1 There was a man in the land of Uz named Job; and he was this perfect and upright man, fearing God and eschewing evil.
2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
3 His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and many servants; and he was that man greater than all the orientals.
4 And his sons went and made feasts in their houses, each one on his day; and they sent for their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
5 And it came to pass, that when the days of the banquet had passed in turn, Job sent and sanctified them, and rose early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said: Perhaps my children have sinned, and have blasphemed God in their hearts. This is how he did it every day.
6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, among whom Satan also came.
7 And the LORD said to Satan, Where do you come from? Satan answered Jehovah and said: To go around the earth and to walk in it.
8 And the LORD said to Satan, Have you not considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a perfect and upright man, fearing God and eschewing evil?
9 Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?
10 Have you not surrounded him and his house and everything he has around him? To the work of his hands you have given blessing; therefore his goods have increased on the earth.
11 But now he stretches out your hand and touches everything he has, and you will see if he does not blaspheme you in your very presence.
12 The LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand; just don’t put your hand on it. And Satan went out from before the Lord.
13 And it came to pass one day that his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother,
14 and a messenger came to Job, and said to him, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were feeding near them,
15 and they attacked the Sabeans and took them, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; Only I escaped to give you the news.
16 While this man was still speaking, another came and said, Fire from God fell from heaven, and burned the sheep and the shepherds, and consumed them; Only I escaped to give you the news.
17 While this man was still speaking, another came and said, The Chaldeans made three squads, and they attacked the camels and carried them away, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and only I escaped to give you the news.
18 While this man was speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of his firstborn brother;
19 And a great wind came from the desert side and struck the four corners of the house, which fell on the young men, and they died; and only I escaped to give you the news.
20 Then Job arose, and tore his cloak, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground and worshipped,
21 and said, Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord took away; Blessed be the name of Jehovah.
22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he attribute any nonsense to God.
1 It came to pass on another day that the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them, presenting himself before the Lord.
2 And the LORD said to Satan, Where do you come from? Satan answered the Lord, and said, To go about the earth, and to walk in it.
3 And the LORD said to Satan, Have you not considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil, and who still retains his integrity, even though you did you incite against him to ruin him without cause?
4 Satan answered and said to the Lord, Skin for skin, all that a man has he will give for his life.
5 But now he stretches out your hand, and he touches his bone and his flesh, and you will see if he does not blaspheme you in your very presence.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; but he preserves his life.
7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with a malignant scab from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And Job took a potsherd to scratch himself with, and sat in the midst of ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God, and die.
10 And he said to her, As any of the foolish women are wont to speak, you have spoken. That? Will we receive good from God, and will we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
11 And three friends of Job, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, when they heard of all this evil that had befallen him, came each from his place; because they had agreed to come together to sympathize with him and to console him.
12 Who, looking up from afar, did not know him, and wept aloud; and each of them tore his cloak, and the three scattered dust on their heads toward heaven.
13 So they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, because they saw that his pain was very great.
1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
2 And Job exclaimed, and said,
3 Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which he said to himself, A man is conceived.
4 Let that day be dark, And let not God from above take care of it, Nor let light shine upon it.
5 Darkness and the shadow of death afflict him; Rest on it cloudy Let it make it horrible as a caliginous day.
6 That night occupied darkness; Let it not be counted among the days of the year, Nor come in the number of the months.
7 Oh, that it were that lonely night, That no song came in it!
8 Let those who curse the day curse it, Those who prepare to awaken Leviathan.
9 Let his morning stars be darkened; Wait for the light, and do not come, Nor see the eyelids of the morning;
10 Because he did not close the doors of the womb where I was, Nor did he hide misery from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die in the womb, Or expire when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did my knees welcome me? And what about the breasts for him to suckle?
13 For now I would be dead, and would rest; He would sleep, and then he would have rest,
14 With the kings and with the counselors of the earth, Who rebuild ruins for themselves;
15 Or with the princes who possessed gold, Who filled their houses with silver.
16 Why was I not hidden as an abortive, Like the little ones who never saw the light?
17 There the wicked stop disturbing, And there the exhausted rest.
18 There also the captives rest; They do not hear the voice of the foreman.
19 There are the small and the great, And the free servant of his lord.
20 Why is light given to the labored, And life to those of bitter spirit,
21 Who wait for death, and it does not come, Although they seek it more than treasures;
22 Who rejoice exceedingly, And rejoice when they find the tomb?
23 Why is life given to the man who does not know where he should go, and whom God has locked up?
24 For before my bread comes my sigh, And my groans flow down like waters.
25 For the fear that terrified me has come to me, and what I feared has happened to me.
26 I have not had peace, I have not been secure, nor have I been at rest; However, confusion came over me.
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If we try to speak to you, it will be troublesome to you; But who can stop the words?
