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

For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

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

And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if you have understanding.

He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing.

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.

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

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

And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:

The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.

For affliction comes not forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maiden?

And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them:

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will defend my own ways before him.

Behold now behemoth, which I made with you; he eats grass as an ox.

Who provides for the raven its food? when its young ones cry unto God, they wander about for lack of food.

By his spirit he has adorned the heavens; his hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.

Then Job arose, and tore his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped,

And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil?

And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone am escaped to tell you.

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

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone am escaped to tell you.

Who does great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

I have 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 tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God has fallen from heaven, and has burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone am escaped to tell you.

I know that you can do everything, and that no thought can be withheld from you.

In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God with wrong.

And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I alone am escaped to tell you.

But now it is come upon you, and you faint; it touches you, and you are troubled.

You shall call, and I will answer you: you will have a desire to the work of your hands.

Lo, he goes by me, and I see him not: he passes on also, but I perceive him not.

For a vain man will be wise, when a man is born a wild donkey's colt.

The eye of him that has seen me shall see me no more: your eyes are upon me, and I am not.

My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding.

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

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

The things that my soul refused to touch are as loathsome food to me.

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

How much more abominable and filthy is man, who drinks iniquity like water?

Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judges those that are on high.

If you prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward him;

And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has will he give for his life.

For now you number my steps: do not watch over my sin.

The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.

There shall none of his food be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, you shall put away iniquity far from your tents.

Shall not they teach you, and tell you, and utter words out of their heart?

Behold, he breaks down, and it cannot be built again: he shuts up a man, and there can be no opening.

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

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

Is not this your fear, your confidence, your hope, and the uprightness of your ways?

One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

Behold, he takes away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What do you?

Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for!

He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.

Then shall you lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

Not for any violence in my hands: also my prayer is pure.

Who gives rain upon the earth, and sends waters upon the fields:

My harp also is turned to mourning, and my flute into the voice of them that weep.

But put forth your hand now, 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 pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.

He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; but spare his life.

For then shall you lift up your face without spot; yea, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:

He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

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

And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?

He leads counselors away plundered, and makes the judges fools.

Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

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

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not rejoice among the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry have no place.

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

Remember, I pray you, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?

When they crouch in their dens, and abide in their lairs to lie in wait?

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom:

To set up on high those that are low; that those who mourn may be lifted to safety.

Because you shall forget your misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

If I sin, then you mark me, and you will not acquit me from my iniquity.

My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you sew up my iniquity.

In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in distress: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him.

Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be justified.

Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up: also he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.

And your life shall be brighter than the noonday; you shall shine forth, you shall be as the morning.

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as one dying.

They that come after him shall be astounded at his day, as they that went before were frightened.

He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.

He leads princes away plundered, and overthrows the mighty.

To him that is afflicted pity should be shown from his friend; even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

And surely the mountain falling, comes to nothing, and the rock is removed out of its place.

You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation upon me; changes and war are ever with me.

So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:

While it is yet green, and not cut down, it withers before any other plant.

For, though I were righteous, yet could I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

He looses the bonds of kings, and girds their loins with a waistband.

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to arouse leviathan.

And you shall be secure, because there is hope; yea, you shall dig about you, and take your rest in safety.

If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do bow before him.

Whose confidence shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.

He pours contempt upon princes, and weakens the strength of the mighty.

Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; yea, many shall entreat your favor.

Before I go where I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come into 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 shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

He takes away the speech of the trustworthy, and takes away the understanding of the aged.

His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

And these things have you hid in your heart: I know that this is with you.

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

He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

Why then have you brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had died, and no eye had seen me!

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

He grows green in the sun, and his branch shoots forth in his garden.

Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? can the reeds grow without water?

If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am blameless, it shall also prove me perverse.

He takes away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.

And he took himself a potsherd to scrape himself with; and he sat down among the ashes.

My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because he answers like wicked men.

How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?

Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knows not God.

If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of justice, who shall set me a time to plead?

Why died I not from the womb? why did I not expire when I came out of the womb?

Is not my help within me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?

He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their plans.

The caravans of Tema looked, the travelers of Sheba waited for them.

