my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is in the highest. Being at a loss, he speaks to the earth, 365 and calling for sympathy he says words, which have also been spoken as a wish. And he says: Be not silent, O earth, concerning my affairs, nor conceal the blood unjustly poured out from my flesh through the sores; nor let it stand in a place and be hidden, nor let the things concerning my lamentations come into oblivion; but let many, he says, be built up through my trials. Or let not the earth hide my blood, but let it call upon God for vengeance, having the very sores of the body as witnesses. And let not the air hold back my cry, but let the tone of my voice reach the heavens, so that God, becoming the avenger of the evils that have happened, and punishing those responsible, might thus show to all the blamelessness of the life I have lived. And the phrase: Behold my witness is in heaven, is of a most pure conscience. Ch. 19, 3. Know only that the Lord has made me thus. He brings them to fear, as if saying: Do not trample upon me in this way as I suffer, lest you too fall into the same things, having the same nature. 4, 5. Yes, indeed, in truth I have been deceived; but deception lodges with me, to have spoken words that I ought not, and my words are wandering, and not in season. —But leave it be that you magnify yourselves against me, and leap upon me with reproach. Let it be granted, he says, by hypothesis that I have been deceived. But deception lodges with me; the deceiver is the devil. What harm is there to you from this, he says, and what necessity to judge me as impious, and to trample upon me as I suffer? when you ought to pardon one who speaks out of pain. —Even if I had done such things as I ought not, 366 should you then have reproached me thus? —And it was necessary for me, he says, having long cared for piety, now to have boldness from my works. This I have not done, but I am judged as a deceiver. He adds this as well: 6, 7. Know then that it is the Lord who has troubled me; and he has raised up his stronghold against me. Behold I laugh at reproach, I will not speak. I will cry out, and there is nowhere judgment. Consider, he says: I am not pained without purpose, being surrounded by terrible things as by some wall. I speak, he says, with truth, how things are with me, and you do not accept my words. For the phrase 'in reproach' means the deeds. And 'I will not speak' means: because you contradict me, I seem to have said nothing. —And if I cry out to God, to bring my affairs to light for all, I do not obtain my supplication. No one hears, no one judges, I see no one, I have nowhere to go. Ought one not to pity these things? —Therefore, you will cease, thus accusing me without judgment, lest God should establish a judgment, to exact from you a penalty for your irrational audacity. —For God, he says, does not leave such things unaccountable. For it will be, he says, if he should be moved against you, that your conceit in the knowledge of the good, and your security in your present circumstances, will appear unprofitable to you. —A. S. Why do you say [that] being in wickedness I suffer these things, when you ought to fear the same things? —You would have made haste then, he says, though the facts testify in words; by words, therefore, be convicted, as those who would not vote without accountability even by the truth. —The Hebrew, at any rate, also has 'a sin of word'. Ch. 20, 10. Let lesser men destroy his sons, and let his hands kindle pains. 