that holy Patriarch it is this man Chap 1.5 1 who is of singular sincerity and soundnesse in his profession most absolute in the administration of Iustice a maÌ„ that hath exceedingly profited in the true practise of each vertue not only those of a regenerate mind as wisedome knowledge vnderstanding iudgment counsell art foresight prudence deliberation wherewith hee is aboundantly inducd but those which proceede from a sanctified will as courage loue mercy bounty humility gentlenesse meekenesse kinde-speaking vprightnesse truth patience temperance These as they are the life of religioÌ„ so haue they brought no smal grace and credit to his so honorable faith and profession being the seruice of the high God maker of Heauen and earth These ioyned with the feare of God reuerence of his name obedience to his will detestation of sinne renouncing of euill hating of couetousnesse cruelty and oppression a zeale and delight to aduance Gods glory to stand couragiously for the maintenance of the truth to stretch forth the bowels of compassion toward the afflicted of all sorts specially the most miserable and aboue all toward the distressed soules whom the Lord of his grace hath drawne out of darkenesse vnto the marueilous light of his word these I say are vndoubted and vnfallible euidences of that sure Anchor of hope and inuincible fortresse of faith to dwell in him against which all the pollicy and power of Sathan shall no more preuaile then it preuailed against Abraham himselfe the father of the faithfull Thou shalt not faile therefore doubtlesse but receiue comfort at his hands for I neuer heard of any that made their mone vnto him but he pittied their estate and yealded some help to them in their misery But hee will examine thy life and the cause of this thy necessity hee will inquire of thee and looke for some testimony of thy honest conuersation which if he finde to be answerable to that thou reportest he will out of question shew thee fauour I speake vpon mine owne knowlege and experience for trauelling into Arabia I fel into the hands of robbers wherof that country hath store who stripped me of my apparrell and left me starke naked which being done because I was ashamed to go where I was knowne in that case I spent much trauell in that pittifull plight in seeking releef at the hands of many but when I found none at length I calling to mind the great fame of Iob I thought I would see whether his goodnesse were answerable to his report And therefore I went and shewed my selfe vnto him and made knowne my estate who assoone as he saw me was so moued with compassion that he could not forbeare first to groane in spirit and aboundantly to weep ouer me afterward to breake forth into these most affectionate and louing wordes A lasse my brother my flesh bone of my bone what hath befallen thee Then taking me straight way by the hand he spared not his owne cloake though a very costly one but cast it ouer me led me in to a warme fire and prouâ—ded me of apparrell and all things necessary See what a warm and durable b chap 31 20 suite he gaue me of the sheepe of his pasture and he is full c chap 31 19 of such good workes Lame REceiuing a maim in the defence of my country Idumaea â—â—ainst the Sabaans Iob beside his owne princely beneuolence procured me a yearely pension out of the Exchequer which so reuiueth mee as if I had my lims a Chap 29 15 restored me againe The like goodnesse hee extendeth to all the impotent Blind IOb vnderstanding that I was borne blinde beside the furnishing of me with outward thinges conuenient caused me to be brought alwaies to the place of gods worship where his will is to be opened by his seruants there to bee taught what was the meaning of the sacrifices offered vpon the altar which with mine eies I could not behold That so I might see in spirit the Messiah and sauiour promised and inioy the light euerlasting in the world to come And thus he hath beene to me and many a chap 29 15 more in my case to the aged especially both men and women better then bodily eyes which onely behold these earthly riches pleasures and vanities but see not the end of their creation that is so to glorifie God with the eyes of their body here that hee may giue them to inioy the light eternall in his kingdome of glory Widdow a Chap 29 13 MY husband dyed left me seuen small Children and greatly indebted insomuch that his creditors came assoone as he was dead and seized vpon all my goods but when I complained to him desiring his ayd he called the creditours before him demaunded to see their euidences told them he would heare the matter and so stayed their course And when the matter came to hearing and their right appeared he treated with them not to bee extreame in exacting their right but to be contenâ—ed to loose if not all yet a great part of their due And