These ten times you have disgraced me; you are not ashamed [that] you have attacked me.

Why do you pursue me like God? And are not satisfied with my flesh?

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

His bones were full of his vigor, but it will lie down with him on [the] dust.

"He will flee from an iron weapon, [but] an arrow of bronze will pierce him.

"Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.

Turn to me and be appalled, and place [your] hand on [your] mouth.

With them their offspring [are] established {before them}, and their descendants before their eyes.

Their houses [are] safe without fear, and the rod of God [is] not upon them.

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

Who [is] Shaddai that we should serve him, or what would we benefit when we plead with him?'

Look, their prosperity [is] not in their hands; the schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

[How often] are they like straw {before} the wind, and like chaff that [the] storm carries away?

His vats are full [with] milk and the marrow of his bones is moist.

"Look, I know your thoughts and [the] schemes you devise against me.

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

[The] clods of [the] valley are sweet to him; everyone will follow after him, and {before} him {they are innumerable}.

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

[Is] it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous, or a gain if you make your ways blameless?

Does he reprove you because of your reverence [or] enter into judgment with you?

[Is] not your wickedness great, and there is no end to your iniquities?

"Indeed, you have required a pledge from your family for nothing, and you have stripped off [the] clothes of [the] naked.

You have sent widows away empty-handed, and [the] arms of orphans were crushed.

Therefore trapping nets [are] all around you, and panic suddenly terrifies you,

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.'

who were snatched away {before their time}, whose foundation was washed away [by] a current?

Yet he himself filled up their houses [with] good [things], but [the] schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

{Surely} our foe perishes, and fire has consumed their remainder.

Please receive instruction from his mouth, and place his words in your heart.

If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored; [if] you remove wickedness from your tent,

and [if you] put gold ore in [the] dust, and [the] gold of Ophir in [the] rock of wadis,

then Shaddai will be your gold ore and {your precious silver}.

You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

And you will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

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

He will deliver the guilty, and he will escape because of the cleanness of your hands."

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

For he will carry out {what he appoints for me}, and many [things] like these [are] with him

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

They are wet from the rainstorm of the mountains, and they cling to the rock {without} refuge.

Between their terraces they press out oil; they tread [the] presses, but they are thirsty.

"Those are among [the ones] rebelling [against the] light; they do not recognize his ways, and they do not stay in his paths.

He gives security to him, and he is supported, but his eyes [are] upon their ways.

They are exalted a little while, then {they are gone}. And they are brought low; they are cut off like all [others], and like [the] heads of grain they wither away.

"Domination and dread [are] with him who makes peace in his high heavens.

Look, even [the] moon {is not bright}, and [the] stars are not pure in his sight.

"[The] pillars of heaven tremble, and they are astounded at his rebuke.

By his breath {the heavens were made clear}; his hand pierced [the] fleeing snake.

Look, these [are] the outer fringes of his ways, and {how faint is the word} [that] we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?"

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.

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

Their survivors are buried through the plague, and their widows do not weep.

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

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.

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.

Its stones [are the] place of sapphire, and [the] earthen dirt {has} gold.

"But from where will wisdom be found? And {where in the world} [is the] place of understanding?

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

Indeed, from where does wisdom come? And {where in the world} [is the] place of understanding?

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

"{O that I were} as [in] the months before, as [in] the days [when] God watched over me,

when Shaddai[was] still with me, my children [were] all around me,

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

[The] voices of nobles were hushed, and their tongue stuck to their palate.

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

My roots [were] open to water, and dew spent the night on my branches;

Through want and through barren hunger they are gnawing [in the] dry region [in the] darkness of desolation and waste.

They are picking salt herbs, the leaves of bushes, and [the] roots of broom trees to warm themselves.

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

They bray among [the] bushes; they are gathered under [the] nettles.

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

Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is pursued as [by] the wind, and my hope of deliverance passed by like a cloud.

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

My bowels are in turmoil, and they are not still; days of misery come to confront me.

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

"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,

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

if I have seen [the one who] perishes because of no clothing or [that] there is no covering for the poor,

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

"If I have made gold my trust, or I have called fine gold my security,

if I have rejoiced because my wealth [was] great or because my hand found a fortune,

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--

if I have eaten its yield without payment, or I have caused [the] breath of its owners to die,

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

Thus Elihu had waited for Job {to speak} because {they were older than he}.

Then Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite {spoke up} and said, "{I am young}, but you are old; therefore I feared and became afraid of explaining my knowledge to you.

[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}.

But he did not direct [his] words to me, and I will not answer him with your words.

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

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

"If you are able, answer me. Present [your argument] {before me}; take your stand.

"Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard [the] sound of [your] words:

"Look, [in] this you are not right--I will answer you: Indeed, God is greater than a human being.

then he opens [the] ear of men, and {he frightens them with a warning}