367 And those formerly, he says, inferior, shall possess the children of the lawless one. 15. Wealth unjustly gathered will be vomited up, an angel will drag him out of his house. The impious man does everything in order to take what belongs to others, and what has happened looks to this goal; but when he seems to be master of all, then he will see it being transferred to others. 18. Like a twisted, unchewed morsel, undrinkable. The words and dogmas [of the impious man] are twisted and counterfeit, for there is nothing sweet in them, those things that are done against God. 22. And when he thinks he is already filled, he will be afflicted, and every necessity will come upon him. He says these things: On account of the cause, his possessions are destroyed, and are not passed on to his ancestors. 23. Let him send upon him the fury of wrath, let him rain pains upon him. Meaning, from God and from heaven he will suffer terrible things; and he said these things, because Job

ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὁ μάρ τυς μου, ὁ δὲ συνίστωρ μου ἐν ὑψίστοις. Ἀπορούμενος πρὸς τὴν γῆν διαλέγεται, 365 καὶ εἰς συμπάθειαν ἐκκαλούμενος λέγει ῥή ματα, ἃ καὶ εὐκτικῶς εἴρηται. Λέγει δέ· Μὴ σιωπήσῃς, ὦ γῆ, τὰ κατ' ἐμὲ, μηδὲ συγ κρύψῃς τὸ ἀδίκως ἐκχεόμενον αἷμα ἐκ τῆς σαρκός μου διὰ τῶν ἰχώρων· μηδὲ στῇ ἐν τόπῳ καὶ ἀποκρυβῇ, μηδὲ εἰς λήθην ἔλθῃ τὰ κατὰ τοὺς ἐμοὺς ὀδυρμούς· πολλοὶ δὲ, φησὶν, οἰκοδομήθωσαν διὰ τῶν ἐμῶν πειρασ μῶν. Ἢ μὴ γῆ κρύψῃ μου τὸ αἷμα, ἀλλ' ἐκ καλέσηται τὸν Θεὸν εἰς ἐκδικίαν, αὐτοὺς τοῦ σώματος τοὺς ἰχῶρας ἔχουσα μάρτυρας. Καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ μὴ ἐπισχοίη μου τὴν κραυγὴν, ἀλλ' εἰς οὐρανοὺς φθάσοι τῆς φωνῆς ὁ τόνος, ἵνα ὁ Θεὸς τῶν γινομένων κακῶν ἔκδικος κατα στὰς, καὶ τοὺς αἰτίους ἀμυνόμενος, οὕτω γοῦν ἅπασι δείξῃ τῶν ἐμοὶ βεβιωμένων τὸ ἄμεμπτον. Τὸ δέ· Ἰδοὺ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ὁ μάρτυς μου, καθαρωτάτης ἐστὶ συνειδήσεως. Κεφ. ΙΘʹ, γʹ. Γνῶτε μόνον ὅτι ὁ Κύριος ἐποίησε με οὕτως. Εἰς φόβον αὐτοὺς καταφέρει, οἱονεὶ λέγων· Μὴ οὕτως ἐπεμβαίνετέ μοι κάμνοντι, μηδὲ ὑμεῖς τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπέσητε, τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχοντες φύσιν. δʹ, εʹ. Ναὶ δὴ ἐπ' ἀληθείας ἐγὼ ἐπλανή θην· παρ' ἐμοὶ δὲ αὐλίζεται πλάνος, λαλῆσαι ῥήματα ἃ οὐκ ἔδει, τὰ δὲ ῥήματά μου πλα νᾶται, καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ καιροῦ. -Ἔα δὲ ὅτι ἐπ' ἐμοὶ μεγαλύνεσθε, ἐνάλλεσθε δέ μοι ὀνεί δει. ∆εδόσθω, φησὶν, καθ' ὑπόθεσιν ὅτι πε πλάνημαι. Παρ' ἐμοὶ δὲ αὐλίζεται πλάνος· πλάνος ὁ διάβολός ἐστιν. Τίς ὑμῖν, φησὶν, ἐκ τούτου βλάβη, ποία δὲ ἀνάγκη