And his possessions were seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

And when they had gone around the day of feasting, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. So Job did always.

And a day came when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house.

While he was still speaking, there also came another and said, Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house.

And he said, I came naked out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away. Blessed be the name of Jehovah.

And Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, and they each one came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had met together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him.

And they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights. And no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

Let the stars of its twilight be dark; let it look for light, but have none. Let it not see the eyelids of the dawn.

For it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

or as a hidden untimely birth I would not have been, like infants who did not see light.

As I have seen, the ones who plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same.

The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the strong lion's cubs are scattered abroad.

to set on high those who are low, so that those who mourn may be lifted up to safety;

Behold this: we have searched it; it is so. Hear it and know for yourself.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.

Surely now you are like them; you see my casting down, and are afraid.

Did I say, Give to me? or, Offer a bribe for me from your wealth;

or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand; or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?

so I am made to possess months of vanity, and weary nights are appointed to me.

When I lie down, I say, When shall I rise? But the night is long, and I am full of tossing to and fro until the dawning of the day.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are ended without hope.

Remember that my life is a breath; my eye shall no more see good.

The eye of him who has seen me shall see me no more; Your eyes are on me, and I am gone.

As the cloud falls and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave shall come up no more.

Am I like the sea, or a whale, that You set a watch over me?

When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,

so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my life.

I have sinned. What shall I do to You, O Watcher of men? Why have You set me as a target for You, so that I am a burden to myself?

So are the paths of all who forget God; and the hope of the ungodly shall perish.

His hope shall be cut off, and his trust shall be in a spider's web.

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

who alone stretches out the heavens, and walks on the waves of the sea;

Behold! He goes by me, and I do not see Him; He passes on also, but I do not perceive Him.

Behold, He takes away; who can turn Him back? Who will say to Him, What are You doing?

Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will depart from my heaviness and be of good cheer,

If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean,

then would I speak and not fear Him; for it is not so with me.

I will say to God, Do not condemn me; make me know why You contend with me.

Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees?

Are Your days like the days of man? Are Your years like man's days,

The measure of it is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

For foolish man would be wise, and man is born a wild ass's colt.

or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you; and the fish of the sea shall declare it to you;

Be quiet. Let me alone so that I may speak, and let come on me what may.

Listen carefully to my words, and let what I say be in your ears.

For his days are fixed, the number of his months is with You, and You have set his bounds so that he cannot pass;

look away from him, so that he may rest until he shall finish his day, as a hireling.

As the waters fail from the sea, and a river falls away and dries up,

so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they shall not awake, nor be awakened out of their sleep.

I also could speak as you do; if your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you.

And where then is my hope? And as for my hope, who shall see it?

The trap shall take him by the heel, and the noose shall hold sway over him.

He has fenced up my way so that I cannot pass, and He has set darkness in my paths.

My breath is hated by my wife, and I must beg to the sons of my mother's womb.

and even after they corrupt my skin, yet this: in my flesh I shall see God,

whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not a stranger's; though my heart be exhausted in my bosom.

For you ought to say, Why do we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me?

Fear for yourselves because of the sword; for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.

he shall perish forever like his dung; they who see him shall say, Where is he?

An eye glimpsed him, but will not again; yea, his place shall not see him again.

He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him.

He shall not see the rivers, the flowings of the brooks of honey and butter,

And they say to God, Depart from us; for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways;

His eyes shall see his ruin, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

For you say, Where is the house of the noble, and where the dwelling-places of the wicked?

or darkness, so that you cannot see; and a flood of waters covers you.

And you say, What does God know? Can He judge through the dark cloud?

Clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see; and He walks in the circuit of Heaven.

The righteous see it, and are glad; and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

For they have humiliated you, and you shall say, Pride! And He shall save the lowly of eyes.

I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me.

Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot see Him;

on the left hand, where He works, but I cannot behold Him. He turns to the right, but I do not see Him.

Since times are not hidden from the Almighty, why do those who know Him not see His days?

They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

And the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a covering on his face.

Drought and heat eat up the snow waters; so does the grave those who have sinned.

And if it is not so, who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?

He quiets the sea with His power, and by His understanding He shatters the proud.

He opens a shaft far from the visitor; they are forgotten by man's foot; they hang far away from men, they swing to and fro.

There is a path which no bird knows, nor has the vulture's eye caught sight of it;

The deep says, It is not in me; and the sea says, It is not in me.

The place of ruin and death say, We have heard the fame of it with our ears.

then He saw it, and declared it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out.

The young men saw me and hid themselves; and the aged arose and stood up.

The noble's voice was subdued, and their tongue clung to the roof of their mouth.

For the ear heard and blessed me. And the eye saw me and witnessed to me.

The blessing of the perishing came on me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing.

Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?

let me be weighed in an even balance so that God may know my uprightness.

then let me sow, and let another eat; and let my harvests be rooted out.

If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or I have laid wait at my neighbor's door,

for from my youth he grew up with me, as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided her;

if the men of my camp did not say, Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat?

When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.

Therefore I say, Listen to me. I also will declare my opinion.

Behold, I waited for your words; I listened to your reasons, while you searched out what to say.

that you do not say, We have found out wisdom. God has pushed him down, not man.

I will speak so that I may be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer.