The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.”

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”

“Teach me, and I will be silent;
And show me how I have erred.

“He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;
He holds tightly to it, but it does not endure.

“Oh, that you would be completely silent,
And that silence would be your wisdom!

“Be silent before me so that I may speak;
And let happen to me what may.

“Who will argue and contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.

“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].

“Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his ways,
And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

“A snare catches him by the heel,
And a trap snaps shut on him.

“Even when I remember, I am troubled and afraid;
Horror and trembling take hold of my flesh.

“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once],
And the cloud does not burst under them.

“I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

“Its stones are the bed of sapphires;
It holds dust of gold.

He holds back his soul from the pit [of destruction],
And his life from passing over into Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).

“Pay attention, Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will speak.

“If not [and you have nothing to say], listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

“But you [Job] were full of judgment on the wicked,
Judgment and justice take hold of you.

So that light may take hold of the corners of the earth
And shake the wickedness out of it?

“The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor [does] the spear, the dart, or the javelin.