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

That He may turn man aside from his conduct,
And keep him from pride;

So that his life makes him loathe food,
And his soul [loathe] even his favorite dishes.

“His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
And his bones which were not seen now stick out.

“He will pray to God, and He shall be favorable to him,
So that he looks at His face with joy;
For God restores to man His righteousness [that is, his right standing with God—with its joys].

“He sings out to other men,
‘I have sinned and perverted that which was right,
And it was not proper for me!

To bring his life back from the pit [of destruction],
That he may be enlightened with the light of the living.

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

“For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
When he takes delight and is pleased with God and obeys Him.’

“Therefore hear me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God that He would do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.

“Shall one who hates justice [and is an enemy of right] govern?
And will you condemn Him who is just and mighty?

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

“Therefore He knows of their works,
And He overthrows them in the night,
So that they are crushed and destroyed.

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And He heard the cry of the afflicted.

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

‘Job speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom and insight.

‘Job ought to be tried to the limit
Because he answers like wicked men!

“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?’

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

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

“Even though you say that you do not see Him [when missing His righteous judgment on earth],
Yet your case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

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

Then He declares to them [the true character of] their deeds
And their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and notions of self-sufficiency].

“He opens their ears to instruction and discipline,
And commands that they return from evil.

“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).

“Remember that you should magnify God’s work,
Of which men have sung.

“Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds
Or the thundering of His pavilion?

“Listen carefully to the thunder of His voice,
And the rumbling that goes out of His mouth!

“God seals (brings to a standstill, stops) [by severe weather] the hand of every man,
That all men [whom He has made] may know His work [that is, His sovereign power and their subjection to it].

“Its direction is turned around by His guidance,
That it may do whatever He commands it
On the face of the inhabited earth.

“So shall it be told Him that I wish to speak?
Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up [and destroyed by God]?

“Who is this that darkens counsel [questioning my authority and wisdom]
By words without knowledge?

So that light may take hold of the corners of the earth
And shake the wickedness out of it?

That you may take it to its territory
And that you may know the paths to its house?

“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
So that an abundance of water will cover you?

“Can you send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, ‘Here we are’?

“Can you count the months that they carry offspring,
Or do you know the time when they give birth?

Forgetting that a foot may crush them,
Or that the wild beast may trample them.

“Yet when she lifts herself on high,
[So swift is she that] she laughs at the horse and his rider.

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

“Will you really annul My judgment and set it aside as void?
Will you condemn Me [your God] that you may [appear to] be righteous and justified?

“[If you can do all this, Job, proving your divine power] then I [God] will also praise you and acknowledge
That your own right hand can save you.

“No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up Leviathan;
Who then is he who can stand before Me [or dares to contend with Me, the beast’s creator]?

“Who has first given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. [Who can have a claim against Me who made the unmastered beast?]

“One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.

“They are joined one to another;
They stick together and cannot be separated.

“I know that You can do all things,
And that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained.

“[You said to me] ‘Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?’
Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

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.”

Then all his brothers and 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 over all the [distressing] adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a piece of money, and each a ring of gold.

Many are saying of me,
“There is no help [no salvation] for him in God.” Selah.

With my voice I was crying to the Lord,
And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.

Salvation belongs to the Lord;
May Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah.

O sons of men, how long will my honor and glory be [turned into] shame?
How long will you [my enemies] love worthless (vain, futile) things and seek deception and lies? Selah.

But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself [and dealt wonderfully with] the godly man [the one of honorable character and moral courage—the one who does right].
The Lord hears and responds when I call to Him.

Tremble [with anger or fear], and do not sin;
Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still [reflect on your sin and repent of your rebellion]. Selah.

Many are saying, “Oh, that we might see some good!”
Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Lord.

Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my honor in the dust. Selah.

Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
Lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies;
Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and vindication.

The Lord judges the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, and grant me justice according to my righteousness and according to the integrity within me.

Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.

What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?

That I may tell aloud all Your praises,
That in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)
I may rejoice in Your salvation and Your help.

The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

The Lord has made Himself known;
He executes judgment;
The wicked are trapped by the work of their own hands. Higgaion (meditation) Selah.

The wicked will turn to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Even all the nations who forget God.

Put them in [reverent] fear of You, O Lord,
So that the nations may know they are but [frail and mortal] men. Selah.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him;
All his thoughts are, “There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment].”

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

To vindicate and obtain justice for the fatherless and the oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer terrify them.

For look, the wicked are bending the bow;
They take aim with their arrow on the string
To shoot [by stealth] in darkness at the upright in heart.

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];

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

The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Then Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

Hear the just (righteous) cause, O Lord; listen to my loud [piercing] cry;
Listen to my prayer, that comes from guileless lips.

Let my verdict of vindication come from Your presence;
May Your eyes look with equity and behold things that are just.

You have tried my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tested me and You find nothing [evil in me];
I intend that my mouth will not transgress.

He trains my hands for war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You enlarge the path beneath me and make my steps secure,
So that my feet will not slip.

I shattered them so that they were not able to rise;
They fell [wounded] under my feet.

You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in defeat],
And I silenced and destroyed those who hated me.

May He remember all your meal offerings
And accept your burnt offering. Selah.

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

“He trusted and committed himself to the Lord, let Him save him.
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust (the dead) will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.

They will come and declare His righteousness
To a people yet to be born—that He has done it [and that it is finished].

This is the generation (description) of those who diligently seek Him and require Him as their greatest need,
Who seek Your face, even [as did] Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.

Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift them up, ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in.

Who is [He then] this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory [who rules over all creation with His heavenly armies]. Selah.

Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.

That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving
And declare all Your wonders.

One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.

I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).

That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.