Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

“Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;
Let it wait for light but have none,
And let it not see the breaking dawn;

“For now I would have lain down and been quiet;
I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

“When I lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise?’
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until dawn.

“When a cloud vanishes, it is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

“Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me, but I will not be.”

“While it is still green and not cut down,
Yet it withers before any other plant.

Who alone stretches out the heavens
And tramples down the waves of the sea;

“You would lie down and none would disturb you,
And many would entreat your favor.

“Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

“Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

“For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And its shoots will not fail.

So man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens are no longer,
He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

“He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not bend down to the ground.

“His anger has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with His teeth;
My adversary glares at me.

“Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will be my guarantor?

“Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together go down into the dust?”

“His vigorous stride is shortened,
And his own scheme brings him down.

“These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.

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

“His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
But it lies down with him in the dust.

“They spend their days in prosperity,
And suddenly they go down to Sheol.

“Together they lie down in the dust,
And worms cover them.

“Who will confront him with his actions,
And who will repay him for what he has done?

“When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence,
And the humble person He will save.

“The murderer arises at dawn;
He kills the poor and the needy,
And at night he is as a thief.

“He lies down rich, but never again;
He opens his eyes, and it is no longer.

“I smiled on them when they did not believe,
And the light of my face they did not cast down.

May my wife grind for another,
And let others kneel down over her.

Then let him be gracious to him, and say,
‘Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom’;

Teach me what I do not see;
If I have done iniquity,
I will not do it again’?

“Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

Which the clouds pour down,
They drip upon man abundantly.

“Then the beast goes into its lair
And remains in its den.

“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
And caused the dawn to know its place,

“They kneel down, they bring forth their young,
They get rid of their labor pains.

“Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And tread down the wicked where they stand.

“Under the lotus plants he lies down,
In the covert of the reeds and the marsh.

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?