3 Behold, you taught many, And strengthened weak hands;
4 Your words straightened him who stumbled, And you strengthened the knees that were weak.
5 But now that evil has come upon you, you are discouraged; And when it has come to you, you are troubled.
6 Is not your fear of God your confidence? Is not your hope the integrity of your ways?
7 Think again now; What innocent has been lost? And where have the righteous been destroyed?
8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity And sow iniquity reap it.
9 They perish by the breath of God, and by the breath of his wrath they are consumed.
10 The roars of the lion, and the roaring of the roaring man, And the teeth of the lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, And the children of the lioness scatter.
12 The matter was also hidden from me; But my ear has perceived something of it.
13 In imaginings of night visions, When sleep falls upon men,
14 Fear and trembling came upon me, That shook all my bones;
15 And as a spirit passed before me, it caused the hair of my body to stand up.
16 A ghost stood before my eyes, whose face I did not know, and I heard him say:
17 Can man be more righteous than God? Will he be the man cleaner than the one who made it?
18 Behold, he did not trust his servants, and he noticed foolishness in his angels;
19 How much more of those who live in houses of clay, Whose foundations are in the dust, And who will be broken by the moth!
20 From morning to evening they are destroyed, and are lost forever, and no one notices it.
21 Is their beauty not lost to themselves? And they die without having acquired wisdom.
1 Now therefore cry out; Will there be anyone who answers you? And to which of the saints will you turn?
2 It is true that anger kills a fool, and envy consumes the greedy.
3 I have seen the fool taking root, And in the same hour he cursed his habitation.
4 His children will be far from safety; At the gate they will be broken, And there will be no one to rescue them.
5 The hungry will eat its harvest, And they will gather it from among the thorns, And the thirsty will drink the substance of it.
6 For affliction does not come from the dust, Nor does trouble spring from the earth.
7 But as sparks rise to fly through the air, So man is born to affliction.
8 Surely I would seek God, And commit my cause to him;
9 Who does great and unsearchable things, And wonders without number;
10 For he gives rain upon the face of the earth, and sends water upon the fields;
11 For he sets the lowly on high, and lifts up the mourners to safety;
12 That he frustrates the thoughts of the crafty, So that his hands do nothing;
13 He catches the wise in their cunning, And frustrates the designs of the wicked.
14 By day they stumble in darkness, and at noon they grope as in the night.
15 Thus he delivers the poor from the sword, from the mouth of the wicked, and from the violent hand;
16 For it is hope to the needy, and iniquity will close his mouth.
17 Behold, blessed is the man whom God punishes; Therefore, do not despise the correction of the Almighty.
18 For it is he who makes the wound, and he will bind it up; He wounds, and his hands heal.
19 In six tribulations he will deliver you, And in the seventh no evil will touch you.
20 In famine he will save you from death, And from the power of the sword in war.
21 From the scourge of the tongue you will be hidden; You will not fear destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, And you will not fear the wild beasts of the field;
23 For even with the stones of the field you will have your covenant, And the wild beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that there is peace in your tent; You will visit your home, and you will lack nothing.
25 You will also see that your descendants are many, and your offspring are like the grass of the earth.
26 You will come in old age to the grave, Like the sheaf of wheat that is gathered in its season.
27 Here is what we have inquired about, which is so; Hear it, and know it for your benefit.
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 Oh that my complaint and my torment would be justly weighed, And lifted equally in the balance!
3 Because they would now weigh more than the sand of the sea; That is why my words have been hasty.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me, Whose poison my spirit drinks; And terrors of God fight me.
5 Does the wild donkey groan beside the grass? Does the ox low next to his pasture?
6 Can you eat something that is tasteless without salt? Will there be taste in the egg white?
7 The things that my soul did not want to touch, Are now my food.
8 Oh that my request would come, And that God would grant me what I long for,
9 And that it would please God to break me; That he would let go of his hand, and finish me!
10 It would still be my consolation, If he attacked me with pain without giving any more respite, That I have not hidden the words of the Saint.
11 What is my strength to wait still? And what is my end so that I still have patience?
12 Is my strength like stones, Or is my flesh like bronze?
13 Is it not so that I cannot even help myself, And that all help has lacked me?
14 The troubled man is comforted by his companion; Even he who abandons the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers betrayed me like a torrent; They pass like rushing currents
16 That are hidden by the frost, And covered by the snow;
17 That in the time of heat they are dissolved, And when they are heated, they disappear from their place;
18 They depart from the path of their course, They diminish, and are lost.
19 The travelers from Teman looked, The travelers from Sheba waited there;
20 But they were put to shame for their hope; Because they came to them, and they were confused.
21 Now surely you are like them; For you have seen the torment, and you fear.
22 Have I told you: Bring me, and pay for me out of your estate;
23 Deliver me from the hand of the oppressor, And redeem me from the power of the violent?
24 Teach me, and I will be silent; Make me understand where I have gone wrong.
25 How effective are right words! But what does your censorship rebuke?
26 Do you think to censure words, And the speeches of a desperate man, which are like the wind?
27 You also throw yourselves on the orphan, And you dig a hole for your friend.
28 Now therefore, if you will, look at me, and see if I tell a lie before you.
29 Return now, and let there be no iniquity; Consider again my justice in this.
30 Is there iniquity in my tongue? Can not my palate discern wicked things?
1 Is not the life of man on earth a struggle, and his days like the days of a hired servant?
2 As a servant longs for a shadow, And as a laborer waits for rest from his work,
3 So have I received months of calamity, And nights of work have been accounted for.
4 When I lie down, I say: When will I get up? But the night is long, and I am full of worries until dawn.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and scabs of dust; My skin split and abominable.
6 And my days were swifter than the weaver’s shuttle, And they perished without hope.
7 Remember that my life is a breath, And that my eyes will no longer see good.
8 The eyes of those who see me will see me no more; You will fix your eyes on me, and I will cease to be.
9 As the cloud vanishes and goes away, So he who goes down to Sheol will not come up;
10 He will no longer return to his house, nor will his place know him any more.
11 Therefore I will not bridle my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, And I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster, That you should guard me?
13 When I say: My bed will comfort me, My bed will soften my complaints;
14 Then you frighten me with dreams, And you terrify me with visions.
15 And so my soul considered strangulation better, And I loved death more than my bones.
16 I abhor my life; I don’t have to live forever; Leave me then, for my days are vanity.
17 What is man, that you should magnify him, And set your heart upon him,
18 And visit him every morning, And test him every moment?
19 How long will you not take your eyes off me, And will you not even let me go until I swallow my saliva?
20 If I have sinned, what can I do to you, O Guardian of men? Why do you make me your target, Until I become a burden to myself?
21 And why do you not take away my transgression, and forgive my iniquity? For now I will sleep in the dust, And if you look for me in the morning, I will no longer exist.
1 Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 How long will you speak such things, and the words of your mouth will be like a mighty wind?
3 Will God twist justice, Or will the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If your children sinned against him, he cast them out in the place of his sin.
5 If you seek God in the morning, And pray to the Almighty;
6 If you are clean and upright, then he will awaken for you, and he will make the dwelling place of your righteousness prosperous.
7 And though your beginning was small, your last state will be very great.
8 For ask now of past generations, And prepare to inquire of their fathers;
9 For we are from yesterday, and know nothing, Our days being like a shadow on the earth.
10 Will they not teach you, speak to you, and draw words from their hearts?
11 Does reed grow without mud? Does the meadow grow without water?
12 Even in its greenness, and without having been cut, Yet it withers first of all grass.
13 Such are the ways of all those who forget God; And the hope of the wicked will perish;
14 For their hope will be cut off, And their confidence is a spider’s web.
15 He will lean on her house, but she will not stand; He will take hold of her, but he will not resist.
16 Like a tree it is green before the sun, and its shoots come out over its garden;
17 Their roots are intertwined by a fountain, and linked to a rocky place.
18 If they tear him out of his place, He will then deny him, saying, I never saw you.
19 Surely this will be the joy of his journey; And from the same dust others will be born.
20 Behold, God does not hate the perfect, Nor supports the hand of the evil ones.
21 He will still fill your mouth with laughter, And your lips with joy.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed in confusion; And the habitation of the wicked will perish.
1 Job answered and said,
2 Surely I know that it is so; And how will man justify himself with God?
3 If you want to contend with him, you will not be able to answer one thing in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; Who was hardened against him, and it was well with him?
5 He uproots the mountains in his fury, and they do not know who overturned them;
6 He removes the earth from his place, And he makes his pillars tremble;
7 He commands the sun, and he does not rise; And he seals the stars;
8 He alone stretched out the heavens, And he walks on the waves of the sea;
9 He made the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the secret places of the south;
10 He does things great and incomprehensible, And wonderful things without number.
11 Behold, he will pass before me, and I will not see him; He will pass, and I will not understand it.
12 Behold, he will snatch away; who will make him restitute? Who will say to him: What are you doing?
13 God will not turn back his wrath, And those who help the proud are cast down under him.
14 How much less will I answer him, And speak with him choice words?
15 Even if I were righteous, he would not answer; First he would have to beg my judge.
16 If I call upon him, and he answers me, I will still not believe that he has heard my voice.
17 For he has broken me with a storm, and he has increased my wounds without a cause.
18 He has not given me breath, But he has filled me with bitterness.
19 If we speak of his power, surely he is strong; If trial, who will summon me?
20 If I justified myself, my mouth would condemn me; If I called myself perfect, this would make me wicked.
21 If he were upright, he would not care for me; He would despise my life.
22 One thing remains for me to say: He consumes the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge kills suddenly, he laughs at the suffering of the innocent.
24 The land is given into the hands of the wicked, and he covers the faces of his judges. If not him, who is he? Where is the?
25 My days have been lighter than a mail; They fled, and saw no good.
26 They passed like swift ships; Like the eagle that pounces on its prey.
27 If I say: I will forget my complaint, I will leave my sad countenance, and I will be strong,
28 All my pains trouble me; I know you won’t hold me innocent.
29 I am wicked; Why will I work in vain?
30 Even though I wash myself with water of snow, And cleanse my hands with cleanliness itself,
31 You will still plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a man like me, so that I may answer him, and let us come together to judgment.
33 There is no referee among us Who puts his hand on both of us.
34 Let his rod be removed from me, and let not his terror frighten me.
35 Then I will speak, and I will not fear him; Because in this state I am not in myself.
1 My soul is fed up with my life; I will give free expression to my complaint, I will speak with bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me; Make me understand why you contend with me.
3 Is it good to you that you oppress, that you reject the work of your hands, and that you favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see how man sees?
5 Are your days like the days of man, Or your years like human times,
6 That you may inquire into my iniquity, And seek my sin,
7 Although you know that I am not wicked, And that there is no one who will deliver me from your hand ?
8 Your hands made me and formed me; And then you turn around and undo me?
9 Remember that you shaped me like clay; And will you return me to dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, And you knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You granted me life and mercy, and your care preserved my spirit.
13 These things you have stored up in your heart; I know they are close to you.
14 If I have sinned, you have observed me, and you will not hold me clean from my iniquity.
15 If it be evil, woe to me! And if it be just, I will not lift up my head, Being fed up with dishonor, and seeing myself afflicted.
16 If my head is lifted up, you hunt me like a lion; And you do wonders for me again.
17 You renew your trials against me, And increase your anger with me like relief troops.
18 Why did you take me out of the womb? I would have expired, and no eye would have seen me.
19 Out as if he had never existed, Carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are my days not few? Cease, therefore, and leave me, that I may be comforted a little,
21 Before I go and never return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22 Land of darkness, gloomy, Like the shadow of death and without order, And whose light is like dense darkness.
1 Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 Should many words have no answer? And will the man who talks a lot be justified?
3 Will your fallacies silence men? Will you make a mockery and no one will shame you?
4 You say: My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in your eyes.
5 But oh, that God would speak, And open his lips with you,
6 And he would declare to you the secrets of wisdom, Which are of double value than riches! You would then know that God has punished you less than your iniquity deserves.
