endure.
In the fullness of his excess he will be in distress;
all of misery’s power will come upon him.
When his stomach fills up, God will send his burning anger upon him,
and he will let it rain down upon him as his food.
"He will flee from an iron weapon,
but an arrow of bronze will pierce him.
He draws it forth, and it comes out from his body,
and the glittering point comes from his gall-bladder;
terrors come upon him.
Total darkness is hidden for his treasures;
an unfanned fire will devour him;
the remnant will be consumed in his tent.
The heavens will reveal his guilt,
and the earth will rise up against him.
The products of his house will be carried away
like gushing waters on the day of his wrath.
This is a wicked human being’s portion from God
and the inheritance of his decree from God."

I call on you, O Yahweh; hasten to me.
Listen to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be set before you as incense,
the lifting up of my palms as the evening offering.
Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
to practice wicked deeds
with men who do iniquity;
and do not let me eat of their delicacies.
Let a righteous one strike me in kindness,
and let him chasten me.
It is oil for my head; let not my head refuse.
For still my prayer is against their evil deeds.
When their judges are thrown down the sides of a cliff,
then they will understand that my words were pleasant.
As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
But my eyes are toward you, O Yahweh, my Lord;
I have taken refuge in you. Do not lay bare my soul.
Protect me from the grasp of the trap they have laid for me,
and from the snares of evildoers.
Let the wicked fall into their nets,
while I escape altogether.

And I saw another great and marvelous sign in heaven: seven angels having seven plagues that are the last ones, because with them the wrath of God is completed. And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name were standing by the glassy sea, holding harps from God. And they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

"Great and marvelous are your works,
    Lord God All-Powerful;
righteous and true are your ways,
    King of the ages!
Who would never fear, Lord,
    and glorify your name?
For only you are holy,
    because all the nations will come
    and worship before you,
because your righteous deeds have been revealed."

And after these things I looked, and the temple, the tent of the testimony in heaven, was opened, and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out from the temple, dressed in clean, bright linen garments, and girded with golden belts around their chests. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever, and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

"Should the wise answer with windy knowledge,
and should he fill his stomach with the east wind?
Should he argue in talk that is not profitable
or in words with which he cannot do good?
"What is worse, you yourself are doing away with fear,
and you are lessening meditation before God.
For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
Your mouth condemns you, and not I;
and your lips testify against you.
"Were you born the firstborn of the human race?
And were you brought forth before the hills?
Have you listened in God’s confidential discussion?
And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?
Both the gray-haired and the old are among us—
those older than your father.
"Are the consolations of God too small for you,
a word spoken gently with you?
Why does your heart carry you away?
And why do your eyes flash,
that you turn your spirit against God,
and you let such words go out of your mouth?
"What is a human being, that he can be clean,
or that one born of a woman can be righteous?
Look, he does not trust his holy ones,
and the heavens are not clean in his eyes.
How much less he who is abominable and corrupt,
a man drinking wickedness like water.
"I will show you, listen to me;
and what I have seen, I will tell—
what wise men have told,
and they have not hidden that which is from their ancestors,
to whom alone the land was given,
and no stranger passed through their midst.
"All of the wicked one’s days he is writhing,
even through the number of years that are laid up for the tyrant.
Sounds of terror are in his ears;
in prosperity the destroyer will come against him.
He cannot trust that he will return from darkness,
and he himself is destined for the sword.
"He is wandering for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is ready at hand.
Anguish and distress terrify him;
they overpower him like a king ready for the battle.
Because he stretched out his hand against God,
and he was arrogant to Shaddai;
he stubbornly runs against him
with his thick-bossed shield.
"Because he has covered his face with his fat
and has gathered fat upon his loins,
he will dwell in desolate cities,
in houses that they should not inhabit,
which are destined for rubble.
He will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure,
and their possessions will not stretch across the earth.
"He will not escape from darkness;
a flame will dry up his new shoot,
and by the wind of his mouth he shall be removed.
Let him not trust in emptiness—he will be deceiving himself—
for worthlessness will be his recompense.
It will be paid in full before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.
"He will shake off his unripe fruit like the vine,
and he will cast off his blossom like the olive tree;
for the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.
They conceive trouble and bring forth mischief,
and their womb prepares deceit."

Then Job answered and said,

"I have heard many things like these;
all of you are miserable comforters.
Is there a limit to windy words?
What provokes you that you answer?
I myself also could talk as you,
if you were in my place;
I could join against you with words,
and I could shake at you with my head.
I could encourage you with my mouth,
and the solace of my lips would ease the pain.
If I speak, my pain is not relieved;
and if I cease, how much will leave me?
"Surely now he has worn me out;
you have devastated all my company.
Thus you shriveled me up;
it became a witness.
And my leanness has risen up against me;
it testifies to my face.
His wrath has torn, and he has been hostile toward me;
he gnashed at me with his teeth.
My foe sharpens his eyes against me.
They gaped at me with their mouth;
they struck my cheeks with disgrace;
they have massed themselves together against me.
God delivers me to an evil one,
and he casts me into the hands of the wicked.
"I was at ease, then he broke me in two,
and he seized me by my neck;
then he shattered me
and set me up as a target for him.
His archers surround me;
he slashes open my kidneys, and he does not have compassion;
he pours out my gall on the ground.
He breached me breach upon breach;
he rushes at me like a warrior.
"I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
and I have inserted my pride in the dust.
My face is red because of weeping,
and deep shadows are on my eyelids,
although violence is not on my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
"O earth, you should not cover my blood,
and let there be no place for my cry for help.
So now look, my witness is in the heavens,
and he who vouches for me is in the heights.
My friends scorn me;
my eye pours out tears to God,
and it argues for a mortal with God,
and as a human for his friend.
Indeed, after a few years have come,
then I will go the way from which I will not return.

"My spirit is pulled down; my days are extinguished;
the graveyard is for me.
Surely mockery is with me,
and my eye rests on their provocation.
Please lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is he who will give security for my hand?
Indeed, you have closed their mind from understanding;
therefore, you will not let them triumph.
He denounces friends for reward,
so his children’s eyes will fail.
"And he has made me a proverb for the peoples,
and I am one before whom people spit.
And my eye has grown dim from grief,
and the limbs of my body are all like a shadow.
The upright are appalled at this,
and the innocent excites himself over the godless.
But the righteous holds on to his way,
and he who has clean hands increases in strength.
But all of you must return—please come!
But I shall not find a wise person among you.
"My days are past; my plans are broken down—
even the desires of my heart.
They make night into day,
saying, ‘Light is near to darkness.’
If I hope for Sheol as my house,
if I spread my couch in the darkness,
if I call to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
to the maggot, ‘You are my mother or my sister,’
where then is my hope?
And who will see my hope?
Will they go down to the bars of Sheol?
Or shall we descend together into the dust?"

And I looked, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the sound that I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. And they were singing something like a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who had been bought from the earth.

These are those who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were bought from humanity as first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth a lie was not found; they are blameless.

And I saw another angel flying directly overhead, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who reside on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and language and people, saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship the one who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water!"

And another second angel followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who caused all the nations to drink from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."

And another third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself also will drink of the wine of the anger of God that has been mixed full strength in the cup of his wrath, and will be tortured with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torture went up forever and ever, and those who worshiped the beast and his image did not have rest day and night, along with anyone who received the mark of his name. Here is the patient endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write:

‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’"

"Yes," says the Spirit, "in order that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow after them."

And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud was seated one like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, "Send out your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe!" And the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

And another angel came out of the temple that is in heaven; he also had a sharp sickle. And another angel who had authority over the fire went out from the altar, and he called out with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Send out your sharp sickle and harvest the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are at their prime!" And the angel swung his sickle into the earth and harvested the vine of the earth, and threw the grapes into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was stomped outside the city, and blood went out from the winepress up to the bridles of the horses, about one thousand six hundred stadia.

