In a moment they die, in the middle of the night, people are shaken and they pass away. The mighty are removed effortlessly.

so that they caused the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he hears the cry of the needy.

"Has anyone said to God, 'I have endured chastisement, but I will not act wrongly any more.

Teach me what I cannot see. If I have done evil, I will do so no more.'

Men of understanding say to me -- any wise man listening to me says --

But Job will be tested to the end, because his answers are like those of wicked men.

For he adds transgression to his sin; in our midst he claps his hands, and multiplies his words against God."

"Do you think this to be just: when you say, 'My right before God.'

But you say, 'What will it profit you,' and, 'What do I gain by not sinning?'

I will reply to you, and to your friends with you.

If you sin, how does it affect God? If your transgressions are many, what does it do to him?

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

How much less, then, when you say that you do not perceive him, that the case is before him and you are waiting for him!

So Job opens his mouth to no purpose; without knowledge he multiplies words."

"Be patient with me a little longer and I will instruct you, for I still have words to speak on God's behalf.

With my knowledge I will speak comprehensively, and to my Creator I will ascribe righteousness.

He does not allow the wicked to live, but he gives justice to the poor.

then he reveals to them what they have done, and their transgressions, that they were behaving proudly.

But if they refuse to listen, they pass over the river of death, and expire without knowledge.

The godless at heart nourish anger, they do not cry out even when he binds them.

They die in their youth, and their life ends among the male cultic prostitutes.

He delivers the afflicted by their afflictions, he reveals himself to them by their suffering.

And surely, he drew you from the mouth of distress, to a wide place, unrestricted, and to the comfort of your table filled with rich food.

But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked, judgment and justice take hold of you.

Be careful that no one entices you with riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside.

Do not long for the cover of night to drag people away from their homes.

Take heed, do not turn to evil, for because of this you have been tested by affliction.

Who has prescribed his ways for him? Or said to him, 'You have done what is wicked'?

Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song.

Listen carefully to the thunder of his voice, to the rumbling that proceeds from his mouth.

Under the whole heaven he lets it go, even his lightning to the far corners of the earth.

For to the snow he says, 'Fall to earth,' and to the torrential rains, 'Pour down.'

He causes everyone to stop working, so that all people may know his work.

The wild animals go to their lairs, and in their dens they remain.

The clouds go round in circles, wheeling about according to his plans, to carry out all that he commands them over the face of the whole inhabited world.

Whether it is for punishment for his land, or whether it is for mercy, he causes it to find its mark.

"Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works.

Do you know how God commands them, how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud?

Do you know about the balancing of the clouds, that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

Tell us what we should say to him. We cannot prepare a case because of the darkness.

Should he be informed that I want to speak? If a man speaks, surely he would be swallowed up!

As for the Almighty, we cannot attain to him! He is great in power, but justice and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

when I said, 'To here you may come and no farther, here your proud waves will be confined'?

Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, or walked about in the recesses of the deep?

Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness?

that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes?

which I reserve for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle?

to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, a desert where there are no human beings,

to satisfy a devastated and desolate land, and to cause it to sprout with vegetation?

Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew?

From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,

Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion?

Do you know the laws of the heavens, or can you set up their rule over the earth?

Can you raise your voice to the clouds so that a flood of water covers you?

Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Will they say to you, 'Here we are'?

Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind?

"Do you hunt prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of the lions,

Who prepares prey for the raven, when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

"Are you acquainted with the way the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

Do you count the months they must fulfill, and do you know the time they give birth?

Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open; they go off, and do not return to them.

to whom I appointed the steppe for its home, the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

Is the wild ox willing to be your servant? Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?

Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with its rope, will it till the valleys, following after you?

Will you rely on it because its strength is great? Will you commit your labor to it?

Can you count on it to bring in your grain, and gather the grain to your threshing floor?

For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her.

"Do you give the horse its strength? Do you clothe its neck with a mane?

Do you make it leap like a locust? Its proud neighing is terrifying!

It paws the ground in the valley, exulting mightily, it goes out to meet the weapons.

"Indeed, I am completely unworthy -- how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.

Do you have an arm as powerful as God's, and can you thunder with a voice like his?

Then I myself will acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.

If the river rages, it is not disturbed, it is secure, though the Jordan should surge up to its mouth.

"Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook, and tie down its tongue with a rope?

Will it make numerous supplications to you, will it speak to you with tender words?

Can you play with it, like a bird, or tie it on a leash for your girls?

If you lay your hand on it, you will remember the fight, and you will never do it again!

(Who has confronted me that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me!)

Who can uncover its outer covering? Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor?

each one is so close to the next that no air can come between them.

They lock tightly together, one to the next; they cling together and cannot be separated.

Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones become like chaff to it.

"I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted;

you asked, 'Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?' But I have declared without understanding things too wonderful for me to know.

After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.

So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."

So the Lord restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled all that had belonged to Job.

So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord's commands; he meditates on his commands day and night.

Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?

Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage, saying,

The king says, "I will announce the Lord's decree. He said to me: 'You are my son! This very day I have become your father!

So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction!

Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!

To the Lord I cried out, and he answered me from his holy hill. (Selah)

The Lord delivers; you show favor to your people. (Selah)

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David. When I call out, answer me, O God who vindicates me! Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. Have mercy on me and respond to my prayer!

You men, how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? How long will you love what is worthless and search for what is deceptive? (Selah)