Fragmenda

Scripture

Job 39–42

Job 39

The wonders of the power and providence of God in many of his creatures.

1 

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they fawn?

2 

Hast thou numbered the months of their conceiving, or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

3 

They bow themselves to bring forth young, and they cast them, and send forth roarings.

4 

Their young are weaned and go to feed: they go forth, and return not to them.

5 

Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his bonds?

6 

To whom I have given a house in the wilderness, and his dwellings in the barren land.

7 

He scorneth the multitude of the city, he heareth not the cry of the driver.

8 

He looketh round about the mountains of his pasture, and seeketh for every green thing,

9 

Shall the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee, or will he stay at thy crib?

10 

Canst thou bind the rhinoceros with thy thong to plough, or will he break the clods of the valleys after thee?

11 

Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength, and leave thy labours to him?

12 

Wilt thou trust him that he will render thee the seed, and gather it into thy barnfloor?

13 

The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.

14 

When she leaveth her eggs on the earth, thou perhaps wilt warm them in the dust.

15 

She forgetteth that the foot may tread upon them, or that the beasts of the field may break them.

16 

She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers, she hath laboured in vain, no fear constraining her.

17 

For God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he given her understanding.

18 

When time shall be, she setteth up her wings on high: she scorneth the horse and his rider.

19 

Wilt thou give strength to the horse or clothe his neck with neighing?

20 

Wilt thou lift him up like the locusts? the glory of his nostrils is terror.

21 

He breaketh up the earth with his hoof, he pranceth boldly, he goeth forward to meet armed men.

22 

He despiseth fear, he turneth not his back to the sword.

23 

Above him shall the quiver rattle, the spear and shield shall glitter.

24 

Chasing and raging he swalloweth the ground, neither doth he make account when the noise of the trumpet soundeth.

25 

When he heareth the trumpet he saith: Ha, ha: he smelleth the battle afar off, the encouraging of the captains, and the shouting of the army.

26 

Doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her wings to the south?

27 

Will the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest in high places?

28 

She abideth among the rocks, and dwelleth among cragged flints, and stony hills, where there is no access.

29 

From thence she looketh for the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.

30 

Her young ones shall suck up blood: and wheresoever the carcass shall be, she is immediately there.

31 

And the Lord went on, and said to Job:

32 

Shall he that contendeth with God be so easily silenced? surely he that reproveth God, ought to answer him.

33 

Then Job answered the Lord, and said:

34 

What can I answer, who hath spoken inconsiderately? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.

35 

One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said: and another, to which I will add no more.


Job 40

Of the power of God in the behemoth and the leviathan.

1 

And the Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind, said:

2 

Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me.

3 

Wilt thou make void my judgment: and condemn me, that thou mayst be justified?

4 

And hast thou an arm like God, and canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

5 

Clothe thyself with beauty, and set thyself up on high, and be glorious, and put on goodly garments.

6 

Scatter the proud in thy indignation, and behold every arrogant man, and humble him.

7 

Look on all that are proud, and confound them, and crush the wicked in their place,

8 

Hide them in the dust together, and plunge their faces into the pit.

9 

Then I will confess that thy right hand is able to save thee.

10 

Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass like an ox.

11 

His strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel of his belly.

12 

He setteth up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his testicles are wrapped together.

13 

His bones are like pipes of brass, his gristle like plates of iron.

14 

He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he will apply his sword.

15 

To him the mountains bring forth grass: there all the beasts of the field shall play.

16 

He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places.

17 

The shades cover his shadow, the willows of the brook shall compass him about.

18 

Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder: and he trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth.

19 

In his eyes as with a hook he shall take him, and bore through his nostrils with stakes.

20 

Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord?

21 

Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?

22 

Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee?

23 

Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever,

24 

Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids?

25 

Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him?

26 

Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head?

27 

Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no more.

28 

Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall be cast down.


Job 41

A further description of the leviathan.

1 

I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel, for who can resist my countenance?

2 

Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine.

3 

I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication.

4 

Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth?

5 

Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about.

6 

His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another.

7 

One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them:

8 

They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated.

9 

His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning.

10 

Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire.

11 

Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling.

12 

His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth.

13 

In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face.

14 

The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place.

15 

His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith’s anvil,

16 

When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves.

17 

When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate.

18 

For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood.

19 

The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble.

20 

As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear.

21 

The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire.

22 

He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil.

23 

A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old.

24 

There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one,

25 

He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride.


Job 42

Job submits himself. God pronounces in his favour. Job offers sacrifice for his friends. He is blessed with riches and children, and dies happily,

1 

Then Job answered the Lord, and said:

2 

I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is hid from thee.

3 

Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceeded my knowledge.

4 

Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me.

5 

With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye seeth thee.

6 

Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes.

7 

And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before me, as my servant Job hath.

8 

Take unto you therefore seven oxen and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust, and my servant Job shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you: for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath.

9 

So Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar the Naamathite went, and did as the Lord had spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job.

10 

The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

11 

And all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and all that knew him before, and they ate bread with him in his house: and bemoaned him, and comforted him upon all the evil that God had brought upon him. And every man gave him one ewe, and one earring of gold.

12 

And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

13 

And he had seven sons, and three daughters.

14 

And he called the name of one Dies, and the name of the second Cassia, and the name of the third Cornustibii.

15 

And there were not found in all the earth women so beautiful as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

16 

And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children’s children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, and full of days.

Catechism

An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Lesson 18, Question 207

207 Q. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?

A. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places and things that may easily lead us into sin.

"Occasions." There are many kinds of occasions of sin. First, we have voluntary and necessary occasions, or those we can avoid and those we cannot avoid. For example: if a companion uses immodest conversation we can avoid that occasion, because we can keep away from him; but if the one who sins is a member of our own family, always living with us, we cannot so easily avoid that occasion. Second, near and remote occasions. An occasion is said to be "near" when we usually fall into sin by it. For instance, if a man gets intoxicated almost every time he visits a certain place, then that place is a "near occasion" of sin for him; but if he gets intoxicated only once out of every fifty times or so that he goes there, then it is said to be a "remote occasion." Now, it is not enough to avoid the sins: we must also avoid the occasions. If we have a firm purpose of amendment, if we desire to do better, we must be resolved to avoid everything that will lead us to sin. It is not enough to say, I will go to that place or with that person, but I will never again commit the same sins. No matter what you think now, if you go into the occasion, you will fall again; because Our Lord, who cannot speak falsely, says: "He who loves the danger will perish in it." Now the occasion of sin is always "the danger"; and if you go into it, Our Lord's words will come true, and you will fall miserably. Take away the cause, take away the occasion, and then the sin will cease of itself. Let us suppose the plaster in your house fell down, and you found that it fell because there was a leak in the water-pipe above, and the water coming through wet the plaster and made it fall. What is the first thing your father would do in that case? Why, get a plumber and stop up the leak in the pipe before putting up the plaster again. Would it not be foolish to engage a plasterer to repair the ceiling while the pipe was still leaking? Everyone would say that man must be out of his mind: the plaster will fall down as often as he puts it up, and it matters not either how well he puts it up. If he wants it to stay up, he must first mend the pipe—take away the cause of its falling. Now the occasion of sin is like the leak in the pipe—in the case of sin, it will very likely cause you to fall every time. Stop up the leak, take away the occasion, and then you will not fall into sin—at least not so frequently.

"The persons" are generally bad companions, and though they may not be bad when alone, they are bad when with us, and thus we become also bad companions for them, and occasions of sin.

"The places." Liquor saloons, low theaters, dance halls, and all places where we may see or hear anything against faith or morals.

"Things." Bad books, pictures, and the like.