Now it happened on the day when God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan also came among them.

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

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

He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh."

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

He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.

Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,

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

Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is 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.

To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"

It fell on 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 gives me life.

For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

"I made a covenant with my eyes, how then should I look lustfully at a young woman?

that 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 of few days, and full of trouble.

Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.

"See now, behemoth, which I made as well as you. He eats grass as an ox.

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

By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.

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

Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still 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 still speaking, there came also another, and said, "The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without 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 forth like gold.

Let that day be darkness. Don't let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.

While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, "The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has 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 restrained.

In all this, Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.

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

But now it is come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.

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

Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.

An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt.

The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.

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

"With God is 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 darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.

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

My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.

You have 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 iniquity like water!

"Shall any teach God knowledge, since he judges those who are high?

"If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.

Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

But now you number my steps. Don't you watch over my sin?

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

There was nothing left that he didn't devour, therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

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

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

Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.

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

Isn't your piety your confidence? Isn't the integrity of your ways your hope?

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

Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, 'What are you doing?'

"Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,

He shall have neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he lived.

Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.

"I will show you, listen to me; that which I have seen I will declare:

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

who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;

Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.

But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."

who does great things that can't be fathomed, marvelous things without number;

"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.

This also shall be my salvation, that a godless man shall not come before him.

Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."

Surely then you shall lift up your face without spot; Yes, 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 is in your hand, put it far away. Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tents.

If it isn't so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"

He leads counselors away stripped. He makes 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 put a guard over me?

As for that night, let thick darkness seize on 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.

"Earth, don't cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.

According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.

"Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?

when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?

if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.

for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as waters that are passed away.

if I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity.

My disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up my iniquity.

In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress shall overtake him. The hand of everyone who is in misery shall come on him.

See now, I have set my cause in order. I know that I am righteous.

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

Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning.

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit."

Those who come after shall be astonished at his day, as those who went before were frightened.

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

He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.

"To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

"But the mountain falling comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of its place;

You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me.

So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,

While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.

Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn't answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.

He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.

Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up leviathan.

You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety.

"God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.

Whose confidence shall break apart, Whose trust is a spider's web.

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

Let the stars of its twilight be dark. Let it look for light, but have none, neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,

Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Yes, many shall court your favor.

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

Behold, let that night be barren. Let no joyful voice come therein.

"Therefore I will not keep silent. 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 removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.

His pails are full of milk. The marrow of his bones is moistened.

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

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

He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand. He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.

Aren't my days few? Cease then. Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,

"'Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb? I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.

They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

He is green before the sun. His shoots go forth over his garden.

"Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water?

Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse.

He takes away understanding from 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 I wouldn't believe that he listened to my voice.

Hear diligently my speech. Let my declaration be in your ears.

He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes.

I wish that Job were tried to the end, because of his answering like wicked men.

How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?

Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. This is the place of him who doesn't know God."

If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will summon me?'

"Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

Isn't it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me?

He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can't perform their enterprise.

The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.

Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be."

Be it still my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

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

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

If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my affliction.

A sound of terrors is in his ears. In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him.

His sons come to honor, and he doesn't know it. They are brought low, but he doesn't perceive it of them.

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

I am blameless. I don't respect myself. I despise my life.

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

When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn't recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.

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

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

He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

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

They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.

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

that he would maintain the right of a man with God, of a son of man with his neighbor!

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

All darkness is laid up for his treasures. An unfanned fire shall devour him. It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

For now should I have lain down and been quiet. I should have slept, then I would 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 breath of God they perish. By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.

(Which wise men have told by their fathers, and have not hidden it;

with kings and counselors of the earth, who built up waste places for themselves;

For when a few years are come, I shall go the way of no return.

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

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

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

Then Job answered,

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

Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

"My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

that the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity, That they are led forth to the day of wrath?

With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.

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

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

withdraw your hand far from me; and don't let your terror make me afraid.

"Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, 'There is a boy conceived.'

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

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

the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.'"

"Only don't do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from your face:

Whom I, even I, shall see on my side. My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger. "My heart is consumed within me.

Who is he who will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and give up the spirit.

But his flesh on him has pain, and his soul within him mourns."

Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered,

He will even deliver him who is not innocent. Yes, he shall be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

Distress and anguish make him afraid. They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.

What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

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

For he wounds, and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole.