what they would needs haue if they repaired vnto him at a day appointed they should receiue it Now in the meane time he sent to the wealthy of his acquaintance desiring them to ioyne with him in a work of charity and so they making a purse together yet in such sort that he himselfe bare the greatest share as euer hee doth in these gratuities the debte was discharged And this he did for me at my first motion Neither it is his manner to delay such as I am when they put vp a supplication to him but a Chap 31 13 forthwith to dispatch them as also al other suiters and the rather if they bee needy and distressed with all possible expedition Fatherlesse I Being a poore Orphan a Chap 19 12 left to the wide world destitute of a friend to bring me vp he tooke the tuition of mee placed me where I was catechised in my youth trained vp in the knowledge of the true God my patrimony b Chap 31 19 redeemed out of the handes of those vntrusty frindes to whom my father left me He hath had a care of the fatherlesse euen from his infancy Being a child he was wont to bring them home with him to be c Chap 1 18 nourished in his fathers house as his brethren and he now taketh a felicity in calling such to his table d cha 33 v 17 neither can hee cate his meate with pleasure if he haue not som of them with him to partake of it The hungry of all sortes must needs be his guests otherwise he thinketh not his meate well bestowed For these he prepareth baÌ„quets these he feasteth to prouide for these is his chiefe study and ioy of hart O therefore how would it grieue him that a fatherlesse child should any way e Chap 31 22 miscary receiue the least hurt or iniury through his default for he knoweth
beside As a token therfore of our sorrow a Verse 12 They lift vp their eies wept c. which we conceiue that we are humbled in spirit rent wee our cloaths lifting vp our voyce vnto Heauen with a lamentable cry cast we dust vpon our heads and shed we forth Ryuers of teares for the desolation of our friend Harken how lamentably he groaneth groane we and grieue we in spirit with him sit we here or rather take we vp here an abiding for a certaine b Verse xiii Nothing is more ordina rythen the in sulting of the wicked ouer the Godly which they haue from Sa than 1 Kings 22.24 time by him obseruing his gesture that so we may apply our speeches accordingly Sathan See how these men wonder at my power they may wel wonder at it for I haue painted Iob with as many colours as the rainbow The Leopard is not fuller of spots then he with sores the Gyants are not more huge admirable for their stature then he for the greatnes of his swoln mishapen body My workmanship is absolute of corupt matter festering swelling burning aking of blisters botches biles stripes wounds great plenty these are in the view of the world to make him and his religion odious Besides I haue stirred vp his Friends who are able because of their auncient loue grauity and knowledge to preuaile very much with him by setting before him the greatnesse of his sins and the exceeding anger of the lord against him to bring him and that vnder the colour of kindnesse and goodwill to despaire of the Lords fauor toward him This my plot doth maruelously please me aboue all the rest and hitherto I haue had my desire in it for I perceiue they begin already to suspect him not to be the mā they took him for in times past and that because of my strange wonders that I haue wrought vpon him This was done in the depth of my pollicy and it proceedeth happily Adams smart hath made some men suspicions of their wiues so that they will not be led by them But what man is there but that he will harken to the counsel of an olde wise and faithfull friend whom he presumeth doth intend his good I haue prouided me of three of them for failing that in the mouths of three witnesses my perswasions may be ratified Three to one and they al haile persons against a diseased wretch bereft of his wits is oddes enough Syrraxis 9. Persons Iob Eliphaz The substance of Iobes complaint in the 3. chap. is set downe in that which succeedeth though I haue not precisely tyed my selfe to the order of verses and to speak the truth the speech proceeding from a troubled spirite confounded with the violence of his passions what method could he obserue in it and therfore to haue kept my selfe to an order had bin nothing else but to transvert the nature thereof Iob. OVnhappy day wherein I was borne O cursed houre a chap 3 3. of my natiuity O that the womb had shut me vp and that I had neuer seene the sun Let it bee from henceforth noted for a day of misery couered with b Verse 4 darkenes from aboue a day of feare c Verse 5 and horror to the sonnes of men and vtterly without al ioy or comfort why was I brought forth into the world Why was I nurced d Verse xi xii by my mother nourished and