And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.

“His wisdom is as high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

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

“But I have intelligence and understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these [of God’s wisdom and might]?

“The tents of the destroyers prosper;
And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,
Whom God brings into their power.

“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;

“He removes intelligence and understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth
And makes them wander and move blindly in a pathless waste.

“What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

“But you smear me with lies [you defame my character most untruthfully];
You are all worthless physicians and have no remedy to offer.

“Please hear my argument
And listen to the pleadings of my lips.

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

“Behold now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I will be vindicated.

“How many are my iniquities and sins [that so much sorrow should come to me]?
Make me recognize and understand my transgression and my sin.

“For You write bitter things against me [in Your indictment]
And make me inherit and suffer for the iniquities of my youth.

“Who can make a clean thing out of the unclean?
No one!

“For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that the shoots of it will not cease nor fail, [but there is no such hope for man].

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.

“But now You number [each of] my steps;
You do not observe nor take note of my sin.

“Should he rebuke and argue with useless talk?
Or with words in which there is no benefit?

“What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?

“Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones (angels);
Indeed, the heavens are not pure in His sight—

To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them [corrupting the truth].

And he has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities,
In houses which no one should inhabit,
Which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];

“Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind?
Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?

“If I speak [to you miserable comforters], my pain is not relieved;
And if I refrain [from speaking], what [pain or anguish] leaves me?

“But now God has exhausted me.
You [O Lord] have destroyed all my family and my household.

Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no [resting] place for my cry [where it will cease being heard].

“Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven,
And my Advocate [who vouches and testifies for me] is on high.

“Why are we regarded as beasts,
As if [we are] stupid (senseless) in your eyes?

“Memory of him perishes from the earth,
And he has no name on the street.

Know then that God has wronged me and overthrown me
And has closed His net around me.

“Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not heard;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.

“I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with words.

“Oh, that the words I now speak were written!
Oh, that they were recorded in a scroll!

“For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives,
And at the last He will take His stand upon the earth.

“Then beware and be afraid of the sword [of divine vengeance] for yourselves,
For wrathful are the punishments of that sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

“Do you not know this from the old days,
Since the time that man was placed on the earth,

“The eye which saw him sees him no longer,
Neither does his [accustomed] place behold him any longer.

“Because he knew no quietness or calm within him [because of his greed],
He does not retain anything he desires.

“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.

“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plots by which you would wrong me.

“That evil men are [now] reserved for the day of disaster and destruction,
They will be led away on the day of [God’s] wrath?

“Is not your wickedness great,
And your sins without end?

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

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

“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.

“Oh, that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might [even] come to His seat!

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

“Why does the Almighty not set seasons for judgment?
Why do those who know Him not see His days [for punishment of the wicked]?

“They spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering against the cold.

“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor stay in its paths.

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

“In the dark they dig into [the penetrable walls of] houses;
They shut themselves up by day;
They do not know the light [of day].

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

“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds on him until he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree [which cannot be restored].

“He preys on the barren (childless) woman
And does no good for the widow.

“Behold, even the moon has no brightness [compared to God’s majesty and glory]
And the stars are not pure in His sight,

“How you have counseled the one who has no wisdom!
And how abundantly you have provided sound wisdom and helpful insight!

“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].

“Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And [their] widows will not be able to weep.

“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,
And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.

“No mention of coral and crystal can be made;
For the possession of wisdom is even above [that of] rubies or pearls.

“I was a father to the needy;
I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].

‘My glory and honor are fresh in me [being constantly renewed],
And my bow gains [ever] new strength in my hand.’

“I smiled at them when they did not believe,
And they did not diminish the light of my face.

“But now those younger than I mock and laugh at me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the sheepdogs of my flock.

“They are gaunt with want and famine;
They gnaw the dry and barren ground by night in [the gloom of] waste and desolation.

“And now I have become [the subject of] their taunting;
Yes, I am a byword and a laughingstock to them.

“They break up and clutter my path [upsetting my plans],
They profit from my destruction;
No one restrains them.

“And now my soul is poured out within me;
The days of affliction have seized me.

“My bones are pierced [with aching] in the night season,
And the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

“For I know that You will bring me to death
And to the house of meeting [appointed] for all the living.

Oh, let Him weigh me with accurate scales,
And let God know my integrity.

(But from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father,
And from my mother’s womb I have been the widow’s guide),

“No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By cursing my enemy and asking for his life.

“For if my land has cried out against me,
And its furrows weep together;

Elihu’s anger burned against Job’s three friends because they had found no answer [and were unable to determine Job’s error], and yet they had condemned Job and declared him to be in the wrong [and responsible for his own afflictions].

Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were years older than he.

And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he burned with anger.

“Now Job has not directed his words against me [therefore I have no reason to be offended],
Nor will I answer him with arguments like yours. [I speak for truth, not for revenge.]

“They (Job’s friends) are dismayed and embarrassed, they no longer answer;
The words have moved away and failed them,” [says Elihu].

“And shall I wait, because they say nothing,
But stand still and say no more?

“My belly is like unvented wine;
Like new wineskins it is about to burst.

“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.

“My words will express the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips will speak what they know with utter sincerity.

“Answer me, if you can;
Set yourselves before me, take your stand.

“Why do you complain against Him?
That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.

“Let us choose for ourselves that which is right;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.

“If you now have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.

“In a moment they die, even at midnight
The people are shaken and pass away,
And the powerful are taken away without a [human] hand.

“There is no darkness nor deep shadow
Where the evildoers may hide themselves.

“For He sets no appointed time for a man,
That he should appear before Him in judgment.

So that godless men would not rule
Nor be snares for the people.

Teach me what I do not see [in regard to how I have sinned];
If I have done wrong (injustice, unrighteousness),
I will not do it again’?

“But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs [of rejoicing] in the night,

“And now, because He has not [quickly] punished in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression and arrogance well [and seems unaware of the wrong of which a person is guilty],

Job uselessly opens his mouth
And multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked].”

“Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone [nor regard any as trivial];
He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).