The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.”

Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God].

Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life.

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”

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

Who wait for death, but it does not come,
And dig (search) for death more [diligently] than for hidden treasures,

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

“Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my skin stood on end!

“The spirit stood still, but I could not discern its appearance;
A form was before my eyes;
There was silence, and then I heard a voice, saying:

‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?

Then Job answered and said,

“For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
Therefore my words have been incoherent,

“Then I would still have consolation,
And I would jump for joy amid unsparing pain,
That I have not denied or hidden the words of the Holy One.

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.

Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me through visions,

So that I would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pain.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

“If your children have sinned against Him,
Then He has handed them over to the power of their transgression and punished them.

Then, if you are pure and upright,
Surely now He will awaken for you
And restore your righteous place.

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

Then Job answered and said,

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

“Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They vanish, they see no good.

“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;
Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?

“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

‘If I sin, then You would take note and observe me,
And You would not acquit me of my guilt.

‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

“Would He not let my few days alone,
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.

“His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

“It is longer in measure [and scope] than the earth,
And broader than the sea.

Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

“And your life would be brighter than the noonday;
Darkness [then] would be like the morning.

Then Job responded,

“He makes nations great, and He destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and leads them away [captive].

“Oh, that you would be completely silent,
And that silence would be your wisdom!

“Who will argue and contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.

“Only [O Lord,] do not do two things to me,
And then I will not hide myself from Your face:

“Then [Lord,] call, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, and then reply to me.

“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!

“[Then] You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for [me] the work of Your hands.

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered [Job] and said,

“Among us are both the gray-haired and the aged,
Older than your father.

Then Job answered and said,

“I was [living] at ease, but He crushed me and broke me apart,
And He has seized me by the neck and has shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.

Where now is my hope?
And who regards or considers or is even concerned about my hope?

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

“How long will you hunt for words and continue these speeches?
Do some clear thinking and show understanding and then we can talk.

Then Job answered and said,

“Even after my [mortal] skin is destroyed [by death],
Yet from my [immortal] flesh I will see God,

“Then beware and be afraid of the sword [of divine vengeance] for yourselves,
For wrathful are the punishments of that sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

Then Job answered and said,

“How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out,
And that their disaster falls on them?
Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?

“How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words,
Since your answers remain untrue?”

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Then you will have delight in the Almighty,
And you will lift up your face to God.

Then Job answered and said,

“Even today my complaint is contentious;
His hand is heavy despite my groaning.

“I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have kept the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

“They are exalted for a little while, and then they are gone;
Moreover, they are brought low and like everything [they are] gathered up and taken out of the way;
Even like the heads of grain they are cut off.

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,

“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?

“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?

“From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?

Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
He established it and searched it out.

“Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

“But now those younger than I mock and laugh at me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the sheepdogs of my flock.

“When I expected good, then came evil [to me];
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

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

Then let me plant and [let] another eat [from the results of my labor],
And let my crops be uprooted and ruined.

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

What then could I do when God arises [to judge me]?
When He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?

Then let my shoulder fall away from its socket,
And my arm be broken off at the elbow.

But Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became indignant. His indignation was kindled and burned and he became upset with Job because he justified himself rather than God [and even expressed doubts about God’s character].

Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were years older than he.

Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite said,

“I am young, and you are aged;
For that reason I was anxious and dared not tell you what I think.

“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.

“For God speaks once,
And even twice, yet no one notices it [including you, Job].

Then He opens the ears of men
And seals their instruction,

Then the angel is gracious to him, and says,
‘Spare him from going down to the pit [of destruction];
I have found a ransom [a consideration, or reason for redemption, an atonement]!’

“Let his flesh be restored and become fresher than in youth;
Let him return to the days of his youthful strength.

“Who is not partial to princes,
Nor does He regard the rich above the poor,
For they all are the work of His hands.

“When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
When He hides His face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make supplication to Him],
Whether it be a nation or a man by himself?—

“Do you think this is according to [your] justice?
Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

“For you say, ‘What advantage have you [by living a righteous life]?
What profit will I have, more [by being righteous] than if I had sinned?’

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

Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

Job uselessly opens his mouth
And multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked].”

Then He declares to them [the true character of] their deeds
And their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and notions of self-sufficiency].

“Take heed and be careful, do not turn to wickedness,
For you have chosen this [the vice of complaining against God] rather than [learning from] affliction.

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

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

“You [must] know, since you were born then,
And because you are so extremely old!

Then Job replied to the Lord and said,

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying,

“[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge
That your own right hand can save you.

“No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan;
Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?