He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me.

I am strange to my women-servants, and seem to them as one from another country.

All the men of my circle keep away from me; and those dear to me are turned against me.

Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth,

Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?

Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;

He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him;

Their houses are free from fear, and the rod of God does not come on them.

Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways.

Truly, is not their well-being in their power? (The purpose of the evil-doers is far from me.)

You do not give water to the tired traveller, and from him who has no food you keep back bread.

Who said to God, Go away from us; and, What is the Ruler of all able to do to us?

Though he made their houses full of good things: but the purpose of the evil-doers is far from me!

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

If you come back to the Ruler of all, making yourself low before him; if you put evil far away from your tents;

He makes safe the man who is free from sin, and if your hands are clean, salvation will be yours.

There an upright man might put his cause before him; and I would be free for ever from my judge.

Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children.

They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.

The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.

Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields.

From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.

The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree.

To whom have your words been said? and whose spirit came out from you?

Let it be far from me! I will certainly not say that you are right! I will come to death before I give up my righteousness.

I will give you teaching about the hand of God; I will not keep secret from you what is in the mind of the Ruler of all.

This is the punishment of the evil-doer from God, and the heritage given to the cruel by the Ruler of all.

He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage.

Men make signs of joy because of him, driving him from his place with sounds of hissing.

He makes a deep mine far away from those living in the light of day; when they go about on the earth, they have no knowledge of those who are under them, who are hanging far from men, twisting from side to side on a cord.

He keeps back the streams from flowing, and makes the secret things come out into the light.

From where then does wisdom come, and where is the resting-place of knowledge?

For it is kept secret from the eyes of all living, unseen by the birds of the air.

And he said to man, Truly the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to keep from evil is the way to knowledge.

The young men saw me, and went away, and the old men got up from their seats;

Of what use is the strength of their hands to me? all force is gone from them.

They are pulling off the salt leaves from the brushwood, and making a meal of roots.

They are sent out from among their townsmen, men are crying after them as thieves

I am disgusting to them; they keep away from me, and put marks of shame on me.

The flesh is gone from my bones, and they give me no rest; there is no end to my pains.

For what is God's reward from on high, or the heritage given by the Ruler of all from heaven?

(For I was cared for by God as by a father from my earliest days; he was my guide from the body of my mother;)

May my arm be pulled from my body, and be broken from its base.

A secret feeling of worship came into my heart, and my hand gave kisses from my mouth;

And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, made answer and said, I am young, and you are very old, so I was in fear, and kept myself from putting my knowledge before you.

See, I am the same as you are in the eyes of God; I was cut off from the same bit of wet earth.

In order that man may be turned from his evil works, and that pride may be taken away from him;

To keep back his soul from the underworld, and his life from destruction.

He has no desire for food, and his soul is turned away from delicate meat;

He makes a song, saying, I did wrong, turning from the straight way, but he did not give me the reward of my sin.

He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.

Keeping back his soul from the underworld, so that he may see the light of life.

If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.

Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.

Job's words do not come from knowledge; they are not the fruit of wisdom.

If you are upright, what do you give to him? or what does he take from your hand?

I will get my knowledge from far, and I will give righteousness to my Maker.

Their ear is open to his teaching, and he gives them orders so that their hearts may be turned from evil.

All people are looking on it; man sees it from far.

For he takes up the drops from the sea; he sends them through his mist as rain,

Flowing down from the sky, and dropping on the peoples.

After it a voice is sounding, thundering out the word of his power; he does not keep back his thunder-flames; from his mouth his voice is sounding.

Or where were you when the sea came to birth, pushing out from its secret place;

Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;

And from the evil-doers their light is kept back, and the arm of pride is broken.

For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.

In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.

When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.

From there he is watching for food; his eye sees it far off.

Send destruction on all who are lifted up, pulling down the sinners from their places.

The evil-doers are not so; but are like the dust from the grain, which the wind takes away.

Let their chains be broken, and their cords taken from off us.

Give answer to my cry, O God of my righteousness; make me free from my troubles; have mercy on me, and give ear to my prayer.

There are numbers who say, Who will do us any good? the light of his face has gone from us.

The voice of my sorrow is a weariness to me; all the night I make my bed wet with weeping; it is watered by the drops flowing from my eyes.

Go from me, all you workers of evil; for the Lord has given ear to the voice of my weeping.

If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause;

If a man is not turned from his evil, he will make his sword sharp; his bow is bent and ready.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, and see how I am troubled by my haters; let me be lifted up from the doors of death;

For the evil-doer is lifted up because of the purpose of his heart, and he whose mind is fixed on wealth is turned away from the Lord, saying evil against him.

The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations are gone from his land.

You will keep them, O Lord, you will keep them safe from this generation for ever.

Will you for ever put me out of your memory, O Lord? will your face for ever be turned away from me?

The Lord was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.

Their sorrows will be increased who go after another god: I will not take drink offerings from their hands, or take their names on my lips.

I will give praise to the Lord who has been my guide; knowledge comes to me from my thoughts in the night.

Let my cause come to your ears, O Lord, give attention to my cry; give ear to my prayer which goes not out from false lips.

I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.

There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.

Then the deep beds of the waters were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of your words of wrath, O Lord, because of the breath from your mouth.

He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.

He made me free from my strong hater, and from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.

For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.

And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin.

You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet are kept from slipping.

You have made me free from the fightings of the people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.

From the time when my name comes to their ears they will be ruled by me: men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority.

He makes me free from my haters; I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.

Who is like a newly married man coming from his bride-tent, and is glad like a strong runner starting on his way.