When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's customary practice.

Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord -- and Satan also arrived among them.

Now the day came when Job's sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord.

When Job's three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country -- Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him.

But when they gazed intently from a distance but did not recognize him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads.

who rejoice even to jubilation, and are exultant when they find the grave?

In the troubling thoughts of the dreams in the night when a deep sleep falls on men,

You will be protected from malicious gossip, and will not be afraid of the destruction when it comes.

And you will know that your home will be secure, and when you inspect your domains, you will not be missing anything.

"Does the wild donkey bray when it is near grass? Or does the ox low near its fodder?

When they are scorched, they dry up, when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

If I lie down, I say, 'When will I arise?', and the night stretches on and I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns.

Will your idle talk reduce people to silence, and will no one rebuke you when you mock?

For he knows deceitful men; when he sees evil, will he not consider it?

But an empty man will become wise, when a wild donkey's colt is born a human being.

when you turn your rage against God and allow such words to escape from your mouth?

to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

Even youngsters have scorned me; when I get up, they scoff at me.

When I hear a reproof that dishonors me, then my understanding prompts me to answer.

When he pulls it out and it comes out of his back, the gleaming point out of his liver, terrors come over him.

For, when I think about this, I am terrified and my body feels a shudder.

For what is his interest in his home after his death, when the number of his months has been broken off?

And when he is carried to the tombs, and watch is kept over the funeral mound,

men who were carried off before their time, when the flood was poured out on their foundations?

When people are brought low and you say 'Lift them up!' then he will save the downcast;

In the north when he is at work, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I see no trace of him.

That is why I am terrified in his presence; when I consider, I am afraid because of him.

But God drags off the mighty by his power; when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.

For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

Does God listen to his cry when distress overtakes him?

He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.

When he made the force of the wind and measured the waters with a gauge.

When he imposed a limit for the rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,

"O that I could be as I was in the months now gone, in the days when God watched over me,

when he caused his lamp to shine upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;

just as I was in my most productive time, when God's intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,

when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me;

when my steps were bathed with butter and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!

When I went out to the city gate and secured my seat in the public square,

"As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me, and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

"Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.

But when I hoped for good, trouble came; when I expected light, then darkness came.

"If I have disregarded the right of my male servants or my female servants when they disputed with me,

then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; when he intervenes, how will I respond to him?

if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan, when I saw my support in the court,

if I looked at the sun when it was shining, and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

But when Elihu saw that the three men had no further reply, he became very angry.

In a dream, a night vision, when deep sleep falls on people as they sleep in their beds.

For he says, 'It does not profit a man when he makes his delight with God.'

"Do you think this to be just: when you say, 'My right before God.'

How much less, then, when you say that you do not perceive him, that the case is before him and you are waiting for him!

And further, when you say that his anger does not punish, and that he does not know transgression!

The godless at heart nourish anger, they do not cry out even when he binds them.

After that a voice roars; he thunders with an exalted voice, and he does not hold back his lightning bolts when his voice is heard.

You, whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind,

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding!

when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

"Who shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth, coming out of the womb,

when I made the storm clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,

when I prescribed its limits, and set in place its bolts and doors,

when I said, 'To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined'?

when the waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?

when the dust hardens into a mass, and the clumps of earth stick together?

when they crouch in their dens, when they wait in ambush in the thicket?

Who prepares prey for the raven, when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet is blown.

Is it not fierce when it is awakened? Who is he, then, who can stand before it?

When it rises up, the mighty are terrified, at its thrashing about they withdraw.