By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.

Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

“Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.

For where is the hope of the godless when he is eliminated; when God takes away his life?

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

Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

If his sons multiply -- for them is a sword. And his offspring are not satisfied with bread.

His remnant in death are buried, And his widows do not weep.

He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.

“He builds his house like a spider’s web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.

Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

“Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper is smelted from the stone ore.

“Man puts an end to darkness [by bringing in a light],
And to the farthest bounds he searches out
The rock buried in gloom and deep shadow.

The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.

As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.

a place where birds of prey never fly, and the eyes of the falcon have never seen.

wherein the proud and high minded walk not, and where no lion cometh.

But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

Gold may not be given for it, or a weight of silver in payment for it.

It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

“Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?

Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

God understands how to get there; he knows where they live.

“When He gave weight and pressure to the wind
And allotted the waters by measure,

Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;

As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship and counsel of God were over my tent,

When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;

When my steps were washed with butter, And the rock poured me out streams of oil!

The voices of the nobles were hushed,
And their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

because I delivered the poor who were crying for help, along with orphans who had no one to help them.

Those who were about to die blessed me, and I made widows sing for joy.

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban!

“And I smashed the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.

“Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

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

‘My glory and honor are fresh in me [being constantly renewed],
And my bow gains [ever] new strength in my hand.’

Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.

After I had said what was in my mind, they were quiet and let my words go deep into their hearts;

They were waiting for me as for the rain, opening their mouths wide as for the spring rains.

If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it;
they were thrilled at the light of my countenance.

When I agreed unto their way, I was the chief, and sat as a king among his servants; and when they were in heaviness, I was their comforter.

But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.

“Indeed, how could the strength of their hands profit me?
Vigor had perished from them.

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

They pluck salt-wort by the bushes; And the roots of the broom are their food.

They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)

They are living on the slopes of the wadis,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.

They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.

“They hate me, they stand aloof from me,
And do not refrain from spitting in my face.

The lines of his men of war put themselves in order, and make high their ways of destruction against me:

“They break up and clutter my path [upsetting my plans],
They profit from my destruction;
No one restrains them.

Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.

My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.

My clothes are disheveled by his forceful treatment of me; he restricts my movement like the collar of my cloak.

I am even as it were clay, and am become like ashes and dust.

“I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

“You have become harsh and cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You [keep me alive only to] persecute 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.

I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living.

Howbeit doth not one stretch out the hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

Did not I weep for him whose days were hard? was not my soul grieved for the needy?

My heart is troubled, and resteth not; Days of affliction are come upon me.

My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping."

“For what is the portion I would have from God above,
And what heritage from the Almighty on high?

Does he not see my ways, and are not my steps all numbered?

If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

If my step has turned from the way,
my heart has followed my eyes,
or impurity has stained my hands,

Then let me plant and [let] another eat [from the results of my labor],
And let my crops be uprooted and ruined.

If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;

For that were a heinous crime; Yea, it were an iniquity to be punished by the judges:

If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;

Did not God make him as well as me? did he not give us life in our mothers' bodies?

If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

(even a poor man had grown up with me as if I were his father, and even though I had guided the widow from the time I was born),

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

Did I ever lift up my hand to hurt the fatherless; yea, in the gates where I saw myself to be in authority?

If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;

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

If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:

If not -- say ye, O men of my tent, 'O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.'

The traveller did not take his night's rest in the street, and my doors were open to anyone on a journey;

“Have I concealed my transgressions like Adam or like other men,
By hiding my wickedness in my bosom,

Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

If only God would give ear to me, and the Ruler of all would give me an answer! or if what he has against me had been put in writing!

I would surely carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.

I would make clear the number of my steps, I would put it before him like a prince! The words of Job are ended.

If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: