Have you yourself not put a wall round him and his house and all he has on every side, blessing the work of his hands, and increasing his cattle in the land?

But now, put out your hand against all he has, and he will be cursing you to your face.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, I give all he has into your hands, only do not put a finger on the man himself. And the Satan went out from before the Lord.

With nothing I came out of my mother's body, and with nothing I will go back there; the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; let the Lord's name be praised.

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Skin for skin, all a man has he will give for his life.

Let destruction take the day of my birth, and the night on which it was said, A man child has come into the world.

There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

He who was near to falling has been lifted up by your words, and you have given strength to bent knees.

But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.

What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.

For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.

Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.

So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped.

Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.

Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?

Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?

My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

He whose heart is shut against his friend has given up the fear of the Ruler of all.

My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind.

Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment?

Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers:

It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.

The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?

You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe.

But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?

It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!

Who does not see by all these that the hand of the Lord has done this?

Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it.

Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.

His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it.

Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.

He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;

Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick;

And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls.

He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.

But now he has overcome me with weariness and fear, and I am in the grip of all my trouble.

It has come up as a witness against me, and the wasting of my flesh makes answer to my face.

I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes;

I was in comfort, but I have been broken up by his hands; he has taken me by the neck, shaking me to bits; he has put me up as a mark for his arrows.

He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport.

The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers.

Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength.

He has no offspring or family among his people, and in his living-place there is no one of his name.

Truly, these are the houses of the sinner, and this is the place of him who has no knowledge of God.

Be certain that it is God who has done me wrong, and has taken me in his net.

My way is walled up by him so that I may not go by: he has made my roads dark.

He has put off my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head.

He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me.

The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.

He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading.

Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;

For what interest has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is ended?

How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath?

Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it?

You do not give water to the tired traveller, and from him who has no food you keep back bread.

You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father.

And you say, What knowledge has God? is he able to give decisions through the deep dark?

For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold.

For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs

For God has made my heart feeble, and my mind is troubled before the Ruler of all.

They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.

The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree.

He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child.

But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.

How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength!

How have you given teaching to him who has no wisdom, and fully made clear true knowledge!

The underworld is uncovered before him, and Destruction has no veil.

By the life of God, who has taken away my right; and of the Ruler of all, who has made my soul bitter;

I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life.

His house has no more strength than a spider's thread, or a watchman's tent.

Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold.

No bird has knowledge of it, and the hawk's eye has never seen it.

The great beasts have not gone over it, and the cruel lion has not taken that way.

Man has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living.

God has knowledge of the way to it, and of its resting-place;

For he has made loose the cord of my bow, and put me to shame; he has sent down my flag to the earth before me.

Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust.

Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?

And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.

If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit;

If the men of my tent did not say, Who has not had full measure of his meat?

If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!

If my land has made an outcry against me, or the ploughed earth has been in sorrow;

Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Ruler of all gives me life.

He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;

And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:

He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him; he sees God's face with cries of joy; he gives news of his righteousness to men;

For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right;

For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God.

Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.

But no one has said, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;

For truly my words are not false; one who has all knowledge is talking with you.

And who has knowledge of how the clouds are stretched out, or of the thunders of his tent?

Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom?

For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.

By whom has the way been cut for the flowing of the rain, and the flaming of the thunder;