The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].”

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.”

“Let the stars of its early dawn be dark;
Let the morning wait in vain for the light,
Let it not see the eyelids of morning (the day’s dawning),

“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And my cries [of despair] are poured out like water.

“The lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

‘How much more [will He blame and charge] those who dwell in houses (bodies) of clay,
Whose foundations are in the dust,
Who are crushed like a moth.

“My soul refuses to touch them;
Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].

“Indeed, you have now become like a dried-up stream,
You see a terror [believing me to be a victim of the wrath of God] and are afraid [to be compassionate].

“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].

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

“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me [it plagues me],
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?

“If he is snatched from his place [in the garden],
Then his place will forget him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,
Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

‘Have You not poured me out like milk
And curdled me like cheese?

‘Should I lift my head up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your marvelous power against me.

“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they will not escape [the justice of God];
And their hope is to breathe their last [and die].”

“They grope in darkness without light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”

While I waste away like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

“Like a flower he comes forth and withers;
He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.

Yet at the scent of water [the stump of the tree] will flourish
And bring forth sprigs and shoots like a seedling.

“As water evaporates from the sea,
And a river drains and dries up,

How much less [pure and clean is] the one who is repulsive and corrupt,
Man, who drinks unrighteousness and injustice like water!

“Distress and anxiety terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for battle.

“He will fail to bring his grapes to maturity [leaving them to wither unnourished] on the vine,
And will cast off blossoms [and fail to bring forth fruit] like the olive tree.

“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?

“He attacks me, making wound after wound;
He runs at me like a warrior.

“My eye has grown dim (unexpressive) because of grief,
And all my [body’s] members are [wasted away] like a shadow.

“But if I look to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) as my home,
If I make my bed in the darkness,

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

“Why do you persecute me as God does?
Why are you not satisfied with my flesh (anguish)?

Yet he perishes forever like his own refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

“He flies away like a dream and cannot be found;
Yes, he is chased away like a vision of the night.

“He does not look at the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and butter [to enjoy his wealth].

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

“They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children skip about.

“Are they like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?

Men who were snatched away before their time,
Whose foundations were poured out like a river?

“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.

“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].

“Though he heaps up silver like dust
And piles up clothing like clay,

“He builds his house like a spider’s web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.

“Terrors overtake him like a [suddenly rising] flood;
A windstorm steals him away in the night.

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban!

“After I spoke, they did not speak again,
And my speech dropped upon them [like a refreshing shower].

“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king among his soldiers,
As one who comforts mourners.

“Among the bushes they cry out [like wild animals];
Beneath the prickly scrub they gather and huddle together.

“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].

“Terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my honor and reputation like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

“By the great force [of my disease] my garment (skin) is disfigured and blemished;
It binds about me [choking me] like the collar of my coat.

“God has cast me into the mire [a swampland of crisis],
And I have become [worthless] like dust and ashes.

“I have made a covenant (agreement) with my eyes;
How then could I gaze [lustfully] at a virgin?

Let my wife grind [meal, like a bond slave] for another [man],
And let others kneel down over her.

“If I have withheld from the poor what they desired,
Or have caused the eyes of the widow to look in vain [for relief],

“Have I concealed my transgressions like Adam or like other men,
By hiding my wickedness in my bosom,

“Now Job has not directed his words against me [therefore I have no reason to be offended],
Nor will I answer him with arguments like yours. [I speak for truth, not for revenge.]

“My belly is like unvented wine;
Like new wineskins it is about to burst.

“What man is like Job,
Who drinks up derision like water,

‘Job ought to be tried to the limit
Because he answers like wicked men!

“Look to the heavens and see;
And behold the skies which are [much] higher than you.

“Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?

“Now people cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies [without being blinded],
When the wind has passed and cleared them.

“Out of the north comes golden splendor [and people can hardly look on it];
Around God is awesome splendor and majesty [far too glorious for man’s eyes].

“Now gird up your loins like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

“The earth is changed like clay into which a seal is pressed;
And the things [of the earth] stand out like a [multi-colored] garment.

“Water becomes like stone [and hides itself],
And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned.

“Who provides prey for the raven
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?

“Have you [Job] made him leap like a locust?
The majesty of his snorting [nostrils] is terrible.

“Now gird up your loins (prepare yourself) like a man,
And I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

“Have you an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?

“Pour out the overflowings of your wrath,
And look at everyone who is proud and make him low.

Look at everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And [if you are so able] tread down the wicked where they stand.

“Behold now, Behemoth, which I created as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.

“He sways his tail like a cedar;
The tendons of his thighs are twisted and knit together [like a rope].

“His bones are tubes of bronze;
His limbs are like bars of iron.

“His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the [reddish] eyelids of the dawn.

“His underparts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery;
He moves across and spreads out [grooves] like a threshing sledge on the mire (muddy river banks).

“He makes the deep water boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a [foaming] pot of ointment.