“Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying:

‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent and there is no guilt in me.

‘He puts my feet in the stocks [to hinder and humiliate me];
He [suspiciously] watches all my paths,’ [you say].

“Look, let me answer you, in this you are not right or just;
For God is greater and far superior to man.

“In a dream, a vision of the night [one may hear God’s voice],
When deep sleep falls on men
While slumbering upon the bed,

That He may turn man aside from his conduct,
And keep him from pride;

“Man is also disciplined with pain on his bed,
And with unceasing complaint in his bones,

“If there is an angel as a mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To explain to a man what is right for him [that is, how to be in right standing with God],

Then the angel is gracious to him, and says,
‘Spare him from going down to the pit [of destruction];
I have found a ransom [a consideration, or reason for redemption, an atonement]!’

Who goes in company with those who do evil
And walks with wicked men?

“Who put God in charge over the earth?
And who has laid on Him the whole world?

“Shall one who hates justice [and is an enemy of right] govern?
And will you condemn Him who is just and mighty?

“In a moment they die, even at midnight
The people are shaken and pass away,
And the powerful are taken away without a [human] hand.

“For He sets no appointed time for a man,
That he should appear before Him in judgment.

“He breaks mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.

“Therefore He knows of their works,
And He overthrows them in the night,
So that they are crushed and destroyed.

“He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,

“When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
When He hides His face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make supplication to Him],
Whether it be a nation or a man by himself?—

So that godless men would not rule
Nor be snares for the people.

Teach me what I do not see [in regard to how I have sinned];
If I have done wrong (injustice, unrighteousness),
I will not do it again’?

“Shall God’s retribution [for your sins] be on your terms, because you refuse to accept it?
For you must do the choosing, and not I;
Therefore say what you [truthfully] know.

‘For he adds rebellion [in his unsubmissive, defiant attitude toward God] to his [unacknowledged] sin;
He claps his hands among us [in open mockery and contempt of God],
And he multiplies his words [of accusation] against God.’”

“Your wickedness affects only a man such as you,
And your righteousness affects only a son of man [but it cannot affect God, who is sovereign].

“But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs [of rejoicing] in the night,

“Even though you say that you do not see Him [when missing His righteous judgment on earth],
Yet your case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

“And now, because He has not [quickly] punished in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression and arrogance well [and seems unaware of the wrong of which a person is guilty],

“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you,
That there is yet more to say on God’s behalf.

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

“Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone [nor regard any as trivial];
He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous [those in right standing with Him];
But with kings upon the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

“And if they are bound in bonds [of adversity],
And held by cords of affliction,

“If they hear and serve Him,
They will end their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasantness and joy.

“But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments]
And they will die [in ignorance] without [true] knowledge.

“But the godless in heart store up anger [at the divine discipline];
They do not cry [to Him] for help when He binds them [with cords of affliction].

“They die in youth,
And their life ends among the cult prostitutes.

“He rescues the afflicted in their affliction,
And opens their ears [so that they pay attention to His voice] in times of oppression.

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

“But you [Job] were full of judgment on the wicked,
Judgment and justice take hold of you.

“Do not long for the night,
When people vanish from their places.

“Take heed and be careful, do not turn to wickedness,
For you have chosen this [the vice of complaining against God] rather than [learning from] affliction.

“Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?

“For by these [mighty acts] He judges the peoples;
He gives food in abundance.

“After it, His voice roars;
He thunders with the voice of His majesty,
And He does not restrain His lightning [against His adversaries] when His voice is heard.

“For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’;
And [He speaks] to the showers and to the downpour [of His mighty rains], ‘Be strong.’

“Then the beast goes into its lair
And remains in its hiding place.

“Do you know about the layers of thick clouds [and how they are balanced and poised in the heavens],
The wonderful works of Him who is perfect in knowledge,

You whose garments are hot,
When He quiets the earth [in sultry summer] with the [oppressive] south wind?

“Tell us [Job] what words [of man] shall we say to such a Being;
We cannot state our case because of darkness [that is, our ignorance in the presence of the unsearchable God].

“Now people cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies [without being blinded],
When the wind has passed and cleared them.

“The Almighty—we cannot find Him;
He is exalted in power
And He will not do violence to [nor disregard] justice and abundant righteousness.

“Men therefore fear Him;
He does not regard nor respect any who are wise in heart [in their own understanding and conceit].”

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know and have understanding.

When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?

“Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When it burst forth and went out of the womb;

When I made the clouds its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,

“Have you entered and explored the springs of the sea
Or [have you] walked in the recesses of the deep?

To bring rain on the uninhabited land,
And on the desert where no man lives,

“Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
And guide [the stars of] the Bear with her sons?

“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
So that an abundance of water will cover you?

“Who has put wisdom in the innermost being [of man, or in the layers of clouds]
Or given understanding to the mind [of man, or to the heavenly display]?

When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together [because of the heat]?

When they crouch in their dens
And lie in wait in their lair?

“Who provides prey for the raven
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?

“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?

“Can you count the months that they carry offspring,
Or do you know the time when they give birth?

“They kneel down, they bring forth their young,
They cast out their labor pains.

“Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field;
They leave and do not return to them.

“Can you bind the wild ox with a harness [to the plow] in the furrow?
Or will he plow the valleys for you?

“Will you have faith and depend on him to return your grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?

For she leaves her eggs on the ground
And warms them in the dust,

“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor is in vain because she is unconcerned [for the safety of her brood],

“Yet when she lifts herself on high,
[So swift is she that] she laughs at the horse and his rider.

“He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;
He goes out to meet the weapons [of armed men].

“He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
And [in battle] he does not turn back from the sword.

“With fierceness and rage he races to devour the ground,
And he does not stand still at the sound of the [war] trumpet.

“Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
And makes his nest on high [in an inaccessible place]?

“On the cliff he dwells and remains [securely],
Upon the point of the rock and the inaccessible stronghold.

“Have you an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?

“Pour out the overflowings of your wrath,
And look at everyone who is proud and make him low.

Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And [if you are so able] tread down the wicked where they stand.

“[Crush and] hide them in the dust together;
Shut them up in the hidden place [the house of death].

“[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge
That your own right hand can save you.

“Behold now, Behemoth, which I created as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.

“See now, his strength is in his loins
And his power is in the muscles and sinews of his belly.

“He is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God;
[Only] He who made him can bring near His sword [to master him].

“He lies down under the lotus plants,
In the hidden shelter of the reeds in the marsh.

“Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
Or pierce his nose with barbs [to trap him]?

“Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him [and put him on a leash] for your maidens?

“Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle [with him]; you will not do such [an ill-advised thing] again!

“Behold, his [assailant’s] hope and expectation [of defeating Leviathan] is false;
Will not one be overwhelmed even at the sight of him?

“No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan;
Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?

“One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.

“They are joined one to another;
They stick together and cannot be separated.

“In Leviathan’s neck resides strength,
And dismay and terror dance before him.

“The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immobile [when he moves].

“When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.

“The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor [does] the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

“Behind him he makes a shining wake;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired [with foam].

“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];
He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”

“Therefore I retract [my words and hate myself]
And I repent in dust and ashes.”