trained vp Why liued I in pleasure prosperity wealth and honor How much better had it beene for me to haue lien in the graue e Verse 13 that so I might haue felt no torment Lamentable f Verse 20 is the greef that I now suffer I haue no ease no part free boyles and vlcers that ouerrun my whole body O most welcom now wold death g Verse 21 22 be vnto me the most greevous death that the head of the cruellest Tyrant could inuent If any kind of death might betide me I should thinke my selfe as happy as the Kings h Verse xiiii that while they liued here vpon earth were cōmanders of the world or as the Princes i Verse vx that had their houses filled with gold or siluer all maner of treasure and welth now sleeping in the dust where high k Verse xix and low are alone without difference For they without al feare void of all labor l Verse xiii and sorrow free from anger threatning oppression they complaine not they sigh not they are not heard to grone or roare out through paine My golden daies which before I enioyed were ful of terror m Verse 25 26 for euen then I stood in awe of this wretchednes that now is fallen vpon me And though I did what I coulde to prevent it by publicke and priuate prayer by obeying the Lord in al things yet would it not do it Blessed death therfore how much do I desire thee How doeth the remembrance of thee refresh mee in my irkesome and wearisome life As often as I consider that thou wilt bring me n Vers xvii 18 case that thou wilt put an end to al my griefe and lay me in the graue where I shall feele no pain so often do I cal and cry for thee so often do I wish for thee as the hireling o verse xvii Laborer for the night or as hè that grindeth p Prisoner at the mil for an end of his thraldome I would part with al my wealth were it againe in my possession for a litle ease for a litle freedom so that I might be washed or bathed or any way find some mittigatiō Was ther euer seen such a huge vglie bodie Nothing but sores and those so greeuous g Verse xxiiii the matter from hence to the end of this speech dependeth hereupon as if I were pricked with needles in euery part I am al of goare blood mingled with scabs scum and scurffe together with such abundance of corrupt matter as if there were an vndrainable fountain therof in euerie vaine and ioynt of my bodie which maketh me to do nothing els but sigh and sob continually If the dogs might licke my sores I were thrice happie their tongues are phisicke they would remoue this stinch which is so strong that it infecteth the aire and would be kinder vnto me then my friends that vvonder at my sight and are astonyed at my trouble The burning of my vlcers the greeuous burning is as the fire to torment me yea better were it by far that I were in the burning flame for that wold dispatch me quickly Now these my sores are deuised doubtles in the forge of Sathans deepest malice into whose hands the lord hath now deliuerd me and how subtle Sathan is to inuent new torments and how cruel to inflict them specialy vpon the dearest children of God whome he most hateth if the Lord giue him leaue who knoweth not Eliphaz These 7. †a
haue indeuored my self to a better course Men are carried with affection d Verse 4 arising from their corrupt nature with a peruerse conceipt with a preiudicate opinion they iudge by the countenance they ouershoote themselues in their doings through the ignorance that is in them they are blinded with anger malice self-selfe-loue desire of worldly gaine fleshly delight earthly honor None of al these are incident to thy most pure nature no affection doth ouersway thee sinister opinion conceipt superficiall knowledge thou wast neuer acquainted withall but thy doings are in soundnes of iudgement and deepnes of wisedome fetched from the rootes themselues so that thy search is of the inward partes and Original of thinges and thy proceeding to iudgement by that rule which maketh me to maruel speciaily seeing thou neuer swaruest e verse 5.6 from the same method how thy sentence hath passed against me thus to afflict me that am of that singlenesse and sincerity of hart toward thee And again why thou sholdst take so much time to enquire into me and deferre me off so long before thou callest me to my answere Our rulers heere on earth vse delaies in difficult causes because they cannot see into them at the first and their maner is to torture offenders to draw them to a confession but thou knowest what is in the breast and spiest into the waies of men before hand and therefore needest not to vse any such extremity toward me if I were guilty but being not guilty f verse 7 whence commeth it that I am denied release from these troubles Thine own hands g verse 8 haue fashioned me and that in great wisedome there is not the least part of my bodie which thou thy selfe hast not framed My very excrements