The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

Call, I pray thee! Is there any that answereth thee? and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?

And thou shalt know that thy tent is in peace; and thou wilt survey thy fold, and miss nothing.

For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas; therefore my words are vehement.

Doth the wild ass bray by the grass? loweth an ox over his fodder?

Oh that I might have my request, and that +God would grant my desire!

And that it would please +God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

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.

How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

How long wilt thou speak these things? and the words of thy mouth be a strong wind?

Whilst he would fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with shouting,

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge.

If I had called, and he had answered me, I would not believe that he hearkened to my voice, --

If I justified myself, mine own mouth would condemn me; were I perfect, he would prove me perverse.

Were I perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

I am afraid of all my sorrows; I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.

Then wouldest thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes would abhor me.

Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again.

But oh that +God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by much of thine iniquity!

It is as the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?

Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born like the foal of a wild ass.

Oh that ye would be altogether silent! and it would be your wisdom.

Behold, if he slay me, yet would I trust in him; but I will defend mine own ways before him.

Wilt thou terrify a driven leaf? and wilt thou pursue dry stubble?

Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stock die in the ground,

(If a man die, shall he live again?) all the days of my time of toil would I wait, till my change should come:

Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee; thou wouldest have a desire after the work of thy hands.

But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips should assuage your pain.

For thou hast hidden their heart from understanding; therefore thou wilt not exalt them.

Behold, I cry out of wrong, and I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

Oh would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book!

Knowest thou not this, that of old, since man was placed upon earth,

Wherefore do the wicked live, grow old, yea, become mighty in power?

I would order the cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments;

I would know the words he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Would he plead against me with his great power? Nay; but he would give heed unto me.

There would an upright man reason with him; and I should be delivered for ever from my judge.

Lo, as wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work, seeking early for the prey: the wilderness yieldeth them food for their children.

And God shall cast upon him and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and into the house of assemblage for all living.

For what would have been my portion of +God from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.

This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

Would I not take it upon my shoulder? I would bind it on to me as a crown;

I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I come near to him.

That ye may not say, We have found out wisdom; God will make him yield, not man.

For I know not how to flatter; my Maker would soon take me away.

All flesh would expire together, and man would return to the dust.

Should he that hateth right indeed govern? and wilt thou condemn the All-just?

Because they have turned back from him, and would consider none of his ways;

Would that Job may be tried unto the end, because of his answers after the manner of evil men!

Even so would he have allured thee out of the jaws of distress into a broad place, where there is no straitness; and the supply of thy table would be full of fatness.

And the wild beast goeth into its lair, and they remain in their dens.

Shall it be told him if I would speak? if a man so say, surely he shall be swallowed up.

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? dost thou mark the calving of the hinds?

Who hath sent out the wild ass free? and who hath loosed the bands of the onager,

Wilt thou put confidence in him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

Wilt thou trust him to bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?

Wilt thou also annul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me that thou mayest be righteous?

Wilt thou draw out the leviathan with the hook, and press down his tongue with a cord?

Wilt thou put a rush-rope into his nose, and pierce his jaw with a spike?

Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him as a bondman for ever?

Wilt thou play with him as with a bird, and wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

Wilt thou fill his skin with darts, and his head with fish-spears?

He maketh the path to shine after him: one would think the deep to be hoary.

And Job died, old and full of days.