Job

Job 1

Prologue

¹In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ²He had seven sons and three daughters, ³and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

⁴His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

⁶One day the angels^[1] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan^[2] also came with them. ⁷The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

⁸Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

⁹“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹²The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

²⁰At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ²¹and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.^[3]

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised.”

²²In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job 2

¹On another day the angels^[4] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. ²And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

³Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. ⁵But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. ⁸Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

⁹His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰He replied, “You are talking like a foolish^[5] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

¹¹When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. ¹²When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. ¹³Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Job 3

Job Speaks

¹After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ²He said:

³“May the day of my birth perish,

and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

⁴That day—may it turn to darkness;

may God above not care about it;

may no light shine on it.

⁵May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;

may a cloud settle over it;

may blackness overwhelm it.

⁶That night—may thick darkness seize it;

may it not be included among the days of the year

nor be entered in any of the months.

⁷May that night be barren;

may no shout of joy be heard in it.

⁸May those who curse days^[6] curse that day,

those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹May its morning stars become dark;

may it wait for daylight in vain

and not see the first rays of dawn,

¹⁰for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me

to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not perish at birth,

and die as I came from the womb?

¹²Why were there knees to receive me

and breasts that I might be nursed?

¹³For now I would be lying down in peace;

I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴with kings and rulers of the earth,

who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

¹⁵with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,

like an infant who never saw the light of day?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from turmoil,

and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸Captives also enjoy their ease;

they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.

¹⁹The small and the great are there,

and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰“Why is light given to those in misery,

and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹to those who long for death that does not come,

who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²²who are filled with gladness

and rejoice when they reach the grave?

²³Why is life given to a man

whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

²⁴For sighing has become my daily food;

my groans pour out like water.

²⁵What I feared has come upon me;

what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶I have no peace, no quietness;

I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Job 4

Eliphaz

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

But who can keep from speaking?

³Think how you have instructed many,

how you have strengthened feeble hands.

⁴Your words have supported those who stumbled;

you have strengthened faltering knees.

⁵But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;

it strikes you, and you are dismayed.

⁶Should not your piety be your confidence

and your blameless ways your hope?

⁷“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?

Where were the upright ever destroyed?

⁸As I have observed, those who plow evil

and those who sow trouble reap it.

⁹At the breath of God they perish;

at the blast of his anger they are no more.

¹⁰The lions may roar and growl,

yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.

¹¹The lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“A word was secretly brought to me,

my ears caught a whisper of it.

¹³Amid disquieting dreams in the night,

when deep sleep falls on people,

¹⁴fear and trembling seized me

and made all my bones shake.

¹⁵A spirit glided past my face,

and the hair on my body stood on end.

¹⁶It stopped,

but I could not tell what it was.

A form stood before my eyes,

and I heard a hushed voice:

¹⁷‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?

Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸If God places no trust in his servants,

if he charges his angels with error,

¹⁹how much more those who live in houses of clay,

whose foundations are in the dust,

who are crushed more readily than a moth!

²⁰Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces;

unnoticed, they perish forever.

²¹Are not the cords of their tent pulled up,

so that they die without wisdom?’

Job 5

¹“Call if you will, but who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²Resentment kills a fool,

and envy slays the simple.

³I myself have seen a fool taking root,

but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴His children are far from safety,

crushed in court without a defender.

⁵The hungry consume his harvest,

taking it even from among thorns,

and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

⁶For hardship does not spring from the soil,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground.

⁷Yet man is born to trouble

as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸“But if I were you, I would appeal to God;

I would lay my cause before him.

⁹He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

miracles that cannot be counted.

¹⁰He provides rain for the earth;

he sends water on the countryside.

¹¹The lowly he sets on high,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹²He thwarts the plans of the crafty,

so that their hands achieve no success.

¹³He catches the wise in their craftiness,

and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

¹⁴Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;

at noon they grope as in the night.

¹⁵He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;

he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.

¹⁶So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷“Blessed is the one whom God corrects;

so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.^[7]

¹⁸For he wounds, but he also binds up;

he injures, but his hands also heal.

¹⁹From six calamities he will rescue you;

in seven no harm will touch you.

²⁰In famine he will deliver you from death,

and in battle from the stroke of the sword.

²¹You will be protected from the lash of the tongue,

and need not fear when destruction comes.

²²You will laugh at destruction and famine,

and need not fear the wild animals.

²³For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,

and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

²⁴You will know that your tent is secure;

you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.

²⁵You will know that your children will be many,

and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

²⁶You will come to the grave in full vigor,

like sheaves gathered in season.

²⁷“We have examined this, and it is true.

So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

Job 6

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“If only my anguish could be weighed

and all my misery be placed on the scales!

³It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—

no wonder my words have been impetuous.

⁴The arrows of the Almighty are in me,

my spirit drinks in their poison;

God’s terrors are marshaled against me.

⁵Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,

or an ox bellow when it has fodder?

⁶Is tasteless food eaten without salt,

or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow^[8]?

⁷I refuse to touch it;

such food makes me ill.

⁸“Oh, that I might have my request,

that God would grant what I hope for,

⁹that God would be willing to crush me,

to let loose his hand and cut off my life!

¹⁰Then I would still have this consolation—

my joy in unrelenting pain—

that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹“What strength do I have, that I should still hope?

What prospects, that I should be patient?

¹²Do I have the strength of stone?

Is my flesh bronze?

¹³Do I have any power to help myself,

now that success has been driven from me?

¹⁴“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,

as the streams that overflow

¹⁶when darkened by thawing ice

and swollen with melting snow,

¹⁷but that stop flowing in the dry season,

and in the heat vanish from their channels.

¹⁸Caravans turn aside from their routes;

they go off into the wasteland and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Tema look for water,

the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.

²⁰They are distressed, because they had been confident;

they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

²¹Now you too have proved to be of no help;

you see something dreadful and are afraid.

²²Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,

pay a ransom for me from your wealth,

²³deliver me from the hand of the enemy,

rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?

²⁴“Teach me, and I will be quiet;

show me where I have been wrong.

²⁵How painful are honest words!

But what do your arguments prove?

²⁶Do you mean to correct what I say,

and treat my desperate words as wind?

²⁷You would even cast lots for the fatherless

and barter away your friend.

²⁸“But now be so kind as to look at me.

Would I lie to your face?

²⁹Relent, do not be unjust;

reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.^[9]

³⁰Is there any wickedness on my lips?

Can my mouth not discern malice?

Job 7

¹“Do not mortals have hard service on earth?

Are not their days like those of hired laborers?

²Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,

or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,

³so I have been allotted months of futility,

and nights of misery have been assigned to me.

⁴When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’

The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.

⁵My body is clothed with worms and scabs,

my skin is broken and festering.

⁶“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

and they come to an end without hope.

⁷Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;

my eyes will never see happiness again.

⁸The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;

you will look for me, but I will be no more.

⁹As a cloud vanishes and is gone,

so one who goes down to the grave does not return.

¹⁰He will never come to his house again;

his place will know him no more.

¹¹“Therefore I will not keep silent;

I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep,

that you put me under guard?

¹³When I think my bed will comfort me

and my couch will ease my complaint,

¹⁴even then you frighten me with dreams

and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵so that I prefer strangling and death,

rather than this body of mine.

¹⁶I despise my life; I would not live forever.

Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

¹⁷“What is mankind that you make so much of them,

that you give them so much attention,

¹⁸that you examine them every morning

and test them every moment?

¹⁹Will you never look away from me,

or let me alone even for an instant?

²⁰If I have sinned, what have I done to you,

you who sees everything we do?

Why have you made me your target?

Have I become a burden to you?^[10]

²¹Why do you not pardon my offenses

and forgive my sins?

For I will soon lie down in the dust;

you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

Job 8

Bildad

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“How long will you say such things?

Your words are a blustering wind.

³Does God pervert justice?

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴When your children sinned against him,

he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

⁵But if you will seek God earnestly

and plead with the Almighty,

⁶if you are pure and upright,

even now he will rouse himself on your behalf

and restore you to your prosperous state.

⁷Your beginnings will seem humble,

so prosperous will your future be.

⁸“Ask the former generation

and find out what their ancestors learned,

⁹for we were born only yesterday and know nothing,

and our days on earth are but a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not instruct you and tell you?

Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?

¹¹Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?

Can reeds thrive without water?

¹²While still growing and uncut,

they wither more quickly than grass.

¹³Such is the destiny of all who forget God;

so perishes the hope of the godless.

¹⁴What they trust in is fragile^[11];

what they rely on is a spider’s web.

¹⁵They lean on the web, but it gives way;

they cling to it, but it does not hold.

¹⁶They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,

spreading its shoots over the garden;

¹⁷it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks

and looks for a place among the stones.

¹⁸But when it is torn from its spot,

that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’

¹⁹Surely its life withers away,

and^[12] from the soil other plants grow.

²⁰“Surely God does not reject one who is blameless

or strengthen the hands of evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with shouts of joy.

²²Your enemies will be clothed in shame,

and the tents of the wicked will be no more.”

Job 9

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“Indeed, I know that this is true.

But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?

³Though they wished to dispute with him,

they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

⁴His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.

Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

⁵He moves mountains without their knowing it

and overturns them in his anger.

⁶He shakes the earth from its place

and makes its pillars tremble.

⁷He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;

he seals off the light of the stars.

⁸He alone stretches out the heavens

and treads on the waves of the sea.

⁹He is the Maker of the Bear^[13] and Orion,

the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

¹⁰He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

miracles that cannot be counted.

¹¹When he passes me, I cannot see him;

when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

¹²If he snatches away, who can stop him?

Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³God does not restrain his anger;

even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

¹⁴“How then can I dispute with him?

How can I find words to argue with him?

¹⁵Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;

I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

¹⁶Even if I summoned him and he responded,

I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

¹⁷He would crush me with a storm

and multiply my wounds for no reason.

¹⁸He would not let me catch my breath

but would overwhelm me with misery.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!

And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him^[14]?

²⁰Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;

if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

²¹“Although I am blameless,

I have no concern for myself;

I despise my own life.

²²It is all the same; that is why I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When a scourge brings sudden death,

he mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,

he blindfolds its judges.

If it is not he, then who is it?

²⁵“My days are swifter than a runner;

they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

²⁶They skim past like boats of papyrus,

like eagles swooping down on their prey.

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will change my expression, and smile,’

²⁸I still dread all my sufferings,

for I know you will not hold me innocent.

²⁹Since I am already found guilty,

why should I struggle in vain?

³⁰Even if I washed myself with soap

and my hands with cleansing powder,

³¹you would plunge me into a slime pit

so that even my clothes would detest me.

³²“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,

that we might confront each other in court.

³³If only there were someone to mediate between us,

someone to bring us together,

³⁴someone to remove God’s rod from me,

so that his terror would frighten me no more.

³⁵Then I would speak up without fear of him,

but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

Job 10

¹“I loathe my very life;

therefore I will give free rein to my complaint

and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.

²I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,

but tell me what charges you have against me.

³Does it please you to oppress me,

to spurn the work of your hands,

while you smile on the plans of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh?

Do you see as a mortal sees?

⁵Are your days like those of a mortal

or your years like those of a strong man,

⁶that you must search out my faults

and probe after my sin—

⁷though you know that I am not guilty

and that no one can rescue me from your hand?

⁸“Your hands shaped me and made me.

Will you now turn and destroy me?

⁹Remember that you molded me like clay.

Will you now turn me to dust again?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese,

¹¹clothe me with skin and flesh

and knit me together with bones and sinews?

¹²You gave me life and showed me kindness,

and in your providence watched over my spirit.

¹³“But this is what you concealed in your heart,

and I know that this was in your mind:

¹⁴If I sinned, you would be watching me

and would not let my offense go unpunished.

¹⁵If I am guilty—woe to me!

Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,

for I am full of shame

and drowned in^[15] my affliction.

¹⁶If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion

and again display your awesome power against me.

¹⁷You bring new witnesses against me

and increase your anger toward me;

your forces come against me wave upon wave.

¹⁸“Why then did you bring me out of the womb?

I wish I had died before any eye saw me.

¹⁹If only I had never come into being,

or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!

²⁰Are not my few days almost over?

Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy

²¹before I go to the place of no return,

to the land of gloom and utter darkness,

²²to the land of deepest night,

of utter darkness and disorder,

where even the light is like darkness.”

Job 11

Zophar

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²“Are all these words to go unanswered?

Is this talker to be vindicated?

³Will your idle talk reduce others to silence?

Will no one rebuke you when you mock?

⁴You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless

and I am pure in your sight.’

⁵Oh, how I wish that God would speak,

that he would open his lips against you

⁶and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,

for true wisdom has two sides.

Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

⁷“Can you fathom the mysteries of God?

Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?

They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?

⁹Their measure is longer than the earth

and wider than the sea.