Then Job answered and said,

"Truly indeed you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
I also have insight like you;
I am not more inferior than you.
And who does not know things like these?
I am a laughingstock to my friends:
‘He calls on God, and he answers him.’
A righteous, blameless man is a laughingstock.
Those at ease have contempt for the thought of disaster,
but it is ready for those unstable of foot.
The tents of the destroyers are at peace,
and there is security for those who provoke God,
for those whom God brings into his hand.
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
and the birds of the heaven, and they will tell you;
or ask the earth, and it will teach you,
and the fishes of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all of these does not know
that Yahweh’s hand has done this?
In whose hand is the life of all living things
and the breath of every human being?
Does not the ear test words
and the palate taste food for itself?
Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding is in length of days.
"With him are wisdom and powerful deeds,
and to him belong counsel and understanding.
If he tears down, then it will not be rebuilt;
if he shuts a man in, then he cannot be freed.
Look, if he withholds the water, then they dry up;
and if he sends them out, then they overwhelm the land.
"Strength and sound wisdom are with him;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
He leads counselors away stripped,
and he makes fools of judges.
He loosens the fetters of kings,
and he binds a loincloth on their loins.
He leads priests away stripped,
and he overthrows the members of ancient families.
He deprives the trustworthy of speech,
and he takes away the discretion of elders.
He pours contempt on noblemen,
and he loosens the girdle of the mighty.
"He uncovers mysteries out of darkness,
and he brings deep shadow to the light.
He makes the nations great, then he destroys them;
he expands the nations, then he guides them.
He strips away the insight of the heads of the earth’s people,
and he makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
They grope in the dark without light,
and he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

"Look, my eye has seen everything;
my ear has heard and has understood it.
What you know, I myself also know—
I am not more inferior than you.
But I would speak to Shaddai,
and I desire to argue with God.
"But you whitewash with lies;
all of you are worthless healers.
O that you would keep completely silent,
and that it would become wisdom for you.
Please hear my argument,
and listen attentively to the pleadings of my lips.
"Will you speak falsely for God?
And will you speak deceitfully for him?
Will you show partiality for him?
Or do you want to plead God’s case?
Will it be well, if he examines you?
Or can you deceive him like deceiving a human being?
"Surely he will rebuke you
if you show partiality in secret.
Will not his majesty terrify you,
and his dread fall upon you?
Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.
"Let me have silence, and I myself will speak,
and let come over me whatever may.
Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
and put my life in my hand?
Look, though he kill me, I will hope in him;
however, I will defend my ways before him.
Moreover, this is salvation to me,
that the godless would not come before him.
"Listen carefully to my words,
and let my exposition be in your ears.
Please look, I have prepared my case;
I know that I myself will be vindicated.
Who is he who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent, and I would pass away.

"Only you must not do these two things to me;
then I will not hide from your face:
withdraw your hand from me,
and let not your dread terrify me.
Then call, and I myself will answer;
or let me speak, then reply to me.
"How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make known to me my transgression and my sin.
Why do you hide your face
and count me as your enemy?
Will you terrify a blown leaf?
And will you pursue dry stubble?
"Indeed, you write bitter things against me,
and you make me reap the iniquities of my childhood.
And you put my feet in the block,
and you watch all my paths;
you carve a mark on the soles of my feet.
And he himself wastes away like something rotten,
like a garment that the moth has eaten.

"A human being born of a woman
is short of days and full of troubles.
Like a flower he comes up, and he withers away;
and he flees like a shadow, but he does not last.
Even on such a one you fix your eyes,
and you bring me into judgment with you.
"Who can bring a clean thing from an unclean thing?
No one!
If his days are determined, the number of his months is with you;
you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross them.
Look away from him, and let him desist
until he enjoys his days like a laborer.
"Indeed, there is hope for a tree:
if it is cut down, then it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not cease;
though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the dust,
at the scent of water it will bud,
and it will put forth branches like a young plant.
"But a man dies, and he dwindles away;
thus a human being passes away, and where is he?
As water disappears from a lake,
and a river withers away and dries up,
so a man lies down, and he does not arise.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not awaken,
and they will not be roused out of their sleep.
"O that you would conceal me in Sheol,
that you would hide me until your wrath is past,
that you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.
If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my compulsory service I will wait,
until the coming of my relief.
You would call, and I myself would answer you;
you would long for the work of your hand.
For then you would count my steps,
but you would not keep watch over my sin.
My transgression would be sealed in a bag,
and you would cover over my guilt.
"But a mountain falls; it crumbles away,
and a rock moves away from its place.
Water wears away stones;
its torrents wash away the soil of the earth;
so you destroy the hope of human beings.
You overpower him forever, and he passes away;
you change his countenance, then you send him away.
His children may come to honor, but he does not know it;
or they may become lowly, but he does not realize it.
He feels only the pain of his own body,
and his inner self mourns for him."

