Before I go--and I will not return-- to [the] land of darkness and deep shadow,

And Zophar the Naamathite will answer and say,

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

Will your irrational babble silence people, and when you mock them, will you escape without being shamed?

But who will grant that God would speak, and open His lips against you,

and disclose his wise secrets? After all, there's so much more to understanding. So be aware that God will exact from you less than your sin deserves."

Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all?

If he pass through, and shut up, And all unto judgment, then who can hinder him?

For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

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

"Now for you, if you will prepare your heart, spread out your hands to him.

if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—

surely then you will lift up your face without blemish, and you will be firmly established and will not fear.

For you yourself will forget your misery; you will remember [it] as water [that] has flowed past.

"{And your life will be brighter than noon}; [its] darkness will be like the morning.

And you will have confidence because there is hope; and you will be well protected--{you will sleep in safety}.

And you will lie down, and {no one will make you afraid}; {and many will entreat your favor}.

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and all refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope shall be the breathing out of life.

And Job will answer and say,

“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world],
And wisdom will die with you!

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

I am to be one that is a derision to his friend, I who call upon +God, and whom he will answer: a derision is the just upright man.

"The houses of robbers are in wealth and prosperity; and they that maliciously meddle against God, dwell without care: yea, God giveth all things richly with his hand.

“Now ask the animals, and let them teach you [that God does not deal with His creatures according to their character];
And ask the birds of the air, and let them tell you;

Or speak to the earth [with its many forms of life], and it will teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare [this truth] to you.

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

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

If he tears down, then it will not be rebuilt; if he shuts a man in, then he cannot be freed.

Behold, he will hold back upon the waters, and they will dry up: and he will send them forth and they will overturn the earth.

Leading away counselors stripped off and he will make foolish the judges

He loosed the bonds of kings, and he will gird upon their loins a girdle.

Leading away priests stripped off, and he will overthrow the mighty.

Removing the lip to the faithful, and he will take discernment of old men.

Revealing deep things from darkness, and he will bring to light the shadow of death.

Making great to the nations, and he will destroy them: he spread out to the nations, and he will guide them.

Taking away the heart of the heads of the people of the earth, and he will cause them to wander in a waste, not a way.

They will feel darkness and not light, and he will cause them to wander as one intoxicated.

Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.

But I will speak to the Almighty, and will find pleasure in reasoning with God;

But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

I wish you'd all just shut up. Then at least you would appear to be wise.

Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God?

Is it good that he should search you out? Or as one deceiveth a man, will ye deceive him?

He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

Will not his majesty terrify you, and his dread fall upon you?

“Your memorable sayings are [worthless, merely] proverbs of ashes;
Your defenses are defenses of [crumbling] clay.

Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

“This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before Him.

Please look, I have prepared [my] case; I know that I myself will be vindicated.

Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost.

Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me.

“Will You cause a windblown leaf to tremble?
Will You pursue the chaff of the dry stubble?

Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

While I am decaying like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

And as a flower he will come forth, and will be cut down: and he will flee as a shadow, and shall not stand.

Do You really take notice of one like this?
Will You bring me into judgment against You?

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

"But when a person dies and wastes away, when a person breathes his last, where will he be?

The waters departed from the sea, and the river will be wasted and dried up;

So man lies down and does not rise [again].
Until the heavens are no longer,
The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.

Who will grant that You would hide me in the grave, that You would keep me secret, until Your wrath is past, that You would set me a fixed time and remember me?

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

"For thou hast numbered all my goings, yet be not thou too extreme upon my sins.

But, in very deed, a mountain falling, will lie prostrate, or, a rock moved out of its place:

You overpower him once and for all, and then he departs; you change his appearance and then send him away.

His sons will be honored and he knew not: they will be brought low, and he will not understand for them.

While he liveth, his flesh must have travail: And while the soul is in him, he must be in sorrow."

and EliPhaz the Temanite will answer and say,

Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value?

For thy mouth will accustom itself to thine iniquity, and thou wilt choose the tongue of the crafty.

Your own mouth is condemning you, not I; your own lips will testify against you."

Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself?

“Why does your heart carry you away [allowing you to be controlled by emotion]?
And why do your eyes flash [in anger or contempt],

as you turn your anger against God
and allow such words to leave your mouth?

What is man that he will be clean? and that he will be just, being born of woman?

Behold, in his holy ones he will, not trust; and the heavens were not clean in his eyes.

I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

Which the wise ones will announce, and he hid it not from their fathers.

The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

Sounds of terror [are] in his ears; in prosperity [the] destroyer will come [against] him.

“He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered],
And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].

Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all,

He will run against him upon the neck, upon the thicknesses of his shields:

whereas he covereth his face with fatness, and maketh his body well liking.

{he will dwell} [in] desolate cities, in houses that they should not inhabit, which are destined for rubble.

He will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure, and their possessions will not stretch across the earth.

"He will not escape from darkness; a flame will dry up his new shoot, and by the wind of his mouth he shall be removed.

Let him not trust in emptiness--he will be deceiving himself-- for worthlessness will be his recompense.

“It will be fulfilled while he still lives,
And his branch will not be green [but shall wither away].

"He will shake off his unripe fruit like the vine, and he will cast off his blossom like the olive tree;

For the company of the godless will have no children,
and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.

And Job will answer and say,

I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.