as my haires and nailes are thy handy worke These coulde not haue bin added by any creature if thou thy selfe haddest not anexed them as a ful complement to the residue shall thy displeasure then be as a gulfe to swallow me vp euerie whitte vppon whome thou hast bestowed such great labor Haue a respect I pray thee to my weaknes and frailty consider how brittle a vessel h verse 9 I am and that I am as soone broken as the Workmanship of the potter Remember the base matter which thou hast ordained as the ground of my substance at the first into the which I shal bee resolued at thy pleasure though thou neuer vse this violence Where the cittie is strong and will not yeeld there needeth the siedge of an Army well appointed but for a Captaine to make an assault against a place that maketh no resistance is a needlesse and vaine attempt such is thy contending against me I Haue receiued many pledges and euidences of thy loue toward me thou didst prepare the wombe conuert the blood there Chap x vers x xi into the similitude of milke which being thin and liquid thou diddest bind by the coniunction of hotter matter which concurring with the former resemble the cruddes then thou couerest me with skinne as a fence or hedge to keepe me from hurt and with flesh to shelter from danger those more Noble parts that are within Afterward thou gauest me veines as so many conduits to conuey nutriment vnto euery part sinnewes for the better and more nimble motion to euerie member and these diddest thou fasten together and strenthen by bones which thou madest as pillers and supporters to beare vp my whole building and frame of my body and to bring force and power vnto it Herewithal thou diddest inspire into me life causing me to breath through thy Diuine power myraculously a verse xii beeing closed vppe within the matrix Being drawne out of the womb by thy special prouidence thou hast dealt more beneficially with me an hundred times then with the beasts not onely in that Deuine soule which thou infusedst into me in my creation but in the instructing and informing the same daily in thy law and framing it to thy obedience and moreouer in the watching ouer mee by the eie of thy goodnes and prouidence from time to time These thy blessings were so exquisit and so admirable that nothing could be more desired But that thou shouldst come in with such a change as thou now dost and together with thy fauor b verse xiii set thy hart vpon reuenge for it coulde not come to passe but that thou diddest determine it before for me what may I conceiue of it but this that thou tookest a note of euery transgression of mine when I liued in prosperity that at length thou mightest be doing with me for it as now thou art and holde me very long in it as long a time peraduenture as thou diddest forbeare me before or rather without end For now I am fallen into thy hands which way should I redeeme my selfe If I haue beene a wicked and abhominable liuer then I haue pulled vpon my head the cursse by breaking c verse xiiii thy Law which wil not easily be remoued If I be found to haue bin of godly d verse xv innocency and vprightnes it shal nothing auaile me notwithstanding while I remaine thus wretched thus pressed downe with greefe and sorrow so that I cannot lift vp my head For let me call vppon the Lorde acknowledge my sinne and what further may be thought to be a meanes for the easing of my vexation I am stil notwithstanding at the same state as before yea worse euery daie then other so laden with affliction and reproach that I am readie to sinke vnder them for they increasing more and more are a meanes that my disease getteth stil stronger possession of my body and waxeth as it were prouder euery day It is thee O God that doest pursue me fiercely chasing cruelly griping me as a Lyon e verse xvi doth his prey yet so that thou doest not make a speedy end of me but vsest delayes and commest a gaine vpon me doubling still and tripling thy wounds in such sort as it is marueilous to behold Thy strokes they keepe their turnes as orderly as if they were called in for so many witnesses against mee of my faults and thy displeasure In the fiedge of a strong Cittie the souldiors fight not al at one time but one company being spent a new supply commeth in so do thy armies of stripes which thou sendest out against me one being ouer and worne out another fresher g verse xviii more eager and bitter then the former eftsoones succeedeth Much better had it bin for me if thou hadst stifled me in the womb g that no eie might haue looked vpon me then that I should be borne to beare bitter calamity h verse xix O I would I had beene like them that neuer had any beeing i verse xix at all or that my Mothers Wombe hadde beene my Graue or otherwise that I hadde euen beene an abortiue and vntimely birth that so being deliuered