But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him]; and he will curse You to Your face.”

“Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my skin stood on end!

“Now please look at me,
And see if I lie to your face [for you know that I would not].

Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

“Even though He kills me;
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless, I will argue my ways to His face.

“Why do You hide Your face [as if offended]
And consider me Your enemy?

For he has covered his face with his fat,
Adding layers of fat to his thighs [giving himself up to pleasures],

“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].

“My face is red and swollen with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death [my eyes are dimmed],

“But He has made me a byword and mockery among the people,
And I have become one in whose face people spit.

“But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face,
And who will repay him for what he has done?

Then you will have delight in the Almighty,
And you will lift up your face to God.

But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],
Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.

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

“They are insignificant on the surface of the water;
Their portion is cursed on the earth;
They do not turn toward the vineyards.

“He covers the face of the full moon
And spreads His cloud over it.

“They hate me, they stand aloof from me,
And do not refrain from spitting in my face.

“For tragedy from God is a terror to me,
And because of His majesty and exaltation I can do nothing [nor endure facing Him].

“He will pray to God, and He shall be favorable to him,
So that he looks at His face with joy;
For God restores to man His righteousness [that is, his right standing with God—with its joys].

“When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
When He hides His face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make supplication to Him],
Whether it be a nation or a man by himself?—

“Its direction is turned around by His guidance,
That it may do whatever He commands it
On the face of the inhabited earth.

“Water becomes like stone [and hides itself],
And the surface of the deep is frozen and imprisoned.

“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];
He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”