¹⁰“If he comes along and confines you in prison

and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

¹¹Surely he recognizes deceivers;

and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

¹²But the witless can no more become wise

than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.^[16]

¹³“Yet if you devote your heart to him

and stretch out your hands to him,

¹⁴if you put away the sin that is in your hand

and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

¹⁵then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;

you will stand firm and without fear.

¹⁶You will surely forget your trouble,

recalling it only as waters gone by.

¹⁷Life will be brighter than noonday,

and darkness will become like morning.

¹⁸You will be secure, because there is hope;

you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,

and many will court your favor.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

and escape will elude them;

their hope will become a dying gasp.”

Job 12

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“Doubtless you are the only people who matter,

and wisdom will die with you!

³But I have a mind as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know all these things?

⁴“I have become a laughingstock to my friends,

though I called on God and he answered—

a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

⁵Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune

as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁶The tents of marauders are undisturbed,

and those who provoke God are secure—

those God has in his hand.^[17]

⁷“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

⁸or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish in the sea inform you.

⁹Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰In his hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Does not the ear test words

as the tongue tastes food?

¹²Is not wisdom found among the aged?

Does not long life bring understanding?

¹³“To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

those he imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

¹⁶To him belong strength and insight;

both deceived and deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads rulers away stripped

and makes fools of judges.

¹⁸He takes off the shackles put on by kings

and ties a loincloth^[18] around their waist.

¹⁹He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows officials long established.

²⁰He silences the lips of trusted advisers

and takes away the discernment of elders.

²¹He pours contempt on nobles

and disarms the mighty.

²²He reveals the deep things of darkness

and brings utter darkness into the light.

²³He makes nations great, and destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

²⁴He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;

he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

²⁵They grope in darkness with no light;

he makes them stagger like drunkards.

Job 13

¹“My eyes have seen all this,

my ears have heard and understood it.

²What you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

³But I desire to speak to the Almighty

and to argue my case with God.

⁴You, however, smear me with lies;

you are worthless physicians, all of you!

⁵If only you would be altogether silent!

For you, that would be wisdom.

⁶Hear now my argument;

listen to the pleas of my lips.

⁷Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

⁸Will you show him partiality?

Will you argue the case for God?

⁹Would it turn out well if he examined you?

Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?

¹⁰He would surely call you to account

if you secretly showed partiality.

¹¹Would not his splendor terrify you?

Would not the dread of him fall on you?

¹²Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³“Keep silent and let me speak;

then let come to me what may.

¹⁴Why do I put myself in jeopardy

and take my life in my hands?

¹⁵Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;

I will surely^[19] defend my ways to his face.

¹⁶Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,

for no godless person would dare come before him!

¹⁷Listen carefully to what I say;

let my words ring in your ears.

¹⁸Now that I have prepared my case,

I know I will be vindicated.

¹⁹Can anyone bring charges against me?

If so, I will be silent and die.

²⁰“Only grant me these two things, God,

and then I will not hide from you:

²¹Withdraw your hand far from me,

and stop frightening me with your terrors.

²²Then summon me and I will answer,

or let me speak, and you reply to me.

²³How many wrongs and sins have I committed?

Show me my offense and my sin.

²⁴Why do you hide your face

and consider me your enemy?

²⁵Will you torment a windblown leaf?

Will you chase after dry chaff?

²⁶For you write down bitter things against me

and make me reap the sins of my youth.

²⁷You fasten my feet in shackles;

you keep close watch on all my paths

by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

²⁸“So man wastes away like something rotten,

like a garment eaten by moths.

Job 14

¹“Mortals, born of woman,

are of few days and full of trouble.

²They spring up like flowers and wither away;

like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.

³Do you fix your eye on them?

Will you bring them^[20] before you for judgment?

⁴Who can bring what is pure from the impure?

No one!

⁵A person’s days are determined;

you have decreed the number of his months

and have set limits he cannot exceed.

⁶So look away from him and let him alone,

till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.

⁷“At least there is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its new shoots will not fail.

⁸Its roots may grow old in the ground

and its stump die in the soil,

⁹yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put forth shoots like a plant.

¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low;

he breathes his last and is no more.

¹¹As the water of a lake dries up

or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,

¹²so he lies down and does not rise;

till the heavens are no more, people will not awake

or be roused from their sleep.

¹³“If only you would hide me in the grave

and conceal me till your anger has passed!

If only you would set me a time

and then remember me!

¹⁴If someone dies, will they live again?

All the days of my hard service

I will wait for my renewal^[21] to come.

¹⁵You will call and I will answer you;

you will long for the creature your hands have made.

¹⁶Surely then you will count my steps

but not keep track of my sin.

¹⁷My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;

you will cover over my sin.

¹⁸“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles

and as a rock is moved from its place,

¹⁹as water wears away stones

and torrents wash away the soil,

so you destroy a person’s hope.

²⁰You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;

you change their countenance and send them away.

²¹If their children are honored, they do not know it;

if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.

²²They feel but the pain of their own bodies

and mourn only for themselves.”

Job 15

Eliphaz

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“Would a wise person answer with empty notions

or fill their belly with the hot east wind?

³Would they argue with useless words,

with speeches that have no value?

⁴But you even undermine piety

and hinder devotion to God.

⁵Your sin prompts your mouth;

you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;

your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Are you the first man ever born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Do you listen in on God’s council?

Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

⁹What do you know that we do not know?

What insights do you have that we do not have?

¹⁰The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,

men even older than your father.

¹¹Are God’s consolations not enough for you,

words spoken gently to you?

¹²Why has your heart carried you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

¹³so that you vent your rage against God

and pour out such words from your mouth?

¹⁴“What are mortals, that they could be pure,

or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?

¹⁵If God places no trust in his holy ones,

if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

¹⁶how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,

who drink up evil like water!

¹⁷“Listen to me and I will explain to you;

let me tell you what I have seen,

¹⁸what the wise have declared,

hiding nothing received from their ancestors

¹⁹(to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigners moved among them):

²⁰All his days the wicked man suffers torment,

the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.

²¹Terrifying sounds fill his ears;

when all seems well, marauders attack him.

²²He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;

he is marked for the sword.

²³He wanders about for food like a vulture;

he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

²⁴Distress and anguish fill him with terror;

troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,

²⁵because he shakes his fist at God

and vaunts himself against the Almighty,

²⁶defiantly charging against him

with a thick, strong shield.

²⁷“Though his face is covered with fat

and his waist bulges with flesh,

²⁸he will inhabit ruined towns

and houses where no one lives,

houses crumbling to rubble.

²⁹He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions spread over the land.

³⁰He will not escape the darkness;

a flame will wither his shoots,

and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.

³¹Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,

for he will get nothing in return.

³²Before his time he will wither,

and his branches will not flourish.

³³He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,

like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.

³⁴For the company of the godless will be barren,

and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

³⁵They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;

their womb fashions deceit.”

Job 16

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“I have heard many things like these;

you are miserable comforters, all of you!

³Will your long-winded speeches never end?

What ails you that you keep on arguing?

⁴I also could speak like you,

if you were in my place;

I could make fine speeches against you

and shake my head at you.

⁵But my mouth would encourage you;

comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

⁶“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;

and if I refrain, it does not go away.

⁷Surely, God, you have worn me out;

you have devastated my entire household.

⁸You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;

my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

⁹God assails me and tears me in his anger

and gnashes his teeth at me;

my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

¹⁰People open their mouths to jeer at me;

they strike my cheek in scorn

and unite together against me.

¹¹God has turned me over to the ungodly

and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

¹²All was well with me, but he shattered me;

he seized me by the neck and crushed me.

He has made me his target;

¹³his archers surround me.

Without pity, he pierces my kidneys

and spills my gall on the ground.

¹⁴Again and again he bursts upon me;

he rushes at me like a warrior.

¹⁵“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin

and buried my brow in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping,

dark shadows ring my eyes;

¹⁷yet my hands have been free of violence

and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“Earth, do not cover my blood;

may my cry never be laid to rest!

¹⁹Even now my witness is in heaven;

my advocate is on high.

²⁰My intercessor is my friend^[22]

as my eyes pour out tears to God;

²¹on behalf of a man he pleads with God

as one pleads for a friend.

²²“Only a few years will pass

before I take the path of no return.

Job 17

¹My spirit is broken,

my days are cut short,

the grave awaits me.

²Surely mockers surround me;

my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

³“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.

Who else will put up security for me?

⁴You have closed their minds to understanding;

therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵If anyone denounces their friends for reward,

the eyes of their children will fail.

⁶“God has made me a byword to everyone,

a man in whose face people spit.

⁷My eyes have grown dim with grief;

my whole frame is but a shadow.

⁸The upright are appalled at this;

the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

⁹Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,

and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

¹⁰“But come on, all of you, try again!

I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have passed, my plans are shattered.

Yet the desires of my heart

¹²turn night into day;

in the face of the darkness light is near.

¹³If the only home I hope for is the grave,

if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,

¹⁴if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’

¹⁵where then is my hope—

who can see any hope for me?

¹⁶Will it go down to the gates of death?

Will we descend together into the dust?”

Job 18

Bildad

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“When will you end these speeches?

Be sensible, and then we can talk.

³Why are we regarded as cattle

and considered stupid in your sight?

⁴You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,

is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?

Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

⁵“The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;

the flame of his fire stops burning.

⁶The light in his tent becomes dark;

the lamp beside him goes out.

⁷The vigor of his step is weakened;

his own schemes throw him down.

⁸His feet thrust him into a net;

he wanders into its mesh.

⁹A trap seizes him by the heel;

a snare holds him fast.

¹⁰A noose is hidden for him on the ground;

a trap lies in his path.

¹¹Terrors startle him on every side

and dog his every step.

¹²Calamity is hungry for him;

disaster is ready for him when he falls.

¹³It eats away parts of his skin;

death’s firstborn devours his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the security of his tent

and marched off to the king of terrors.

¹⁵Fire resides^[23] in his tent;

burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.

¹⁶His roots dry up below

and his branches wither above.

¹⁷The memory of him perishes from the earth;

he has no name in the land.

¹⁸He is driven from light into the realm of darkness

and is banished from the world.

¹⁹He has no offspring or descendants among his people,

no survivor where once he lived.

²⁰People of the west are appalled at his fate;

those of the east are seized with horror.

²¹Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;

such is the place of one who does not know God.”

Job 19

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“How long will you torment me

and crush me with words?

³Ten times now you have reproached me;

shamelessly you attack me.

⁴If it is true that I have gone astray,

my error remains my concern alone.

⁵If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me

and use my humiliation against me,

⁶then know that God has wronged me

and drawn his net around me.

⁷“Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;

though I call for help, there is no justice.

⁸He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;

he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

⁹He has stripped me of my honor

and removed the crown from my head.

¹⁰He tears me down on every side till I am gone;

he uproots my hope like a tree.

¹¹His anger burns against me;

he counts me among his enemies.

¹²His troops advance in force;

they build a siege ramp against me

and encamp around my tent.

¹³“He has alienated my family from me;

my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

¹⁴My relatives have gone away;

my closest friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;

they look on me as on a stranger.

¹⁶I summon my servant, but he does not answer,

though I beg him with my own mouth.

¹⁷My breath is offensive to my wife;

I am loathsome to my own family.

¹⁸Even the little boys scorn me;

when I appear, they ridicule me.

¹⁹All my intimate friends detest me;

those I love have turned against me.

²⁰I am nothing but skin and bones;

I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.^[24]

²¹“Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,

for the hand of God has struck me.

²²Why do you pursue me as God does?

Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³“Oh, that my words were recorded,

that they were written on a scroll,

²⁴that they were inscribed with an iron tool on^[25] lead,

or engraved in rock forever!

²⁵I know that my redeemer^[26] lives,

and that in the end he will stand on the earth.^[27]

²⁶And after my skin has been destroyed,

yet^[28] in^[29] my flesh I will see God;

²⁷I myself will see him

with my own eyes—I, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!

²⁸“If you say, ‘How we will hound him,

since the root of the trouble lies in him,^[30]’

²⁹you should fear the sword yourselves;

for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,

and then you will know that there is judgment.^[31]”

Job 20

Zophar

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²“My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer

because I am greatly disturbed.

³I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,

and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴“Surely you know how it has been from of old,

ever since mankind^[32] was placed on the earth,

⁵that the mirth of the wicked is brief,

the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

⁶Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens

and his head touches the clouds,

⁷he will perish forever, like his own dung;

those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

⁸Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,

banished like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye that saw him will not see him again;

his place will look on him no more.

¹⁰His children must make amends to the poor;

his own hands must give back his wealth.

¹¹The youthful vigor that fills his bones

will lie with him in the dust.

¹²“Though evil is sweet in his mouth

and he hides it under his tongue,

¹³though he cannot bear to let it go

and lets it linger in his mouth,

¹⁴yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;

it will become the venom of serpents within him.

¹⁵He will spit out the riches he swallowed;

God will make his stomach vomit them up.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of serpents;

the fangs of an adder will kill him.

¹⁷He will not enjoy the streams,

the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

¹⁸What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;

he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

¹⁹For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;

he has seized houses he did not build.

