There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.”

Let those who curse certain days
cast a spell on it,
those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.

with the kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuilt ruined cities for themselves,

or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,
like infants who never see daylight?

who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?

Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling
and braced the knees that were buckling.

Consider: who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest been destroyed?

In my experience, those who plow injustice
and those who sow trouble reap the same.

how much more those who dwell in clay houses,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth!

The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.

Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless will perish.

God is wise and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

If He snatches something, who can stop Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”

If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

The earth is handed over to the wicked;
He blindfolds its judges.
If it isn’t He, then who is it?

even though You know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

If He passes by and throws someone in prison
or convenes a court, who can stop Him?

But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?

I am a laughingstock to my friends,
by calling on God, who answers me.
The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

The one who is at ease holds calamity in contempt
and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.

The tents of robbers are safe,
and those who provoke God are secure;
God’s power provides this.

Who can produce something pure from what is impure?
No one!

how much less one who is revolting and corrupt,
who drinks injustice like water?

For the company of the godless will have no children,
and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.

Make arrangements! Put up security for me.
Who else will be my sponsor?

where then is my hope?
Who can see any hope for me?

You who tear yourself in anger—
should the earth be abandoned on your account,
or a rock be removed from its place?

Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.

then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.

he will vanish forever like his own dung.
Those who know him will ask, “Where is he?”

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
and what will we gain by pleading with Him?”

Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?

Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay him for what he has done?

The dirt on his grave is sweet to him.
Everyone follows behind him,
and those who go before him are without number.

They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?”

But it was He who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

He will even rescue the guilty one,
who will be rescued by the purity of your hands.

But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him?
He does what He desires.

Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?
Why do those who know Him never see His days?

The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.

As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,
so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar
and show that my speech is worthless?

Dominion and dread belong to Him,
the One who establishes harmony in the heavens.

how much less man, who is a maggot,
and the son of man, who is a worm!

Who did you speak these words to?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?

These are but the fringes of His ways;
how faint is the word we hear of Him!
Who can understand His mighty thunder?

As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,

Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.

He cuts a shaft far from human habitation,
in places unknown to those who walk above ground.
Suspended far away from people,
the miners swing back and forth.

For I rescued the poor man who cried out for help,
and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.

I directed their course and presided as chief.
I lived as a king among his troops,
like one who comforts those who mourn.

>

Yes, I know that You will lead me to death—
the place appointed for all who live.

Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same God form us both in the womb?

Haven’t the members of my household said,
“Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”

It is not only the old who are wise
or the elderly who understand how to judge.

Who gave Him authority over the earth?
Who put Him in charge of the entire world?

Could one who hates justice govern the world?
Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,

who says to a king, “Worthless man!”
and to nobles, “Wicked men!”?

But when God is silent, who can declare Him guilty?
When He hides His face, who can see Him?
Yet He watches over both individuals and nations,

Reasonable men will say to me,
along with the wise men who hear me,

But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker,
who provides us with songs in the night,

who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

For my arguments are without flaw;
one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

Those who have a godless heart harbor anger;
even when God binds them, they do not cry for help.

Look, God shows Himself exalted by His power.
Who is a teacher like Him?

Who has appointed His way for Him,
and who has declared, “You have done wrong”?

Do you understand how the clouds float,
those wonderful works of Him who has perfect knowledge?

Therefore, men fear Him.
He does not look favorably on any who are wise in heart.

Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words?

Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?

What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone

Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,

Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain
or clears the way for lightning,

Does the rain have a father?
Who fathered the drops of dew?

Whose womb did the ice come from?
Who gave birth to the frost of heaven

Who put wisdom in the heart
or gave the mind understanding?

Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven

Who provides the raven’s food
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

>

Who set the wild donkey free?
Who released the swift donkey from its harness?

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
Let him who argues with God give an answer.

No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;
who then can stand against Me?

Who confronted Me, that I should repay him?
Everything under heaven belongs to Me.

Who can strip off his outer covering?
Who can penetrate his double layer of armor?

Who can open his jaws,
surrounded by those terrifying teeth?

You asked, “Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?”
Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.