[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}.

And it happened {one day} {that} the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst.

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."

Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?

While this one was still speaking, {another} came and said, "The fire of God fell from the heavens, and it blazed up against the sheep and goats and against the servants, and it consumed them. But I escaped, [even] I alone, to tell you."

In all this, Job did not sin and did not {charge God with wrongdoing}.

{And then} one day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh.

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."

Then his wife said to him, "Are you still persisting in your blamelessness? {Curse} God and die."

So he said to her, "You speak like one of the foolish women speaks. Indeed, should we receive the good from God, but not receive the evil?" In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

Let that day become darkness; may God not seek it from above, nor may daylight shine on it.

[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?

By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they come to an end.

'Can a human being be more righteous than God, or can a man be more pure than his Maker?

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

"But I myself will seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.

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

for the arrows of Shaddai [are] in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

"{O that} my request may come, and [that] God may grant my hope,

that God would decide that he would crush me, [that] he would let loose his hand and {kill me}.

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

Does God pervert justice, {or} Shaddai pervert righteousness?

If you yourself would seek God, then you would plead to Shaddai for grace.

So [are] the paths of all who forget God; and [the] hope of [the] godless will perish,

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

"Look, God will not reject [the] blameless, and he will not uphold the hand of evildoers.

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

God will not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.

"And my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they do not see good.

I will say to God, 'You should not condemn me; let me know why you contend [against] me.

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?

But, {O that} God might speak, and [that] he would open his lips to you,

and [that] he would tell you [the] secrets of wisdom, for {insight has many sides}. And know that God {on your behalf} has forgotten {some of} your guilt.

"Can you find [out] the essence of God, or can you find [out] {the ultimate limits} of Shaddai?

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

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

[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.

But I would speak to Shaddai, and I desire to argue with God.

"Will you speak falsely for God? And will you speak deceitfully for him?

{Will you show partiality for him}? Or do you want to plead God's case?

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

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.

Have you listened in God's confidential discussion? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

"Are the consolations of God too small for you, a word [spoken] gently with you?

that you turn your spirit against God, and you let [such] words go out of your mouth?

Because he stretched out his hand against God, and he was arrogant to Shaddai;

God delivers me to an evil one, and he casts me into the hands of [the] wicked.

My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

and it argues for a mortal with God, and [as] {a human} for his friend.

Surely these [are] the dwellings of [the] godless, and this [is] the dwelling place of him [who] knows not God."

know then that God has wronged me and has surrounded me [with] his net.

"Pity me, pity me, you my friends, for God's hand has touched me.

Why do you pursue me like God? And are not satisfied with my flesh?

And after my skin has been thus destroyed, but from my flesh I will see God,

He swallows riches, but he vomits them [up]; God drives them out from his stomach.

{When his stomach fills up}, [God] will send {his burning anger} upon him, and he will let [it] rain down upon him as his food.

This [is] a wicked human being's portion from God and the inheritance of his decree from God."

Their houses [are] safe without fear, and the rod of God [is] not upon them.

And they say to God, 'Turn away from us, for we do not desire to know your ways.

'God stores up his iniquity for his children'? [Then] let him repay [it] to him that he may know.

for what {does he care for} his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?

Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he himself judges high ones?

"Can a man be of use to God? Yes, can [the] wise be of use to him?

"[Is] not God [in the] height of [the] heavens? But see how lofty are {the highest stars}.

And you ask, 'What does God know? Can he judge through deep gloom?

[Those] who said to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can Shaddai do to us?'

Yet he himself filled up their houses [with] good [things], but [the] schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

"Please reconcile yourself with him, and be at peace; {in this way}, good will come to you.

Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai, and {you will expect that God will be good to you}.

Indeed, God has made my heart faint, and Shaddai has terrified me.

From [the] city people groan, and [the] throat of [the] wounded cries for help; yet God does not {regard it as unseemly}.

[He] feeds on [the] barren, [who] does not have a child, and does no good to [the] widow.

They are exalted a little while, then {they are gone}. And they are brought low; they are cut off like all [others], and like [the] heads of grain they wither away.

"Indeed, how can a human being be righteous before God? And how will he who is born of a woman be pure?

"{As God lives}, he has removed my justice, and Shaddai has made my inner self bitter.

For {as long as} my breath [is] in me, and the spirit of God [is] in my nose,

for what [is the] hope of [the] godless when he cuts [them] off, when God takes away his life?

Will God hear his cry of distress when distress comes upon him?

Or, in Shaddai will he find delight? Will he call upon God at all times?

"I will teach you about God's hand; I will not conceal that [which is] with Shaddai.

"This [is the] portion of [the] wicked human being with God, and they receive from Shaddai [the] inheritance of [the] ruthless.

"[It is] a path a bird of prey does not know and [the] black kite's eye has not seen.

"God understands its way, and he knows its place,

"{O that I were} as [in] the months before, as [in] the days [when] God watched over me,

as when I was in the days of my prime, when God's confiding [was] over my {house},

"At my going out [the] gate to [the] city, I secured my seat in the square.

Indeed, I hoped for good, but evil came, and I waited for light, but darkness came.

And what [is] the portion of God from above or the heritage of Shaddai from on high?

let him weigh me in [the] balance of justice, and let God know my blamelessness.

then what shall I do when God rises up? And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?

if I have raised my hand against an orphan because I saw my supporters at the gate,

Indeed, the disaster from God [was] a dread for me, and {I was powerless} because of his majesty.

this also [is] an iniquity [to be] judged, for I have deceived God above.

because I dreaded [the] great multitude, and [the] contempt of clans terrified me, so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of [the] doorway?

So Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, from the clan of Ram, {became angry}. {He became angry} at Job because he justified himself rather than God,

So do not say, 'We have found wisdom; let God refute him, not a man.'

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of Shaddai gives life to me.