“He frustrates the devices and schemes of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot attain success or achieve anything of [lasting] worth.

“Is there injustice or malice on my tongue?
Can my palate not discern what is destructive?

“If one should want to contend or dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You [in Your control],
And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].

“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has set darkness upon my paths.

“Those who live [temporarily] in my house and my maids consider me a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.

Or darkness, so that you cannot see,
And a flood of water covers you.

“Behold, I go forward (to the east), but He is not there;
I go backward (to the west), but I cannot perceive Him;

To the left (north) He turns, but I cannot behold Him;
He turns to the right hand (south), but I cannot see Him.

“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].

“It cannot be obtained for pure gold,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

“It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir,
In the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.

“Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

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

“They are gaunt with want and famine;
They gnaw the dry and barren ground by night in [the gloom of] waste and desolation.

“Does not God see my ways
And count all my steps?

“I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life],
Approaching His presence as if I were a prince.

“His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
And his bones which were not seen now stick out.

“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].

“God thunders marvelously with His voice;
He does great things which we cannot comprehend.

“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.

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

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

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

“The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are treated as stubble by him.