Shout in triumph to Yahweh, all the earth.
Serve Yahweh with joy;
come into his presence with exultation.
Know that Yahweh, he is God;
he made us and we are his.
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
For Yahweh is good; his loyal love is forever,
and his faithfulness is from generation to generation.

And I saw coming up out of the sea a beast that had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns ten royal headbands, and on its heads a blasphemous name. And the beast that I saw was similar to a leopard, and its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. And one of its heads appeared as though slaughtered to death, and its fatal wound had been healed. And the whole earth was astonished and followed after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to make war with him?

And a mouth was given to him speaking great things and blasphemies, and authority to act was given to him for forty-two months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemies toward God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling, those who live in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name is not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered. If anyone has an ear, let him hear!

If anyone is going into captivity, into captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword, by the sword he is to be killed.

Here is the patient endurance and the faith of the saints.

And I saw another beast coming up from the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he was speaking like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast on behalf of him, and he causes the earth and those who live in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performs great signs, so that he even causes fire from heaven to come down to the earth before people. And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it has been granted to him to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who has the wound of the sword and yet lived. And it was given to him to put breath into the image of the beast, in order that the image of the beast both spoke and caused that all those, unless they worshiped the image of the beast, should be killed. And he causes all people, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, that they give them a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and that no one was able to buy or to sell except the one who had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: the one who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number, and his number is six hundred sixty-six.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

"How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
Does God pervert justice,
or Shaddai pervert righteousness?
If your children sinned against him,
then he sent them into the power of their transgression.
If you yourself would seek God,
then you would plead to Shaddai for grace.
If you are pure and upright,
indeed, now he will rouse himself for you,
and he will restore your righteous abode.
Though your beginning was small,
your end will be very great.
"Indeed, please inquire of former generations,
and consider what their ancestors have found,
for we are of yesterday, and we do not know,
for our days on earth are a shadow.
Will they themselves not teach you and tell you
and utter words from their heart?
Can papyrus grow tall where there is not a marsh?
Will reeds flourish without water?
While it is in its flower and is not plucked,
yet it withers before all grass.
So are the paths of all who forget God;
and the hope of the godless will perish,
whose confidence is cut off
and whose trust is a spider’s house.
He will lean himself against his house, but it will not stand;
he will take hold of it, but it will not endure.
He is thriving before the sun,
and his plant shoots spread over his garden.
His roots twine over a stone heap;
he sees a house of stone.
If he destroys him from his place,
then it deceives him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’
Look, this is the joy of his way,
and from dust others will spring up.
"Look, God will not reject the blameless,
and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.
Yet he will fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.
Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

Then Job answered and said,

"Truly I know that it is so,
but how can a human being be just before God?
If he wants to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?
"He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how,
who overturns them in his anger.
He is the one who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.
He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens
and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
He is the one who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
He is the one who does great things beyond understanding
and marvelous things beyond number.
"If he passes by me, I would not see him;
and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.
If he would snatch away, who could turn him?
Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
How much less can I myself answer him?
How can I choose my words with him,
whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous?
From my judge I must implore grace.
If I summon him, and he should answer me,
I do not believe that he will listen to my voice—
who crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
He will not allow me to catch my breath;
rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
If it is a matter of strength, look, he is mighty.
But if it is a matter of justice, who can summon me?
Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;
even though I am blameless, yet it would pronounce me guilty.
"I am blameless; I do not care about myself;
I loathe my life.
It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
When the whip kills suddenly,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the face of its judge—
if it is not he, then who is it?
"And my days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they do not see good.
They go by like papyrus skiffs,
like an eagle swoops down on its prey.
Though I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,’
I become afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that you do not consider me innocent.
If I shall be declared guilty,
why then should I labor in vain?
If I wash myself with soap,
and I cleanse my hands with lye,
then you plunge me into the slime pit,
and my clothes abhor me.
"For he is not a mortal like me that I can answer him,
that we can come to trial together.
There is no arbiter between us
that he might lay his hand on both of us.
May he remove his rod from me,
and let his dread not terrify me;
then I would speak and not fear him,
for in myself I am not fearful.