κρίνειν ὡς ἀσεβῆ, καὶ ἐπεμβαίνειν πάσχοντι; δέον συγγινώσκειν ὑπὸ ἀλγηδόνων φθεγγομένῳ. -Εἰ καὶ τοιαῦτα ἐπεποιήκειν οἷα οὐκ ἔδει, 366 ἆρ' οὖν ἐχρῆν ὑμᾶς οὕτω μοι ὀνειδίζειν; - Καὶ δέον με, φησὶ, πάλαι εὐσεβείας ἐπιμε λούμενον, νῦν τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἔχειν παῤ ῥησίαν. Τοῦτο μὲν οὐ πεποίηκα, κρίνομαι δὲ ὡς πλάνος. Ἐπιβάλλει καὶ ὧδε· ʹ, ζʹ. Γνῶτε οὖν ὅτι ὁ Κύριός ἐστιν ὁ ταράξας· ὀχύρωμα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμὲ ὕψωσεν. Ἰδοὺ γελῶ ὀνείδει, οὐ λαλήσω. Κεκράξομαι, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ κρίμα. ∆ιαλογίζεσθε, φησίν· οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ ἀλ γύνομαι, καθάπερ τειχίῳ τινὶ τοῖς δεινοῖς κυκλούμενος. Λέγω, φησὶν, μετὰ ἀληθείας, ὡς ἔχει τὰ κατ' ἐμὲ, καὶ οὐ παραδέχεσθε τοὺς λόγους. Τὸ γὰρ ἐν ὀνείδει, ἵνα εἴπῃ τὰ πράγματα. Τὸ δὲ οὐ λαλήσω, ἀντὶ τοῦ· διὰ τὸ ἀντιλέγειν μοι ὑμᾶς δοκῶ μηδὲν εἰρη κέναι. -Εἰ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν βοήσω, εἰς φανερὸν ἅπασιν ἐνέγκαι τὰ κατ' ἐμὲ, οὐ τυγχάνω τῆς ἱκεσίας. Οὐδεὶς ἀκούει, οὐ δεὶς δικάζει, οὐδένα βλέπω, οὐκ ἔχω ποῖ ἀπελθεῖν. Ταῦτα ἐλεῆσαι οὐ χρῆ; -Τοι γαροῦν ἀφήσητε, οὕτως ἀκρίτως μου κατη γοροῦντες, μήποτε Θεὸς εἰς κρίσιν κασταστή σῃ, εἰς πράξεσθαι ὑμῖν δίκην ἀλόγου θρα σύτητος. -Οὐ γὰρ ἀνεύθυνα, φησὶ, τὰ τοιαῦτα καταλιμπάνει Θεός. Ἔσεσθαι γάρ φησιν, εἴτε κινηθείη καθ' ὑμῶν, ὡς ἀνονήτως ὑμῖν ἐμφαίνεται ἡ ἐπὶ γνώσει τοῦ καλοῦ οἴησις, καὶ ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς προσοῦσιν ἄδεια. - Α. Σ. Τί φατε [ὅτι] ἐν πονηρίᾳ ὢν ταῦτα πάσχω, καὶ ὑμεῖς τὰ αὐτὰ φοβεῖσθαι ὀφεί λετε. -Ἐσπεύσατε ἂν, φησὶ, τότε καίτοι πραγμάτων μαρτυρούντων ἐν λόγοις· ἐν λό γοις οὖν λάβεσθε ὡς ἂν μηδὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀλη θείας ψηφίσασθαι ἀνεύθυνον. -Ὁ γοῦν ἑβραῖος καὶ ἁμάρτημα λόγου ἔχει. Κεφ. Κʹ, ιʹ. Τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ὀλέσαισαν ἥττονες, αἱ δὲ χεῖρες αὐτοῦ πυρσεύσαισαν ὀδύνας. 367 Καὶ οἱ πρότερον, φησὶν, ὑποδεέστεροι, τῶν τοῦ παρανόμου παίδων καθέξουσι. ιεʹ. Πλοῦτος ἀδίκως συναγόμενος ἐξεμε θήσεται, ἐξ οἰκίας αὐτοῦ ἐξελκύσει αὐτὸν ἄγγελος. Πάντα μὲν ὁ ἀσεβὴς πράττει ὥστε τὰ ἀλλότρια λαβεῖν, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον βλέπει τὸν σκοπὸν τὰ γενόμενα· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ἐγκράτης τῶν ὅλων δόξῃ, τότ' αὑτὸν εἰς ἑτέρους με ταφερόμενον ὄψεται. ιηʹ. Ὥσπερ στρείφνος ἀμάσητος, ἀκατά ποτος. Οἱ λόγοι καὶ τὰ δόγματα [ἀσεβοῦς] στρί φινα καὶ νόσκυα, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔχει γλυκὺ ἐκεῖ να, τὰ κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ γινόμενα. κβʹ. Ὅταν δὲ δοκῇ ἤδη πεπληρῶσθαι, θλι βήσεται, πᾶσα δὲ ἀνάγκη ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐπε λεύσεται. Ταῦτά φησιν· Ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας, ἀπόλ λυνται τὰ κτηθέντα, καὶ εἰς προγόνους οὐ παραπέμπεται. κγʹ. Ἐπαποστείλαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν θυμὸν ὀργῆς, νίψαι ἐπ' αὐτὸν ὀδύνας. Ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ὑποσ τήσεται δεινά· ταῦτα δὲ ἔφη, ἐπειδὴ ὁ Ἰὼβ