So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

“Why is the light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter in soul,

“For anger slays the foolish man,
And jealousy kills the simple (naive).

“My soul refuses to touch them;
Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord].

“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me [it plagues me],
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

“I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!
I will give free expression to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

“Even though He kills me;
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless, I will argue my ways to His face.

Water wears away the stones,
Its floods and torrents wash away the soil of the earth,
So You [O Lord] destroy the hope of man.

“But his body [lamenting its decay] grieves in pain over it,
And his soul mourns over [the loss of] himself.”

“They conceive mischief and bring forth wickedness,
And their inmost soul prepares deceit and fraud.”

“He sucks the poison of vipers [which ill-gotten wealth contains];
The viper’s tongue slays him.

“He gives back what he has labored for and attained
And cannot swallow it [down to enjoy it];
As to the riches of his labor,
He cannot even enjoy them.

Whereas another dies with a bitter soul,
Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune.

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

“Then his soul draws near to the pit [of destruction],
And his life to those who bring death (the destroyers).

“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 earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed;
And the things [of the earth] stand out like a [multi-colored] garment.

“His strong scales are his pride,
Bound together as with a tight seal.