“They waited for me [and for my words] as for the rain,
And they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.

“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king among his soldiers,
As one who comforts mourners.

“They are driven from the community;
They shout after them as after a thief.

“As through a wide breach they come,
Amid the crash [of falling walls] they roll on [over me].

“Terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my honor and reputation like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

(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),

If I beheld the sun [as an object of worship] when it shone
Or the moon going in its splendor,

“I assure you, the men of my tent have said,
‘Who can find one [in need] who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

“Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder,
And bind the scroll around my head like a crown.

“I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life],
Approaching His presence as if I were a prince.

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

“However, Job, please listen to my words,
And pay attention to everything I say.

“Behold, I belong to God like you;
I too was formed out of the clay.

‘Behold, God finds pretexts against me;
He counts me as His enemy.

“For the ear puts words to the test
As the palate tastes food.

“He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,

“Shall God’s retribution [for your sins] be on your terms, because you refuse to accept it?
For you must do the choosing, and not I;
Therefore say what you [truthfully] know.

“For you say, ‘What advantage have you [by living a righteous life]?
What profit will I have, more [by being righteous] than if I had sinned?’

“Your wickedness affects only a man such as you,
And your righteousness affects only a son of man [but it cannot affect God, who is sovereign].

“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.

“For He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from the mist,

“Can you, with Him, spread out the sky,
Strong as a molten mirror?

“Where is the way where light dwells?
And as for darkness, where is its place,

“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor is in vain because she is unconcerned [for the safety of her brood],

“The quiver rattles against him,
[As do] the flashing spear and the lance [of his rider].

“As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Aha!’
And he smells the battle from far away,
And senses the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,
Stretching his wings toward the south [as winter approaches]?

“Behold now, Behemoth, which I created as well as you;
He eats grass like an ox.

“Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him [and put him on a leash] for your maidens?

“His strong scales are his pride,
Bound together as with a tight seal.

“Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and [as from] burning rushes.

“His heart is as hard as a stone,
Indeed, as solid as a lower millstone.

“He considers iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.

“The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are treated as stubble by him.

“Clubs [also] are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rushing and the rattling of the javelin.

It came about that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him [and his prayer] so that I may not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has.”

So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

In all the land there were found no women so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

‘Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give [You] the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth as Your possession.

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;
No evil [person] dwells with You.

But as for me, I will enter Your house through the abundance of Your steadfast love and tender mercy;
At Your holy temple I will bow [obediently] in reverence for You.

For You, O Lord, bless the righteous man [the one who is in right standing with You];
You surround him with favor as with a shield.

My soul [as well as my body] is greatly dismayed.
But as for You, O Lord—how long [until You act on my behalf]?

His ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments [Lord] are on high, out of his sight [so he never thinks about them];
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
Seek out his wickedness until You find no more.

The wicked strut about [in pompous self-importance] on every side,
As vileness is exalted and baseness is prized among the sons of men.

Have all the workers of wickedness and injustice no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?

As for the saints (godly people) who are in the land,
They are the majestic and the noble and the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

Keep me [in Your affectionate care, protect me] as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me in the [protective] shadow of Your wings

He is like a lion eager to tear [his prey],
And like a young lion lurking in hiding places.

As for me, I shall see Your face in righteousness;
I will be [fully] satisfied when I awake [to find myself] seeing Your likeness.

He made darkness His hiding place (covering); His pavilion (canopy) around Him,
The darkness of the waters, the thick clouds of the skies.

As for God, His way is blameless.
The word of the Lord is tested [it is perfect, it is faultless];
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the dirt of the streets.

As soon as they hear me, they respond and obey me;
Foreigners feign obedience to me.

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

You will make them as [if in] a blazing oven in the time of your anger;
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire will devour them.

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who [diligently] seek Him and require Him [as their greatest need] will praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!

But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;
Redeem me and be merciful and gracious to me.

When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].

Hear the voice of my supplication (specific requests, humble entreaties) as I cry to You for help,
As I lift up my hands and heart toward Your innermost sanctuary (Holy of Holies).

The Lord sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.

As for me, in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be moved.”

By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.

Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.

As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications (specific requests)
When I cried to You [for help].

He gathers the waters of the sea together as in a wineskin;
He puts the deeps in storehouses.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance.

The Lord is near to the heartbroken
And He saves those who are crushed in spirit (contrite in heart, truly sorry for their sin).

Let them be [blown away] like chaff before the wind [worthless, without substance],
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.

Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

I behaved as if grieving for my friend or my brother;
I bowed down in mourning, as one who sorrows for his mother.

For they will wither quickly like the grass,
And fade like the green herb.

He will make your righteousness [your pursuit of right standing with God] like the light,
And your judgment like [the shining of] the noonday [sun].

But the wicked (ungodly) will perish,
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke],
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.

As for transgressors, they will be completely destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be cut off.

For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood];
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

My heart throbs violently, my strength fails me;
And as for the light of my eyes, even that has also gone from me.

I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will muzzle my mouth
While the wicked are in my presence.”

“Behold, You have made my days as [short as] hand widths,
And my lifetime is as nothing in Your sight.
Surely every man at his best is a mere breath [a wisp of smoke, a vapor that vanishes]! Selah.

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and listen to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am Your temporary guest,
A sojourner like all my fathers.

I have proclaimed good news of righteousness [and the joy that comes from obedience to You] in the great assembly;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips [from proclaiming Your righteousness],
As You know, O Lord.

Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”

Even though I am afflicted and needy,
Still the Lord takes thought and is mindful of me.
You are my help and my rescuer.
O my God, do not delay.

As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.

As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,
So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.

As a crushing of my bones [with a sword], my adversaries taunt me,
While they say continually to me, “Where is your God?”

But for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.

Panic seized them there,
And pain, as that of a woman in childbirth.

As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God:
God will establish her forever. Selah.

As is Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness, justice).

Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.

As for me, I shall call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.

They attack, they hide and lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have [expectantly] waited to take my life.