[There] was a man in the land of Uz whose name [was] Job. That man was blameless and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil.

{Then when} the days of the feast had run their course, {Job would send}, and he would sanctify them. Thus he would arise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings [according to] the number of all of them, because Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and {cursed} God in their heart." This is what Job used to do {all the time}.

So Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you {considered} my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth--a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "Look, {all that belongs to him} is in your {power}. Only do not stretch out your hand {against} him." So Satan went out from Yahweh's {presence}.

So Yahweh {asked} Satan, "Have you {considered} my servant Job? Indeed, there is no one like him on the earth--a blameless man and upright and God-fearing and turning away from evil. And still he persists in his blamelessness {even though} you incited me against him to destroy him for nothing."

So Yahweh said to Satan, "{All right}, he [is] in your {power}. Only spare his life."

"Let [the] day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, 'A man-child is conceived.'

[The] small and [the] great [are] there, and [the] slave [is] free from his masters.

[Why does he give light] to a man whose way is hidden, and God has fenced him in [all] around?

[Is] not your fear [in God] your confidence? [Is not] your hope even the integrity of your ways?

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

[Just] as I have seen, plowers of mischief and sowers of trouble will reap it.

[The] lion is perishing without prey, and [the] lion's whelps are scattered.

How much more dwellers in clay houses, whose foundation [is] in the dust? They are crushed like a moth.

[Is] not their tent cord pulled up within them? They die, but not in wisdom.'

"Call now, is there [anyone] answering you? And to which of [the] holy ones will you turn?

His children are far from deliverance, and they are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer--

whose harvest [the] hungry eats, and he takes it {from behind} [the] thorns; and [the] thirsty pants after their wealth.

But a human being is born to trouble, and {they soar aloft} [like] {sparks}.

[He] is doing great and {unsearchable} things, marvelous things {without number}--

the one who is giving rain on [the] {surface of} [the] earth and is sending water on [the] {surface of} [the] fields,

[He] is frustrating [the] devices of [the] crafty, and their hands do not achieve success.

[He] is capturing [the] wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are rushed.

In the daytime they meet [with] darkness, and they grope at noon as [in] the night.

So there is hope for the powerless, and wickedness shuts its mouth.

"Look, happy [is the] human being whom God reproves; and you must not despise the discipline of Shaddai,

And you shall know that your tent [is] safe, and you will inspect your fold, and you shall not be missing [anything].

You shall come in maturity to [the] grave, as the raising up of a stack of sheaves in its season.

"Look, we have searched this out--it [is] true; hear it and know [it] {yourself}."

Does [the] wild ass bray over grass, or [the] ox bellow over its fodder?

Can tasteless [food] be eaten without salt, or is there taste in the white of a marshmallow plant?

What [is] my strength, that I should wait? And what [is] my end, that {I should hold out}?

Or [is] my strength [like] the strength of stones? Or [is] my flesh bronze?

{Indeed}, my help is not in me, and [any] success is driven from me.

which are growing dark because of ice upon them, it will pile up snow.

In time they dry up, they disappear; when it [is] hot, they vanish from their place.

Is it because I have said, 'Give to me,' or, 'Offer a bribe for me from your wealth'?

Do you intend to reprove [my] words and [consider the] words of a desperate [man] as wind?

Please turn, let no injustice happen; indeed, turn, {my righteousness is still intact}.

Is there injustice on my tongue? Or can my palate not discern calamity?

When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I rise?' But [the] night is long, and I have my fill of tossing until dawn.

My body is clothed [with] maggots and clods of dust; my skin hardens, then it gives way [again].

Remember that my life [is] a breath; my eye will not return to see good.

"What [is] a human being that you make him great and that {you fix your mind on him},

[If] I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity? Why have you made me as a target for yourself, so that I have become a burden to myself?

Can papyrus grow tall where [there is] not a marsh? Will reeds flourish without water?

While it [is] in its flower [and] is not plucked, yet it withers {before} all grass.

whose confidence is cut off and {whose trust} [is] a spider's house.

He [is] {thriving} {before} the sun, and his plant shoots spread over his garden.

