For they speak against thee wickedly,

And thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?

And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred:

I count them mine enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart:

Try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any way of wickedness in me,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

JOB 38: 1-41.

XXXV. THE GOD OF NATURE.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel

By words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man;

For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened?

Or who laid the corner stone thereof;

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Or who shut up the sea with doors,

When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb;

When I made the cloud the garment thereof,

And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

And prescribed for it my decree,

And set bars and doors,

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;

And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began,

And caused the dayspring to know its place;

That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,

And the wicked be shaken out of it?

It is changed as clay under the seal;

And all things stand forth as a garment:
And from the wicked their light is withholden,
And the high arm is broken.

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?
Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth?
Declare, if thou knowest it all.

Where is the way to the dwelling of light,

And as for darkness, where is the place thereof;

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,

And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof? Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born,

And the number of thy days is great!

Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,

Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war?

By what way is the light parted,

Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood,

Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;
To cause it to rain on a land where no man is;

On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

To satisfy the waste and desolate ground;

And to cause the tender grass to spring forth?

Hath the rain a father?

Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

Out of whose womb came the ice?

And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?

The waters are hidden as with stone,

And the face of the deep is frozen.

Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades,

Or loose the bands of Orion?

Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season?

Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?

Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens?

Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,

That abundance of waters may cover thee?

Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go,

And say unto thee, Here we are?

Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts?
Or who hath given understanding to the mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven

When the dust runneth into a mass,
And the clods cleave fast together?

Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness?
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,

And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Who provideth for the raven his food,

When his young ones cry unto God,

And wander for lack of meat?

XXXVI. THE NATURE OF WISDOM.

JOB 28:5-28.

As for the earth, out of it cometh bread:

And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
The stones thereof are the place of sapphires,
And it hath dust of gold.

That path no bird of prey knoweth,
Neither hath the falcon's eye seen it:
The proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor hath the fierce lion passed thereby.

He putteth forth his hand upon the flinty rock;
He overturneth the mountains by the roots.

He cutteth out channels among the rocks;

And his eye seeth every precious thing.

He bindeth the streams that they trickle not;

And the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.

But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

Man knoweth not the price thereof;

Neither is it found in the land of the living.

The deep saith, It is not in me:

And the sea saith, It is not with me.

It cannot be gotten for gold,

Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,

With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

Gold and glass cannot equal it:

Neither shall the exchange thereof be jewels of fine gold No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal:

Yea, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

Whence then cometh wisdom?

And where is the place of understanding?
Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living,
And kept close from the fowls of the air.
Destruction and Death say,

We have heard a rumour thereof with our ears.

God understandeth the way thereof,

And he knoweth the place thereof.

For he looketh to the ends of the earth,

And seeth under the whole heaven;

To make a weight for the wind;

Yea, he meeteth out the waters by measure.
When he made a decree for the rain,
And a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Then did he see it, and declare it;

He established it, yea, and searched it out.
And unto man he said,

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.

XXXVII. THE AIM OF WISDOM.

PROVERBS 1:1-33.

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction;

To discern the words of understanding;

To receive instruction in wise dealing,

In righteousness and judgement and equity;

To give subtilty to the simple,

To the young man knowledge and discretion:

That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning;

And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound coun

sels:

To understand a proverb, and a figure;

The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge:

But the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

My son, hear the instruction of thy father,

And forsake not the law of thy mother:

For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head,

And chains about thy neck.

My son, if sinners entice thee,

Consent thou not.

If they say, Come with us,

Let us lay wait for blood,

Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;

Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol,

And whole, as those that go down into the pit;

We shall find all precious substance,

We shall fill our houses with spoil;

Thou shalt cast thy lot among us;

We will all have one purse:

My son, walk not thou in the way with them;

Refrain thy foot from their path:

For their feet run to evil,

And they make haste to shed blood.
For in vain is the net spread,

In the eyes of any bird: