Wycliffe's Bible 1And the Lord added to (this), and spake to Job (and spoke more to Job), and said, 2Whether he, that striveth with God, shall have rest so lightly? Soothly he, that reproveth God, oweth for to answer to him. (Shall he, who argueth with God, now so easily have rest? Yea he, who rebuketh God, ought to answer him.) 3And Job answered to the Lord, and said, 4What may I answer, which have spoken lightly, that is, undiscreetly and follily? (What can I answer to thee, I who have spoken so freely, that is, so indiscreetly, and so foolishly?) I shall put mine hand upon my mouth. 5I spake one thing, which thing I would, that I had not said (I spoke one thing, which I wish, that I had not said); and I spake another thing, to which I shall no more add. 6Forsooth the Lord answered to Job from the whirlwind, and said, (Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,) 7Gird thou as a man thy loins, and I shall ask thee, and show thou to me. (Gird thou up thy loins like a man, and I shall ask thee, and thou shalt answer me.) 8Whether thou shalt make void my doom, and shalt thou condemn me, that thou be made just? (Shalt thou make void my justice? that is, shalt thou say that I am unjust? and shalt thou condemn me, so that thou can be right?) 9And if thou hast an arm, or power, as God hath, and if thou thunderest with like voice, 10take thou fairness about thee, and be thou raised on high, and be thou glorious, and be thou clothed in fair clothes. (take thou beauty about thee, and be thou raised up on high, and be thou glorious, and be thou clothed in beautiful clothes.) 11And destroy thou proud men in thy fierce vengeance (And destroy thou the proud with thy fierce vengeance), and behold thou, and make low each boaster. 12Behold thou all proud men, and shame thou them; and all-break thou (the) wicked men in their place. 13Hide thou them in dust together, and drench down their faces into a ditch. (Hide thou them in the dust together, and drown them down in a ditch.) 14And then I shall acknowledge, that thy right hand may save thee. (And then I shall acknowledge, that thy right hand can save thee.) 15Lo! behemoth, whom I made with thee, shall as an ox eat hay. (Lo! the behemoth, which I made with thee, eateth hay like an ox.) 16His strength is in his loins, and his might is in the navel of his womb. 17He constraineth his tail as a cedar (His tail standeth up like a cedar); the sinews of his stones of engendering be folded together. 18His bones be as pipes of brass; the gristle of him is as plates of iron. (His bones be like brass pipes; his gristle is like iron plates.) 19He is the beginning of the ways of God; he, that made him, shall set his sword to him. (He is the chief of God’s works; but he, who made him, shall set his sword against him.) 20Hills bear herbs to this behemoth (The hills grow grass for this behemoth); all the beasts of the field play there. 21He sleepeth under shadow, in the private of a reed, in moist places. (He sleepeth under a shadow, hidden among the reeds of the marshes.) 22Shadows cover his shadow; the sallows of the river compass him (about). (Shady trees cover him with their shadows; the willows of the river surround him.) 23He shall swallow up the flood, and he shall not wonder (He shall swallow up the river, and he shall not be afraid); he hath trust, that (the) Jordan shall flow into his mouth. 24He shall take them by his eyes, as by an hook; and by sharp shafts he shall pierce his nostrils. (Who shall put out his eyes, and shall catch him? who shall pierce his nostrils with sharp shafts?) WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE Comprising of Wycliffe’s Old Testament and Wycliffe’s New Testament (Revised Edition) Translated by JOHN WYCLIFFE and JOHN PURVEY A modern-spelling edition of their 14TH century Middle English translation, the first complete English vernacular version, with an Introduction by TERENCE P. NOBLE Used by Permission Bible Hub |