Then Job answered,

They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol. What can you know?

If you say, 'How we will persecute him!' because the root of the matter is found in me,

Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

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

that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.

I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.

At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.

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

For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.

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

though I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

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

Yet he will be borne to the grave. Men shall keep watch over the tomb.

When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.

Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven. He who vouches for me is on high.

He has lived in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabited, which were ready to become heaps.

He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive tree.

Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?

Who doesn't know that in all these, the hand of Yahweh has done this,

"Shouldn't the multitude of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified?

I will tell God, 'Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.

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

If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?

I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble comes."

Job answered:

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

he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers;

Will you harass a driven leaf? Will you pursue the dry stubble?

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

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

There the prisoners are at ease together. They don't hear the voice of the taskmaster.

For you say, 'My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.'

For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn't consider it.

For you shall be allied with the stones of the field. The animals 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?

Doesn't the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?

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

You also put my feet in the stocks, and mark all my paths. You set a bound to the soles of my feet,

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;

If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together;

So how can you comfort me with nonsense, because in your answers there remains only falsehood?"

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

Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.

You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.

Haven't you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?

If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?

Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?

The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their God in their hands.

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

He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.

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

because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.

He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?

They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. Their heart prepares deceit."

The increase of his house shall depart. They shall rush away in the day of his wrath.

Who long for death, but it doesn't come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Another dies in bitterness of soul, and never tastes of good.

He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

because I feared the great multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and didn't go out of the door --

In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.

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

Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked shall be no more."

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

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

In famine he will redeem you from death; 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 uphold the evildoers.

Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.

"Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?

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

Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?

For my sighing comes before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water.

whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.

For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.

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

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

The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

the wicked man writhes in pain all his days, even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.

"Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.

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

You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

Then Job answered,

Then Job answered,

Oh 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 around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.

"Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

fear came on me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake.

If you want to seek God diligently, 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, in which the snow hides itself.

Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good."

He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?

His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,

so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.

He commands the sun, and it doesn't rise, and seals up the stars.

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

"How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.

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

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

The waters wear the stones. The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth. So you destroy the hope of man.

'Job speaks without knowledge. His words are without wisdom.'

Did I say, 'Give to me?' or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'

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?' I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.

You forever prevail against him, and he departs. You change his face, and send him away.

He removes the mountains, and they don't know it, when he overturns them in his anger.

Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?

In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

The Almighty will be your treasure, and precious silver to you.

As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,

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

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

My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore have my words been rash.

'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 awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.

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

"It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.

The caravans that travel beside them turn aside. They go up into the waste, and perish.

He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.

"Now a thing was secretly brought to me. My ear received a whisper of it.

You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways.

If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent.

They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.

Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.

Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?

How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?

They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded.

or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?' or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'

Do you intend to reprove words, since the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?

Then Job answered Yahweh,

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

Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things?

Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I shall not lie to your face.

If he is pleased to contend with him, he can't answer him one time in a thousand.

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

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

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

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

But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.

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

It was so, that after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh 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.

Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.

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 cheer up;'

"Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.

Again it happened on the day when the God's sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.

Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh.

It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, 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 renounced God in their hearts." Job did so continually.

How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!

Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, until my release should come.

"Behold, I know your thoughts, the devices with which you would wrong me.

He doesn't believe that he shall return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.

Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair of my flesh stood up.

Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before.

For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me.

Between morning and evening they are destroyed. They perish forever without any regarding it.

"Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

"For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, that the tender branch of it will not cease.

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."

Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."

"But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; the birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.

Isn't their tent cord plucked up within them? They die, and that without wisdom.'

Your words have supported him who was falling, You have made firm the feeble knees.

Then came there to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that Yahweh had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.

After my skin is destroyed, then in my flesh shall I see God,

They lie down alike in the dust. The worm covers them.

When they cast down, you shall say, 'be lifted up.' He will save the humble person.

"Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion?

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

So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass;

I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

It stood still, but I couldn't discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,

Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

Moreover Yahweh answered Job,

oh that I had one to hear me! (behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); let the accuser write my indictment!

The heavens shall reveal his iniquity. The earth shall rise up against him.

But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does.

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

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

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

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

His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Didn't he who made me in the womb make him? Didn't one fashion us in the womb?

He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.

"But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail,

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to 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 punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."

