Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

“The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying:

“Is not man forced to labor on earth?
And are not his days like the days of a hired man?

“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
Who has [ever] defied or challenged Him and remained unharmed?

‘Yet these [present evils] You have hidden in Your heart [since my creation]:
I know that this was within You [in Your purpose and thought].

“If you direct your heart [on the right path]
And stretch out your hands to Him,

[Job continued:] “Behold, my eye has seen all this,
My ear has heard and understood it.

“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!

“Should a wise man [such as you] utter such windy and vain knowledge [as we have just heard]
And fill himself with the east wind [of withering, parching, and violent accusations]?

“Why does your heart carry you away [allowing you to be controlled by emotion]?
And why do your eyes flash [in anger or contempt],

“I have heard many such things;
Wearisome and miserable comforters are you all.

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].

“My days are past, my purposes and plans are frustrated and torn apart;
The wishes of my heart [are broken].

“Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not heard;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.

Whom I, even I, will see for myself,
And my eyes will see Him and not another!
My heart faints within me.

“I have heard the reproof which insults me,
But the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

“Please receive the law and instruction from His mouth
And establish His words in your heart and keep them.

“For God has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty has terrified me,

“I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

“Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say,
‘We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.’

“For when an ear heard [my name mentioned], it called me happy and fortunate;
And when an eye saw [me], it testified for me [approvingly],

“The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

“Did I not weep for one whose life was hard and filled with trouble?
Was not my heart grieved for the needy?

“I am seething within and my heart is troubled and cannot rest;
Days of affliction come to meet me.

“If my step has turned away from the way [of God],
Or if my heart has [covetously] followed my eyes,
Or if any spot [of guilt] has stained my hands,

“If my heart has been enticed and I was made a fool by a woman,
Or if I have [covetously] lurked at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],

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

“I thought age should speak,
And a multitude of years should teach wisdom.

“My words will express the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips will speak what they know with utter sincerity.

“Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words, saying:

“Man is also disciplined with pain on his bed,
And with unceasing complaint in his bones,

“If there is an angel as a mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To explain to a man what is right for him [that is, how to be in right standing with God],

“If God should determine to do so,
If He should gather to Himself [that is, withdraw from man] His [life-giving] spirit and His breath,

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And He heard the cry of the afflicted.

“Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone [nor regard any as trivial];
He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

“But the godless in heart store up anger [at the divine discipline];
They do not cry [to Him] for help when He binds them [with cords of affliction].

“Indeed, at His thundering my heart trembles
And leaps out of its place.

“After it, His voice roars;
He thunders with the voice of His majesty,
And He does not restrain His lightning [against His adversaries] when His voice is heard.

“Men therefore fear Him;
He does not regard nor respect any who are wise in heart [in their own understanding and conceit].”

“His heart is as hard as a stone,
Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.

“I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear,
But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.