"My inner self loathes my life;
I want to give vent to my complaint;
I want to speak out of the bitterness of my inner self.
I will say to God, ‘You should not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
Is it good for you that you oppress,
that you despise the labor of your hands,
and you smile over the schemes of the wicked?
Do you have eyes of flesh?
Or do you see as human beings see?
Are your days as the days of human beings,
or your years as the days of man,
that you seek out my iniquity,
and you search for my sin
because of your knowledge that I am not guilty,
and there is no escaping from your hand?
Your hands fashioned me and made me altogether,
then you destroyed me.
Please remember that you made me like clay,
but you turn me into dust again?
Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and you knit me together with bones and sinews.
You have granted me life and loyal love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
"‘Yet you hid these things in your heart;
I know that this was your purpose.
If I had sinned, then you would be watching me,
and you would not acquit me of my guilt.
If I am guilty, woe to me!
But if I am righteous, I dare not lift my head;
I am filled with shame, and just look at my misery!
And if my head grows bold, you would hunt me as the lion in its prime;
and you repeat your exploits against me.
You renew your witnesses against me,
and you increase your vexation against me;
relief forces are against me.
So why did you bring me forth from the womb?
I should have passed away, and no eye should have seen me.
I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been brought from the womb to the grave.
Are not my days few? Let him leave me alone;
let him turn from me, and let me rejoice a little.
Before I go—and I will not return—
to the land of darkness and deep shadow,
to the land of darkness,
like the darkness of a deep shadow and chaos,
so that it shines forth like darkness.’"

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

"Should an abundance of words go unanswered,
or a man full of talk be vindicated?
Should your loose talk put people to silence?
And when you mock, shall no one put you to shame?
For you say, ‘My teaching is pure,
and I am clean in your sight.’
But, O that God might speak,
and that he would open his lips to you,
and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
for insight has many sides.
And know that God on your behalf has forgotten some of your guilt.
"Can you find out the essence of God,
or can you find out the ultimate limits of Shaddai?
It is higher than the heaven; what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol; what can you know?
Its measure is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
"If he passes through and imprisons someone
and summons the assembly, then who can hinder him?
For he knows those who are worthless;
when he sees iniquity, he will not consider it.
But an empty-headed person will get understanding
when a wild donkey’s colt is born as a human being.
"If you yourself direct your heart
and stretch out your hands to him—
if iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and you must not let wickedness reside in your tents—
surely then you will lift up your face without blemish,
and you will be firmly established and will not fear.
For you yourself will forget your misery;
you will remember it as water that has flowed past.
"And your life will be brighter than noon;
its darkness will be like the morning.
And you will have confidence because there is hope;
and you will be well protected—you will sleep in safety.
And you will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
and many will entreat your favor.
But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
and refuge will be lost to them,
and their hope is to breathe their last breath."

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars, and who was pregnant and was crying out because she was having birth pains, and was in torment to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal headbands. And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod, and her child was snatched away to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared there by God, so that they could feed her there for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. And they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

"Now the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God
    and the authority of his Christ have come,
because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down,
    the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives until death.
Because of this, rejoice, you heavens,
    and those who live in them!
Woe to the earth and to the sea,
    because the devil has come down to you,
having great anger,
    because he knows that he has little time!"

