So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

“For my groaning comes at the sight of my food,
And my cries [of despair] are poured out like water.

“My soul refuses to touch them;
Such things are like loathsome food to me [sickening and repugnant].

“He who is at ease has contempt for misfortune,
But misfortune is ready [and anxiously waiting] for those whose feet slip.

“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?

“You also put my feet in the stocks [as punishment]
And [critically] observe all my paths;
You set a circle and limit around the soles of my feet [which I must not overstep],

“He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already at hand.

For he has covered his face with his fat,
Adding layers of fat to his thighs [giving himself up to pleasures],

“He who denounces and informs against his friends for a share of the spoil,
The eyes of his children will also languish and fail.

“For the wicked is thrown into a net by his own feet (wickedness),
And he steps on the webbing [of the lattice-covered pit].

Yet his food turns [to poison] in his stomach;
It is the venom of vipers within him.

“My feet have carefully followed His steps;
I have kept His ways and not turned aside.

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

“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,
The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;
As bread for their children in the desert.

“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].

“He breaks open (mine) shafts far away from where people live,
[In places] forgotten by the [human] foot;
They dangle [in the mines] and hang away from men.

“I was eyes to the blind
And I was feet to the lame.

“They pluck [and eat] saltwort (mallows) among the bushes,
And their food is the root of the broom shrub.

“On my right the [rabble] brood rises;
They push my feet away, and they build up their ways of destruction against me [like an advancing army].

“If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has chased after deceit,

“I assure you, the men of my tent have said,
‘Who can find one [in need] who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

‘He puts my feet in the stocks [to hinder and humiliate me];
He [suspiciously] watches all my paths,’ [you say].

So that his life makes him loathe food,
And his soul [loathe] even his favorite dishes.

“For the ear puts words to the test
As the palate tastes food.

“For by these [mighty acts] He judges the peoples;
He gives food in abundance.

“Who provides prey for the raven
When its young cry to God
And wander about without food?

Forgetting that a foot may crush them,
Or that the wild beast may trample them.

“Will you really annul My judgment and set it aside as void?
Will you condemn Me [your God] that you may [appear to] be righteous and justified?

“Surely the mountains bring him food,
And all the wild animals play there.