“God has cast me into the mire [a swampland of crisis],
And I have become [worthless] like dust and ashes.

Thou hast become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

In times past thou didst set me up on high, as it were above the wind, but now hast thou given me a very sore fall.

Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?

Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

I'm boiling mad inside, and I won't remain silent; the time for my affliction to confront me has arrived.

My skin has turned dark on me; my body is hot with fever.

Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.

“If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has chased after deceit,

“If my step has turned away from the way [of God],
Or if my heart has [covetously] followed my eyes,
Or if any spot [of guilt] has stained my hands,

“If my heart has been enticed and I was made a fool by a woman,
Or if I have [covetously] lurked at my neighbor’s door [until his departure],

or I have eaten my morsel {alone}, and [the] orphan has not eaten from it

if his loins have not blessed me, or by means of my sheep's fleece he has warmed himself,

if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great
or because my own hand has acquired so much,

And my heart became secretly enticed [by them],
And my hand threw a kiss from my mouth [in respect to them],

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

“The stranger has not lodged in the street,
Because I have opened my door to the traveler.

Have I feared large crowds? Has my family's contempt ever terrified me so that I remained silent and wouldn't go outside?"

{O that} {I had} someone hearing me! Here is my signature; let Shaddai answer me! {As for} [the] written communication [that] {my adversary} has written,

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

that you do not say, We have found out wisdom. God has pushed him down, not man.

“Now Job has not directed his words against me [therefore I have no reason to be offended],
Nor will I answer him with arguments like yours. [I speak for truth, not for revenge.]

Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

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

See now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue has spoken in my mouth.

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

Surely thou hast spoken in mine hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words, saying,

Nevertheless, God has found a pretext to attack me; he considers me his enemy.

He has bound my feet in shackles, and keeps watching everything I do.'"

Lo, in this thou hast not been righteous, I answer thee, that greater is God than man.

Wherefore against Him hast thou striven, When for all His matters He answereth not?

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

And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:

He makes his prayer to God, and he has mercy on him; he sees God's face with cries of joy; he gives news of his righteousness to men;

"He'll sing to mankind with these words: "I've sinned. I have twisted what is right. Yet he has not repaid me like I deserve.

‘God has redeemed my life from going to the pit [of destruction],
And my life shall see the light.’”

If thou hast any thing to say, answer me: speak, for I desire to justify thee.

If thou hast nothing, then hear me, and hold thy tongue, so shall I teach thee wisdom."

“For Job has said, ‘I am righteous [and innocent],
But God has taken away my right;

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

Who put him in charge of the earth? or who has appointed him over the whole world?

If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my words.

Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

Indeed, he has not yet appointed [a time] for man to go to God in the judgment.

For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.

As a result, the cries of the poor have reached him and he has heard the cry of the afflicted.

“For has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured my chastisement;
I will not offend anymore;

Shall he recompense according to thy mind? for thou hast refused his judgment; for thou so choosest, and not I; speak then what thou knowest.

Job has been speaking from his own ignorance, and what he has to say lacks insight!

because he has been adding rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and keeps on ranting against God."

This hast thou reckoned for judgment: Thou hast said -- 'My righteousness is more than God's?'

For thou hast asked of what profit it is unto thee: what do I gain more than if I had sinned?

If thou hast sinned, what effectest thou against him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

If thou hast been righteous, What dost thou give to Him? Or what from thy hand doth He receive?

But no one has said, Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night;

“And now, because He has not [quickly] punished in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression and arrogance well [and seems unaware of the wrong of which a person is guilty],

for truly my words [are] not falsehood; [one who has] perfect knowledge [is] with you.

“He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous;
But with kings on the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.

Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.

Who hath enjoined him his way? or who can say, Thou hast wrought iniquity?

Remember to magnify his awesome activities, about which mortal man has sung.

All mankind has seen it;
people have looked at it from a distance.

And who has knowledge of how the clouds are stretched out, or of the thunders of his tent?

See how he scattered his lightning about him; he has covered the depths of the sea.

His thunder roars after it; his majestic voice will thunder; and no one can trace them once his voice has been heard.

“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].

And {they} turn around by his guidance to accomplish all that he has commanded them on [the] face of {the habitable world}.

Do you understand how the clouds float,
those wonderful works of Him who has perfect knowledge?

Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?

Has it been relayed to God that I want to talk? Can a person speak when he is confused?"

“Now people cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies [without being blinded],
When the wind has passed and cleared them.

“Out of the north comes golden splendor [and people can hardly look on it];
Around God is awesome splendor and majesty [far too glorious for man’s eyes].

For this cause men go in fear of him; he has no respect for any who are wise in heart.

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who has determined the measures thereof, if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it?

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

Their tokens and weapons hast thou turned like clay, and set them up again as the changing of a garment.

Yea, thou hast spoiled the ungodly of their light, and broken the arm of the proud.

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?

Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.

Thou hast known -- for then thou art born And the number of thy days are many!

Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

“Who has prepared a channel for the torrents of rain and for the flood,
Or a path for the thunderbolt,

Causing rain to come on a land where no man is living, on the waste land which has no people;

“Has the rain a father?
Or who has begotten the drops of dew?

“Out of whose womb has come the ice?
And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth?

Hast thou brought the seven stars together? Or art thou able to loose the bands of Orion?

Hast thou known the statutes of heaven? Or dost thou appoint Its dominion in the earth?

“Who has put wisdom in the innermost being [of man, or in the layers of clouds]
Or given understanding to the mind [of man, or to the heavenly display]?

Who has the wisdom to number the clouds?
Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven

When the dust hardens into a mass
And the clods stick together [because of the heat]?

Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!

Thou dost number the months they fulfil? And thou hast known the time of their bringing forth!

“Who sent out the wild donkey free [from dependence on man]?
And who has loosed the bonds of the wild donkey [to survive in the wild],

Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,

“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],

For God has made her forget wisdom,
And has not given her a share of understanding.

Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?