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

whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not a stranger's; though my heart be exhausted in my bosom.

He flies away like a dream, and shall not be found, and shall be chased away like a vision of the night.

An eye glimpsed him, but will not again; yea, his place shall not see him again.

though he spares it and will not leave it; yea, keeps it still in his mouth;

He shall not see the rivers, the flowings of the brooks of honey and butter,

giving back his gain, and he will not eat. As to the wealth of his trading, even he shall not enjoy it.

For he pressed down and forsook the poor; he stole a house, but he had not built it.

Surely he shall not know quietness in his belly; he will not escape with the things of desire.

None of his food shall be left; therefore his good will not last.

All darkness shall be hidden in his secret places; a fire not blown shall consume him; those left in his tent shall be broken.

As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should my spirit not be troubled?

Their bull mates and does not fail; their cow calves, and does not cast her calf.

And they say to God, Depart from us; for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways;

Behold, their good is not in their hand; the wisdom of the wicked is far from me.

Did you not ask those who go by the way? And do you not know their signs,

Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquity without measure?

You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have held back bread from the hungry.

Is not God high in Heaven? And behold the leading stars, for they are high.

Clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see; and He walks in the circuit of Heaven.

They were seized, but there was not time; their foundation was poured out by a flood;

Truly our foe is not cut down, and fire has eaten their wealth.

He shall deliver one not innocent, and will deliver by the pureness of your hands.

Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot see Him;

on the left hand, where He works, but I cannot behold Him. He turns to the right, but I do not see Him.

My foot has held fast in His steps; I have kept His way, and have not fallen away;

because I was not cut off before the darkness; yea, He covered the darkness from my face.

Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, why do those who know Him not see His days?

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God does not charge foolishness.

They are of those who rebel against the light; they know not His ways, nor stay in His paths.

The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and needy, and in the night he is a thief.

In the dark they dig through houses which they had marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light.

He is swift on the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; he does not behold the way of the vineyards.

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

Is there any number of His armies? And on whom does not His light arise?

Look even to the moon, and it shines not; yea, the stars are not pure in His sight;

How have you advised those not wise, or fully declared wise plans?

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

my lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

Far be it from me that I should justify you; until I die I will not retract my integrity from me.

I hold fast by my righteousness, and I will not let it go; my heart shall not shame me any of my days.

I will teach you by the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty I will not hide.

If his sons are multiplied, the sword is for them; and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Those who remain of him shall be buried in death; and his widows shall not weep.

The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered. He opens his eyes, and he is not.

Terrors overtake him like waters; a tempest steals him away in the night.

For it will hurl at him, and will not spare; he will surely flee out of its hand.

the sons of pride have not walked on it, the lion has not passed by.

Man does not know the price of it; nor is it found in the land of the living.

The deep says, It is not in me; and the sea says, It is not in me.

I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I did not know, I searched out.

My root was open to the waters, and the dew lay all night on my branch.

After my words they did not go on; and my speech dropped on them.

I smiled kindly on them when they did not believe; and they did not make the light of my face fall.

They despise me, and they flee far from me; they do not spare spit from my face.

My bones are pierced in me in the night; and my gnawings never lie down.

I cried to You, and You did not hear me; I stood up, and You did not consider me.

Surely He will not stretch out His hand to the ruin-heap, though they cry in their misfortune.

Did I not weep for him whose day was hard; and my soul grieved for the poor?

My bowels boiled, and did not rest; the days of trouble confront me.

Is not disaster to the perverse, and calamity to the workers of iniquity?

Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?

Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not One shape us in the womb?

or have eaten my bit alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it,

if his loins have not blessed me, and he warmed himself with the fleece of my flock;

For trouble from God is a terror to me, and I could not do anything because of His highness.

also I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse;

if the men of my camp did not say, Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat?

The stranger did not sleep in the street, for I opened my doors to the traveler.

then let me tremble before a great multitude, and be terrified by the scorn of families; and I will be silent and not go out the door.

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.

It is not the great that are wise, nor the aged who understand judgment.

Yes, I listened to you, and, behold, not one of you proved Job wrong nor answered his words,

that you do not say, We have found out wisdom. God has pushed him down, not man.

And he has not directed his words against me; and I will not answer him with your words.

Shall I wait because you do not speak, because they stand still, answering no more?

I will not now lift up the face of a man, nor eulogize any man,

For I do not know how to eulogize; else after a little my Maker would take me away.

Behold, my terror shall not make you afraid, and my burden shall not be heavy on you.

Behold, in this you are not right; I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

Why do you fight against Him? For He does not give account for any of His matters.

For God speaks once, yea, twice, but not one takes notice.

In a dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men; while they slumber on the bed;

His flesh wastes away, not seen; and his bones laid bare; they were not seen.

He will observe to men, and say, I have sinned and perverted righteousness; and it was not equally repaid to me,

If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.

Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.

How much less to Him who does not lift up the face of rulers, nor regard the rich before the poor? For all of them are the work of His hands.

For He does not still impose on man to go before God in judgment.

Therefore He knows their works, and He overturns in the night, so that they are destroyed.

because thus they turned from following Him, and they did not consider all His ways;

For has any said to God, I have taken away; I will not pervert?

Must He repay because you rejected it? For you must choose, and not I; therefore speak what you know.

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

Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty look on it.

How much less when you say you do not see Him! Judgment is before Him; you are waiting for Him.

And now, because His anger has not visited, and He does not recognize stupidity,

For truly my words are not false; He who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise; He is mighty in strength of heart.

He will not keep alive one who is wicked, but gives right to the afflicted.