And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

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?

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.

In all this Job did no sin, and did not say that God's acts were foolish.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

And lifting up their eyes when they were still far off, it did not seem that the man they saw was Job because of the change in him. And they gave way to bitter weeping, with signs of grief, and put dust on their heads.

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

That day--let it be dark; let not God take note of it from on high, and let not the light be shining on it;

Let the dark and the black night take it for themselves; let it be covered with a cloud; let the dark shades of day send fear on it.

That night--let the thick dark take it; let it not have joy among the days of the year; let it not come into the number of the months.

As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

Let its morning stars be dark; let it be looking for light, but may it not have any; let it not see the eyes of the dawn.

Because it did not keep the doors of my mother's body shut, so that trouble might be veiled from my eyes.

Why did death not take me when I came out of my mother's body, why did I not, when I came out, give up my last breath?

Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

There the prisoners are at peace together; the voice of the overseer comes not again to their ears.

To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?

The old lion comes to his end for need of food, and the young of the she-lion go wandering in all directions.

In troubled thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep comes on men,

Something was present before me, but I was not able to see it clearly; there was a form before my eyes: a quiet voice came to my ears, saying:

Between morning and evening they are completely broken; they come to an end for ever, and no one takes note.

If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?

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.

For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth;

In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.

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.

When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

You will make sport of destruction and need, and will have no fear of the beasts of the earth.

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.

So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One.

Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

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?

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again.

He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.

So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry.

I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

Does God give wrong decisions? or is the Ruler of all not upright in his judging?

Will they not give you teaching, and say words of wisdom to you?

So is the end of all who do not keep God in mind; and the hope of the evil-doer comes to nothing:

He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.

If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.

Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.

Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.

If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions.

Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.

Who does great things not to be searched out; yes, wonders without number.

See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him.

God's wrath may not be turned back; the helpers of Rahab were bent down under him.

Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.

He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.

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?

I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.

You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?

For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge.

Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me:

I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.

That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,

Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?

Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese?

That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:

That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.

And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.

Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure,

Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,

For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

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

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

Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth?

Give ear to the argument of my mouth, and take note of the words of my lips.

Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth?

Will not his glory put you in fear, so that your hearts will be overcome before him?

Truly, he will put an end to me; I have no hope; but I will not give way in argument before him;

And that will be my salvation, for an evil-doer would not come before him,

Only two things do not do to me, then I will come before your face:

Take your hand far away from me; and let me not be overcome by fear of you.

If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible.

If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go;

For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end.

So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep.

For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.

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

It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.

What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours?

Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes;

Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:

(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us;

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.

He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.

Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward.

He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers.

It would not be hard for me to say such things if your souls were in my soul's place; joining words together against you, and shaking my head at you:

I might give you strength with my mouth, and not keep back the comfort of my lips.