There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil?

In all this Job did no sin, and did not say that God's acts were foolish.

And the Lord said to the Satan, Have you taken note of my servant Job, for there is no one like him on the earth, a man without sin and upright, fearing God and keeping himself far from evil? and he still keeps his righteousness, though you have been moving me to send destruction on him without cause.

And he said to her, You are talking like one of the foolish women. If we take the good God sends us, are we not to take the evil when it comes? In all this Job kept his lips from sin.

Or as a child dead at birth I might never have come into existence; like young children who have not seen the light.

Have you ever seen destruction come to an upright man? or when were the god-fearing ever cut off?

What I have seen is that those by whom trouble has been ploughed, and evil planted, get the same for themselves.

I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly the curse came on his house.

Which are dark because of the ice, and the snow falling into them;

Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat.

And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.

He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden.

If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you.

Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand.

Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.

Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.

I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.

You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?

If I am washed with snow water, and make my hands clean with soap;

That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing,

That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin:

Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me,

Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes.

Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear:

Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it.

If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom!

See now, I have put my cause in order, and I am certain that I will be seen to be right.

As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.

He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again.

For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.

My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe.

For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself.

What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright?

Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen:

So that he may give decision for a man in his cause with God, and between a son of man and his neighbour.

In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house.

He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me.

If you say, How cruel we will be to him! because the root of sin is clearly in him:

Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he?

He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night.

The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him.

Is it of any interest to the Ruler of all that you are upright? or is it of use to him that your ways are without sin?

He makes safe the man who is free from sin, and if your hands are clean, salvation will be yours.

If only I had knowledge of where he might be seen, so that I might come even to his seat!

I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him.

Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld.

How then is it possible for man to be upright before God? or how may he be clean who is a son of woman?

How much less man who is an insect, and the son of man who is a worm!

Truly, you have all seen it yourselves; why then have you become completely foolish?

He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage.

No bird has knowledge of it, and the hawk's eye has never seen it.

But where may wisdom be seen? and where is the resting-place of knowledge?

Man has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living.

If, when I saw the sun shining, and the moon moving on its bright way,

That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

(For I did not let my mouth give way to sin, in putting a curse on his life;)

If I kept my evil doings covered, and my sin in the secret of my breast,

And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry, burning with wrath against Job, because he seemed to himself more right than God;

And he was angry with his three friends, because they had been unable to give him an answer, and had not made Job's sin clear.

And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, made answer and said, I am young, and you are very old, so I was in fear, and kept myself from putting my knowledge before you.

I am clean, without sin; I am washed, and there is no evil in me:

His flesh is so wasted away, that it may not be seen, and his bones. ...

He makes a song, saying, I did wrong, turning from the straight way, but he did not give me the reward of my sin.

If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.

For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him.

Your evil-doing may have an effect on a man like yourself, or your righteousness on a son of man.

Take care not to be turned to sin, for you have taken evil for your part in place of sorrow.

For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet; and to the rain-storm, Come down.

Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen?

And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away.

Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,

His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.

Word of you had come to my ears, but now my eye has seen you.