to [the] land of darkness, like [the] darkness of a deep shadow and {chaos}, so that it shines forth like darkness.'"

For you say, 'My teaching [is] pure, and I am clean in your sight.'

Its measure [is] longer than [the] earth and broader than [the] sea.

But {an empty-headed person} will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born [as] a human being.

or ask the earth, and it will teach you, and the fishes of the sea will declare to you.

Who among all of these does not know that Yahweh's hand has done this?

He strips [away] the insight of the heads of the earth's people, and he makes them wander in {a pathless wasteland}.

{Will you show partiality for him}? Or do you want to plead God's case?

{so} a man lies down, and he does not arise. {Until the heavens are no more}, they will not awaken, and they will not be roused out of their sleep.

Water wears away stones; its torrents wash away [the] soil of [the] earth; so you destroy the hope of human beings.

Have you listened in God's confidential discussion? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

"All of the wicked [one's] days he is writhing, even [through] the number of years that are laid up for the tyrant.

So now look, my witness [is] in the heavens, and he [who] vouches for me [is] in the heights.

He denounces friends for reward, so his children's eyes will fail.

where then [is] my hope? And {who will see my hope}?

He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass; and he has set darkness upon my paths.

"Pity me, pity me, you my friends, for God's hand has touched me.

And after my skin has been thus destroyed, but from my flesh I will see God,

whom {I will see for myself}, and [whom] my eyes will see and not a stranger. {My heart faints within me}.

"If you say, 'How will we persecute him?' And 'The root of the trouble is found' in me,

be afraid for yourselves {because of the sword}, for wrath [brings] punishment by [the] sword, so that you may know that [there is] judgment."

he will perish forever like his dung; [those who] have seen him will say, 'Where [is] he?'

[The] eye [that] saw him {will not see him again}, and his place will no longer behold him.

He will suck [the] poison of horned vipers; [the] viper's tongue will kill him.

In the fullness of his excess {he will be in distress}; all of misery's power will come [upon] him.

This [is] a wicked human being's portion from God and the inheritance of his decree from God."

[As for] me, [is] my complaint for human beings? And if [so], why cannot I be impatient?

And they say to God, 'Turn away from us, for we do not desire to know your ways.

Let his eyes see his decay, and let him drink from the wrath of Shaddai,

For you say, 'Where is the nobleman's house, and where [are] {the tents in which the wicked dwell}?'

So how will you comfort me [with] emptiness, when fraud is left [in] your answers?"

or [it is so] dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

"[Is] not God [in the] height of [the] heavens? But see how lofty are {the highest stars}.

Thick clouds [are] a covering for him, so that he does not see; and he walks about on [the] dome of heaven.'

[The] righteous see, and they rejoice, but [the] innocent [one] mocks at them.

When they are humiliated, {you say}, '[It is] pride,' for he saves {the humble}.

I want to know [the] words [with which] he would answer me, and I want to understand what he would say to me.

"When I go forward, {he is not there}, or backward, I cannot see him.

{When he works} [on the] left, {I cannot perceive} [him]; he turns to [the] right, but I cannot see [him].

"Why are not times kept by Shaddai, and [why] do not [those who] know him see his days?

They drive away [the] donkey of orphans; they take [the] widow's ox as a pledge.

And [the] eye of [the] adulterer waits for dusk, saying, {'No eye will see me,'} and he places a covering [on his] face.

"He himself [is] swift on [the] water's surface; their portion is cursed in the land. {No one turns toward the path of their vineyards}.

"And if [it is] not [so], then who can prove me a liar and reduce my word to nothing?"

By his power he stilled the sea, and by his understanding he struck down Rahab.

Far be it from me that {I would say that you are right}; until I pass away, I will not put away from me my blamelessness.

"I will teach you about God's hand; I will not conceal that [which is] with Shaddai.

He goes to bed [with] wealth, but {he will do so no more}; he opens his eyes, and {it is gone}.

