Let darkness and the deepest shadow claim it; let a cloud settle on it; let whatever blackens the day terrify it!

or with princes who possessed gold, who filled their palaces with silver.

"Oh, if only my grief could be weighed, and my misfortune laid on the scales too!

As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.

Although I am innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my judge for mercy.

They glide by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

But an empty man will become wise, when a wild donkey's colt is born a human being.

I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could pile up words against you and I could shake my head at you.

and throw your gold in the dust -- your gold of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines --

then the Almighty himself will be your gold, and the choicest silver for you.

O that I knew where I might find him, that I could come to his place of residence!

There an upright person could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

But he knows the pathway that I take; if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.

They spend the night naked because they lack clothing; they have no covering against the cold.

"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined.

a place whose stones are sapphires and which contains dust of gold;

Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires.

Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it, nor can a vase of gold match its worth.

The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be purchased with pure gold.

"O that I could be as I was in the months now gone, in the days when God watched over me,

Terrors are turned loose on me; they drive away my honor like the wind, and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

"I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

"If I have put my confidence in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security!'

With Job's three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty.

A tempest blows out from its chamber, icy cold from the driving winds.

Do you know how God commands them, how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud?

"Indeed, I am completely unworthy -- how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.

Will it make a pact with you, so you could take it as your slave for life?

So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers.