And there are borne to him seven sons and three daughters,

Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

And the day is, that his sons and his daughters are eating, and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born.

While this one is speaking another also hath come and saith, 'Thy sons and thy daughters are eating, and drinking wine, in the house of their brother, the first-born.

When a great wind came rushing from the waste land against the four sides of the house, and it came down on the young men, and they are dead; and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

And his wife said to him, Are you still keeping your righteousness? Say a curse against God, and put an end to yourself.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

And three of the friends of Job hear of all this evil that hath come upon him, and they come in each from his place -- Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite -- and they are met together to come in to bemoan him, and to comfort him;

“Let those curse it who curse the day,
Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

Wherefore have knees been before me? And what are breasts, that I suck?

along with kings and counselors of the earth, who used to build for themselves what are now only ruins,

Or with princes -- they have gold, They are filling their houses with silver.

“There the wicked cease from raging,
And there the weary are at rest.

“The prisoners are at ease together;
They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

“The small and the great are there,
And the slave is free from his master.

To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

Who rejoice even exultingly and are glad when they find the grave? --

For my sighing cometh before my bread, and my groanings are poured out like the waters.

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

“But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
It touches you, and you are dismayed.

"{Think} now, who has perished [who is] innocent? Or where [are] the upright destroyed?

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

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

“The lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

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

‘Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces;
Unobserved, they perish forever.

Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.

>

“His sons are far from safety,
They are even oppressed in the gate,
And there is no deliverer.

but people are born to trouble, as surely as the sparks fly upward.

which doeth things, that are unsearchable, and marvelous without number.

So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.

Therefore there is hope for those who are poor, and iniquity shuts its mouth.

And you shall know that your offspring [are] many, and your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.

You will come to your grave in a full age, As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement.

“For the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
Their poison my spirit drinks;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

“My soul refuses to touch them;
They are like loathsome food to me.

My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
as seasonal streams that overflow

Which are turbid because of ice
And into which the snow melts.

“When they become waterless, they are silent,
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.

Caravans turn aside by their course, they go up into a waste, and are lost:

They are ashamed at their hope; they come thither, and are confounded.

“Indeed, you have now become such,
You see a terror and are afraid.

“How painful are honest words!
But what does your argument prove?

Do ye imagine to reprove words? The speeches of one that is desperate are indeed for the wind.

Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

“Is not man forced to labor on earth,
And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

So am I allotted months of vanity,
And nights of trouble are appointed me.

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And come to an end without hope.

The eye of him that hath seen me shall behold me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

“I waste away; I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

“What is man that You magnify him,
And that You are concerned about him,

And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?

How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

"How long will you speak these things, seeing that the words of your mouth are like a great wind?

If you are pure and upright,
Surely now He would rouse Himself for you
And restore your righteous estate.

“For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are as a shadow.

While they are still beginning to flower and not ripe for cutting, they can wither away faster than any grass!

“So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the godless will perish,

His roots are entwined about the stoneheap; he seeth the place of stones.

Surely God won't reject those who are blameless or hold hands with those who practice evil.

Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:

He doth great things, such as are unsearchable, yea and wonders without number.

“Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

"God doesn't restrain his anger. Rahab's assistants are humiliated under him.

The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?

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

“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,
Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; tell me why you are contending with me.'

‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or Your years as man’s years,

Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me, And dost multiply Thine anger with me, Changes and warfare are with me.

Are not my days few? Cease then, and put from me, And I brighten up a little,

Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame?

And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by much of thine iniquity!

Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all?

“They are high as the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?

They are longer than the earth's circumference, and broader than the ocean.

For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

For thou shalt forget misery; as waters that are passed away shalt thou remember it;

And the eyes of the wicked are consumed, And refuge hath perished from them, And their hope is a breathing out of soul!

Truly -- ye are the people, And with you doth wisdom die.

But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?

For ruin, there is contempt, in the thought of the man at ease, - ready, for such as are of faltering foot!

At peace are the tents of spoilers, And those provoking God have confidence, He into whose hand God hath brought.

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth?

With Him are wisdom and might, To him are counsel and understanding.

Lo, He keepeth in the waters, and they are dried up, And he sendeth them forth, And they overturn the land.

With Him are strength and wisdom, His the deceived and deceiver.

“He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.

The same things are in my mind as in yours; I am equal to you.

And yet, ye are forgers of falsehood, Physicians of nought -- all of you,

He will, severely rebuke, you, if ye are secretly partial.

Your remembrances are similes of ashes, For high places of clay your heights.

“How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.

Are you a god who would make a leaf tremble or who would prosecute a dry straw?

As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.