For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon;
it would destroy my entire harvest.

Did not the One who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same God form us both in the womb?

for from my youth, I raised him as his father,
and since the day I was born I guided the widow—

if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great
or because my own hand has acquired so much,

Haven’t the members of my household said,
“Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”

Have I covered my transgressions as others do
by hiding my guilt in my heart,

If only I had someone to hear my case!
Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me.
Let my Opponent compose His indictment.

But it is a spirit in man
and the breath of the Almighty
that give him understanding.

It is not only the old who are wise
or the elderly who understand how to judge.

Look, I waited for your conclusions;
I listened to your insights
as you sought for words.

My heart is like unvented wine;
it is about to burst like new wineskins.

But He finds reasons to oppose me;
He regards me as His enemy.

But I tell you that you are wrong in this matter,
since God is greater than man.

In a dream, a vision in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber on their beds,

If there is an angel on his side,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what is right for him

Hear my words, you wise men,
and listen to me, you knowledgeable ones.

Doesn’t the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?

Let us judge for ourselves what is right;
let us decide together what is good.

Would I lie about my case?
My wound is incurable,
though I am without transgression.”

What man is like Job?
He drinks derision like water.

Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding.
It is impossible for God to do wrong,
and for the Almighty to act unjustly.

Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly
and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

God is not partial to princes
and does not favor the rich over the poor,
for they are all the work of His hands.

There is no darkness, no deep darkness,
where evildoers can hide themselves.

But when God is silent, who can declare Him guilty?
When He hides His face, who can see Him?
Yet He watches over both individuals and nations,

Reasonable men will say to me,
along with the wise men who hear me,

Do you think it is just when you say,
“I am righteous before God”?

But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker,
who provides us with songs in the night,

who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

how much less when you complain
that you do not see Him,
that your case is before Him
and you are waiting for Him.

Be patient with me a little longer, and I will inform you,
for there is still more to be said on God’s behalf.

For my arguments are without flaw;
one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

Yes, God is mighty, but He despises no one;
He understands all things.

Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity,
for that is why you have been tested by affliction.

Look, God shows Himself exalted by His power.
Who is a teacher like Him?

Yes, God is exalted beyond our knowledge;
the number of His years cannot be counted.

Then there comes a roaring sound;
God thunders with His majestic voice.
He does not restrain the lightning
when His rumbling voice is heard.

serve as His sign to all mankind,
so that all men may know His work.

Ice is formed by the breath of God,
and watery expanses are frozen.

You whose clothes get hot
when the south wind brings calm to the land,

can you help God spread out the skies
as hard as a cast metal mirror?

Teach us what we should say to Him;
we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.

Should He be told that I want to speak?
Can a man speak when he is confused?

Now men cannot even look at the sun
when it is in the skies,
after a wind has swept through and cleared them away.

The Almighty—we cannot reach Him—
He is exalted in power!
He will not oppress justice and abundant righteousness,

Therefore, men fear Him.
He does not look favorably on any who are wise in heart.

Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words?

The earth is changed as clay is by a seal;
its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.

Light is withheld from the wicked,
and the arm raised in violence is broken.

Where is the road to the home of light?
Do you know where darkness lives,

Have you entered the place where the snow is stored?
Or have you seen the storehouses of hail,

What road leads to the place where light is dispersed?
Where is the source of the east wind that spreads across the earth?

Whose womb did the ice come from?
Who gave birth to the frost of heaven

when water becomes as hard as stone,
and the surface of the watery depths is frozen?

She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,
with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.

He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing;
he does not run from the sword.

It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;
its stronghold is on a rocky crag.

Its brood gulps down blood,
and where the slain are, it is there.

He is the foremost of God’s works;
only his Maker can draw the sword against him.

Though the river rages, Behemoth is unafraid;
he remains confident, even if the Jordan surges up to his mouth.

Will he make a covenant with you
so that you can take him as a slave forever?

No one is ferocious enough to rouse Leviathan;
who then can stand against Me?

His pride is in his rows of scales,
closely sealed together.

One scale is so close to another
that no air can pass between them.

Smoke billows from his nostrils
as from a boiling pot or burning reeds.

The folds of his flesh are joined together,
solid as metal and immovable.

His heart is as hard as a rock,
as hard as a lower millstone!

He regards iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.

A club is regarded as stubble,
and he laughs at the sound of a javelin.

He surveys everything that is haughty;
he is king over all the proud beasts.

You asked, “Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?”
Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.

Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his prayer and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has.”

Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.

BOOK I
(Psalms 1–41)How happy is the man
who does not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path of sinners
or join a group of mockers!

Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.

He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

“Let us tear off their chains
and free ourselves from their restraints.”

So now, kings, be wise;
receive instruction, you judges of the earth.

Many say about me,
“There is no help for him in God.”Selah

How long, exalted men, will my honor be insulted?
How long will you love what is worthless
and pursue a lie?Selah

Many are saying, “Who can show us anything good?”
Look on us with favor, Lord.

For there is nothing reliable in what they say;
destruction is within them;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongues.

my whole being is shaken with terror.
And You, Lord—how long?

For there is no remembrance of You in death;
who can thank You in Sheol?

Yahweh my God, if I have done this,
if there is injustice on my hands,

Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous.
The One who examines the thoughts and emotions
is a righteous God.

My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows His wrath every day.

See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.

For the choir director: on the Gittith. A Davidic psalm.Yahweh, our Lord,
how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

You have covered the heavens with Your majesty.

what is man that You remember him,
the son of man that You look after him?

all the sheep and oxen,
as well as the animals in the wild,

Yahweh, our Lord,
how magnificent is Your name throughout the earth!

For You have upheld my just cause;
You are seated on Your throne as a righteous judge.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.

The nations have fallen into the pit they made;
their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.

For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;
the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.

In all his scheming,
the wicked arrogantly thinks:
“There is no accountability,
since God does not exist.”