Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.

Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

“Let the stars of its twilight be darkened;
Let it wait for light but have none,
And let it not see the breaking dawn;

Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb,
Or hide trouble from my eyes.

“Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be,
As infants that never saw light.

“According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity
And those who sow trouble harvest it.

So that He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

“He frustrates the plotting of the shrewd,
So that their hands cannot attain success.

“So the helpless has hope,
And unrighteousness must shut its mouth.

“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves,
So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

“Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

“For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend;
So that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty.

“Indeed, you have now become such,
You see a terror and are afraid.

“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face.

So am I allotted months of vanity,
And nights of trouble are appointed me.

“When I lie down I say,
‘When shall I arise?’
But the night continues,
And I am continually tossing until dawn.

“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And come to an end without hope.

“Remember that my life is but breath;
My eye will not again see good.

“When a cloud vanishes, it is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

“Am I the sea, or the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me?

“If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’

So that my soul would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pains.

“Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“How long will you say these things,
And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

“So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the godless will perish,

Whose confidence is fragile,
And whose trust a spider’s web.

“If he is removed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

“In truth I know that this is so;
But how can a man be in the right before God?

Who alone stretches out the heavens
And tramples down the waves of the sea;

“Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

“Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

“It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’

“Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.

“Though I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,’

“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.

‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees?

‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or Your years as man’s years,

“Its measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.

“Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

“He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

“Be silent before me so that I may speak;
Then let come on me what may.

“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

“As water evaporates from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dried up,

So man lies down and does not rise.
Until the heavens are no longer,
He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep.

Water wears away stones,
Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth;
So You destroy man’s hope.

“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put darkness on my paths.

“Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Whom I myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My heart faints within me!

“If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

“Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

He perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
And his place no longer beholds him.

“He sucks the poison of cobras;
The viper’s tongue slays him.

“This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
Even the heritage decreed to him by God.”

“They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

“You say, ‘God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons.’
Let God repay him so that he may know it.

“Let his own eyes see his decay,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

“For you say, ‘Where is the house of the nobleman,
And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’

Or darkness, so that you cannot see,
And an abundance of water covers you.

“You say, ‘What does God know?
Can He judge through the thick darkness?

‘Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see;
And He walks on the vault of heaven.’

“The righteous see and are glad,
And the innocent mock them,

“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And perceive what He would say to me.

When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

“Why are times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not see His days?

“They drive away the donkeys of the orphans;
They take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

“The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’
And he disguises his face.

“Drought and heat consume the snow waters,
So does Sheol those who have sinned.

“Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar,
And make my speech worthless?”

“He quieted the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

“He has built his house like the spider’s web,
Or as a hut which the watchman has made.

“The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.

“The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

“Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.

The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.

“For when the ear heard, it called me blessed,
And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,

“The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

So that they dwell in dreadful valleys,
In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

“Does He not see my ways
And number all my steps?

Let me sow and another eat,
And let my crops be uprooted.

“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or I have lurked at my neighbor’s doorway,

If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw I had support in the gate,

If I have gloated because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had secured so much;

And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men his anger burned.

So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said,
“I am young in years and you are old;
Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.

“So I say, ‘Listen to me,
I too will tell what I think.’

“Behold, I waited for your words,
I listened to your reasonings,
While you pondered what to say.

“Do not say,
‘We have found wisdom;
God will rout him, not man.’

So that his life loathes bread,
And his soul favorite food.

Then let him be gracious to him, and say,
‘Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom’;

Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him,
That he may see His face with joy,
And He may restore His righteousness to man.

“He will sing to men and say,
‘I have sinned and perverted what is right,
And it is not proper for me.

‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,
And my life shall see the light.’

“Then if you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.