When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow].

“Behold this; we have investigated it, and it is true.
Hear and heed it, and know for yourself [for your own good].”

“Yes, I know it is true.
But how can a mortal man be right before God?

“But [only] with Him are [perfect] wisdom and might;
He [alone] has [true] counsel and understanding.

“For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the shoots of it will not cease nor fail, [but there is no such hope for man].

Yet at the scent of water [the stump of the tree] will flourish
And bring forth sprigs and shoots like a seedling.

“He will not escape from darkness [fleeing disaster];
The flame [of God’s wrath] will wither his branch,
And by the blast of His mouth he will go away.

“He will fail to bring his grapes to maturity [leaving them to wither unnourished] on the vine,
And will cast off blossoms [and fail to bring forth fruit] like the olive tree.

“You who tear yourself apart in anger,
Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake,
Or the rock to be moved out of its place?

“And if it were true that I have erred,
My error would remain with me [and I would be conscious of it].

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

“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].

“If my heart has been enticed and I was made a fool by a woman,
Or if I have [covetously] lurked at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],

“The stranger has not lodged in the street,
Because I have opened my door to the traveler.

Because I feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
So that I kept silence and did not acknowledge my sin and did not go out of the door?

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].

“But if they do not hear and obey, they will die by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments]
And they will die [in ignorance] without [true] knowledge.

“He sways his tail like a cedar;
The tendons of his thighs are twisted and knit together [like a rope].

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