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. And the two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she could fly into the wilderness, to her place where she is fed there for a time, and times, and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. And from his mouth the serpent spouted water like a river after the woman, in order that he could make her swept away by a river. And the earth came to the aid of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spouted out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to fight against the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

"If someone would test a word with you, would you be offended?
But who can refrain from speaking?
Look, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened weak hands.
Your words have raised up the one who stumbles,
and you have strengthened knees giving way.
But now it has come to you, and you are worn out;
it touches you, and you are horrified.
Is not your fear in God your confidence?
Is not your hope even the integrity of your ways?
"Think now, who has perished who is innocent?
Or where are the upright destroyed?
Just as I have seen, plowers of mischief
and sowers of trouble will reap it.
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they come to an end.
The roar of the lion and the voice of a lion in its prime,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The lion is perishing without prey,
and the lion’s whelps are scattered.
"And a word came stealing to me,
and my ear received the whisper from it.
Amid troubling thoughts from night visions,
at the falling of deep sleep on men,
dread met me, and trembling,
and it made many of my bones shake.
And a spirit glided before my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
It stood still, but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form was before my eyes;
there was a hush, and I heard a voice:
‘Can a human being be more righteous than God,
or can a man be more pure than his Maker?
Look, he does not trust in his servants
and he charges his angels with error.
How much more dwellers in clay houses,
whose foundation is in the dust?
They are crushed like a moth.
Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
without anyone regarding it they perish forever.
Is not their tent cord pulled up within them?
They die, but not in wisdom.’

"Call now, is there anyone answering you?
And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
For vexation will slay the fool,
and jealousy will kill the simple.
I have seen a fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
His children are far from deliverance,
and they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no deliverer—
whose harvest the hungry eats,
and he takes it from behind the thorns;
and the thirsty pants after their wealth.
Indeed, mischief does not come from the dust,
and trouble does not sprout from the earth.
But a human being is born to trouble,
and they soar aloft like sparks.
"But I myself will seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.
He is doing great and unsearchable things,
marvelous things without number—
the one who is giving rain on the surface of the earth
and is sending water on the surface of the fields,
to set the lowly on high,
and those mourning are lifted to safety.
He is frustrating the devices of the crafty,
and their hands do not achieve success.
He is capturing the wise in their craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are rushed.
In the daytime they meet with darkness,
and they grope at noon as in the night.
And he saves from the sword of their mouth,
even the poor from the hand of the strong.
So there is hope for the powerless,
and wickedness shuts its mouth.
"Look, happy is the human being whom God reproves;
and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,
for he himself wounds, but he binds up;
he strikes, but his hands heal.
From six troubles he will deliver you,
and in seven evil shall not touch you.
In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden,
and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and you shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
For your covenant will be with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals of the field will be at peace with you.
And you shall know that your tent is safe,
and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing anything.
And you shall know that your offspring are many,
and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.
You shall come in maturity to the grave,
as the raising up of a stack of sheaves in its season.
"Look, we have searched this out—it is true;
hear it and know it yourself."

Then Job answered and said,

"If only my vexation could be well weighed,
and my calamity could be lifted up together with it in the balances,
for then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
therefore my words have been rash,
for the arrows of Shaddai are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Does the wild ass bray over grass,
or the ox bellow over its fodder?
Can tasteless food be eaten without salt,
or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?
I refused to touch them;
they are like food that will make me ill.
"O that my request may come,
and that God may grant my hope,
that God would decide that he would crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and kill me.
But it will still be my consolation,
and I would recoil in unrelenting pain,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should hold out?
Or is my strength like the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
Indeed, my help is not in me,
and any success is driven from me.
"Loyal love should come for the afflicted from his friend,
even if he forsakes the fear of Shaddai.
My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed;
like a streambed of wadis they flow away,
which are growing dark because of ice upon them,
it will pile up snow.
In time they dry up, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
The paths of their way wind around;
they go up into the wasteland, and they perish.
The caravans of Tema looked;
the traveling merchants of Sheba hope for them.
They are disappointed, because they trusted;
they came here and they are confounded.
"For now you have become such;
you see terrors, and you fear.
Is it because I have said, ‘Give to me,’
or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?
or, ‘Save me from the foe’s hand,’
or, ‘Ransom me from the tyrants’ hand’?
Teach me, and I myself will be silent;
and make me understand how I have gone astray.
How painful are upright words!
But what does your reproof reprove?
Do you intend to reprove my words
and consider the words of a desperate man as wind?
Even over the orphan you would cast the lot,
and you would bargain over your friend.
"Therefore be prepared, turn to me,
and I surely will not lie to your face.
Please turn, let no injustice happen;
indeed, turn, my righteousness is still intact.
Is there injustice on my tongue?
Or can my palate not discern calamity?

"Does not a human being have hard service on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a laborer?
Like a slave he longs for the shadow,
and like a laborer he waits for his wages.
So I had to inherit months of worthlessness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I rise?’
But the night is long,
and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.
My body is clothed with maggots and clods of dust;
my skin hardens, then it gives way again.
"My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will not return to see good.
The eye of the one seeing me will not see me;
your eyes are upon me, but I will be gone.
A cloud vanishes, and it goes away,
so he who goes down to Sheol will not come up.
He does not return again to his house,
and his place does not recognize him again.
"Even I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in my spirit’s anguish;
I will complain in my inner self’s bitterness.
Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,’
then you terrify me with dreams,
and with visions you terrify me.
So my inner self will choose strangling—
death more than my existence.
I loathe my life; I would not live forever;
depart from me, for my days are a breath.
"What is a human being that you make him great
and that you fix your mind on him,
so that you visit him every morning,
you test him every moment?
How long will you not turn away from me?
Or not leave me alone until I swallow my spit?
If I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me as a target for yourself,
so that I have become a burden to myself?
And why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my guilt?
For now I shall lie in the dust,
and you will seek me, but I will be no more."

Yahweh is king; let the peoples tremble.
He sits enthroned between the cherubim. Let the earth shake.
Yahweh is great in Zion,
and he is exalted over all the peoples.
Let them praise your great and fearful name.
He is holy.
And the strength of the king loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Exalt Yahweh our God,
and worship at his footstool.
He is holy.
Moses and Aaron were among his priests;
Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
They called to Yahweh, and he answered them.
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud.
They kept his testimonies and the statute he gave to them.
O Yahweh our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrong deeds.
Exalt Yahweh our God,
and worship at his holy mountain,
for Yahweh our God is holy.

And a measuring rod similar in appearance to a staff was given to me, saying, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. And leave out the courtyard outside of the temple, and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample the holy city for forty two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, dressed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and consumes their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, in this way he must be killed. These have the authority to shut the sky, so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over the waters, to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague as often as they wish.

And when they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war with them and will conquer them and will kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called symbolically Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those from peoples and tribes and languages and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be placed in a tomb. And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, and will celebrate and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here," and they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour a great earthquake took place, and a tenth of the city collapsed, and seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly!

And the seventh angel blew the trumpet, and there was a loud voice in heaven saying,

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
    and of his Christ,
and he will reign forever and ever."

And the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God fell down on their faces and worshiped God, saying,

"We give thanks to you, Lord God All-Powerful,
    the one who is and the one who was,
because you have taken your great power
    and have begun to reign.
And the nations were angry,
    and your wrath has come,
    and the time for the dead to be judged,
and to give their reward to your slaves the prophets
    and to the saints and to the ones who fear your name,
    the small and the great,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Then his livestock came to be seven thousand sheep and goats and three thousand camels and five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred female donkeys, and he had very many slaves, and that man was greater than all the people of the east. And his sons used to go and hold a feast at each other’s house on his day, and they would send, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. Then when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send, and he would sanctify them. Thus he would arise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of all of them, because Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their heart." This is what Job used to do all the time.

And it happened one day that the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst. So Yahweh said to Satan, "From where have you come?"

Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth—a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil."

Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his household and around all that belongs to him on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock has increased in the land. But, on the other hand, stretch out your hand and touch all that belongs to him and see whether he will curse you to your face."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "Look, all that belongs to him is in your power. Only do not stretch out your hand against him." So Satan went out from Yahweh’s presence.

And then there was one day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother’s house. And a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the female donkeys were feeding beside them. Then the Sabeans attacked, and they took them, and they slew the servants by the edge of the sword. But I escaped, even I alone, to tell you."