And why do you not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and you shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

Then should I still have comfort; yea, I would exult myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from my eyes.

If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, I have not seen you.

If I am wicked, woe unto me; and if I am righteous, yet can I not lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; therefore see my affliction;

A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.

His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them.

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

Though I were blameless, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

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

And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they tore every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

For then shall you have your delight in the Almighty, and shall lift up your face unto God.

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

He takes the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the cunning is quickly ended.

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

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

Or as a hidden untimely birth, I had not been; as infants who never saw light.

O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor!

What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is my end, that I should prolong my life?

All darkness shall be laid up for his treasures: a fire not blown upon shall consume him; it shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then would I have been at rest,

He wanders abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

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

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

Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:

With kings and counselors of the earth, who built desolate places for themselves;

When a few years have come, then I shall go the way where I shall not return.

Then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions:

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.

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

Then Job answered and said,

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

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

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

That the wicked are reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

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

He increases the nations, and destroys them: he enlarges the nations, and leads them away.

Withdraw your hand far from me: and let not your dread make me afraid.

Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a male child conceived.

Therefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he has done?

A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from you.

Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my heart be consumed within me.

Who is he that will contend with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall die.

But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

He shall deliver the innocent man: and he is delivered by the pureness of your hands.

Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready for battle.

I loathe it; I would not live always: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

So that my soul chooses strangling, and death rather than my life.

What is man, that you should magnify him? and that you should set your heart upon him?

Then call, and I will answer: or let me speak, and you answer me.

For he bruises, and binds up: he wounds, and his hands make whole.

And Job answered and said,

It is as high as heaven; what can you do? deeper than Sheol; what can you know?

But you should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

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

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

And that he would show you the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.

I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calls upon God, and he answers him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

At destruction and famine you shall laugh: neither shall you be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

Call now, if there be any that will answer you; and to which of the holy ones will you turn?

For wrath kills the foolish man, and envy slays the simple one.

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

And he, like a rotten thing, consumes, as a garment that is moth-eaten.

You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating.

Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

And he dwells in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabits, which are ready to become heaps.

He shall shake off his unripe grapes like the vine, and shall cast off his blossom like the olive.

Should your lies make men hold their peace? and when you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?

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

Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me why you contend with me.

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him.

I have sinned; what shall I do unto you, O you preserver of men? why have you set me as a mark against you, so that I am a burden to myself?

I was not at ease, neither had I quiet, neither was I at rest; yet trouble came.

And Job spoke, and said,

The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

He runs stubbornly against him, with his heavily embossed shield.

Will you break a leaf driven to and fro? and will you pursue the dry stubble?

Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

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

There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

For you have said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes.

For he knows vain men: he sees wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

For you shall be in covenant 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 hid, and whom God has hedged in?

Does not the ear test words? and the mouth taste its food?

I would have been as though I had not been; I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.

You put my feet also in the stocks, and watch closely all my paths; you set a bound to the soles of my feet.

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks that pass away;

If my land cries against me, and its furrows likewise complain;

How then do you comfort me in vain, seeing in your answers there remains falsehood?

Why hide you your face, and hold me for your enemy?

Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

And you shall know that your tabernacle shall be in peace; and you shall visit your habitation, and shall find nothing amiss.

Have you not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

If he cuts off, and shuts up, or gathers together, then who can hinder him?

Remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay; and will you bring me into dust again?

The tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God brings abundantly.

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

He shall not be rich, neither shall his wealth continue, neither shall he overspread the earth with it.

How long will you not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

Because he covers his face with his fatness, and makes heavy fat on his waist.

Till he fills your mouth with laughing, and your lips with rejoicing.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knows not such things as these?

They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their heart prepares deceit.

The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.

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

And another dies in the bitterness of his soul, and never eats with pleasure.

He will not permit me to take my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

He that is ready to slip with his feet is like a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

Who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

They that hate you shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.

The measure of it is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

Is it good unto you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile upon the counsel of the wicked?

In famine he shall redeem you from death: and in war from the power of the sword.

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

Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he help the evil doers:

You know that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of your hand.

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just before God?

You shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in in its season.

Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

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

For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

Whose harvest the hungry eats up, and takes it even out of the thorns, and the robber swallows up their wealth.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison thereof drinks up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Are your days as the days of man? are your years as man's days,

That you inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin?

The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the strong lion's whelps are scattered abroad.

The wicked man travails with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden for the oppressor.

For inquire, I pray you, of the former age, and prepare yourself to the findings of their fathers:

Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end should greatly increase.

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

Then Job answered and said,

But Job answered and said,

O remember that my life is a breath: my eye shall no more see good.

I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.

His roots are wrapped about the stone heap, and looks for a place in the stones.

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand how I have erred.

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

If you would seek unto God early, and make your supplication to the Almighty;

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

Which are black by reason of the ice, and in which the snow is hid:

Lo this, we have searched it out, so it is; hear it, and know you it for your good.

Who shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

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

His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.

So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

Who commands the sun, and it rises not; and seals up the stars.

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

How long will you speak these things? and how long shall the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

For now you are nothing; you see my terror, and are afraid.

Does God pervert judgment? or does the Almighty pervert justice?

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

The waters wear the stones: you wash away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and you destroy the hope of man.

Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.

Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

And that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?

When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

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

Who removes the mountains, and they know not: who overturns them in his anger.

Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass? or the ox lows over its fodder?

At what time they become warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they vanish out of their place.

Yea, the Almighty shall be your defense, and you shall have plenty of silver.

As a servant earnestly desires the shadow, and as a hireling looks for the reward of his work:

If your children have sinned against him, and he has cast them away for their transgression;

Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!

My friends scorn me: but my eye pours out tears unto God.

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

If you were pure and upright; surely now he would awake for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.

For he adds rebellion unto his sin, he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.

This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroys the blameless and the wicked.

The paths of their way turn aside; they go nowhere, and perish.

He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of bronze shall strike him through.

Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it.

You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you: and the light shall shine upon your ways.

If the scourge slays suddenly, he will laugh at the plight of the innocent.

They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hastens to the prey.

Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

Yea, you overwhelm the fatherless, and you dig a pit for your friend.

They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carries away.

How forceful are right words! but what does your arguing prove?

They were disappointed because they had confidence; they came there, and were confused.

Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?

Do you intend to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

You shall make your prayer unto him, and he shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows.

Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.

If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

But he said unto her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean;

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

They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty gives him understanding.

His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends: for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

Return, I pray you, let it not be injustice; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.

If I am wicked, why then labor I in vain?

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

Can you by searching find out God? can you find out the limits of the Almighty?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? no one.

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

And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

And it was so, when the days of their feasting were finished, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth?

And the LORD said unto Satan, From where come you? Then 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 appointed time will I wait, till my change comes.

Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me.

He believes not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for by the sword.

Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:

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

For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of has come unto me.

They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish forever without any regarding it.

Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects: therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty:

For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender shoots thereof will not cease.

Then said his wife unto him, Do you still retain your integrity? curse God, and die.

And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one that fears God, and turns away from evil? and still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach you; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell you:

Does not their excellence which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

Your words have upheld him that was falling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees.

Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they consoled him, and comforted him over all the trouble that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.

And though after my skin is thus destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

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

When men are cast down, then you shall say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

Can you bind the cluster of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot unto the crown of his head.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with you, you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

It stood still, but I could not discern its form: an image was before my eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?

Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book.

The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him.

But he is of one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desires, even that he does.

Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they refine it.

Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

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

And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one on his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

Who alone spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea.

But now they that are younger than I hold me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

Have you entered into the treasury of the snow? or have you seen the treasury of the hail,

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

Can you draw out leviathan with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which you let down?

Be yourselves 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 man lies down, and rises not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

If we venture to converse with you, will you be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

The righteous also shall hold to his way, and he that has clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down: he flees also as a shadow, and continues not.

Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of a hireling?

For you say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto you.

Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

Then Job answered and said,

Neither is there any mediator between us, that might lay his hand upon us both.

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in brightness;

What is man, that he should be clean? and he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

But you are forgers of lies, you are all physicians of no value.

If there be a messenger with him, a mediator, one of a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness:

But Job answered and said,

All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

He shall deliver you in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch you.

