2. Job's answer: the expectation of God's Judgment. The Incomprehensible Triumph of Wicked Men (Job 23; 24:1-17, 25)

1 And Job answered, and said, 2 Even now my speech is bitter: my afflictions are heavier than my groans. 3 Oh, that I knew where to find Him, and could come to His throne! 4 I would have made my work known before him, and filled my mouth with excuses; 5 I would know the words with which he would answer me, and I would understand what he would say to me. 6 Would he contend with me in full might? Oh no! Let Him just pay attention to me. 7 Then the righteous man might contend with him, and I would have freedom forever from my Judge. 8 But behold, I go forward, and He is gone, back, and I do not find Him; 9 whether He does anything on the left side, I do not see; whether he is hiding on the right, I do not see. 10 But he knoweth my way; let him test me, and I will come out like gold. 11 My foot holds fast to his path; I have kept His ways, and have not deviated from it. 12 From the commandment of his mouth he did not depart; He kept the words of His mouth more than my rules. 13 But he is strong; and who will turn him away? He does what His soul wants. 14 So he will do what is due to me, and he has many like it. 15 Therefore I tremble before him; I meditate, and I fear Him. 16 God has weakened my heart, and the Almighty has terrified me. 17 Why am I not destroyed before this darkness, and he has not hidden the darkness from before me?

1 Why are not the times hidden from the Almighty, and those who know him do not see his days? 2 They move the boundaries, drive away the herds, and graze at home. 3 An ass is taken from the fatherless, an ox is taken from the widow; 4 the poor are pushed out of the way, all the despised lands are forced to hide. 5 Behold, they are like wild asses in the wilderness, going forth to their work, rising early to prey; the steppe gives bread for them and for their children; 6 They reap in a field that is not their own, and gather grapes from the wicked; 7 The naked sleep without covering, and without clothing, in the cold; 8 they get wet from the rains of the mountains, and having no shelter, they cling to the rock; 9 They tear the fatherless from the breasts, and take a pledge from the beggar; 10 They are forced to walk naked, without clothing, and they feed the hungry with ears of corn; 11 Between the walls they squeeze olive oil, and trample it in winepresses, and thirst. 12 In the city the people groan, and the soul of those who are slain cries, and God forbids not it. 13 And there are enemies of the light among them, who know not the ways thereof, and walk not in its paths. 14 At dawn a murderer rises, and kills the poor and needy, and by night he is a thief. 15 And the eye of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me, and covers his face. 16 In the darkness they dig under the houses that they have noticed for themselves by day; They do not know the light. 17 For to them the morning is the shadow of death, for they are acquainted with the terrors of the shadow of death.

25 If this is not so, who shall convict me of falsehood, and turn my speech to nothing?

3. Bildad's Word: God Almighty (Job 25; 26:5-14)

1 And Bildad the Sabhaian answered and said, 2 His power and fear are with him; He creates peace on His high places! 3 Is there any account of his hosts? and on whom does not His light rise? 4 And how can a man be upright with God, and how can he that be born of a woman be pure? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are unclean in his sight. 6 How much less is the man, who is a worm, and the son of man, who is a moth.

5 Рефаимы трепещут под водами, и живущие в них. 6 Преисподняя обнажена пред Ним, и нет покрывала Аваддону. 7 Он распростер север над пустотою, повесил землю ни на чем. 8 Он заключает воды в облаках Своих, и облако не расседается под ними. 9 Он поставил престол Свой, распростер над ним облако Свое. 10 Черту провел над поверхностью воды, до границ света со тьмою. 11 Столпы небес дрожат и ужасаются от грозы Его. 12 Силою Своею волнует море и разумом Своим сражает его дерзость. 13 От духа Его - великолепие неба; рука Его образовала быстрого скорпиона. 14 Вот, это части путей Его; и как мало мы слышали о Нем! А гром могущества Его кто может уразуметь?

4. Ответ Иова: он утверждает свою невиновность (Иов 26.1-4; 27.1-12)

1 И отвечал Иов и сказал: 2 как ты помог бессильному, поддержал мышцу немощного! 3 Какой совет подал ты немудрому и как во всей полноте объяснил дело! 4 Кому ты говорил эти слова, и чей дух исходил из тебя?

1 И продолжал Иов возвышенную речь свою и сказал: 2 жив Бог, лишивший меня суда, и Вседержитель, огорчивший душу мою, 3 что, доколе еще дыхание мое во мне и дух Божий в ноздрях моих, 4 не скажут уста мои неправды, и язык мой не произнесет лжи! 5 Далек я от того, чтобы признать вас справедливыми; доколе не умру, не уступлю непорочности моей. 6 Крепко держал я правду мою и не опущу ее; не укорит меня сердце мое во все дни мои. 7 Враг мой будет, как нечестивец, и восстающий на меня, как беззаконник. 8 Ибо какая надежда лицемеру, когда возьмет, когда исторгнет Бог душу его? 9 Услышит ли Бог вопль его, когда придет на него беда? 10 Будет ли он утешаться Вседержителем и призывать Бога во всякое время? 11 Возвещу вам, что в руке Божией; что у Вседержителя, не скрою. 12 Вот, все вы и сами видели; и для чего вы столько пустословите?