“Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

“You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

May the day I was born perish,
and the night when they said,
“A boy is conceived.”

If only that day had turned to darkness!
May God above not care about it,
or light shine on it.

If only darkness had taken that night away!
May it not appear among the days of the year
or be listed in the calendar.

Yes, may that night be barren;
may no joyful shout be heard in it.

May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking of dawn.

For that night did not shut
the doors of my mother’s womb,
and hide sorrow from my eyes.

Why was I not stillborn;
why didn’t I die as I came from the womb?

Or why was I not hidden like a miscarried child,
like infants who never see daylight?

The captives are completely at ease;
they do not hear the voice of their oppressor.

who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,

Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,
when deep sleep descends on men,

A figure stood there,
but I could not recognize its appearance;
a form loomed before my eyes.
I heard a quiet voice:

Are their tent cords not pulled up?
They die without wisdom.

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For distress does not grow out of the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.

They encounter darkness by day,
and they grope at noon
as if it were night.

See how happy the man is God corrects;
so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

You will be safe from slander
and not fear destruction when it comes.

You will laugh at destruction and hunger
and not fear the animals of the earth.

It would still bring me comfort,
and I would leap for joy in unrelenting pain
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

Is there injustice on my tongue
or can my palate not taste disaster?

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Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth?
Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth.
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

I give up! I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.

Why not forgive my sin
and pardon my transgression?
For soon I will lie down in the grave.
You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.

Will they not teach you and tell you
and speak from their understanding?

He leans on his web, but it doesn’t stand firm.
He grabs it, but it does not hold up.

Look, God does not reject a person of integrity,
and He will not support evildoers.

If one wanted to take Him to court,
he could not answer God once in a thousand times.

He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.

God does not hold back His anger;
Rahab’s assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

I would still live in terror of all my pains.
I know You will not acquit me.

For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,
that we can take each other to court.

Then I would speak and not fear Him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.

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I will say to God:
“Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why You prosecute me.

even though You know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

Did You not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?

if I sin, You would notice,
and would not acquit me of my wrongdoing.

Are my days not few? Stop it!
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little

Surely He knows which people are worthless.
If He sees iniquity, will He not take note of it?

But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?

Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?

Everything you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

Would God’s majesty not terrify you?
Would His dread not fall on you?

Only grant these two things to me, God,
so that I will not have to hide from Your presence:

remove Your hand from me,
and do not let Your terror frighten me.

He blossoms like a flower, then withers;
he flees like a shadow and does not last.

There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.

so man lies down never to rise again.
They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;
they will not stir from their sleep.

For then You would count my steps
but would not take note of my sin.

If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;
if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it.

Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.

What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?

Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
even the words that deal gently with you?

If God puts no trust in His holy ones
and the heavens are not pure in His sight,

what was declared by wise men
and was not suppressed by their ancestors,

He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.
His possessions will not increase in the land.

He will not escape from the darkness;
flames will wither his shoots,
and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.

Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,
for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.

It will be accomplished before his time,
and his branch will not flourish.

Even if I speak, my suffering is not relieved,
and if I hold back, what have I lost?

Earth, do not cover my blood;
may my cry for help find no resting place.

You have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore You will not honor them.

But come back and try again, all of you.
I will not find a wise man among you.

They turned night into day
and made light seem near in the face of darkness.

Yes, the light of the wicked is extinguished;
the flame of his fire does not glow.

For his own feet lead him into a net,
and he strays into its mesh.

Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.

then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.

I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.

I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.
My heart longs within me.

He will fly away like a dream and never be found;
he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

though he cherishes it and will not let it go
but keeps it in his mouth,

He will not enjoy the streams,
the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;
he seized a house he did not build.

Because his appetite is never satisfied,
he does not let anything he desires escape.

Nothing is left for him to consume;
therefore, his prosperity will not last.

Their bulls breed without fail;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.

But their prosperity is not of their own doing.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

If I go east, He is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot perceive Him.

My feet have followed in His tracks;
I have kept to His way and not turned aside.

I have not departed from the commands of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth
more than my daily food.

Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.

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Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?
Why do those who know Him never see His days?

Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
having no covering against the cold.

The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
They do not recognize its ways
or stay on its paths.

The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.

They prey on the childless woman who is unable to conceive,
and do not deal kindly with the widow.

If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar
and show that my speech is worthless?

Can His troops be numbered?
Does His light not shine on everyone?

If even the moon does not shine
and the stars are not pure in His sight,

He wraps up the waters in His clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight.

my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.

I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience will not accuse me as long as I live!

I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.