Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

“Why did I not die at birth,
Come forth from the womb and expire?

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

‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?

“So the helpless have hope,
And injustice shuts its mouth.

“In famine He will redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.

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

“Turn away [from your suspicion], let there be no injustice;
Turn away, my righteousness and vindication is still in it.

“If your children have sinned against Him,
Then He has handed them over to the power of their transgression and punished them.

Then, if you are pure and upright,
Surely now He will awaken for you
And restore your righteous place.

“Inquire, please, of past generations,
And consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers.

Who made [the constellations] the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the [vast starry] spaces of the south;

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

“For you have said, ‘My teaching (doctrine) [that God knowingly afflicts the righteous] is pure,
And I am innocent in your eyes.’

“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.

“With Him are might and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader are His [and in His power].

“Will You cause a windblown leaf to tremble?
Will You pursue the chaff of the dry stubble?

“What is man, that he should be pure and clean,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?

Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.

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

“His sons favor the poor [and pay his obligations],
And his hands give back his [ill-gotten] wealth.

“For he has oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has violently taken away houses which he did not build.

“In the fullness of his excess (great abundance) he will be in trouble;
The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him [he is miserable on every side].

“Why do the wicked still live,
Become old, and become mighty in power?

‘Who [and what] is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’

“But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power);
The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God’s dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension.

“But the land is possessed by the man with power,
And the favored and honorable man dwells in it.

“Please receive the law and instruction from His mouth
And establish His words in your heart and keep them.

“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.

“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].

“They crowd the needy off the road;
The poor of the land all hide themselves.

“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,
The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;
As bread for their children in the desert.

“Others snatch the fatherless [infants] from the breast [to sell or make them slaves],
And against the poor they take a pledge [of clothing].

“Within the walls [of the wicked] the poor make [olive] oil;
They tread [the grapes in] the wine presses, but thirst.

“The murderer rises at dawn;
He kills the poor and the needy,
And at night he becomes a thief.

“Yet God draws away the mighty by His power;
He rises, but no one has assurance of life.

“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?

“Behold, even the moon has no brightness [compared to God’s majesty and glory]
And the stars are not pure in His sight,

“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!
How you have saved the arm that is without strength!

“He stirred up the sea by His power,
And by His understanding He smashed [proud] Rahab.

“Yet these are just the fringes of His ways [mere samples of His power],
The faintest whisper of His voice!
Who can contemplate the thunder of His [full] mighty power?”

“For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;
He flees in haste from its power.

“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,
And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.

“The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.

Because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
And the orphan who had no helper.

“I was a father to the needy;
I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].

“And I smashed the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.

“Among the bushes they cry out [like wild animals];
Beneath the prickly scrub they gather and huddle together.

“Did I not weep for one whose life was hard and filled with trouble?
Was not my heart grieved for the needy?

“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor person without covering,

“Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder,
And bind the scroll around my head like a crown.

“Who is not partial to princes,
Nor does He regard the rich above the poor,
For they all are the work of His hands.

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And He heard the cry of the afflicted.

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

“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.

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

Which the clouds pour down,
They drop abundantly upon mankind.”

“God seals (brings to a standstill, stops) [by severe weather] the hand of every man,
That all men [whom He has made] may know His work [that is, His sovereign power and their subjection to it].

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

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

“Who can count the clouds by [earthly] wisdom,
Or pour out the water jars of the heavens,

“Can you [Job] hunt the prey for the lion,
Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions

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

“From there he spies out the prey;
His eyes see it from far away.

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

“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].

“Who can open the doors (jaws) of his face?
Around his [open jaws and] teeth there is terror.

“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?]”

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him [and his prayer] so that I may not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has.”