I hold fast to my righteousness, and I will not let it go; my heart will not blame [any] of my days.

for what [is the] hope of [the] godless when he cuts [them] off, when God takes away his life?

Or, in Shaddai will he find delight? Will he call upon God at all times?

If their children multiply, [it is] for [the] sword, and his offspring {do not have enough to eat}.

he makes [it] ready, and [the] righteous will wear [it], and [the] innocent will divide [the] silver.

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

[The] east wind lifts him up, and he is gone, and it sweeps him away from his place.

And it hurls at him, and it has no compassion; he will quickly flee from its power.

It claps its hands over him, and it hisses at him from its place.

Iron is taken from dust, and he pours out copper [from] ore.

He puts an end to darkness, and he searches out the farthest limits [for the] ore [in] gloom and deep shadow.

[As for the] earth, from it comes food, but underneath it, it is turned up as [by] fire.

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

{Proud wild animals} have not trodden it; [the] lion in its prime has not prowled over it.

He cuts out tunnels in the rocks, and his eye sees every treasure.

A human being does not know its proper value, and it is not found in [the] land of the living.

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

"Refined gold cannot be gotten in its place, and silver cannot be weighed out [as] its price.

It cannot be bought for the gold of Ophir, for precious onyx or sapphire.

Gold and glass cannot be compared with it, and its substitution [cannot be] an ornament of refined gold.

The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it; it cannot be bought for pure gold.

It is hidden from [the] eyes of all living, and it is concealed from [the] birds of the heaven.

{When he gave} weight to the wind and he apportioned [the] waters by measure,

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

when my paths were washed in sour milk, and [the] rock poured out streams of oil for me.

"At my going out [the] gate to [the] city, I secured my seat in the square.

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

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice [was] like a robe and a headband.

And they waited for me as [for] the rain, and they opened their mouth wide [as] for [the] spring rain.

"But now [those] younger than I, as far as days, laugh at me, whose fathers I rejected for setting with the dogs of my sheep and goats.

Moreover, {what use to me is the strength of their hands}? With them, vigor is destroyed.

They were driven out from fellow people; they shout at them as [at] a thief,

{A senseless crowd}, yes, {a disreputable brood}, they were cast out from the land.

As [through] a wide breach they come; amid a crash they rush on.

"And now my life is poured out onto me; days of misery have taken hold of me.

{At night I am in great pain}; my pains do not take a rest.

I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me; I stand, and you [merely] look at me.

You lift me up to [the] wind--you make me ride [it], and you toss me about [in] the storm.

And what [is] the portion of God from above or the heritage of Shaddai from on high?

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,

Indeed, that [is] a fire that will consume up to Abaddon, and it would uproot all my crop.

then what shall I do when God rises up? And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?

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

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

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

if I looked at [the] sun when it shone or [at the] moon moving [in] splendor,

"If I have rejoiced at [the] ruin of [the one who] hated me or have exulted when evil overtook him--

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?

I would {surely} carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me [like] a crown.

If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together,

let thorns grow in place of wheat and noxious weeds in place of barley." The words of Job are ended.

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,

and {he became angry} at his three friends because they had not found an answer, and they had declared Job guilty.

"Truly, it [is] a spirit in a human being, and the breath of Shaddai teaches them.

[It is] not {the aged} [who] are wise, or [it is not] [the] elders [who] understand justice.

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

"Look, my internal organs [are] like unopened wine, like new wineskins it is [ready] to burst open.

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

Indeed, God speaks in one [way], even in two, [yet] [someone] does not perceive it.

"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.

Let us choose justice for ourselves; let us determine among ourselves what [is] good--

What man [is] like Job, who drinks scorn like water?

"Therefore, listen to me, {people who have sense}: far be it from God {that he should commit wickedness} and that Shaddai {should do wrong}.

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.

If he should set his heart to it, and he should gather his spirit and his breath to himself,

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

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

but he remains quiet, and who can condemn? And he hides [his] face, and who can behold him? Yet [he is] over a nation and over a person alike,

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.

If you ask what it profits you: 'How do I benefit {by refraining from my sin}?'

"Look at [the] heavens, and see; and observe [the] clouds [that] are higher than you.

If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And [if] your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?

"Because of [the] multitude of oppressions, they cry out; they cry for help because of [the] arm of [the] mighty.

There they cry out, but he does not answer {because of the pride of evildoers}.

"Surely God does not hear an empty plea, and Shaddai does not regard it.

But now, because his anger does not punish, and he does not acknowledge the transgression at all,

And what's more, he allured you {out of distress} [into] a broad place, [where] in place of it [was] no constraint; and [what] was set on your table is full of fatness.

Yes, [it is] wrath, so that it will not incite you into mockery; and do not let [the] ransom's greatness turn you aside.

All human beings have looked on it; everyone watches from afar.

He covers [his] hands [with] lightning, and he commands it the place at [which] to strike.

His thundering tells about him; [the] livestock also [tell] {concerning what rises}.

"About this also my heart trembles, and it leaps from its place.

Listen carefully to his voice's thunder and [the] rumbling [that] goes out from his mouth.

He lets it loose under all the heavens, and his lightning to the earth's corners.

After it, his voice roars; it thunders {with his majestic voice}, and he does not restrain it when his voice is heard.

{he stops all human beings from working} {so that everyone whom he has made may know it}.

Then [the] animal goes into [its] den, and it remains in its den.

Whether as {correction} or for his land, or as loyal love, he lets it happen.

with him can you spread out [the] skies, hard as a molten mirror?

"Teach us what we should say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of [the] presence of darkness.

So then, they do not look at the light [when it is] bright in the skies, when [the] wind has passed and has cleansed them.

"Where were you at my laying the foundation of [the] earth? Tell [me], if you possess understanding.

Who determined its measurement? Yes, you do know. Or who stretched [the] measuring line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,

"Or [who] shut [the] sea in with doors at its bursting, [when] it went out of [the] womb,

at my making [the] clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band,