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

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

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

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

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

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.

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

Who long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

“Then a spirit passed by my face;
The hair of my flesh bristled up.

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

Then Job answered,

“For then it would be heavier than the sand of the seas;
Therefore my words have been rash.

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And come to an end without hope.

Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me by visions;

So that my soul would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pains.

“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.”

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

“If your sons sinned against Him,
Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.

“If he is removed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

Then Job answered,

“How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words before Him?

“The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, then who is it?

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

“I am accounted wicked,
Why then should I toil in vain?

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

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

‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.

“They are high as the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?

“Its measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.

“Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect,
And you would be steadfast and not fear.

“Your life would be brighter than noonday;
Darkness would be like the morning.

“Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.

Then Job responded,

“Truly then you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!

“He makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

“Be silent before me so that I may speak;
Then let come on me what may.

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

“Only two things do not do to me,
Then I will not hide from Your face:

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

Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

“Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.

Then Job answered,

Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

“How long will you hunt for words?
Show understanding and then we can talk.

Then Job responded,

Know then that God has wronged me
And has closed His net around me.

“Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

Then Job answered,

“Bear with me that I may speak;
Then after I have spoken, you may mock.

“How then will you vainly comfort me,
For your answers remain full of falsehood?”

Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded,

Then the Almighty will be your gold
And choice silver to you.

“For then you will delight in the Almighty
And lift up your face to God.

Then Job replied,

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

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

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

“How then can a man be just with God?
Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?

Then Job responded,

Then Job continued his discourse and said,

“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act foolishly?

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

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

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

“But now those younger than I mock me,
Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

“When I expected good, then evil came;
When I waited for light, then darkness came.

“I have made a covenant with my eyes;
How then could I gaze at a virgin?

What then could I do when God arises?
And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?

Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

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

“Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this,
For God is greater than man.

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

“Then his soul draws near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.

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

Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;

Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him,
That he may see His face with joy,
And He may restore His righteousness to man.

“Then if you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.

Then Elihu continued and said,

When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,
That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

Then Elihu continued and said,

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

“For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You?
What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

“Look at the heavens and see;
And behold the clouds—they are higher than you.

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

Then Elihu continued and said,

Then He declares to them their work
And their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress,
Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.

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

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

“You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!

Then the Lord said to Job,

Then Job answered the Lord and said,

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

“Then I will also confess to you,
That your own right hand can save you.