The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

a messenger came to Job and reported: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,

He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house.

Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”

“From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “he is in your power; only spare his life.”

His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

When they looked from a distance, they could barely recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.

If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.

Let those who curse certain days
cast a spell on it,
those who are skilled in rousing Leviathan.

Why did the knees receive me,
and why were there breasts for me to nurse?

or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,
like infants who never see daylight?

The captives are completely at ease;
they do not hear the voice of their oppressor.

Both small and great are there,
and the slave is set free from his master.

who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?

I cannot relax or be still;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.

Should anyone try to speak with you
when you are exhausted?
Yet who can keep from speaking?

Your words have steadied the one who was stumbling
and braced the knees that were buckling.

But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

Isn’t your piety your confidence,
and the integrity of your life your hope?

Consider: who has perished when he was innocent?
Where have the honest been destroyed?

The lion may roar and the fierce lion growl,
but the fangs of young lions are broken.

The strong lion dies if it catches no prey,
and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

“Can a person be more righteous than God,
or a man more pure than his Maker?”

how much more those who dwell in clay houses,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth!

They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
they perish forever while no one notices.

Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.

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His children are far from safety.
They are crushed at the city gate,
with no one to rescue them.

However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and would present my case to Him.

He sets the lowly on high,
and mourners are lifted to safety.

He traps the wise in their craftiness
so that the plans of the deceptive
are quickly brought to an end.

They encounter darkness by day,
and they grope at noon
as if it were night.

You will know that your tent is secure,
and nothing will be missing when you inspect your home.

You will also know that your offspring will be many
and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas!
That is why my words are rash.

Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;
my spirit drinks their poison.
God’s terrors are arrayed against me.

Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
or an ox low over its fodder?

I refuse to touch them;
they are like contaminated food.

Is my strength that of stone,
or my flesh made of bronze?

My brothers are as treacherous as a wadi,
as seasonal streams that overflow

They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.
When they arrive there, they are frustrated.

So this is what you have now become to me.
When you see something dreadful, you are afraid.

Have I ever said: “Give me something”
or “Pay a bribe for me from your wealth”

or “Deliver me from the enemy’s power”
or “Redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless”?

How painful honest words can be!
But what does your rebuke prove?

Do you think that you can disprove my words
or that a despairing man’s words are mere wind?

No doubt you would cast lots for a fatherless child
and negotiate a price to sell your friend.

But now, please look at me;
would I lie to your face?

Is there injustice on my tongue
or can my palate not taste disaster?

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Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

The eye of anyone who looks on me
will no longer see me.
Your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

Am I the sea or a sea monster,
that You keep me under guard?

I give up! I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

Will You ever look away from me,
or leave me alone long enough to swallow?

If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
so that I have become a burden to You?

How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words are a blast of wind.

Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.

if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.

Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.

since we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are but a shadow.

Does papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
Do reeds flourish without water?

His roots are intertwined around a pile of rocks.
He looks for a home among the stones.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a shout of joy.

Your enemies will be clothed with shame;
the tent of the wicked will exist no longer.

If He snatches something, who can stop Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”

How then can I answer Him
or choose my arguments against Him?

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.

Is it good for You to oppress,
to reject the work of Your hands,
and favor the plans of the wicked?

Do You have eyes of flesh,
or do You see as a human sees?

Are Your days like those of a human,
or Your years like those of a man,

even though You know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

“Your hands shaped me and formed me.
Will You now turn and destroy me?

You gave me life and faithful love,
and Your care has guarded my life.

“Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart;
I know that this was Your hidden plan:

If I am proud, You hunt me like a lion
and again display Your miraculous power against me.

You produce new witnesses against me
and multiply Your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.

Are my days not few? Stop it!
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like the darkness.”

Should your babbling put others to silence,
so that you can keep on ridiculing
with no one to humiliate you?

You have said, “My teaching is sound,
and I am pure in Your sight.”

He would show you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your sin.

Can you fathom the depths of God
or discover the limits of the Almighty?

They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

If He passes by and throws someone in prison
or convenes a court, who can stop Him?

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

As for you, if you redirect your heart
and lift up your hands to Him in prayer—

if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—

then you will hold your head high, free from fault.
You will be firmly established and unafraid.

For you will forget your suffering,
recalling it only as waters that have flowed by.

Your life will be brighter than noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.

You will lie down without fear,
and many will seek your favor.

No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!