The Book of Job Paraphrased, Chapter 24 – Chapter 26
CHAP. XXIV.
ARGUMENT.
Ʋpon farther conſideration Job thought good again to confute their raſh Aſſertion, about the Plagues which always befall the Wicked, by an Induction of particulars that prove the contrary. Among which, the wild Arabs, he tells them, are a notorious inſtance, whoſe profeſſion is Rapine, and yet they thrive and proſper in it; v. 5, &c. And ſo do the more civiliz'd Oppreſſours, of whom he ſays ſomething before, and again v. 11, 12. Where he ſeems to reflect upon hard Landlords, and griping Merchants and Traffiquers in cities. To whom he adds Murtherers, Adulterers, Pirates, with ſeveral other wicked Villains, (in the concluſion of the Chapter,) who notwithſtanding die like other men, and are not called to an account, for their enormous Crimes, in this preſent World.
1. WHY, ſeeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him, not ſee his days?1. BUT, to anſwer a little what you have ſo often aſſerted; If Puniſhments from the Almighty be ſo apparent and viſible upon the Wicked, why do not they who are truly Pious ſee theſe publick and open Judgments?
2. Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.2. Eſpecially when the Wickedneſs of ſome of them is ſo notorious, that they violate all known Rights; ſeizing on the Lands of their Neighbours, taking away their Cattel, and (not content with that) owning it when they have done, by putting them openly into their paſtures?
3. They drive way the aſs of the fatherleſs, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.3. If a poor Fatherleſs child have an Aſs left him to carry his burthens, they drive it away on ſome pretence or other; and have no more mercy then to take of the Widow, for the ſecurity of her debt, the onelyonly Oxe ſhe hath wherewith to plough her ground.
4. They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themſelves together.4. They offer Abuſes to helpleſs people upon the high-way: ſo that the meaner ſort dare not appear, for fear of their Inſolence or their Violence.
5. Behold, as wild aſſes in the deſart goe they forth to their work, riſing betimes for a prey: the wilderneſs yieldeth food for them and for their children.5. And you ſhall ſee others of them who (making Pillage their trade) leave the Cities and Towns, and go to skulk in Foreſts and deſart places; where becoming wild and ſavage, they live on Rapine and Spoil; in which they are ſo diligent, that thoſe Wilderneſſes (where they neither plough nor ſow) maintain their families.
6. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.6. For they make Inrodes, out of thoſe Woods, into the neighbouring Fields and Vineyards; and thence wickedly carry away the Corn and the Grapes, never regarding who is the owner of them.
7. They cauſe the naked to lodge without cloathing, that they have no covering in the cold.7. They ſpare not the poor Reapers and Vintagers; but, ſtripping them to their very skin, leave them never a rag to defend them from the cold, when they go to reſt after their weariſome labours.
8. They are wet with the ſhowrs of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a ſhelter.8. They are expoſed (poor wretches!) to the injury of the weather, as they lie aſleep at the foot of mountains: they have nowhither to run, but into Caves and Holes of rocks; where they endeavour to ſhrowd themſelves, when they ſee a Tempeſt coming.
9. They pluck the fatherleſs from the breaſt, and take a pledge of the poor.9. Nay, the Perſons of men are not ſafe from the violence of theſe Outlaws: but they ſnatch away young Children from their Mothers breaſts; and carry away the Poor (pretending they owe them ſomething) to make them their Slaves.
10. They cauſe him to go naked without cloathing, and they take away the ſheaf from the hungry:10. Whom when they have ſtoln, they will not allow ſo much as Cloaths to cover their nakedneſs; nor let him that is ready to ſtarve eat of the Sheaf which he hath gleaned.
11. Which make oyl within their walls, and tread their winepreſſes, and ſuffer thirſt.11. They cauſe theſe miſerable creatures to preſs out their oyl and their wine in their Cellars; but let them not taſt a drop, though they be ready to die with thirſt.
12. Men groan from out of the city, and the ſoul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.12. Whole Cities groan under the Oppreſſion of ſome or other of theſe wicked men, and cry out like thoſe that are dying of their wounds: and yet God, who knows all this, doth not make them examples of his Diſpleaſure, nor can we tell when He will puniſh them for their Injuſtice and Cruelty.
13. They are of thoſe that rebell againſt the light: they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.13. The world would be very empty, if He ſhould deſtroy all ſuch perſons; for beſides theſe open, there are more ſecret Sinners, who look upon the light as their Enemy: They dare not be ſeen in the day-time; or if they be eſpied, they preſently ſeek to hide themſelves, that they may not be diſcovered.