He breaks open a mine shaft {away from where people dwell}; [those] who are forgotten {by travelers}, they dangle, they sway [far away] from human beings.

"[It is] a path a bird of prey does not know and [the] black kite's eye has not seen.

The deep says, 'It [is] not in me,' and [the] sea says, 'It is not with me.'

Black corals and crystal will not be mentioned, and wisdom's price [is] more than red corals.

Abaddon and Death say, 'We heard its rumor with our ears.'

{when he made} a rule for the rain and a way for [the] thunder's lightning bolt,

then he saw it and talked about it; he established it, and moreover, he explored it.

as when I was in the days of my prime, when God's confiding [was] over my {house},

Young men saw me and stepped aside, and [the] aged rose up [and] stood.

"When [the] ear heard and commended me, and [the] eye saw and testified in support of me

[The] blessing of [the] wretched came upon me, and I caused [the] widow's heart to sing for joy.

I [was] a father to the poor, and I investigated {the stranger's} legal dispute.

And I broke [the] evil one's jaw bones, and I made [his] prey drop from his teeth.

{so that they dwell} [in] holes of [the] ground and [in the] rocks.

He seizes my clothing with {great power}; he grasps me by my tunic's collar.

You have turned cruel to me; you persecute me with your hand's might.

So my lyre came to be [used] for mourning, and my flute [for the] voice of [those who] weep.

"I made a covenant with my eyes, so how could I look closely upon a virgin?

Does he not see my ways and count all my steps?

let me sow, and let another eat, and let my crops be rooted out.

"If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and at my neighbor's doorway I have lain in wait,

"If I have rejected my male or female slave's case when their complaint [was] against me,

"If I have withheld [the] desire of [the] poor from [them], or I have caused [the] widow's eyes to fail,

(for from my childhood he {grew up with} me like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided her),

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

if I have raised my hand against an orphan because I saw my supporters at the gate,

because I dreaded [the] great multitude, and [the] contempt of clans terrified me, so that I kept quiet, I did not go out of [the] doorway?

So Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, from the clan of Ram, {became angry}. {He became angry} at Job because he justified himself rather than God,

When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, {he became angry}.

Therefore I say, 'Listen to me; let me also declare my knowledge myself.'

"Look, I waited for your words; I listened for your insight, until you searched out {what to say}.

So do not say, 'We have found wisdom; let God refute him, not a man.'

"They are dismayed; they no longer answer; {they have nothing to say}.

My words [declare] my heart's uprightness, and my lips sincerely speak {what my lips know}.

Why do you contend against him, that he will not answer all a person's words?

{so that} his life loathes bread, and his inner self [loathes] {appetizing food}.

{so that} he is gracious [to] him, and he says, 'Deliver him from descending into [the] pit; I have found a ransom.'

"He will sing to men, and he will say, 'I have sinned and have perverted [what is] right, and it was not paid back to me.

He redeemed my life from going down into the pit, so {I will enjoy the light}.'

to bring his life back from [the] pit {so that he may enjoy the light of life}.

If {you have anything to say}, {answer me}; speak, for I desire {to justify you}.

Indeed, he will repay [according to] a human being's deeds, and according to a man's way he will let [it] happen [to] him.

What's more, God truly does not act wickedly, and Shaddai does not pervert justice.

"But if [you have] understanding, hear this; listen to {what I say}.

Therefore he knows their works, and he overturns [them] [in the] night {so that} they are crushed.

so that [they] cause [the] cry of distress from [the] helpless to come to him, and he hears [the] cry of distress from [the] needy,

so that godless human beings should not reign, nor those who ensnare [the] people.

"Indeed, does anyone say to God, 'I have endured [chastisement]; I will not act corruptly [again];

teach me yourself {what I cannot see}; if I have done wrong, I will not repeat [it]'?

{According to your judgment}, must he repay [it] because you rejected [this]? Indeed, you must choose, and not I, so declare what you know.

{Those who have sense} say to me, and [the] wise man hearing me [says]:

"Do you think this [is] justice when you say, '{I am right} before God'?