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

Sheol is naked before him, and destruction has no covering.

For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not.

Will the wild ox be willing to serve you, or abide by your crib?

But man dies, and wastes away: yea, man expires, and where is he?

Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer you? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.

Then Job answered and said,

Your hands have made me and fashioned me together totally; yet you do destroy me.

Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away: so he that goes down to the grave shall come up no more.

On what are its foundations fastened? or who laid its cornerstone;

O that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of your ways.

Who makes the Bear, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

If he should set his heart upon man, if he should gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;

He has drawn a circle on the waters at the boundary where the day and night come together.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Have you with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten mirror?

Who is he that hides counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered what I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:

Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

Have you not asked them that go by the way? and do you not know their evidences,

If I wait, the grave is my house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

It is drawn, and comes out of the body; yea, the glittering sword comes out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

Lo, 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 open square!

How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, who is a worm?

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with 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 that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

It shall devour patches of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.

My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me.

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

Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.

Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that you have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

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

He divides the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through the storm.

Gave you the proud wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

He tears me in his wrath, who hates me: he gnashes upon me with his teeth; my enemy sharpens his eyes upon me.

Therefore hearken unto me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed on 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 upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;

Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said,

Have you an arm like God? or can you thunder with a voice like him?

Lo, these are only parts of his ways: and how little a whisper is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall follow after him, as there are innumerable gone before him.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in search of the depths?

For he makes small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to its vapor:

Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.

How long will it be before you make an end of words? consider, and afterwards we will speak.

And said, Thus far shall you come, but no farther: and here shall your proud waves be stopped?

They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for futility shall be his reward.

Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the flame of his fire shall not shine.

Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his steps.

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

Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram: against Job was his wrath aroused, because he justified himself rather than God.

Furthermore Elihu answered and said,

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

Will you speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

They shall go down to the gates of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.

Know you the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or can you mark when the hinds do calve?

Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in its season? or can you guide Arcturus with its children?

They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the flute.

He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he sees not; and he walks in the circle of heaven.

Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue;

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

At this also my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.

Where is the way where light dwells? and as for darkness, where is its place,

Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

His confidence shall be rooted out of his tent, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.

Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Shall he that contends with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproves God, let him answer it.

Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

To make the weight for the wind; and he apportions the waters by measure.

They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

Dominion and fear are with him, he makes peace in his high places.

I also could speak as you do: if your soul were in my soul's place, I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.

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

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, You are my confidence;

Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so does the grave those who have sinned.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

Yea, you cast off fear, and restrain prayer before God.

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

Have you given the horse strength? have you clothed his neck with thunder?

For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Fair weather comes out of the north: with God is awesome majesty.

For the ear tests words, as the mouth tastes food.

Have you heard the council of God? and do you limit wisdom to yourself?

Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Gird up now your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you answer me.

They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not its ways, nor abide in its paths.

How much less to him that regards not the persons of princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul?

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

His flesh shall be younger than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:

Is not your wickedness great? and your iniquities without end?

He binds up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not torn under them.

How long will you torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

I was at ease, but he has broken me asunder: he has also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

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

For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven;

It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

How often is the lamp of the wicked put out! and how often comes their destruction upon them! God distributes sorrows in his anger.

Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person, neither let me give flattery unto man.

He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper's tongue shall slay him.

Are there not mockers with me? and does not my eye continue in their provocation?

Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

All my close friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved have turned against me.

Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocks another, do you so mock him?

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

With us are both the gray headed and very aged men, much older than your father.

If I have eaten its fruit without payment, or have caused its owners to lose their life:

Put forth the rage of your wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.

Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

Will you also annul my judgment? will you condemn me, that you may be righteous?

What you know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion.

Yet shall you plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall abhor me.

God thunders marvelously with his voice; great things does he, which we cannot comprehend.

For he stretches out his hand against God, and strengthens himself against the Almighty.

O that you would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.

Know you the ordinances of heaven? can you set their dominion in the earth?

He has destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and my hope has he removed like a tree.

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

They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge from the poor.

He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:

He has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

As the waters fail from the sea, and the river decays and dries up:

God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me.

No mention shall be made of coral, or of crystal: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

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