While this one was still speaking, another came and said, "The fire of God fell from the heavens, and it blazed up against the sheep and goats and against the servants, and it consumed them. But I escaped, even I alone, to tell you."

While this one was still speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three divisions, and they made a raid on the camels, and they carried them away, and they struck your servants by the edge of the sword, but I escaped, even I alone, to tell you."

At the time this one was speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their firstborn brother’s house. And behold, a great wind came from across the desert, and it struck the four corners of the house so that it fell upon the young people, and they died. But I escaped, even I alone, to tell you."

Then Job arose and tore his outer garment and shaved his head; then he fell upon the ground and he worshiped. Then he said, "Naked I came out from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. Yahweh gives, and Yahweh takes. Let Yahweh’s name be blessed." In all this, Job did not sin and did not charge God with wrongdoing.

And then one day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh. So Yahweh asked Satan, "From where have you come?"

And Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From roaming on the earth and from walking about in it."

So Yahweh asked Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth—a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And still he persists in his blamelessness even though you incited me against him to destroy him for nothing."

Then Satan answered him and said, "Skin for skin! All that that man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, and see whether he will curse you to your face."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "All right, he is in your power. Only spare his life."

So Satan went out from Yahweh’s presence, and he inflicted Job with loathsome skin sores from the sole of his foot up to the crown of his head. So he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and he sat in the midst of the ashes.

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still persisting in your blamelessness? Curse God and die."

So he said to her, "You speak like one of the foolish women speaks. Indeed, should we receive the good from God, but not receive the evil?" In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

Thus Job’s three friends heard of this calamity that had come upon him. So each set out from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. And they met together to come to console him and to comfort him.

Thus they lifted up their eyes from afar, but they did not recognize him, so they raised their voice, and they wept, and each man tore his outer garment and threw dust on their heads toward the sky. Then they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very great.

Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Thus Job spoke up and said,

"Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’
Let that day become darkness;
may God not seek it from above,
nor may daylight shine on it.
Let darkness and deep shadow claim it;
let clouds settle on it;
let them terrify it with the blackness of day.
Let darkness seize that night;
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months.
Look, let that night become barren;
let a joyful song not enter it.
Let those who curse the day curse it,
those who are skilled at rousing Leviathan.
Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but there be none,
and let it not see the eyelids of dawn
because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.

"Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?
Why did the knees receive me
and the breasts, that I could suck?
For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest
with kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuild ruins for themselves,
or with high officials who have gold,
who fill up their houses with silver.
Or why was I not hidden like a miscarriage,
like infants who did not see the light?
There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest;
the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the oppressor’s voice.
The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his masters.

"Why does he give light to one in misery
and life to those bitter of soul,
who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for treasures,
who rejoice exceedingly,
and they are glad when they find the grave?
Why does he give light to a man whose way is hidden,
and God has fenced him in all around?
For my sighing comes before my bread,
and my groanings gush forth like water
because the dread that I feel has come upon me,
and what I feared befalls me.
I am not at ease, and I am not at peace,
and I do not have rest, thus turmoil has come."

Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of God,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name.
Worship Yahweh in holy array.
The voice of Yahweh is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders.
Yahweh is over many waters.
The voice of Yahweh is powerful.
The voice of Yahweh is majestic.
The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars.
Yahweh shatters even the cedars of Lebanon.
And he makes them skip like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of Yahweh flashes flames of fire.
The voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness.
Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of Yahweh causes deer to give birth
and strips the forests bare.
And at his temple all in it say, "Glory!"
Yahweh sits enthroned at the flood,
and Yahweh sits as king forever.
May Yahweh give strength to his people.
May Yahweh bless his people with peace.

And I saw another powerful angel descending from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire, and holding in his hand a little scroll that was opened. And he put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land. And he cried out with a loud voice like a lion roars, and when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded their own voices. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them!"

And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, "There will be no more delay! But in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, whenever he is about to blow the trumpet, then the mystery of God is completed, as he announced to his own slaves the prophets."

And the voice that I had heard from heaven was speaking with me again and saying, "Go, take the opened scroll in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." And I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll, and he said to me, "Take and eat it up, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it up, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth, and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, "It is necessary for you to prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings."