There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

And the Satan said in answer to the Lord, Is it for nothing that Job is a god-fearing man?

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

And the Lord said to the Satan, See, he is in your hands, only do not take his life.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

As for that night, let it have no fruit; let no voice of joy be sounded in it;

With kings and the wise ones of the earth, who put up great houses for themselves;

Or with rulers who had gold, and whose houses were full of silver;

Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

There the passions of the evil are over, and those whose strength has come to an end have rest.

The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master.

Why does he give light to him who is in trouble, and life to the bitter in soul;

To those whose desire is for death, but it comes not; who are searching for it more than for secret wealth;

To a man whose way is veiled, and who is shut in by God?

For I have a fear and it comes on me, and my heart is greatly troubled.

If one says a word, will it be a weariness to you? but who is able to keep from saying what is in his mind?

But now it has come on you and it is a weariness to you; you are touched by it and your mind is troubled.

Is not your fear of God your support, and your upright way of life your hope?

What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.

How much more those living in houses of earth, whose bases are in the dust! They are crushed more quickly than an insect;

If their tent-cord is pulled up, do they not come to an end, and without wisdom?

Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer?

For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion.

Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring.

But trouble is man's fate from birth, as the flames go up from the fire.

But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him:

Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes.

He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly.

In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night.

So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped.

Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all.

When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword.

And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone.

You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time.

See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.

For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me.

Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food?

Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain?

My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food.

Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh brass?

I have no help in myself, and wisdom is completely gone from me.

He whose heart is shut against his friend has given up the fear of the Ruler of all.

Which are dark because of the ice, and the snow falling into them;

How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments?

Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend.

Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

As a servant desiring the shades of evening, and a workman looking for his payment:

When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light.

My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again.

O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good.

A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again.

I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath.

What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him,

And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?

Does God give wrong decisions? or is the Ruler of all not upright in his judging?

If your children have done evil against him, then their punishment is from his hand.

When it is still green, without being cut down, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant.

So is the end of all who do not keep God in mind; and the hope of the evil-doer comes to nothing:

Whose support is cut off, and whose hope is no stronger than a spider's thread.

He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing.

He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden.

If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.

Such is the joy of his way, and out of the dust another comes up to take his place.

Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.

Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?

He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?

It is he who takes away the mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his wrath:

Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:

By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea:

If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day?

It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.

The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?

For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge.

There is no one to give a decision between us, who might have control over us.

Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.

My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry.

I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me.

What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers?

Have you eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees?

Are your days as the days of man, or your years like his,

Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands?

And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place.

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

A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.

Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes.

They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge;

For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it.

And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching.

And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.

And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet;

But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.

But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these?

It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of!

In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.

In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh of man.