14. The murtherer riſing with the light, killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.14. The Murtherer, for inſtance, riſes before the Sun, to kill thoſe whoſe poverty calls them up to early labour; and then lurking all day in the cloſe thickets and woods, he turns Robber, and rifles rich mens houſes in the night.
15. The eye alſo of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, ſaying, No eye ſhall ſee me; and diſguiſeth his face.15. The Adulterer alſo, whoſe eye hath let an unlawfull love into his heart, waits for the dusk of the evening, to favour his leud deſire: Then he hopes nobody he meets withall will know him; but leſt they ſhould, he wraps his face in his cloak to prevent diſcovery.
16. In the dark they dig through houſes, which they had marked for themſelves in the day-time: they know not the light.16. And, when all are at reſt, he will dig through the walls of houſes, if there be no other way to come at the Adultereſs: The aſſignment was made between them in the day-time, and the place then mark'd out, at which he may moſt eaſily enter; but it is the night which brings them together, to act the works of darkneſs.
17. For the morning is to them even as the ſhadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrours of the ſhadow of death.17. Theſe are their delight; and if they chance to ſleep too long together, and the morning ſurpriſe them, they are ready to die with fear: if any one know them, they are in the very agonies of death.
18. He is ſwift as the waters, their portion is curſed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.18. To this wicked crue you may adde the Pirate, who robs upon the Sea, and runs from one little creek to another in ſwift ſhips: which bring him in ſo much riches, that he deſpiſes the imployment of thoſe who till the earth and plant vineyards, as poor and unprofitable.
19. Drought and heat conſume the ſnow-waters: ſo doth the grave thoſe which have ſinned.19. And yet all theſe, after they have ſpent their life in ſuch horrid Villanies, do not die of lingring and tormenting Diſeaſes; but go down to the grave as eaſily as Snow-water ſinks into the dry ground when it is melted by the Sun.
20. The womb ſhall forget him, the worm ſhall feed ſweetly on him, he ſhall be no more remembred, and wickedneſs ſhall be broken as a tree.20. God ſets no ſuch mark of his Diſpleaſure upon him, but that his Mother may ſoon forget him: The hand of Juſtice doth not hang him on a gibbet for the birds to feed on; but he is carried to his grave like other men, to be the ſweet food of worms. There he lies quietly, and neither he nor his Wickedneſs are any more remembred then a Tree which is broken all to ſhivers.
21. He evil intreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.21. This is true even of him who, to hide his Villany, kills the Child in the womb of her whom he hath deflowred; and when he hath abuſed a poor Widow, makes her no ſatisfaction.
22. He draweth alſo the mighty with his power: he riſeth up, and no man is ſure of life.22. The greateſt perſons are not able to ſtand before him: When he riſes up to aſſaſſinate, there is no man, be he never ſo ſtrong, is ſure of his life.
23. Though it be given him to be in ſafety, whereon he reſteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.23. Though he give you his hand, and promiſe you ſecurity ſo ſolemnly, that you think you may rely upon him; yet he watches all occaſions, and lies in wait ſecretly, to doe you miſchief.
24. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone, and brought low; they are taken out of the way, as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.24. Thus theſe Impious men flouriſh and are lifted up above all other; and then they depart the world without any Puniſhment: They are laid down and ſhut up in their Graves like all other men; nay, they die as eaſily (without thoſe tedious pains which ſome endure) as the top of an Ear of corn is cropt with your hand.
25. And if it be not ſo now, who will make me a liar, and make my ſpeech nothing worth?25. All this I know to be ſo true, that I challenge all the World to diſprove me: I am ſure it is not in any man's power to ſhew that my Diſcourſe is frivolous.
CHAP. XXV.
ARGUMENT.
The foregoing Diſcourſe of Job, in the XXIV. Chapter, was ſo undeniable, that Bildad begins to break off the Diſpute. For he ſays not a word to it, but onelyonly adviſes him to ſpeak more reverently of the Majeſty of God, then, he imagined, he had done in his appeal to him Chap. XXIII.
1. THEN anſwered Bildad the Shuhite, and ſaid,1. THEN Bildad, (whoſe turn it was to ſpeak,) being unable to refute what Job had ſaid, onelyonly deſired him in a few words, to beware how he reflected upon the Juſtice of God, or imagined himſelf to be juſt if He examined him. The words were theſe.
2. Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high-places.2. Take heed what thou ſayeſt of God, the Sovereign of the World, who ought to be worſhipped by thee with the moſt awfull reverence; as He is in the Heavenly places, where they never rebell againſt his orders.
3. Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light ariſe?3. Hath He not innumerable troups of Angels and other Creatures, all ready to execute his pleaſure? And where is the man that is out of the verge of his all-overſpreading Providence?