7 Will you discover the secrets of God? Will you reach the perfection of the Almighty?
8 It is higher than the heavens; what will you do? It is deeper than Sheol; how will you know her?
9 Its dimension is larger than the earth, and wider than the sea.
10 If he passes by, and imprisons, and calls for judgment, who can counter him?
11 For he knows vain men; He also sees iniquity, and will he not heed?
12 The vain man will become wise, When a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.
13 If you will prepare your heart, And stretch out your hands to it;
14 If any iniquity is in your hand, and you cast it out from you, And do not allow injustice to dwell in your house,
15 Then you will lift up your face clean from stain, And you will be strong, and you will fear nothing;
16 And you will forget your misery, Or you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
17 Life will be clearer to you than noon; Although darkness, it will be like the morning.
18 You will have confidence, because there is hope; You will look around and rest in safety.
19 You will lie down, and no one will frighten you; And many will beg your favor.
20 But the eyes of the wicked will be consumed, And they will have no refuge; And his hope will be to breathe his last.
1 Behold, my eyes have seen all these things, and my ears have heard and understood.
2 As you know, so I know; I am not less than you.
3 But I would speak with the Almighty, And I would like to reason with God.
4 For indeed you are forgers of lies; You are all zero doctors.
5 I wish you would be completely silent, because this would be wisdom for you.
6 Hear now my reasoning, And pay attention to the arguments of my lips.
7 Will you speak iniquity for God? Will you speak for him deception?
8 Will you show respect of persons in his favor? Will you contend for God?
9 Would it be good if he searched you? Will you mock him as one mocks some man?
10 He will surely reproach you, if you secretly show respect of persons.
11 Truly his highness would terrify you, and the fear of him would fall upon you.
12 Your maxims are sayings of ashes, And your strongholds are strongholds of mud.
13 Listen to me, and I will speak, And let whatever comes happen to me later.
14 Why will I remove my flesh with my teeth, And take my life in my hand?
15 Behold, though he kill me, I will hope in him; Nevertheless, I will defend my ways before him,
16 And he himself will be my salvation, For the wicked will not enter before him.
17 Hear carefully my reasoning, And let my statement enter your ears.
18 Behold now, if I plead my case, I know that I will be justified.
19 Who is it that will contend with me? Because if I kept quiet now, he would die.
20 Do not do at least two things with me; Then I will not hide from your face:
21 Remove your hand from me, and let not your terror astonish me.
22 Call then, and I will answer; Or I will speak, and you answer me.
23 How many iniquities and sins have I? Make me understand my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your face, and count me as your enemy?
25 Shall you break a snatched leaf, and pursue a dry straw?
26 Why do you write bitterness against me, and charge me with the sins of my youth?
27 You also put my feet in the stocks, and observe all my ways, Marking a limit for the soles of my feet.
28 And my body is wasting away like woodworm, like a garment that a moth gnaws.
1 Behold, my eyes have seen all these things, and my ears have heard and understood.
2 As you know, so I know; I am not less than you.
3 But I would speak with the Almighty, And I would like to reason with God.
4 For indeed you are forgers of lies; You are all zero doctors.
5 I wish you would be completely silent, because this would be wisdom for you.
6 Hear now my reasoning, And pay attention to the arguments of my lips.
7 Will you speak iniquity for God? Will you speak for him deception?
8 Will you show respect of persons in his favor? Will you contend for God?
9 Would it be good if he searched you? Will you mock him as one mocks some man?
10 He will surely reproach you, if you secretly show respect of persons.
11 Truly his highness would terrify you, and the fear of him would fall upon you.
12 Your maxims are sayings of ashes, And your strongholds are strongholds of mud.
13 Listen to me, and I will speak, And let whatever comes happen to me later.
14 Why will I remove my flesh with my teeth, And take my life in my hand?
15 Behold, though he kill me, I will hope in him; Nevertheless, I will defend my ways before him,
16 And he himself will be my salvation, For the wicked will not enter before him.
17 Hear carefully my reasoning, And let my statement enter your ears.
18 Behold now, if I plead my case, I know that I will be justified.
19 Who is it that will contend with me? Because if I kept quiet now, he would die.
20 Do not do at least two things with me; Then I will not hide from your face:
21 Remove your hand from me, and let not your terror astonish me.
22 Call then, and I will answer; Or I will speak, and you answer me.
23 How many iniquities and sins have I? Make me understand my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your face, and count me as your enemy?
25 Shall you break a snatched leaf, and pursue a dry straw?
26 Why do you write bitterness against me, and charge me with the sins of my youth?
27 You also put my feet in the stocks, and observe all my ways, Marking a limit for the soles of my feet.
28 And my body is wasting away like woodworm, like a garment that a moth gnaws.
1 The man born of a woman, Short of days, and tired of troubles,
2 He comes out like a flower and is cut down, And flees like the shadow and does not remain.
3 Do you open your eyes on this one, and bring me to judgment with you?
4 Who will make the unclean clean? Nobody.
5 Surely his days are determined, And the number of his months is near to you; You set limits for him, which he will not go beyond.
6 If you abandon him, he will cease to be; Meanwhile he will desire, like the hired worker, his day.
7 For if the tree is cut down, there is still hope for it; He will bud again, and his shoots will not fail.
8 If his root becomes old in the earth, and his trunk dies in the dust,
9 When he perceives the water he will grow green, and make a crown like a new plant.
10 But the man will die, and he will be cut off; The man will perish, and where will he be?
11 As the waters go out of the sea, And the river is exhausted and dries up,
12 So a man lies down and does not rise again; Until there is heaven, they will not wake up, Nor will they rise from sleep from it.
