There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was pure and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

So the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil."

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason."

Let those who curse the day curse it -- those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.

with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate,

or with princes who possessed gold, who filled their palaces with silver.

Or why was I not buried like a stillborn infant, like infants who have never seen the light?

"Why does God give light to one who is in misery, and life to those whose soul is bitter,

to those who wait for death that does not come, and search for it more than for hidden treasures,

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

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

"If someone should attempt a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can refrain from speaking?

Your words have supported those who stumbled, and you have strengthened the knees that gave way.

Call to mind now: Who, being innocent, ever perished? And where were upright people ever destroyed?

Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.

how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?

"Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

he sets the lowly on high, that those who mourn are raised to safety.

"Therefore, blessed is the man whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.

Such is the destiny of all who forget God; the hope of the godless perishes,

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength -- who has resisted him and remained safe?

He who removes mountains suddenly, who overturns them in his anger;

he who shakes the earth out of its place so that its pillars tremble;

he who commands the sun and it does not shine and seals up the stars;

If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him, 'What are you doing?'

he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason.

If it is a matter of strength, most certainly he is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, he will say, 'Who will summon me?'

If a land has been given into the hand of a wicked man, he covers the faces of its judges; if it is not he, then who is it?

Nor is there an arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both,

who would take his rod away from me so that his terror would not make me afraid.

although you know that I am not guilty, and that there is no one who can deliver out of your hand?

If he comes by and confines you and convenes a court, then who can prevent him?

I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

I am a laughingstock to my friends, I, who called on God and whom he answered -- a righteous and blameless man is a laughingstock!

But the tents of robbers are peaceful, and those who provoke God are confident -- who carry their god in their hands.

With him are strength and prudence; both the one who goes astray and the one who misleads are his.

Who will contend with me? If anyone can, I will be silent and die.

Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!

how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, who drinks in evil like water!

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

For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.

Make then my pledge with you. Who else will put up security for me?

where then is my hope? And my hope, who sees it?

You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, will the earth be abandoned for your sake? Or will a rock be moved from its place?

Surely such is the residence of an evil man; and this is the place of one who has not known God.'"

All my closest friends detest me; and those whom I love have turned against me.

whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me.

he will perish forever, like his own excrement; those who used to see him will say, 'Where is he?'

People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer.

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?'

Have you never questioned those who travel the roads? Do you not recognize their accounts --

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

But it was he who filled their houses with good things -- yet the counsel of the wicked was far from me.

he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, who will escape through the cleanness of your hands."

But he is unchangeable, and who can change him? Whatever he has desired, he does.

"Why are times not appointed by the Almighty? Why do those who know him not see his days?

There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways and they do not stay on its paths.

The drought as well as the heat carry away the melted snow; so the grave takes away those who have sinned.

"If this is not so, who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?"

Can his armies be numbered? On whom does his light not rise?

how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot -- a son of man, who is only a worm!"

"How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the person who has no strength!

To whom did you utter these words? And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?

Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! How faint is the whisper we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?"

"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter --

Those who survive him are buried by the plague, and their widows do not mourn for them.

for I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him;

I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I lived like a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.

"But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs.

Is it not misfortune for the unjust, and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb?

if the members of my household have never said, 'If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job's meat!' --

It is not the aged who are wise, nor old men who understand what is right.

What man is like Job, who drinks derision like water!

Who entrusted to him the earth? And who put him over the whole world?

Do you really think that one who hates justice can govern? And will you declare guilty the supremely righteous One,

who says to a king, 'Worthless man' and to nobles, 'Wicked men,'

who shows no partiality to princes, and does not take note of the rich more than the poor, because all of them are the work of his hands?

But if God is quiet, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, then who can see him? Yet he is over the individual and the nation alike,

But no one says, 'Where is God, my Creator, who gives songs in the night,

who teaches us more than the wild animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'

For in truth, my words are not false; it is one complete in knowledge who is with you.

Indeed, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him?

Who has prescribed his ways for him? Or said to him, 'You have done what is wicked'?

Who can understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?

Do you know about the balancing of the clouds, that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

"Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge?

Who set its measurements -- if you know -- or who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone --

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

Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains, and a path for the rumble of thunder,

Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew?

From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,

Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind?

Who by wisdom can count the clouds, and who can tip over the water jars of heaven,

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

Who let the wild donkey go free? Who released the bonds of the donkey,