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

so man lies down and doesn't rise. Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, nor be roused out of their sleep.

"Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power?

"If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.

He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.

"Isn't a man forced to labor on earth? Aren't 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 who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

"Acquaint yourself with him, now, and be at peace. Thereby good shall come to you.

"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb,

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

Then Job answered,

There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.

in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?

if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,

What is man, that he should be clean? What is 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 is beside him an angel, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man what is right for him;

Then Job answered,

(For the length of my life is still in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils);

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

Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.

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

For God speaks once, yes twice, though man pays no attention.

"Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?

But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, 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,

"'Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.

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

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.

Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,

"Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

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

let briars grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.

They tell God, 'Depart from us, for we don't want to know about your ways.

He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south.

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

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

So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

If he set his heart on himself, If he gathered to himself his spirit and his breath,

He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

"Those who are deceased tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

Can you, with him, spread out the sky, which is strong as a cast metal mirror?

You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' therefore I have uttered that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I didn't know.

"But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

Haven't you asked wayfaring men? Don't you know their evidences,

If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness,

He draws it forth, and it comes out of his body. Yes, the glittering point comes out of his liver. Terrors are on him.

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

when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

How much less man, who is a worm, the son of man, who is a worm!"

"If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me;

"Have you commanded the morning in your days, 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, and the fatherless also, who had none to help him,

The members of his body shall be devoured. The firstborn of death shall devour his members.

"My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct, And the grave is ready for me.

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

Behold, God is great, and we don't know him. The number of his years is unsearchable.

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

Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls 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 I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has."

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

He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab.

"The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the feathers and plumage of love?

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

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

How then can man be just with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean?

He has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.

"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed 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, in slumbering on the bed;

Job again took up his parable, and said,

Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?

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

The clods of the valley shall be sweet to him. All men shall draw after him, as there were innumerable before him.

"If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can't find him;

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

"Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,

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

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

and said, 'Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?'

They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol.

Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness shall be his reward.

"Yes, the light of the wicked shall be put out, The spark of his fire shall 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. He sees all his goings.

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

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

Moreover Elihu answered,

"Why aren't times laid up by the Almighty? Why don't those who know him see his days?

Will you speak unrighteously for God, and talk deceitfully for him?

Shall it go down with me to the gates of Sheol, or descend together into the dust?"

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

"Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?

Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?

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

He shall not depart out of darkness. The flame shall dry up his branches. By the breath of God's mouth shall he go away.

Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he doesn't see. He walks on the vault of the sky.'

"Though wickedness is 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 diadem.

"Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.

"What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place,

"Listen to this, Job. Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

He shall be rooted out of his tent where he trusts. He shall be brought to the king of terrors.

"Isn't God in the heights of heaven? See the height of the stars, how high they are!

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

Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,

He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.

They send forth their little ones like a flock. 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 join words together against you, and shake my head at you,

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

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

Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?'

Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion 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 might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?

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

Out of the north comes golden splendor. With God is awesome majesty.

For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food.

Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,

Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me!

"These are of those who rebel against the light. They don't know its ways, nor stay in its paths.

Who doesn't respect the persons of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.

For the company of the godless shall be barren, and fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

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

"I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters!

His flesh shall be fresher than a child's. He returns to the days of his youth.

Isn't your wickedness great? Neither is there any end to your iniquities.

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

"How long will you torment me, and crush me with words?

"Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?

I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target.

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 sky.

It shall be accomplished before his time. His branch shall not be green.

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

"How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out, that their calamity comes on them, that God distributes sorrows in his anger?

Please don't let me respect any man's person, neither will I give flattering titles to any man.

He shall suck cobra venom. The viper's tongue shall kill him.

Surely there are mockers with me. My eye dwells on their provocation.

Look away from him, that he may rest, until he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;

My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.

Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him?

I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, and have thrust my horn in the dust.

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

if I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their life,

Pour out the fury of your anger. Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.

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

Will you even annul my judgment? Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?

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

Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, "I am young, and you are very old; Therefore I held back, and didn't dare show you my opinion.

yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me.

God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can't comprehend.

Because he has stretched out his hand against God, and behaves himself proudly against the Almighty;

Oh that you would be completely silent! Then you would be wise.

Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth?

He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope he has plucked up like a tree.

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

There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones;

"He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up,

Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

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

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