13 Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would cover me until your anger is appeased, that you would set a deadline for me, and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my age I will wait, Until my deliverance comes.
15 Then you will call, and I will answer you; You will have affection for the workmanship of your hands.
16 But now you tell me the steps, And you give no respite to my sin;
17 You have sealed my transgression in a sack, and you have sewn up my iniquity.
18 Surely the mountain that falls falls apart, And the rocks are removed from their place;
19 Stones are worn away by rushing water, which carries away the dust of the earth; In the same way you make man’s hope perish.
20 You will be stronger than him forever, and he leaves; You will change his face and send him away.
21 His sons will have honors, but he will not know it; Or they will be humiliated, and he will not understand it.
22 But his flesh shall grieve over him, and his soul shall grieve in him.
1 Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 Will a wise man speak vain wisdom, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Will he argue with useless words, and with fruitless reasons?
4 You also dispel fear, And undermine prayer before God.
5 Because your mouth declared your iniquity, For you have chosen the speech of the crafty.
6 Your mouth will condemn you, and not I; And your lips will testify against you.
7 Were you born before Adam? Or were you formed before the hills?
8 Have you heard the secret of God, and is wisdom limited to you?
9 What do you know that we don’t know? What do you understand that is not found in us?
10 Gray heads and very old men are among us, Much more advanced in days than your father.
11 Do you have so little the consolations of God, And the words that are sweetly spoken to you?
12 Why does your heart turn you away, And why do your eyes wink,
13 So that you turn your spirit against God, And bring such words out of your mouth?
14 What is a man that he should be clean, and that one born of a woman should be justified?
15 Behold, he trusteth not in his saints, And not even the heavens are clean before his eyes;
16 How much less is the abominable and vile man, Who drinks iniquity like water?
17 Listen to me; I will show you, And I will tell you what I have seen;
18 What the wise men told us about his parents, and did not conceal it;
19 To whom only the land was given, and no stranger passed through their midst.
20 All his days the wicked are tormented with pain, And the number of his years is hidden from the violent.
21 Terrible noises are in his ears; In prosperity the desolator will come upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return from darkness, And he is revealed to the sword.
23 He wanders around after the bread, saying, Where is he? He knows that he is preparing a day of darkness for him
24 Tribulation and anguish will trouble him, And they will strive against him like a king ready for battle,
25 Because he stretched out his hand against God, And behaved arrogantly against the Almighty.
26 He ran against him with his neck erect, With the thick barrier of his shields.
27 For fatness covered his face, and made folds on his loins;
28 And he inhabited the desolate cities, The uninhabited houses, Which were in ruins.
29 He will not prosper, nor will his riches last, Nor will his beauty spread throughout the earth.
30 He will not escape from darkness; The flame will wither his branches, And with the breath of his mouth he will perish.
31 Let not the deluded trust in vanity, For it will be his reward.
32 He will be cut off before his time, And his shoots will not bud.
33 He will lose its grace like the vine, And will shed its blossom like the olive tree.
34 For the congregation of the wicked will be desolate, And fire will consume the bribe shops.
35 They conceived pain, they gave birth to iniquity, And in their bowels they devise deceit
1 Job answered and said,
2 I have often heard things like these; Annoying comforters are all of you.
3 Will there be an end to empty words? Or what encourages you to respond?
4 I too could speak like you, If your soul were instead of mine; I could string together words against you, And move my head over you.
5 But I would encourage you with my words, And the consolation of my lips would appease your pain.
6 If I speak, my pain does not cease; And if he stops talking, he doesn’t leave me.
7 But now you have weary me; You have devastated my entire company.
8 You have filled me with wrinkles; My weakness is a witness, Who rises up against me to testify to my face.
9 Her wrath tore me to pieces, and she has been contrary to me; He gnashed his teeth against me; My enemy sharpened his eyes against me.
10 They opened his mouth against me; They hurt my cheeks with shame; They all gathered against me.
11 God has handed me over to the liar, And he has caused me to fall into the hands of the wicked.
12 He was prosperous, and he broke me in pieces; He snatched me by the neck and tore me to pieces, and he made me his target.
