¹ After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

² And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

³ And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

⁴ And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

⁵ And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

⁶ And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

⁷ And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

⁸ And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

⁹ And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

¹⁰ And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

¹¹ And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

¹² And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

¹³ And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

¹⁴ And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

¹⁵ And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

¹⁸ In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

¹⁹ The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

²⁰ And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

²¹ And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

¹ Then Job answered,

² "Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?

³ If he is pleased to contend with him, he can't answer him one time in a thousand.

⁴ God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?

⁵ He removes the mountains, and they don't know it, when he overturns them in his anger.

⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.

⁷ He commands the sun, and it doesn't rise, and seals up the stars.

⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.

⁹ He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south.

¹⁰ He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number.

¹¹ Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.

¹² Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, 'What are you doing?'

¹³ "God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.

¹⁴ How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?

¹⁵ Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn't answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.

¹⁶ If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn't believe that he listened to my voice.

¹⁷ For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸ He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will summon me?'

²⁰ Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse.

²¹ I am blameless. I don't respect myself. I despise my life.

²² "It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.

²³ If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent.

²⁴ The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?

²⁵ "Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good,

²⁶ They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.

²⁷ If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;'

²⁸ I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me innocent.

²⁹ I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰ If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹ yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me.

³² For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.

³³ There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.

³⁴ Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;

³⁵ then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in myself.