Look, this [is] the joy of his way, and from dust others will spring up.

"Truly I know that [it is] so, but how can a human being be just before God?

[He is] wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has resisted him and succeeded?

"[He is the one] who moves mountains, and they do not know [how], who overturns them in his anger.

[He is the one] who shakes [the] earth from its place, and its pillars tremble.

[He is the one] who commands the sun, and it does not rise, {and he seals up the stars}.

[He is the one] who alone stretches out [the] heavens and [who] tramples on [the] waves of [the] sea.

[He is the one] who made [the] Bear [and] Orion, [the] Pleiades and [the] constellations of [the] south.

[He is the one] who does great things {beyond understanding} and marvelous things {beyond number}.

If {it is a matter of} strength, look, [he is] mighty. But if {it is a matter of} justice, who can summon me?

It [is all] one; therefore I say, 'He destroys [both the] blameless and [the] wicked.'

The earth is given into [the] hand of [the] wicked; he covers the face of its judge-- if [it is] not [he], then who [is] it?

"For [he is] not a mortal like me [that] I can answer him, [that] {we can come to trial together}.

There is no arbiter between us [that] he might lay his hand on both of us.

Is it good for you that you oppress, that you despise the labor of your hands, and you smile over the schemes of [the] wicked?

{Do you have eyes of flesh}? Or {do you see as human beings see}?

[Are] your days as the days of human beings, or your years as the days of man,

because of your knowledge that I am not guilty, and there is no escaping from your hand?

And [if my head] grows bold, you would hunt me as the lion in its prime; {and you repeat your exploits against me}.

I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been brought from [the] womb to the grave.

For you say, 'My teaching [is] pure, and I am clean in your sight.'

{It is higher than the heaven}; what can you do? [It is] deeper than Sheol; what can you know?

Its measure [is] longer than [the] earth and broader than [the] sea.

But {an empty-headed person} will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born [as] a human being.

if iniquity [is] in your hand, put it far away, and you must not let wickedness reside in your tents--

For you yourself will forget your misery; you will remember [it] as water [that] has flowed past.

And you will have confidence because there is hope; and you will be well protected--{you will sleep in safety}.

But [the] eyes of [the] wicked will fail; and refuge will be lost to them, and their hope [is] {to breathe their last breath}."

I am a laughingstock to my friends: '[He] calls on God, and he answers him.' A righteous, blameless man [is] a laughingstock.

{Those at ease have contempt} for [the] thought of {disaster}, [but it is] ready for those unstable of foot.

[The] tents of [the] destroyers are at peace, and [there is] security for those who provoke God, [for those] whom God brings into his hand.

In whose hand [is] the life of all living things and {the breath of every human being}?

Wisdom [is] with [the] aged, and understanding [is in] length of days.

Moreover, this [is] salvation to me, that [the] godless would not come {before him}.

Who [is] he who will contend with me? For {then} I would be silent, and I would pass away.

Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?

"A human being born of a woman [is] short of days and full of troubles.

If his days [are] determined, the number of his months [is] with you; you have appointed his boundaries, and he cannot cross [them].

"Indeed, there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, then it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not cease;

"But a man dies, and he dwindles away; thus a human being passes away, and where is he?

[As] water disappears from a lake, and a river withers away and dries up,

"{O that} you would conceal me in Sheol, [that] you would hide me {until your wrath is past}, [that] you would appoint a set time for me and remember me.

"Should [the] wise answer [with] windy knowledge, and should he fill his stomach [with the] east wind?

Should he argue in talk [that] is not profitable or [in] words with which he cannot do good?

"{What is worse}, you yourself are doing away with fear, and you are lessening meditation {before} God.

What do you know that we do not know? [What] do you understand that [is] not clear to us?

Both [the] gray-haired and [the] old [are] among us-- {those older than your father}.

"What [is] a human being, that he can be clean, or that [one] born of a woman can be righteous?

{How much less} he who is abominable and corrupt, a man drinking wickedness like water.

what wise men have told, and they have not hidden [that which is] from their ancestors,

"All of the wicked [one's] days he is writhing, even [through] the number of years that are laid up for the tyrant.