They sing to the timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

And they say to God, 'Turn aside from us, And the knowledge of Thy ways We have not desired.

What is the Mighty One that we serve Him? And what do we profit when we meet with Him?'

Look, their prosperity [is] not in their hands; the schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and cometh their calamity upon them? Doth he distribute sorrows to them in his anger?

Do they become as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away?

“You say, ‘God stores away [the punishment of] man’s wickedness for his children.’
Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it.

What will they care for their household after them, when the number of his months comes to an end?"

To God doth one teach knowledge, And He the high doth judge?

One comes to his end in complete well-being, full of peace and quiet:

And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good.

Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm.

Lo, I have known your thoughts, And the devices against me ye do wrongfully.

Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.

And how do ye comfort me with vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?

Can a man be profitable to God? surely it is unto himself that the wise man is profitable.

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

Does He correct you and take you to court
because of your piety?

Is not thy wickedness great? Neither is there any end to thine iniquities.

Surely then hast been wont to put thy brother in pledge, for nothing, and, the garments of the ill-clad, hast thou stripped off:

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

As to the man of arm -- he hath the earth, And the accepted of face -- he dwelleth in it.

Your light is made dark so that you are unable to see, and you are covered by a mass of waters.

Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!

And you say, What knowledge has God? is he able to give decisions through the deep dark?

Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

“Will you keep to the ancient path
That wicked men walked [in the time of Noah],

Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

Yet he himself filled up their houses [with] good [things], but [the] schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

‘Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed,
And fire has consumed their abundance.’

“Now yield and submit yourself to Him [agree with God and be conformed to His will] and be at peace;
In this way [you will prosper and great] good will come to you.

Be pleased to take teaching from his mouth, and let his words be stored up in your heart.

If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

So as to set on the dust a defence, And on a rock of the valleys a covering.

And the Mighty hath been thy defence, And silver is strength to thee.

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

“You will pray to Him, and He will hear you,
And you will pay your vows.

And thou decreest a saying, And it is established to thee, And on thy ways hath light shone.

For God makes low those whose hearts are lifted up, but he is a saviour to the poor in spirit.

Job's response was to say:

Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

to plead my cause before him, and to fill my mouth with arguments:

I know the words He doth answer me, And understand what He saith to me.

“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.

Lo, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I do not perceive him;

To the left in His working -- and I see not, He is covered on the right, and I behold not.

“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].

My foot hath held fast to his steps; His way have I kept, and turned not aside.

I haven't gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, that will he do.

For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs

God has caused me to faint; the Almighty makes me terrified!

Nevertheless, I haven't been silenced because of the darkness, even when thick darkness obscures my vision."

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

The borders they reach, A drove they have taken violently away, Yea, they do evil.

They turn aside the needy out of the way, at once, are the humbled of the land made to hide themselves.

Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

“They are wet from the rain of the mountains
And cling to the rock for lack of shelter.

“Others snatch the fatherless [infants] from the breast [to sell or make them slaves],
And against the poor they take a pledge [of clothing].

They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

Between their walls, are they exposed to the sun, Wine-presses, they tread, and yet are thirsty;

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

"Those are among [the ones] rebelling [against the] light; they do not recognize his ways, and they do not stay in his paths.

The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.

In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.

For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

They float on the surface of the water.
Their section of the land is cursed,
so that they never go to their vineyards.

Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld.

The womb will forget them. Maggots will find them to be a delicacy! They won't be remembered anymore, their iniquity will be cut to pieces like firewood.

He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life.

Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

They are exalted a little, and are not, Yea having been laid low, like all men, are they gathered, Even as the top of an ear of corn, do they hang down.

"And if [it is] not [so], then who can prove me a liar and reduce my word to nothing?"

Dominion and dread belong to Him,
the One who establishes harmony in the heavens.

Is their any number to His troops? And on whom ariseth not His light?

How then is it possible for man to be upright before God? or how may he be clean who is a son of woman?

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength!

What -- thou hast given counsel to the unwise, And wise plans in abundance made known.

To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

Naked is Sheol over-against Him, And there is no covering to destruction.

He wraps up the waters in His clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight.

He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

Pillars of the heavens do tremble, And they wonder because of His rebuke.

By his power he stills the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.

Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways: And how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?

And Job addeth to lift up his simile, and saith: --

My lips do not speak perverseness, And my tongue doth not utter deceit.

God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

On my righteousness I have laid hold, And I do not let it go, My heart doth not reproach me while I live.

Will his cry come to the ears of God when he is in trouble?