My soul refused to touch these as the loathsomeness of my bread.

If only my request would be granted
and God would provide what I hope for:

Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

“What strength do I have left, that I should wait [and hope]?
And what is ahead of me, that I should be patient and endure?

Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?

And if not my help in me? and deliverance fled from me?

To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;

Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid:

What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish.

The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them.

They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water.
When they arrive there, they are frustrated.

“Indeed, you have now become like a dried-up stream,
You see a terror [believing me to be a victim of the wrath of God] and are afraid [to be compassionate].

Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?

Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?

How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what doth it reprove?

Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?

Yea, ye would cast lots upon the fatherless, And make merchandise of your friend.

Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie.

Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me.

Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?

Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:

So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my skin is broken, and become loathsome.

My days were swift above a weaver's shuttle, and will finish with no more of hope.

The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.

“As a cloud vanishes and is gone,
So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him.

Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, that you must put me under guard?

If I say, "My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,"

Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear;

I hate the thought of living forever! Leave me alone, because my days are pointless."

What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him?

I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself?

“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
And take away my sin and guilt?
For now I will lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me [diligently], but I will not be.”

How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?

Does God give wrong decisions? or is the Ruler of all not upright in his judging?

If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;

If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;

If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?

Though while still, in its freshness, it be not plucked off, yet, before any kind of grass, it doth wither:

So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:

Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web.

He will lean himself against his house, but it will not stand; he will take hold of it, but it will not endure.

He is full of sap before the sun, and his sprout shooteth forth over his garden;

His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.

If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

Behold, God will not cast off a perfect man, neither will he take evil-doers by the hand.

Yet he will fill your mouth [with] laughter and your lips [with] a shout of joy.

They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?

Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.

He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.

Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.

Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

"{If} he passes by me, {I would not see him}; and [if] he should move on, {I would not recognize him}.

{If} he would snatch away, who could turn him? Who could say to him, 'What are you doing?'

If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

He troubleth me so with the tempest, and woundeth me out of measure without a cause.

He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.

If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?

If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.

If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?

They pass by like skiffs of reed; as an eagle that swoops upon the prey.

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.

If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?

If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;

then You dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!

But if a man like myself -- I answer him, We come together into judgment.

If there were between us an umpire, He doth place his hand on us both.

He doth turn aside from off me his rod, And His terror doth not make me afraid,

Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?

Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,

That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,

Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
So will You turn me into dust again?

You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and wove me together with bones and tendons.

But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts:

If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;