“Will you show partiality for Him?
Will you contend for God?

“Will it be well when He examines you?
Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

“He will surely reprove you
If you secretly show partiality.

“Will not His majesty terrify you,
And the dread of Him fall on you?

“Your memorable sayings are [worthless, merely] proverbs of ashes;
Your defenses are defenses of [crumbling] clay.

Hold your peace from me, and I will speak, and let come on me what will!

In any case, I will take up my flesh in my teeth, and, my life, will I put in my hand:

“Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

“This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before His presence.

“Behold now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I will be vindicated.

“Who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.

“Only two things do not do to me,
Then I will not hide from Your face:

“Then call, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, then reply to me.

Why wilt thou hide thy face, and reckon me for an enemy to thee?

“Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble?
Or will You pursue the dry chaff?

For thou wilt write bitter things against me; and thou wilt give me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

And thou wilt set my feet in the stocks, and thou wilt watch all my paths; thou wilt dig round the roots of my feet

And he as rottenness will fall away; as a garment the moth ate it.

And as a flower he will come forth, and will be cut down: and he will flee as a shadow, and shall not stand.

Do You really take notice of one like this?
Will You bring me into judgment against You?

“For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And its shoots will not fail.

At the scent of water it will flourish
And put forth sprigs like a plant.

And man will die and be weak: and man will expire, and where is he?

The waters departed from the sea, and the river will be wasted and dried up;

So man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens are no longer,
He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

Who will give thou wilt hide me in hades? wilt thou cover me till the turning away of thine anger? wilt thou set for me a limit, and wilt thou remember me?

“If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my struggle I will wait
Until my change comes.

“You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for the work of Your hands.

For, now, my steps, thou countest, Thou wilt not pass over my sin:

My transgression is sealed up in a purse, and thou wilt patch upon mine iniguity.

But, in very deed, a mountain falling, will lie prostrate, or, a rock moved out of its place:

The waters rubbed the stones: thou wilt overflow the flowings of the dust of the earth; and thou didst destroy the hope of man.

Thou wilt overpower him forever, and he will go away: changing his face, thou wilt send him away.

His sons will be honored and he knew not: they will be brought low, and he will not understand for them.

and EliPhaz the Temanite will answer and say,

Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?

Also thou wilt bring to nought, fear, and thou wilt withhold meditation before God.

For thy mouth will accustom itself to thine iniquity, and thou wilt choose the tongue of the crafty.

Thy mouth will condemn thee, and not I: and thy lips will testify against thee.

Shalt thou hear in the consultation of God? and wilt thou reserve wisdom to thyself?

What knewest thou and we shall not know? wilt thou understand and it not be with us?

That thou wilt turn thy spirit against God, and thou broughtest words from thy mouth?

What is man that he will be clean? and that he will be just, being born of woman?

Behold, in his holy ones he will, not trust; and the heavens were not clean in his eyes.

“I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;

Which the wise ones will announce, and he hid it not from their fathers.

A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:

“He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
And he is destined for the sword.

For he stretched forth his hand against God, and he will strengthen himself against the Almighty.

He will run against him upon the neck, upon the thicknesses of his shields:

For he covered his face with his fat, and he will make fatness upon the flank

he will dwell in ruined cities,
in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.

“He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not bend down to the ground.

“He will not escape from darkness;
The flame will wither his shoots,
And by the breath of His mouth he will go away.

“Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
For emptiness will be his reward.

“It will be accomplished before his time,
And his palm branch will not be green.

“He will drop off his unripe grape like the vine,
And will cast off his flower like the olive tree.

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

And Job will answer and say,

Will there be an end to your windy words? Or what provokes you that you answer?

Also I will speak as you: if it is your soul instead of my soul, I will join together with words against you, and shake my head against you upon it

I will strengthen you with my month, the moving of my lips shall hold back

If I speak, my pain is not relieved; and [if] I cease, how much will leave me?

Thou wilt lay fast hold on me to be for a testimony, and my leanness will rise up in me; it will answer against my face.

He rent in his anger, and he will lie in wait for me, gnashing upon me with his teeth; mine enemy will sharpen his eyes against me.

They gaped upon me with their mouth; with reproach they struck upon my cheek; they will fill out together against me.

God will shut me up to the evil one, and he will cast me into the hands of the unjust

I was secure, and he will break me in pieces: and he seized upon my neck and he will disperse me, and he will set me up to him for a mark:

His multitudes will surround upon me, he will cleave my reins asunder, and not spare; he will pour my gall upon the earth.

He will break me, breaking upon the face of breaking; he will run upon me as the strong one.

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].

For in a short time I will take the journey from which I will not come back.

“Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will be my guarantor?

“For You have kept their heart from understanding,
Therefore You will not exalt them.

“He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil,
The eyes of his children also will languish.

“The upright will be appalled at this,
And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.

“Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way,
And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

But indeed, as for them all, will ye bethink yourselves and enter into it, I pray you? Or shall I not find, among you, one who is wise?

They will set the night for day: the light being near from the face of darkness.

If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’

Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire?

“Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together go down into the dust?”

And Bildad the Shuhite will answer and say,

“How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding and then we can talk.

But come back, now, come: you who are wounding yourself in your passion, will the earth be given up because of you, or a rock be moved out of its place?

Furthermore, the light of [the] wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire will not shine.

For he was cast into a net by his feet, and he will go about upon latticework.

“A snare catches him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.

His wealth will become hunger, and disaster is ready for his stumbling.

The firstborn of death devoureth the members of his body; it will devour his members.

In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house.

And Job will answer and say,

“How long will you torment me
And crush me with words?

These ten times ye will reproach me: ye will not be ashamed, ye will injure me.

If indeed I erred my error will lodge with me.

If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and prove against me my reproach,

He walled up my path and I shall not pass, and he will set darkness upon my beaten paths.

He will lay me waste round about, and I shall go: and he will remove my hope as a tree.

And he will kindle his anger against me, and he will reckon me to him as his enemy.