But send forth now thy band and tough upon all which is to him, if he will not bless thee upon thy face.

In the mean season while he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, "The Chaldeans made three armies, and fell upon thy camels, which they have carried away: yea, and slain thy servants with the sword, and I only am gotten away, to tell thee."

and suddenly there came a mighty great wind out of the South, and smote the four corners of the house: which fell upon thy children, so that they are dead, and I alone am gotten away, to tell thee."

And the adversary will answer Jehovah and say, Skin for skin, and all which is to a man he will give for his soul.

And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps).

Now when the three friends of Job heard of all this misfortune which had befallen him, - they came, every man from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, - for they had by appointment met together to come to shew sympathy with him, and to comfort him.

“Let the day perish on which I was to be born,
And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’

With kings and counsellers of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves;

“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be,
As infants that never saw light.

There, are those let out free which have been in prison, so that they hear no more the voice of the oppressor.

Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

That should be joy to the man whose way is hid, which God keepeth back from him.

For I feared a fear, and it hath come upon me, and that which I dreaded hath come to me.

Dread and trembling came upon me,
Which made all my bones shake.

How much more the dwellers in houses of clay, which, in the dust, have their foundation, which are crushed sooner than a moth:

Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.

“Call now, is there anyone who will answer you?
And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

Which his harvest the hungry one will devour, and not from thorns shall they take it, and destruction gaped after their substance.

Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:

Which giveth rain upon the earth, and poureth water upon all things;

To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.

Which destroyeth the devices of the subtle, so that they are not able to perform the things that they take in hand;

which compasseth the wise in their own craftiness, and overthroweth the counsel of the wicked.

Because the arrows of the Almighty are within me,
My spirit drinks their poison;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Shall that which is insipid be eaten without salt? Is there any taste in the white of an egg?

Then should I yet have comfort; and in the pain which spareth not I would rejoice that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

“My brothers have acted deceitfully like a wadi,
Like the torrents of wadis which vanish,

Which are turbid because of ice
And into which the snow melts.

“The paths of their course wind along,
They go up into nothing and perish.
[Your counsel is as helpful to me as a dry streambed in the heat of summer.]

How steadfast are the words of truth! And which of you can rebuke or reprove them?

Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

“Inquire, please, of past generations,
And consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers.

Which his hope shall be cut off, and the spider's house his trust

Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.

Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.

Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.

Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

One thing, there is, for which cause, I have said it, The blameless and the lawless, he bringeth to an end.

They have passed away with boats of paper-reed, like a vulture which rusheth upon food.

Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,

The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.”

That he would declare to thee the secrets of wisdom, for they are double to that which actually is, - -Know then that GOD could bring into forgetfulness for thee, a portion of thine iniquity.

Surely He knows which people are worthless.
If He sees iniquity, will He not take note of it?

If thou put far away the iniquity which is in thy hand, and let not wrong dwell in thy tents;

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.

Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this,

Which in his hand the soul of all living, and the spirit of all the flesh of man.

“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],

And, a man himself, as a rotten thing, weareth out, as a garment which the moth hath eaten.

If his days are determined, if the number of his months is with thee, and thou hast appointed his bounds which he must not pass,

Go from him, that he may rest until his day come: which he looketh for, like as a hireling doth.

The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man.

“But his body [lamenting its decay] grieves in pain over it,
And his soul mourns over [the loss of] himself.”

“Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which are not profitable?

What knowest thou that we know not? what understandest thou which is not in us?

Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you?

What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

How much less [pure and clean is] the one who is repulsive and corrupt,
Man, who drinks unrighteousness and injustice like water!

“I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;

Which the wise declare -- And have not hid -- from their fathers.

“He has lived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ruins.

May words which are like the wind be stopped? or what is troubling you to make answer to them?

“You have taken a firm hold on me and have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness [against me];
And my leanness [and infirmity] rises up [as evidence] against me,
It testifies to my face [about my guilt].

When, a few years, come, then, by a path by which I shall not return, shall I depart.

My days are past, my thoughts are vanished away, which have vexed my heart,

Why are we counted as animals, which have become unclean in your sight?

“The vigorous stride will be shortened,
And his own counsel and the scheme [in which he trusted] will bring his downfall.

“He is torn from his tent which he trusted [for safety],
And he is marched and brought to the king of terrors (death).

In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house.

know this then: that it is God which hath handled me so violently, and hath compassed me about with his net.

His men of war came together, which made their way over me, and besieged my dwelling round about.

Which I shall see for myself, and mine eyes beheld, and not a stranger: my reins were finished in my bosom.

Make sure that you remain wary of God's sword, for God's wrath brings with it the sword of punishment, by which you'll know there's a judgment."

“I listened to the reproof which insults me,
And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

Like his own dung doth he perish for ever; they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And his place no longer beholds him.

His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

“He sucks the poison of vipers [which ill-gotten wealth contains];
The viper’s tongue slays him.

He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter.

That which he laboured for shall he restore, and not swallow down; its restitution shall be according to the value, and he shall not rejoice therein.

“For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor;
He has seized a house which he has not built.

There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight.

Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; a fire which has not been kindled will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

Is it with a man, that I make this disputation? Which if it were so, should not my spirit be then in sore trouble?

“Are they as straw before the wind,
And like chaff which the storm carries away?

“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plans by which you would wrong me.

For you say, 'Where now is the nobleman's house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?'

Who doth declare to his face his way? And for that which he hath done, Who doth give recompence to him?

Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?

“Will you keep to the ancient path
Which wicked men have trod,

Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

‘Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed,
And fire has consumed their abundance.’

He shall give thee a harvest, which in plenty and abundance shall exceed the dust of the earth, and the gold of Ophir like river stones.

“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And perceive what He would say to me.

Because he knows the road on which I travel, when he had tested me, I'll come out like gold.

“For He performs what is planned (appointed) for me,
And He is mindful of many such things.