13 His arrows surrounded me, he broke my kidneys, and he did not spare; My gall spilled on the ground.
14 He broke me from breaking to breaking; He ran at me like a giant.
15 I sewed sackcloth on my skin, And I laid my head in the dust.
16 My face is inflamed with weeping, And my eyelids are darkened,
17 Even though there is no iniquity in my hands, And my prayer has been pure.
18 Oh land! do not cover my blood, And there is no place for my cry.
19 But behold, my witness is in heaven, and my testimony is on high.
20 Disputers are my friends; But before God I will shed my tears.
21 Would that a man could dispute with God, as with his neighbor!
22 But the numbered years will come, And I will go the way from which I will not return.
1 My breath is exhausted, my days are shortened, And the grave is prepared for me.
2 There are only scorners with me, On whose bitterness my eyes dwell.
3 Give me security, O God; be my protection close to you. Because who would want to answer for me?
4 For from these you have hidden understanding from their hearts; Therefore you will not exalt them.
5 To him who denounces his friends as prey, the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me a proverb among the people, and I have been like a drum before them.
7 My eyes are darkened with pain, And all my thoughts are like a shadow.
8 The upright will marvel at this, And the innocent will rise up against the wicked.
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will continue in his path, And the clean of hands will increase strength.
10 But return all of you, and come now, and I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed, my thoughts have been torn away, the intentions of my heart.
12 They have made the night a day, And the light is shortened before the darkness.
13 If I wait, Sheol is my home; I will make my bed in darkness.
14 To corruption I have said: You are my father; To the worms: My mother and my sister.
15 Where then is my hope now? And my hope, who will see it?
16 They will go down to the depths of Sheol, And they will rest together in the dust.
1 Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 When will you put an end to words? Understand, and then let’s talk.
3 Why are we considered beasts, and vile in your eyes?
4 O you who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, will the land be abandoned because of you, And will the rocks be removed from their place?
5 Surely the light of the wicked will be quenched, And the spark of their fire will not shine.
6 The light will be darkened in his tent, and his lamp will be extinguished on him.
7 His mighty steps will be shortened, And his own counsel will hasten him.
8 For a net will be cast at his feet, and he will walk in meshes.
9 A snare will take hold of his heel; The trap will be established against him.
10 His rope is hidden in the earth, And a trap awaits him on the path.
11 Fears will astonish him from every side, and make him flee in confusion.
12 His strength will be exhausted by famine, And destruction will be prepared beside him.
13 The disease will eat away at his skin, And the firstborn of death will devour his limbs.
14 His confidence will be torn from his tent, and he will be brought to the king of terrors.
15 In his tent he will dwell as if it were not his own; Sulfur stone will be scattered over his dwelling place.
16 Below it will dry up its roots, and above it will be cut off.
17 The memory of him will perish from the earth, And he will have no name in the streets.
18 From the light he will be cast into darkness, And cast out of the world.
19 He will have no son or grandson in his people, nor anyone to succeed him in his mansion.
20 On the day of it those in the west will be terrified, And fear will fall on those in the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this will be the place of the one who did not know God.
17 And to the man he said, Because you obeyed the voice of your wife, and ate of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed will be the land because of you; In pain you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat plants of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the land, because from it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return.
20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 And the LORD God made the man and his woman coats of skin, and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is like one of us, knowing good and evil; Now therefore let him not stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.
23 And the LORD brought him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So he cast out the man, and placed cherubim on the east side of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword moving on every side, to guard the way to the tree of life.
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 How long will you distress my soul, And grind me with words?
3 You have already reproached me ten times; Are you not ashamed to insult me?
4 Even if it were true that I had erred, My error would fall upon me.
5 But if you magnify yourselves against me, And accuse me of my reproach,
6 Know now that God has brought me down, And has wrapped me in his net.
7 Behold, I will cry out a grievance, and I will not be heard; I will shout, and there will be no judgment.
8 He has fenced my way, and I will not pass through; And he put darkness on my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
10 He ruined me on every side, and I perish; And he has made my hope pass like a tree uprooted.
11 He caused his anger to burn against me, and he counted me among his enemies.
12 His armies came together and entrenched themselves in me, and camped around my tent.
13 He made my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances turned away from me like strangers.
14 My relatives stopped, And my acquaintances forgot me.
15 The inhabitants of my house and my maids considered me a stranger; I was a stranger in his eyes.
16 I called to my servant, and he did not answer; From my own mouth I begged him.
17 My breath became strange to my wife, Although she prayed to her for the children of my womb.
18 Even the boys despised me; When I got up, they spoke against me.
19 All my close friends hated me, And those I loved turned against me.
20 My skin and my flesh stuck to my bones, And I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Oh, my friends, have mercy on me, have mercy on me! Because the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do you persecute me like God, and are not even satisfied with my flesh?
23 Who would give now that my words were written! Who would have liked them to be written in a book;
24 May they be carved in stone forever with an iron chisel and with lead!
25 I know that my Redeemer lives, And at last he will rise above the dust;
26 And after my skin is undone, In my flesh I will see God;
27 Whom I will see for myself, And my eyes will see him, and no other, Although my heart fails within me.
28 But you should say: Why do we persecute him? Since the root of the matter is in me.
29 Fear ye before the sword; For the fury of the sword comes because of injustice, so that you may know that there is judgment.
1 Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 Indeed my thoughts make me answer, And therefore I hasten.
3 I have heard the rebuke of my censure, And the spirit of my understanding makes me respond.
4 Do you not know this, that this has always been the case, Since the time man was placed on the earth,
5 That the joy of the wicked is brief, And the joy of the wicked is but a moment?
6 Although he raises his pride to heaven, And his head touches the clouds,
7 Like his dung, he will perish forever; Those who have seen him will say: What about him?
8 He will fly away like a dream, and he will not be found, And he will disappear like a night vision.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more, Nor will his place know him any more.
10 His children will seek favor from the poor, and his hands will restore what he stole.
11 His bones are full of his youth, But with him they will lie in the dust.
12 If evil was sweetened in his mouth, If he hid it under his tongue,
13 If it seemed good to him, and he did not leave it, But he kept it in his mouth;
14 His food will change in his bowels; Gall of asps will be within him.
15 He devoured riches, but he will vomit them out; God will take them out of his womb.
16 He will suck poison from asps; He will kill him with a viper’s tongue.
17 He will not see the streams, the rivers, The streams of honey and milk.
18 He will restore the work according to the goods that he took, And he will not devour them nor enjoy them.
19 Because he broke and forsaken the poor, he stole houses, and built them not;
20 Therefore he will have no rest in his belly, Nor will he save anything that he coveted.
21 There was nothing left that he did not eat; Therefore, his well-being will not last.
22 In the height of his abundance he will suffer hardship; The hand of all the wicked will come upon him.
23 When he begins to fill his belly, God will send his fierce wrath upon him, and will rain it upon him and upon his food.
24 He will flee from the iron weapons, And the bronze bow will pierce him.
25 The arrow will pierce him and come out of his body, and the bright point will come out through his gall; Terrors will come upon him.
26 All darkness is reserved for his treasures; Unkinded fire will consume them; He will devour whatever is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity, And the earth will rise up against him.
28 The branches of his house will be carried away; They will be scattered in the day of his wrath.
29 This is the portion that God prepares for the wicked man, And the inheritance that God appoints him by his word.
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 Hear carefully my word, and let this be the consolation that you give me.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak; And after he has spoken, mock.
4 Do I complain about any man? And why should my spirit not be distressed?
5 Look at me, and be afraid, And put your hand over your mouth.
6 Even I myself, when I remember, am amazed, And trembling shakes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live, and grow old, and even increase in riches?
8 His descendants are strengthened in his sight, and his shoots are before his eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear, Nor does God’s scourge come upon them.
10 His bulls beget, and do not fail; Give birth to your cows, and do not spoil your offspring.
11 Their little ones go out like a flock, And their children go leaping.
12 They jump to the sound of the drum and the zither, And they rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity, And in peace they go down to Sheol.
14 Therefore they say to God, Depart from us, For we do not want the knowledge of your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what will it profit us if we pray to him?
16 Behold, his good is not in their hands; The counsel of the wicked far be from me.
17 Oh, how often the lamp of the wicked is extinguished, And his destruction comes upon them, And God in his wrath distributes pains to them!
18 They will be like chaff before the wind, And like chaff that the whirlwind carries away.
19 God will keep his violence for their children; He will give him the reward of it, so that he may know.
20 His eyes will see his destruction, and he will drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what delight will he have in his house after him, since the number of his months is cut off?
22 Will anyone teach God wisdom, when he judges those who are high?
23 This one will die in the vigor of his beauty, all still and peaceful;
24 His vessels will be full of milk, and his bones will be watered with marrow.
25 And this other will die in bitterness of mind, And without ever having eaten with pleasure.
26 Likewise they will lie in the dust, And worms will cover them.
27 Behold, I know your thoughts, And the imaginations that you form against me.
28 For you say, What about the prince’s house, and what about the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?
29 Have you not asked those who pass by on the roads, And have you not known his answer,
30 That the evil one is preserved in the day of destruction? It will be saved in the day of wrath.
31 Who will denounce his way to his face? And for what he did, who will repay him?
32 For he will be taken to the tombs, and they will keep watch over his grave.
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him; Every man will be taken after him, And countless have gone before him.
34 How then do you console me in vain, Your answers ending in fallacy?
