His sons regularly went to one another's houses, and every one on his day gave a feast: and at these times they sent for their three sisters to take part in their feasts with them.

When a great wind came rushing from the waste land against the four sides of the house, and it came down on the young men, and they are dead; and I was the only one who got away safe to give you the news.

And Job's three friends had word of all this evil which had come on him. And they came every one from his place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. So they came together to a meeting-place, in order that they might go and make clear to Job their grief for him, and give him comfort.

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.

And they took their seats on the earth by his side for seven days and seven nights: but no one said a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Why did the knees take me, or why the breasts that they might give me milk?

Who are glad with great joy, and full of delight when they come to their last resting-place;

By the breath of God destruction takes them, and by the wind of his wrath they are cut off.

How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;

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?

Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause.

Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

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

My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.

The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction.

They were put to shame because of their hope; they came and their hope was gone.

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

My days go quicker than a post-runner: they go in flight, they see no good.

They go rushing on like reed-boats, like an eagle dropping suddenly on its food.

They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you;

Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.

Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned.

They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.

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.

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

Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.

They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark.

Will they go down with me into the underworld? Will we go down together into the dust?

He is overcome by fears on every side, they go after him at every step.

His armies come on together, they make their road high against me, and put up their tents round mine.

He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me.

If only my words might be recorded! if they might be put in writing in a book!

Why is life given to the evil-doers? why do they become old and strong in power?

They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance,

They make songs to the instruments of music, and are glad at the sound of the pipe.

Their days come to an end without trouble, and suddenly they go down to the underworld.

Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.

How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind?

Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm.

Is not God as high as heaven? and see the stars, how high they are!

The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers.

They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.

Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children.

They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.

They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold.

They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover.

The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.

Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields.

Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes.

In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light.

For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark.

They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden.

For a short time they are lifted up; then they are gone; they are made low, they are pulled off like fruit, and like the heads of grain they are cut off.

When those of his house who are still living come to their end by disease, they are not put into the earth, and their widows are not weeping for them.

He makes a deep mine far away from those living in the light of day; when they go about on the earth, they have no knowledge of those who are under them, who are hanging far from men, twisting from side to side on a cord.

For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me;

After I had said what was in my mind, they were quiet and let my words go deep into their hearts;

They were waiting for me as for the rain, opening their mouths wide as for the spring rains.

I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear.

They are wasted for need of food, biting the dry earth; their only hope of life is in the waste land.

They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots.

They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves

They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks.

They make noises like asses among the brushwood; they get together under the thorns.

They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land.

I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me.

They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me;

As through a wide broken place in the wall they come on, I am overturned by the shock of their attack.

The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains.

If I did wrong in the cause of my man-servant, or my woman-servant, when they went to law with me;

And he was angry with his three friends, because they had been unable to give him an answer, and had not made Job's sin clear.

Now Elihu had kept quiet while Job was talking, because they were older than he;

Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

And am I to go on waiting while they have nothing to say? while they keep quiet and give no more answers?

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep comes on men, while they take their rest on their beds;

Then he makes his secrets clear to men, so that they are full of fear at what they see;

Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.

For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.

Because they did not go after him, and took no note of his ways,

Job's words do not come from knowledge; they are not the fruit of wisdom.

Let your eyes be turned to the heavens, and lifted up to see the skies; they are higher than you.

Because the hand of the cruel is hard on them, men are making sounds of grief; they are crying out for help because of the arm of the strong.

There they are crying out because of the pride of the evil-doers, but he gives them no answer.

And if they have been prisoned in chains, and taken in cords of trouble,

Then he makes clear to them what they have done, even their evil works in which they have taken pride.

If they give ear to his voice, and do his word, then he gives them long life, and years full of pleasure.

But if not, they come to their end, and give up their breath without knowledge.

Those who have no fear of God keep wrath stored up in their hearts; they give no cry for help when they are made prisoners.

They come to their end while they are still young, their life is short like that of those who are used for sex purposes in the worship of their gods.

Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?

Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?

They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.

Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.

Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?

She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.