There was a man in the country of Uz named Job. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.

Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job’s regular practice.

One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”

Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?

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

One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord.

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.”

His wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!”

“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.

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

Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

They perish at a single blast from God
and come to an end by the breath of His nostrils.

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

“Can a person be more righteous than God,
or a man more pure than his Maker?”

If God puts no trust in His servants
and He charges His angels with foolishness,

His children are far from safety.
They are crushed at the city gate,
with no one to rescue them.

However, if I were you, I would appeal to God
and would present my case to Him.

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

Surely the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;
my spirit drinks their poison.
God’s terrors are arrayed against me.

If only my request would be granted
and God would provide what I hope for:

that He would decide to crush me,
to unleash His power and cut me off!

When I lie down I think:
When will I get up?
But the evening drags on endlessly,
and I toss and turn until dawn.

Remember that my life is but a breath.
My eye will never again see anything good.

Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

But if you earnestly seek God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,

Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless will perish.

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

Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?

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

God is wise and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

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

My days fly by faster than a runner;
they flee without seeing any good.

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

Is it good for You to oppress,
to reject the work of Your hands,
and favor the plans of the wicked?

But if only God would speak
and declare His case against you,

He would show you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your sin.

Can you fathom the depths of God
or discover the limits of the Almighty?

But the sight of the wicked will fail.
Their way of escape will be cut off,
and their only hope is their last breath.

I am a laughingstock to my friends,
by calling on God, who answers me.
The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

The tents of robbers are safe,
and those who provoke God are secure;
God’s power provides this.

Wisdom and strength belong to God;
counsel and understanding are His.

He deprives trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the elders’ good judgment.

Yet I prefer to speak to the Almighty
and argue my case before God.

But you coat the truth with lies;
you are all worthless doctors.

Would you testify unjustly on God’s behalf
or speak deceitfully for Him?

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

Be quiet, and I will speak.
Let whatever comes happen to me.

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

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

Should he argue with useless talk
or with words that serve no good purpose?

But you even undermine the fear of God
and hinder meditation before Him.

Do you listen in on the council of God,
or have a monopoly on wisdom?

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

as you turn your anger against God
and allow such words to leave your mouth?

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

For he has stretched out his hand against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.

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

God hands me over to unjust men;
He throws me into the hands of the wicked.

My friends scoff at me
as I weep before God.

I wish that someone might arbitrate
between a man and God
just as a man pleads for his friend.

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 cry out: “Violence!” but get no response;
I call for help, but there is no justice.

Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,
for God’s hand has struck me.

Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?

Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.

He swallows wealth but must vomit it up;
God will force it from his stomach.

When he fills his stomach,
God will send His burning anger against him,
raining it down on him while he is eating.

The possessions in his house will be removed,
flowing away on the day of God’s anger.

This is the wicked man’s lot from God,
the inheritance God ordained for him.

Their homes are secure and free of fear;
no rod from God strikes them.

Yet they say to God: “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know Your ways.

God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.
Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.

Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since He judges the exalted ones?

Can a man be of any use to God?
Can even a wise man be of use to Him?

Isn’t God as high as the heavens?
And look at the highest stars—how lofty they are!

Yet you say: “What does God know?
Can He judge through thick darkness?

They were the ones who said to God, “Leave us alone!”
and “What can the Almighty do to us?”

But it was He who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

Come to terms with God and be at peace;
in this way good will come to you.

Then you will delight in the Almighty
and lift up your face to God.

When others are humiliated and you say, “Lift them up,”
God will save the humble.

God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.

From the city, men groan;
the mortally wounded cry for help,
yet God pays no attention to this crime.

Yet God drags away the mighty by His power;
when He rises up, they have no assurance of life.

How can a person be justified before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?

Sheol is naked before God,
and Abaddon has no covering.

As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,

as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,

For what hope does the godless man have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?

Will God hear his cry
when distress comes on him?

Will he delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?

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

This is a wicked man’s lot from God,
the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

But God understands the way to wisdom,
and He knows its location.

When God fixed the weight of the wind
and limited the water by measure,

If only I could be as in months gone by,
in the days when God watched over me,

I would be as I was in the days of my youth
when God’s friendship rested on my tent,

When I went out to the city gate
and took my seat in the town square,