²⁰“Surely he will have no respite from his craving;

he cannot save himself by his treasure.

²¹Nothing is left for him to devour;

his prosperity will not endure.

²²In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;

the full force of misery will come upon him.

²³When he has filled his belly,

God will vent his burning anger against him

and rain down his blows on him.

²⁴Though he flees from an iron weapon,

a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

²⁵He pulls it out of his back,

the gleaming point out of his liver.

Terrors will come over him;

²⁶total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.

A fire unfanned will consume him

and devour what is left in his tent.

²⁷The heavens will expose his guilt;

the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸A flood will carry off his house,

rushing waters^[33] on the day of God’s wrath.

²⁹Such is the fate God allots the wicked,

the heritage appointed for them by God.”

Job 21

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“Listen carefully to my words;

let this be the consolation you give me.

³Bear with me while I speak,

and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴“Is my complaint directed to a human being?

Why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me and be appalled;

clap your hand over your mouth.

⁶When I think about this, I am terrified;

trembling seizes my body.

⁷Why do the wicked live on,

growing old and increasing in power?

⁸They see their children established around them,

their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their homes are safe and free from fear;

the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰Their bulls never fail to breed;

their cows calve and do not miscarry.

¹¹They send forth their children as a flock;

their little ones dance about.

¹²They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;

they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their years in prosperity

and go down to the grave in peace.^[34]

¹⁴Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!

We have no desire to know your ways.

¹⁵Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

What would we gain by praying to him?’

¹⁶But their prosperity is not in their own hands,

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁷“Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?

How often does calamity come upon them,

the fate God allots in his anger?

¹⁸How often are they like straw before the wind,

like chaff swept away by a gale?

¹⁹It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’

Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction;

let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what do they care about the families they leave behind

when their allotted months come to an end?

²²“Can anyone teach knowledge to God,

since he judges even the highest?

²³One person dies in full vigor,

completely secure and at ease,

²⁴well nourished in body,^[35]

bones rich with marrow.

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul,

never having enjoyed anything good.

²⁶Side by side they lie in the dust,

and worms cover them both.

²⁷“I know full well what you are thinking,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

²⁸You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,

the tents where the wicked lived?’

²⁹Have you never questioned those who travel?

Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

³⁰that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,

that they are delivered from^[36] the day of wrath?

³¹Who denounces their conduct to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?

³²They are carried to the grave,

and watch is kept over their tombs.

³³The soil in the valley is sweet to them;

everyone follows after them,

and a countless throng goes^[37] before them.

³⁴“So how can you console me with your nonsense?

Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

Job 22

Eliphaz

¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

²“Can a man be of benefit to God?

Can even a wise person benefit him?

³What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?

What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

⁴“Is it for your piety that he rebukes you

and brings charges against you?

⁵Is not your wickedness great?

Are not your sins endless?

⁶You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;

you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

⁷You gave no water to the weary

and you withheld food from the hungry,

⁸though you were a powerful man, owning land—

an honored man, living on it.

⁹And you sent widows away empty-handed

and broke the strength of the fatherless.

¹⁰That is why snares are all around you,

why sudden peril terrifies you,

¹¹why it is so dark you cannot see,

and why a flood of water covers you.

¹²“Is not God in the heights of heaven?

And see how lofty are the highest stars!

¹³Yet you say, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such darkness?

¹⁴Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us

as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’

¹⁵Will you keep to the old path

that the wicked have trod?

¹⁶They were carried off before their time,

their foundations washed away by a flood.

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!

What can the Almighty do to us?’

¹⁸Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,

so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁹The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;

the innocent mock them, saying,

²⁰‘Surely our foes are destroyed,

and fire devours their wealth.’

²¹“Submit to God and be at peace with him;

in this way prosperity will come to you.

²²Accept instruction from his mouth

and lay up his words in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:

If you remove wickedness far from your tent

²⁴and assign your nuggets to the dust,

your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

²⁵then the Almighty will be your gold,

the choicest silver for you.

²⁶Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty

and will lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will pray to him, and he will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows.

²⁸What you decide on will be done,

and light will shine on your ways.

²⁹When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’

then he will save the downcast.

³⁰He will deliver even one who is not innocent,

who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

Job 23

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“Even today my complaint is bitter;

his hand^[38] is heavy in spite of^[39] my groaning.

³If only I knew where to find him;

if only I could go to his dwelling!

⁴I would state my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would find out what he would answer me,

and consider what he would say to me.

⁶Would he vigorously oppose me?

No, he would not press charges against me.

⁷There the upright can establish their innocence before him,

and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

⁸“But if I go to the east, he is not there;

if I go to the west, I do not find him.

⁹When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take;

when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

¹¹My feet have closely followed his steps;

I have kept to his way without turning aside.

¹²I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

¹³“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?

He does whatever he pleases.

¹⁴He carries out his decree against me,

and many such plans he still has in store.

¹⁵That is why I am terrified before him;

when I think of all this, I fear him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,

by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Job 24

¹“Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?

Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

²There are those who move boundary stones;

they pasture flocks they have stolen.

³They drive away the orphan’s donkey

and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

⁴They thrust the needy from the path

and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

⁵Like wild donkeys in the desert,

the poor go about their labor of foraging food;

the wasteland provides food for their children.

⁶They gather fodder in the fields

and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;

they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.

⁸They are drenched by mountain rains

and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.

⁹The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;

the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.

¹⁰Lacking clothes, they go about naked;

they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

¹¹They crush olives among the terraces^[40];

they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.

¹²The groans of the dying rise from the city,

and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.

But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

¹³“There are those who rebel against the light,

who do not know its ways

or stay in its paths.

¹⁴When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,

kills the poor and needy,

and in the night steals forth like a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;

he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’

and he keeps his face concealed.

¹⁶In the dark, thieves break into houses,

but by day they shut themselves in;

they want nothing to do with the light.

¹⁷For all of them, midnight is their morning;

they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

¹⁸“Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;

their portion of the land is cursed,

so that no one goes to the vineyards.

¹⁹As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,

so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.

²⁰The womb forgets them,

the worm feasts on them;

the wicked are no longer remembered

but are broken like a tree.

²¹They prey on the barren and childless woman,

and to the widow they show no kindness.

²²But God drags away the mighty by his power;

though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

²³He may let them rest in a feeling of security,

but his eyes are on their ways.

²⁴For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

they are cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵“If this is not so, who can prove me false

and reduce my words to nothing?”

Job 25

Bildad

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

²“Dominion and awe belong to God;

he establishes order in the heights of heaven.

³Can his forces be numbered?

