There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil.

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

The LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself do not put forth your hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."

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 foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

"Let the day perish in which I was born, the night which said, 'There is a boy conceived.'

As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it. Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of the months.

or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been, as infants who never saw light.

The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.

"Why is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul,

Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in?

But now it is come to you, and you faint. It touches you, and you are troubled.

How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth.

"Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,

whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.

but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.

"But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,

He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.

"Behold, blessed is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of Shaddai.

You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.

You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good."

Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.

What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?

Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?

Isn't it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me?

"To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of Shaddai.

My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;

Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.

In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

Do you intend to reprove words, seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?

Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.

Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things?

As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.

Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good.

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.

What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?

While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.

Whose confidence shall break apart, Whose trust is a spider's web.

He is green before the sun. His shoots go forth over his garden.

If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.'

Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.

"Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?

If he is pleased to contend with him, he can't answer him one time in a thousand.

God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?

If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty. If of justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will summon me?'

"It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?

They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.

There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.

"My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?

Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?

Are your days as the days of mortals, or your years as man's years,

Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.

Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?

Yet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is with you:

If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.

I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.'"

For you say, 'My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.'

They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol. What can you know?

Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt.

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Do not let unrighteousness dwell in your tents.

for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as waters that are passed away.

Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning.

You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?

I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.

In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.

in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?

Doesn't the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?

With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.

"With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.

With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.

He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

Oh that you would be completely silent. Then you would be wise.

Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him?

Who is he who will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and give up the spirit.

though I am decaying like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

"Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.

He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass;

Look away from him, that he may rest, until he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

"For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, that the tender branch of it will not cease.

But man dies, and is laid low. Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?

As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up,

"Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me.

My disobedience is sealed up in a bag. You fasten up my iniquity.

"But the mountain falling comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of its place;

"Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?