“And that You examine him every morning
And try and test him every moment?

“If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You,
O Watcher of mankind?
Why have You set me as a target for You,
So that I am a burden to myself?

“Inquire, please, of past generations,
And consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers.

“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,
Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

“For God is not a [mere] man, as I am, that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court and judgment together.

“There is no arbitrator between us,
Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].

“Let Him take His rod away from me,
And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.

‘Does it indeed seem right to You to oppress,
To despise and reject the work of Your hands,
And to look with favor on the schemes of the wicked?

That You seek my guilt
And search for my sin?

‘Although You know that I am not guilty or wicked,
Yet there is no one who can rescue me from Your hand.

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

‘Yet these [present evils] You have hidden in Your heart [since my creation]:
I know that this was within You [in Your purpose and thought].

‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

“Would He not let my few days alone,
Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

“For you have said, ‘My teaching (doctrine) [that God knowingly afflicts the righteous] is pure,
And I am innocent in your eyes.’

“But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips [to speak] against you,

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.

“For you would forget your trouble;
You would remember it as waters that have passed by.

“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;

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

“But I wish to speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to argue with God.

“Oh, that you would be completely silent,
And that silence would be your wisdom!

“This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before Him.

“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.

While I waste away like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

“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].

“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!

“Were you the first man to be born [the original wise man],
Or were you created before the hills?

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

That you should turn your spirit against God
And let such words [as you have spoken] go out of your mouth?

“What is man, that he should be pure and clean,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?

How much less [pure and clean is] the one who is repulsive and corrupt,
Man, who drinks unrighteousness and injustice like water!

“I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;

“The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And numbered are the years stored up for him, the ruthless one.

“He does not believe that he will return out of the darkness [for fear of being murdered],
And he is destined for the sword [of God’s vengeance].

“He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that the day of darkness and destruction is already at hand.

“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.

“Give me a pledge (guarantee, promise) with Yourself [acknowledge my innocence before my death];
Who is there that will be my guarantor and give security for me?

“These [thoughts try to] make the night into the day;
‘The light is near,’ they say in the presence of darkness [but they pervert the truth].

If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’

“Nothing of his dwells in his tent;
Brimstone (burning sulfur) is scattered over his dwelling [to purify it].

“Those in the west are astonished and appalled at his fate,
And those in the east are seized with horror.

“These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me [and harden your hearts against me].

“And if it were true that I have erred,
My error would remain with me [and I would be conscious of it].

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

“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has set darkness upon my paths.

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

“That with an iron stylus and [molten] lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!

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

“If you say, ‘How shall we [continue to] persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find [since we claim the root of these afflictions is found in him]?’

“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,

That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless is only for a moment?

“He gives back what he has labored for and attained
And cannot swallow it [down to enjoy it];
As to the riches of his labor,
He cannot even enjoy them.

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

“There is nothing left of what he devoured;
Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

‘Who [and what] is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?
And what would we gain if we plead with Him?’

“How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out,
And that their disaster falls on them?
Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?

“Are they like straw before the wind,
And like chaff that the storm steals and carries away?

“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.

“Can anyone teach God knowledge,
Seeing that He judges those on high?

“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?

“Can a vigorous man be of use to God,
Or a wise man be useful to himself?

“Is it any pleasure or joy to the Almighty that you are righteous?
Or is it of benefit to Him that you make your ways perfect?

“Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
That He enters into judgment against you?

Or darkness, so that you cannot see,
And a flood of water covers you.

‘Thick clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see,
And He walks on the vault (circle) of the heavens.’

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

‘Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed,
And fire has consumed their abundance.’

“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!

“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].

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

“For He performs what is planned (appointed) for me,
And He is mindful of many such things.

“They harvest their fodder in a field [that is not their own],
And glean the vineyard of the wicked.

“They cause the poor to go about naked without clothing,
And they take away the sheaves [of grain] from the hungry.

“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!
How you have saved the arm that is without strength!

“Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.

“I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God’s actual treatment of the wicked].

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

“Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine],
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

“But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over 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.

“For it is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (destruction, ruin, final torment);
And [illicit passion] would burn and rage and uproot all my [life’s] increase [destroying everything].

If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,

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

Because I feared the great multitude,
And the contempt of families terrified me,
So that I kept silence and did not acknowledge my sin and did not go out of the door?

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

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

Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite said,

“I am young, and you are aged;
For that reason I was anxious and dared not tell you what I think.

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

“I must speak so that I may get relief;
I will open my lips and answer.

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

“The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life [which inspires me].