On whom does his light not rise?

⁴How then can a mortal be righteous before God?

How can one born of woman be pure?

⁵If even the moon is not bright

and the stars are not pure in his eyes,

⁶how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—

a human being, who is only a worm!”

Job 26

Job

¹Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless!

How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!

And what great insight you have displayed!

⁴Who has helped you utter these words?

And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish,

those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

⁶The realm of the dead is naked before God;

Destruction^[41] lies uncovered.

⁷He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;

he suspends the earth over nothing.

⁸He wraps up the waters in his clouds,

yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

⁹He covers the face of the full moon,

spreading his clouds over it.

¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters

for a boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake,

aghast at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he churned up the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

¹³By his breath the skies became fair;

his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works;

how faint the whisper we hear of him!

Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

Job 27

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

¹And Job continued his discourse:

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,

the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,

³as long as I have life within me,

the breath of God in my nostrils,

⁴my lips will not say anything wicked,

and my tongue will not utter lies.

⁵I will never admit you are in the right;

till I die, I will not deny my integrity.

⁶I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it;

my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked,

my adversary like the unjust!

⁸For what hope have the godless when they are cut off,

when God takes away their life?

⁹Does God listen to their cry

when distress comes upon them?

¹⁰Will they find delight in the Almighty?

Will they call on God at all times?

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God;

the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²You have all seen this yourselves.

Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,

the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

¹⁴However many his children, their fate is the sword;

his offspring will never have enough to eat.

¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him,

and their widows will not weep for them.

¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust

and clothes like piles of clay,

¹⁷what he lays up the righteous will wear,

and the innocent will divide his silver.

¹⁸The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,

like a hut made by a watchman.

¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;

when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood;

a tempest snatches him away in the night.

²¹The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

²²It hurls itself against him without mercy

as he flees headlong from its power.

²³It claps its hands in derision

and hisses him out of his place.”

Job 28

Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found

¹There is a mine for silver

and a place where gold is refined.

²Iron is taken from the earth,

and copper is smelted from ore.

³Mortals put an end to the darkness;

they search out the farthest recesses

for ore in the blackest darkness.

⁴Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,

in places untouched by human feet;

far from other people they dangle and sway.

⁵The earth, from which food comes,

is transformed below as by fire;

⁶lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,

and its dust contains nuggets of gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows that hidden path,

no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud beasts do not set foot on it,

and no lion prowls there.

⁹People assault the flinty rock with their hands

and lay bare the roots of the mountains.

¹⁰They tunnel through the rock;

their eyes see all its treasures.

¹¹They search^[42] the sources of the rivers

and bring hidden things to light.

¹²But where can wisdom be found?

Where does understanding dwell?

¹³No mortal comprehends its worth;

it cannot be found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The deep says, “It is not in me”;

the sea says, “It is not with me.”

¹⁵It cannot be bought with the finest gold,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

¹⁶It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.

¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,

nor can it be had for jewels of gold.

¹⁸Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;

the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

¹⁹The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;

it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰Where then does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding dwell?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

concealed even from the birds in the sky.

²²Destruction^[43] and Death say,

“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”

²³God understands the way to it

and he alone knows where it dwells,

²⁴for he views the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When he established the force of the wind

and measured out the waters,

²⁶when he made a decree for the rain

and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁷then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;

he confirmed it and tested it.

²⁸And he said to the human race,

“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

and to shun evil is understanding.”

Job 29

Job’s Final Defense

¹Job continued his discourse:

²“How I long for the months gone by,

for the days when God watched over me,

³when his lamp shone on my head

and by his light I walked through darkness!

⁴Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,

when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,

⁵when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me,

⁶when my path was drenched with cream

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

⁷“When I went to the gate of the city

and took my seat in the public square,

⁸the young men saw me and stepped aside

and the old men rose to their feet;

⁹the chief men refrained from speaking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

¹⁰the voices of the nobles were hushed,

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹Whoever heard me spoke well of me,

and those who saw me commended me,

¹²because I rescued the poor who cried for help,

and the fatherless who had none to assist them.

¹³The one who was dying blessed me;

I made the widow’s heart sing.

¹⁴I put on righteousness as my clothing;

justice was my robe and my turban.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind

and feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy;

I took up the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I broke the fangs of the wicked

and snatched the victims from their teeth.

¹⁸“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,

my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

¹⁹My roots will reach to the water,

and the dew will lie all night on my branches.

²⁰My glory will not fade;

the bow will be ever new in my hand.’

²¹“People listened to me expectantly,

waiting in silence for my counsel.

²²After I had spoken, they spoke no more;

my words fell gently on their ears.

²³They waited for me as for showers

and drank in my words as the spring rain.

²⁴When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;

the light of my face was precious to them.^[44]

²⁵I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;

I dwelt as a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.

Job 30

¹“But now they mock me,

men younger than I,

whose fathers I would have disdained

to put with my sheep dogs.

²Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,

since their vigor had gone from them?

³Haggard from want and hunger,

they roamed^[45] the parched land

in desolate wastelands at night.

⁴In the brush they gathered salt herbs,

and their food^[46] was the root of the broom bush.

⁵They were banished from human society,

shouted at as if they were thieves.

⁶They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,

among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

⁷They brayed among the bushes

and huddled in the undergrowth.

⁸A base and nameless brood,

they were driven out of the land.

⁹“And now those young men mock me in song;

I have become a byword among them.

¹⁰They detest me and keep their distance;

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,

they throw off restraint in my presence.

¹²On my right the tribe^[47] attacks;

they lay snares for my feet,

they build their siege ramps against me.

¹³They break up my road;

they succeed in destroying me.

‘No one can help him,’ they say.

¹⁴They advance as through a gaping breach;

amid the ruins they come rolling in.

¹⁵Terrors overwhelm me;

my dignity is driven away as by the wind,

my safety vanishes like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my life ebbs away;

days of suffering grip me.

¹⁷Night pierces my bones;

my gnawing pains never rest.

¹⁸In his great power God becomes like clothing to me^[48];

he binds me like the neck of my garment.

¹⁹He throws me into the mud,

and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

²⁰“I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;

I stand up, but you merely look at me.

²¹You turn on me ruthlessly;

with the might of your hand you attack me.

²²You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;

you toss me about in the storm.

²³I know you will bring me down to death,

to the place appointed for all the living.

²⁴“Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man

when he cries for help in his distress.

²⁵Have I not wept for those in trouble?

Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, then came darkness.

²⁷The churning inside me never stops;

days of suffering confront me.

