Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORDgave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.

Then the LORDanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."

Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

There were born to him seven sons and three daughters.

And he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"

Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?

and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,

"Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.

Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.

"Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox.

Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.

And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"

and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it.

While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed.

You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.

Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!

The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more; while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.

My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

"With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding.

Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand?

Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow.

My appetite refuses to touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.

You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.

how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!

Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?

"If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him.

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.

For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin;

(the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler),

There was nothing left after he had eaten; therefore his prosperity will not endure.

If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents,

Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding?

If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.

You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.

that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?

One dies in his full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure,

Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'

"Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope,

He has no posterity or progeny among his people, and no survivor where he used to live.

if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,

"I will show you; hear me, and what I have seen I will declare

although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.

he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields;

My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face."

who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:

Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!

This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life."

Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear.

he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him anymore.

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?"

He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.

Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

Am I the sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?

That night--let thick darkness seize it! Let it not rejoice among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.

"O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.

As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?

when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket?

if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

he sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity.

my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.

In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.

Behold, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be in the right.

If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last."

They of the west are appalled at his day, and horror seizes them of the east.

He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.

He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.

"He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

"But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;

You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me.

Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish.

While yet in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant.

Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.

He looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan.

And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security.

"God will not turn back his anger; beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.

His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web.

He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.

Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning,

You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; many will court your favor.

before I go--and I shall not return-- to the land of darkness and deep shadow,

Behold, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry enter it.

"Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,'

He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.

his pails full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.

Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose.

For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause;

He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer

"Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

He is a lush plant before the sun, and his shoots spread over his garden.

"Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.

If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

Keep listening to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears.

And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.

Would that Job were tried to the end, because he answers like wicked men.

How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him?

Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God."

If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?

"Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?

Have I any help in me, when resource is driven from me?

He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.

The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba hope.

Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be."

This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.

If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.'

If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction.

Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he perceives it not.

Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life.

But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty.

And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.

For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!

He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

"My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.

They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.

Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light?

that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor.

What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient?

Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed.

For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest,

He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.

(what wise men have told, without hiding it from their fathers,

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

For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return.

then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions,

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.

Then Job answered and said:

So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.

And the LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."

"I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity, that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.

"No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.

He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.

withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me.

"Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man is conceived.'

"Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul,

Who declares his way to his face, and who repays him for what he has done?

the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness."

Only grant me two things, then I will not hide myself from your face:

whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Who is there who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.

He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself."

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

so that I would choose strangling and death rather than my bones.

What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him,

Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me.

For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

Then Job answered and said:

It is higher than heaven--what can you do? Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?

If you say, 'How we will pursue him!' and, 'The root of the matter is found in him,'

Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?

to whom alone the land was given, and no stranger passed among them).

and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.

"Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.

For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

When he is carried to the grave, watch is kept over his tomb.

To fill his belly to the full, God will send his burning anger against him and rain it upon him into his body.

Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high.

and has lived in desolate cities, in houses that none should inhabit, which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine, and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

"Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be judged right?

I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me.

I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?

I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes."

And Job said:

The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.

running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield;

Will you frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff?

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

The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken.

There the prisoners are at ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

For you say, 'My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes.'

For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?

and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave.

You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; you set a limit for the soles of my feet.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as torrential streams that pass away,

"If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together,

How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood."

Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?

Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the soil others will spring.

You shall know that your tent is at peace, and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?

If he passes through and imprisons and summons the court, who can turn him back?

Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?

The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.

But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you,

he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the earth;

How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

because he has covered his face with his fat and gathered fat upon his waist

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit."

The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath.

who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.

he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors--

In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip.

who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?

In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

"Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.

although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

"Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God?

You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, like a sheaf gathered up in its season.

Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?

Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees?

For my sighing comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water.

The hungry eat his harvest, and he takes it even out of thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man's years,

that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin,

The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

"For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out.

And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.

You shall know also that your offspring shall be many, and your descendants as the grass of the earth.

Then Job answered and said:

Then Job answered and said:

"Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.

I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

His roots entwine the stone heap; he looks upon a house of stones.

"Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.

dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.

If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy,

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.

which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself.

Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good."

who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges-- if it is not he, who then is it?

His children are far from safety; they are crushed in the gate, and there is no one to deliver them.

so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars;

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength --who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?--

"How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind?

For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid.

Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

the waters wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so you destroy the hope of man.

'Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight.'

Have I said, 'Make me a gift'? Or, 'From your wealth offer a bribe for me'?

visit him every morning and test him every moment?

When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn.

You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away.

he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger,

Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass, or the ox low over his fodder?

When they melt, they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.

Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,

If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

"Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!

My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.

For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.

'Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?

if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation.

For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God."

It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.

The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste and perish.

He will flee from an iron weapon; a bronze arrow will strike him through.

"Now a word was brought to me stealthily; my ear received the whisper of it.

You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.

They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey.

Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error;

You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain over your friend.

That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away?

How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove?

They are ashamed because they were confident; they come there and are disappointed.

Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand'? Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless'?

Do you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing man is wind?

Then Job answered the LORD and said:

You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

Is there any injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

"But now, be pleased to look at me, for I will not lie to your face.

If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

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

I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent.

They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

Please turn; let no injustice be done. Turn now; my vindication is at stake.

I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain?

If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,'

"Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." Thus Job did continually.

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

The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."

If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.

"Behold, I know your thoughts and your schemes to wrong me.

He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.

A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.

And the LORDrestored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.

Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it.

"Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.

"For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease.

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."

And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason."

"But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;

Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?'

Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees.

Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms cover them.

For when they are humbled you say, 'It is because of pride'; but he saves the lowly.

"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?

"Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice:

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason?

And the LORDsaid to Job:

Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does.

"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine.

therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands.

His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea;

"But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord?

be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."

"But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

so a man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.

Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

"If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking?

Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.

He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.

"Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?

For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?'

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

"Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.

"Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

Then Job answered and said:

There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,

What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.

If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him,

Then Job answered and said:

as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.

Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.

"Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger?

But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he?

"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.

Then Job answered and said:

Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether.

"Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

As the cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,

Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath be past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley."The words of Job are ended.

They say to God, 'Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

"Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,

He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants.

Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?

'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

"As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause,

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

Have you not asked those who travel the roads, and do you not accept their testimony

If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness,

It is drawn forth and comes out of his body; the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder; terrors come upon him.

"Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it.

When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square,

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

"If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me,

"Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him.

It consumes the parts of his skin; the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.

"My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together.

Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable.

Behold, Godputs no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."

Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!

By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab.

"The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?

He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

"Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them.

But none says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds,

And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"

The clods of the valley are sweet to him; all mankind follows after him, and those who go before him are innumerable.

"Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

"Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain,

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown;

"How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak.

and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?

They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.

"Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine.

"Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me,

"For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.

The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke.

Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God.

Then Elihu answered and said:

"Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?

Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him?

Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?"

This is the wicked man's portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God."

"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does?

Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

he will not depart from darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots, and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.'

"Though evil is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue,

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.

"At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place.

"Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

"Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.

He is torn from the tent in which he trusted and is brought to the king of terrors.

"Is not God high in the heavens? See the highest stars, how lofty they are!

"Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it."

Will you keep to the old way that wicked men have trod?

When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure,

They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance.

"Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven.

I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you.

Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,

"If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence,

Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?'

But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.

"If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.

"Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Out of the north comes golden splendor; God is clothed with awesome majesty.

for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.

Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

Then the LORDanswered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

"There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.

who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?

For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?

"I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.

let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor';

Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.

He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them.

"How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?

"Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target;

Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore.

For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch will not be green.

You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.

"How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger?

I will not show partiality to any man or use flattery toward any person.

He will suck the poison of cobras; the tongue of a viper will kill him.

Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation.

look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me.

My skin turns black and falls from me, and my bones burn with heat.

All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.

Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust.

Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.

if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last,

Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.

But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.

And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: "I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.

yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me.

God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty,

Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!

Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

"As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.)

"Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones,

"He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

As waters fail from a lake and a river wastes away and dries up,

Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls.

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind?