But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him]; and he will curse You to Your face.”

So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

“But God saves [the innocent] from the sword of the mouth of the devious,
And the poor from the hand of the mighty.

“I wish that it would please God to crush me,
That He would let loose His hand and cut me off.

Or, ‘Rescue me from the adversary’s hand,’
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the tyrants’?

“There is no arbitrator between us,
Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].

‘Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked,
Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.

If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you],
And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?

Withdraw Your hand from me and remove this bodily suffering,
And let not the dread of You terrify me.

“Because he has stretched out his hand against God
And behaves arrogantly against the Almighty,

“Have pity on me! Have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has touched me.

“In the fullness of his excess (great abundance) he will be in trouble;
The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him [he is miserable on every side].

“Look at me and be astonished and appalled;
And put your hand over your mouth.

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

“By His breath the heavens are cleared;
His hand has pierced the [swiftly] fleeing serpent.

“I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God’s actual treatment of the wicked].

“Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock;
He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].

‘My glory and honor are fresh in me [being constantly renewed],
And my bow gains [ever] new strength in my hand.’

“On my right the [rabble] brood rises;
They push my feet away, and they build up their ways of destruction against me [like an advancing army].

“You have become harsh and cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You [keep me alive only to] persecute me.

“However, does not one falling in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand?
Or in his disaster [will he not] therefore cry out for help?

If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,

If I gloated and rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my [powerful] hand [alone] had obtained so much,

And my heart became secretly enticed [by them],
And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth [in respect to them],

“In a moment they die, even at midnight
The people are shaken and pass away,
And the powerful are taken away without a [human] hand.

“If you are righteous, what do you give God,
Or what does He receive from your hand?

“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].

“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You?
I lay my hand on my mouth.

“[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge
That your own right hand can save you.

“Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle [with him]; you will not do such [an ill-advised thing] again!