‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’

“You say, ‘God stores away a man’s iniquity for his sons.’
Let God repay him so that he may know it.

“Let his own eyes see his decay,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

“For what does he care for his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?

“Who will confront him with his actions,
And who will repay him for what he has done?

“The clods of the valley will gently cover him;
Moreover, all men will follow after him,
While countless ones go before him.

‘Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see;
And He walks on the vault of heaven.’

“Yield now and be at peace with Him;
Thereby good will come to you.

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

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

“I would present my case before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.

“There the upright would reason with Him;
And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

“But He is unique and who can turn Him?
And what His soul desires, that He does.

“For He performs what is appointed for me,
And many such decrees are with Him.

“Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence;
When I consider, I am terrified of Him.

“Why are times not stored up by the Almighty,
And why do those who know Him not see His days?

“For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness,
For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.

“A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds sweetly till he is no longer remembered.
And wickedness will be broken like a tree.

“Dominion and awe belong to Him
Who establishes peace in His heights.

“Naked is Sheol before Him,
And Abaddon has no covering.

“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”

“Will God hear his cry
When distress comes upon him?

“Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.

“The east wind carries him away, and he is gone,
For it whirls him away from his place.

“For it will hurl at him without sparing;
He will surely try to flee from its power.

“Men will clap their hands at him
And will hiss him from his place.

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

What then could I do when God arises?
And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him?

“Did not He who made me in the womb make him,
And the same one fashion us in the womb?

“Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy,
Or exulted when evil befell him?

“I would declare to Him the number of my steps;
Like a prince I would approach Him.

“Do not say,
‘We have found wisdom;
God will rout him, not man.’

“For he has not arranged his words against me,
Nor will I reply to him with your arguments.

“Why do you complain against Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?

“If there is an angel as mediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To remind a man what is right for him,

Then let him be gracious to him, and say,
‘Deliver him from going down to the pit,
I have found a ransom’;

Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;

Then he will pray to God, and He will accept him,
That he may see His face with joy,
And He may restore His righteousness to man.

“For He pays a man according to his work,
And makes him find it according to his way.

“Who gave Him authority over the earth?
And who has laid on Him the whole world?

Because they turned aside from following Him,
And had no regard for any of His ways;

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—

When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,
That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

“If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?

“If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand?

“How much less when you say you do not behold Him,
The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

“If they hear and serve Him,
They will end their days in prosperity
And their years in pleasures.

“Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a teacher like Him?

“Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

“Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.

“Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him,
And He covers the depths of the sea.

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

“Teach us what we shall say to Him;
We cannot arrange our case because of darkness.

“Shall it be told Him that I would speak?
Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

“The Almighty—we cannot find Him;
He is exalted in power
And He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness.

“Therefore men fear Him;
He does not regard any who are wise of heart.”

“Will you trust him because his strength is great
And leave your labor to him?

“Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain
And gather it from your threshing floor?

“Do you make him leap like the locust?
His majestic snorting is terrible.

“The quiver rattles against him,
The flashing spear and javelin.

“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who reproves God answer it.”

“Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.

“Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
And tread down the wicked where they stand.

“Surely the mountains bring him food,
And all the beasts of the field play there.

“The lotus plants cover him with shade;
The willows of the brook surround him.

“Can anyone capture him when he is on watch,
With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?

“Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him for a servant forever?

“Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you bind him for your maidens?

“Will the traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?

“Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle; you will not do it again!

“Behold, your expectation is false;
Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?

“No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;
Who then is he that can stand before Me?

“Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

“In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.

“The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.

“The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.

“The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

“Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

“Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.

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 so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”

Then all his brothers and all his sisters and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him one piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Many are saying of my soul,
“There is no deliverance for him in God.” Selah.

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself;
The Lord hears when I call to Him.

For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,
You surround him with favor as with a shield.

If I have rewarded evil to my friend,
Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,

Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it;
And let him trample my life down to the ground
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?

Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!

You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.
All his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;
He lurks to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”

You, O Lord, will keep them;
You will preserve him from this generation forever.

And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

Arise, O Lord, confront him, bring him low;
Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,

In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.