4. How then can man be juſtified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?4. Why then doth ſuch a pitifull wretch as he talk of his Righteouſneſs, before this glorious Majeſty? He forgets ſure the condition of his Birth, who pretends to Purity in his ſight.
5. Behold even to the moon, and it ſhineth not; yea, the ſtars are not pure in his ſight.5. Let a man lift up his eyes as high as the Moon, nay, look as far as the Sun and the Stars of Heaven, he ſhall find that they have their Spots; nay, in His duplicate page duplicate page preſence, have no luſtre at all.
6. How much leſs man that is a worm, and the ſon of man which is a worm?6. What can be expected then from miſerable Man or his poſterity; who, being full of Corruption whilſt they live, can be nothing but Rottenneſs when they are dead?
CHAP. XXVI.
ARGUMENT.
Job hearing Bildad wander ſo far from the buiſineſs, derides his grave affectation of Wiſedom; and tells him that, though he talk'd as if he thought himſelf fit to be a Coadjutour to God Almighty, yet, as his Diſcourſe was impertinent, ſo it was but mean and flat, in compariſon with what he was able to ſpeak himſelf, concerning the Omnipotent Wiſedom of God: which he ſets forth in a far more lively manner.
1. BƲT Job anſwered, and ſaid,1. TO this Job replied almoſt as briefly; ſaying,
2. How haſtthou helped him that is without power? how ſaveſt thou the arm that hath no ſtrength?2. O wonderfull Advocate! How excellently haſt thou defended Him who hath no need of thy help? Doſt thou think to doe the Almighty any ſervice by ſuch Diſcourſes?
3. How haſt thou counſelled him that hath no wiſedom? and how haſt thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?3. What admirable Advice wouldſt thou give Him in his Government of the world, if He would admit thee to be his Counſellour, who imagineſt, no doubt, thou aboundeſt with Wiſedom, and haſt hit the very mark?
4. To whom haſt thou uttered words? and whoſe ſpirit came from thee?4. Doſt thou think me ignorant of ſuch things as theſe? or canſt thou pretend to any extraordinary inſpiration concerning them?
5. Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.5. I know, as well as thou canſt inform me, the Power of God; which appears not onelyonly in the Heavens, (to which thou biddeſt me look,) but even in the loweſt parts of the Earth: where vaſt giant-like Creatures are formed under the water, whoſe inhabitants are innumerable.
6. Hell is naked before him, and deſtruction hath no covering.6. Nor is his Knowledge, I am ſenſible, leſs then his Power; but penetrates into the greateſt depths: the very dead, who are quite removed out of our ſight, being perfectly viſible unto him.
7. He ſtretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.7. Who by his wonderfull Power and Wiſedom ſtretches out the whole World from the one Pole to the other: which He alone ſuſtains; as He doth this globe of Earth hanging in the Air, without any thing to ſupport it.
8. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them.8. It is He who binds up the fluid Waters, as it were in bags, and keeps them a long time hanging in the Clouds: through which they do not burſt all at once, but diſtill by drops to moiſten the earth in due ſeaſon.
9. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and ſpreadeth his cloud upon it.9. Theſe Clouds He ſpreads before the glorious face of Heaven, to reſtrain the beams of the Sun from ſcorching the earth.
10. He hath compaſſed the waters with bounds, untill the day and night come to an end.10. He hath incloſed the waters of the Sea in ſhores; and ſo exactly compaſſed them about, that as long as the world laſts they ſhall not be able (be they never ſo furious) to exceed thoſe bounds, but ſhall break all their rage againſt them into froth.
11. The pillars of heaven tremble, and are aſtoniſhed at his reproof.11. And yet the higheſt Mountains, which look as if they were the pillars and ſupporters of the Heavens, quake and tremble, when He thunders and lightens upon them.
12. He divideth the ſea with his power, and by his underſtanding he ſmiteth through the proud.12. By his Power He raiſes a Tempeſt, which makes great furrows in the Sea, and divideth, as it were, one part of it from another: and (ſuch is his Wiſedom) He knows how to appeaſe it again, and depreſs its proud waves into the deadeſt calm.
13. By his ſpirit he hath garniſhed the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked ſerpent.13. Finally, by his wiſe contrivance the Heavens were adorned, and made thus beautifull, as we behold them: His Power made the Milky way, (and other celeſtial Signs,) whoſe windings are ſo admirable.
14. Lo theſe are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can underſtand?14. And yet theſe are but very ſmall parcells of his Works: For, alas! it is very little that ſuch as we can comprehend of Him; but the utmoſt force of his Power is paſt all underſtanding.