²⁸I go about blackened, but not by the sun;

I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

²⁹I have become a brother of jackals,

a companion of owls.

³⁰My skin grows black and peels;

my body burns with fever.

³¹My lyre is tuned to mourning,

and my pipe to the sound of wailing.

Job 31

¹“I made a covenant with my eyes

not to look lustfully at a young woman.

²For what is our lot from God above,

our heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Is it not ruin for the wicked,

disaster for those who do wrong?

⁴Does he not see my ways

and count my every step?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood

or my foot has hurried after deceit—

⁶let God weigh me in honest scales

and he will know that I am blameless—

⁷if my steps have turned from the path,

if my heart has been led by my eyes,

or if my hands have been defiled,

⁸then may others eat what I have sown,

and may my crops be uprooted.

⁹“If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

¹⁰then may my wife grind another man’s grain,

and may other men sleep with her.

¹¹For that would have been wicked,

a sin to be judged.

¹²It is a fire that burns to Destruction^[49];

it would have uprooted my harvest.

¹³“If I have denied justice to any of my servants,

whether male or female,

when they had a grievance against me,

¹⁴what will I do when God confronts me?

What will I answer when called to account?

¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

¹⁶“If I have denied the desires of the poor

or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

¹⁷if I have kept my bread to myself,

not sharing it with the fatherless—

¹⁸but from my youth I reared them as a father would,

and from my birth I guided the widow—

¹⁹if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,

or the needy without garments,

²⁰and their hearts did not bless me

for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,

²¹if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

knowing that I had influence in court,

²²then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let it be broken off at the joint.

²³For I dreaded destruction from God,

and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

²⁴“If I have put my trust in gold

or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

²⁵if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,

the fortune my hands had gained,

²⁶if I have regarded the sun in its radiance

or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷so that my heart was secretly enticed

and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

²⁸then these also would be sins to be judged,

for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune

or gloated over the trouble that came to him—

³⁰I have not allowed my mouth to sin

by invoking a curse against their life—

³¹if those of my household have never said,

‘Who has not been filled with Job’s meat?’—

³²but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,

for my door was always open to the traveler—

³³if I have concealed my sin as people do,^[50]

by hiding my guilt in my heart

³⁴because I so feared the crowd

and so dreaded the contempt of the clans

that I kept silent and would not go outside—

³⁵(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!

I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;

let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

³⁶Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,

I would put it on like a crown.

³⁷I would give him an account of my every step;

I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—

³⁸“if my land cries out against me

and all its furrows are wet with tears,

³⁹if I have devoured its yield without payment

or broken the spirit of its tenants,

⁴⁰then let briers come up instead of wheat

and stinkweed instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

Job 32

Elihu

¹So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. ³He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.^{[51] 4}Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. ⁵But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

⁶So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:

“I am young in years,

and you are old;

that is why I was fearful,

not daring to tell you what I know.

⁷I thought, ‘Age should speak;

advanced years should teach wisdom.’

⁸But it is the spirit^[52] in a person,

the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.

⁹It is not only the old^[53] who are wise,

not only the aged who understand what is right.

¹⁰“Therefore I say: Listen to me;

I too will tell you what I know.

¹¹I waited while you spoke,

I listened to your reasoning;

while you were searching for words,

¹²I gave you my full attention.

But not one of you has proved Job wrong;

none of you has answered his arguments.

¹³Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;

let God, not a man, refute him.’

¹⁴But Job has not marshaled his words against me,

and I will not answer him with your arguments.

¹⁵“They are dismayed and have no more to say;

words have failed them.

¹⁶Must I wait, now that they are silent,

now that they stand there with no reply?

¹⁷I too will have my say;

I too will tell what I know.

¹⁸For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me compels me;

¹⁹inside I am like bottled-up wine,

like new wineskins ready to burst.

²⁰I must speak and find relief;

I must open my lips and reply.

²¹I will show no partiality,

nor will I flatter anyone;

²²for if I were skilled in flattery,

my Maker would soon take me away.

Job 33

¹“But now, Job, listen to my words;

pay attention to everything I say.

²I am about to open my mouth;

my words are on the tip of my tongue.

³My words come from an upright heart;

my lips sincerely speak what I know.

⁴The Spirit of God has made me;

the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵Answer me then, if you can;

stand up and argue your case before me.

⁶I am the same as you in God’s sight;

I too am a piece of clay.

⁷No fear of me should alarm you,

nor should my hand be heavy on you.

⁸“But you have said in my hearing—

I heard the very words—

⁹‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;

I am clean and free from sin.

¹⁰Yet God has found fault with me;

he considers me his enemy.

¹¹He fastens my feet in shackles;

he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

¹²“But I tell you, in this you are not right,

for God is greater than any mortal.

¹³Why do you complain to him

that he responds to no one’s words^[54]?

¹⁴For God does speak—now one way, now another—

though no one perceives it.

¹⁵In a dream, in a vision of the night,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶he may speak in their ears

and terrify them with warnings,

¹⁷to turn them from wrongdoing

and keep them from pride,

¹⁸to preserve them from the pit,

their lives from perishing by the sword.^[55]

¹⁹“Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain

with constant distress in their bones,

²⁰so that their body finds food repulsive

and their soul loathes the choicest meal.

²¹Their flesh wastes away to nothing,

and their bones, once hidden, now stick out.

²²They draw near to the pit,

and their life to the messengers of death.^[56]

²³Yet if there is an angel at their side,

a messenger, one out of a thousand,

sent to tell them how to be upright,

²⁴and he is gracious to that person and says to God,

‘Spare them from going down to the pit;

I have found a ransom for them—

²⁵let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;

let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—

²⁶then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,

they will see God’s face and shout for joy;

he will restore them to full well-being.

²⁷And they will go to others and say,

‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right,

but I did not get what I deserved.

²⁸God has delivered me from going down to the pit,

and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’

²⁹“God does all these things to a person—

twice, even three times—

³⁰to turn them back from the pit,

that the light of life may shine on them.

³¹“Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say, answer me;

speak up, for I want to vindicate you.

³³But if not, then listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 34

¹Then Elihu said:

²“Hear my words, you wise men;

listen to me, you men of learning.

³For the ear tests words

as the tongue tastes food.

⁴Let us discern for ourselves what is right;

let us learn together what is good.

⁵“Job says, ‘I am innocent,

but God denies me justice.

⁶Although I am right,

I am considered a liar;

although I am guiltless,

his arrow inflicts an incurable wound.’

⁷Is there anyone like Job,

who drinks scorn like water?

⁸He keeps company with evildoers;

he associates with the wicked.

⁹For he says, ‘There is no profit

in trying to please God.’

¹⁰“So listen to me, you men of understanding.

Far be it from God to do evil,

from the Almighty to do wrong.

¹¹He repays everyone for what they have done;

he brings on them what their conduct deserves.

¹²It is unthinkable that God would do wrong,

that the Almighty would pervert justice.

¹³Who appointed him over the earth?

Who put him in charge of the whole world?

¹⁴If it were his intention

and he withdrew his spirit^[57] and breath,

¹⁵all humanity would perish together

and mankind would return to the dust.

¹⁶“If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.

¹⁷Can someone who hates justice govern?

Will you condemn the just and mighty One?

¹⁸Is he not the One who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’

and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’

¹⁹who shows no partiality to princes

and does not favor the rich over the poor,

for they are all the work of his hands?

²⁰They die in an instant, in the middle of the night;

the people are shaken and they pass away;

the mighty are removed without human hand.

²¹“His eyes are on the ways of mortals;

he sees their every step.

²²There is no deep shadow, no utter darkness,

where evildoers can hide.

²³God has no need to examine people further,

that they should come before him for judgment.

²⁴Without inquiry he shatters the mighty

and sets up others in their place.

²⁵Because he takes note of their deeds,

he overthrows them in the night and they are crushed.

²⁶He punishes them for their wickedness

where everyone can see them,

²⁷because they turned from following him

and had no regard for any of his ways.

²⁸They caused the cry of the poor to come before him,

so that he heard the cry of the needy.

²⁹But if he remains silent, who can condemn him?

If he hides his face, who can see him?

Yet he is over individual and nation alike,

³⁰to keep the godless from ruling,

from laying snares for the people.

³¹“Suppose someone says to God,

‘I am guilty but will offend no more.

³²Teach me what I cannot see;

if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.’

³³Should God then reward you on your terms,

when you refuse to repent?

You must decide, not I;

so tell me what you know.

³⁴“Men of understanding declare,

wise men who hear me say to me,

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge;

his words lack insight.’

³⁶Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost

for answering like a wicked man!

³⁷To his sin he adds rebellion;

scornfully he claps his hands among us

and multiplies his words against God.”

Job 35

¹Then Elihu said:

²“Do you think this is just?

You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’

³Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,^[58]

and what do I gain by not sinning?’

⁴“I would like to reply to you

and to your friends with you.

⁵Look up at the heavens and see;

gaze at the clouds so high above you.

⁶If you sin, how does that affect him?

If your sins are many, what does that do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to him,

or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people.

⁹“People cry out under a load of oppression;

they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.

¹⁰But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

who gives songs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us more than he teaches^[59] the beasts of the earth

and makes us wiser than^[60] the birds in the sky?’

¹²He does not answer when people cry out

because of the arrogance of the wicked.

¹³Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;

the Almighty pays no attention to it.

¹⁴How much less, then, will he listen

when you say that you do not see him,

that your case is before him

and you must wait for him,

¹⁵and further, that his anger never punishes

and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.^[61]

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;

without knowledge he multiplies words.”

Job 36

¹Elihu continued:

²“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you

that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.

³I get my knowledge from afar;

I will ascribe justice to my Maker.

⁴Be assured that my words are not false;

one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

⁵“God is mighty, but despises no one;

he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive

but gives the afflicted their rights.

⁷He does not take his eyes off the righteous;

he enthrones them with kings

and exalts them forever.

⁸But if people are bound in chains,

held fast by cords of affliction,

⁹he tells them what they have done—

that they have sinned arrogantly.

¹⁰He makes them listen to correction

and commands them to repent of their evil.

¹¹If they obey and serve him,

they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity

and their years in contentment.

¹²But if they do not listen,

they will perish by the sword^[62]

and die without knowledge.

¹³“The godless in heart harbor resentment;

even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴They die in their youth,

among male prostitutes of the shrines.

¹⁵But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;

he speaks to them in their affliction.

¹⁶“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress

to a spacious place free from restriction,

to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.

¹⁷But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;

judgment and justice have taken hold of you.

¹⁸Be careful that no one entices you by riches;

do not let a large bribe turn you aside.

¹⁹Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts

sustain you so you would not be in distress?

²⁰Do not long for the night,

to drag people away from their homes.^[63]

²¹Beware of turning to evil,

which you seem to prefer to affliction.

²²“God is exalted in his power.

Who is a teacher like him?

²³Who has prescribed his ways for him,

or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴Remember to extol his work,

which people have praised in song.

²⁵All humanity has seen it;

mortals gaze on it from afar.

²⁶How great is God—beyond our understanding!

The number of his years is past finding out.

²⁷“He draws up the drops of water,

which distill as rain to the streams^[64];

²⁸the clouds pour down their moisture

and abundant showers fall on mankind.

²⁹Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,

how he thunders from his pavilion?

³⁰See how he scatters his lightning about him,

bathing the depths of the sea.

³¹This is the way he governs^[65] the nations

and provides food in abundance.

³²He fills his hands with lightning

and commands it to strike its mark.

³³His thunder announces the coming storm;

even the cattle make known its approach.^[66]

Job 37

¹“At this my heart pounds

and leaps from its place.

²Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,

to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

³He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven

and sends it to the ends of the earth.

⁴After that comes the sound of his roar;

he thunders with his majestic voice.

When his voice resounds,

he holds nothing back.

⁵God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;

he does great things beyond our understanding.

⁶He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’

and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

⁷So that everyone he has made may know his work,

he stops all people from their labor.^[67]

⁸The animals take cover;

they remain in their dens.

⁹The tempest comes out from its chamber,

the cold from the driving winds.

¹⁰The breath of God produces ice,

and the broad waters become frozen.

¹¹He loads the clouds with moisture;

he scatters his lightning through them.

¹²At his direction they swirl around

over the face of the whole earth

to do whatever he commands them.

¹³He brings the clouds to punish people,

or to water his earth and show his love.

¹⁴“Listen to this, Job;

stop and consider God’s wonders.

¹⁵Do you know how God controls the clouds

and makes his lightning flash?

¹⁶Do you know how the clouds hang poised,

those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?

¹⁷You who swelter in your clothes

when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

¹⁸can you join him in spreading out the skies,

hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

¹⁹“Tell us what we should say to him;

we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

²⁰Should he be told that I want to speak?

Would anyone ask to be swallowed up?

²¹Now no one can look at the sun,

bright as it is in the skies

after the wind has swept them clean.

²²Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;

God comes in awesome majesty.

²³The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;

in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

²⁴Therefore, people revere him,

for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?^[68]”