1:1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God, and turned away from evil. 1:2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 1:3His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. 1:4His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 1:5It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts." Thus did Job continually.
1:6Now it happened on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan also came among them. 1:7Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
1:8Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."
1:9Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 1:10Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 1:11But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face."
1:12Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand."
So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh. 1:13It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, 1:14that there came a messenger to Job, and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them, 1:15and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
1:16While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, "The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
1:17While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
1:18While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, 1:19and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you."
1:20Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped. 1:21He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh." 1:22In all this, Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrongdoing.
2:1Again it happened on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh. 2:2Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
2:3Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."
2:4Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. 2:5But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."
2:6Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."
2:7So Satan went forth from the presence of Yahweh, and struck Job with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head. 2:8He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes. 2:9Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."
2:10But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
In all this Job didn't sin with his lips. 2:11Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn't recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky. 2:13So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
3:1After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. 3:2Job answered:
3:3"Let the day perish in which
I was born,
The night which said, 'There is a
man-child conceived.'
3:4Let that day be darkness;
Don't let God from above seek for it,
Neither let the light shine on it.
3:5Let darkness and the shadow of
death claim it for their own.
Let a cloud dwell on it.
Let all that makes black the day
terrify it.
3:6As for that night, let thick
darkness seize on it.
Let it not rejoice among the days of
the year.
Let it not come into the number of
the months.
3:7Behold, let that night be barren.
Let no joyful voice come therein.
3:8Let them curse it who curse the
day,
Who are ready to rouse up leviathan.
3:9Let the stars of the twilight of
it be dark.
Let it look for light, but have none,
Neither let it see the eyelids of the
morning,
3:10Because it didn't shut up the
doors of my mother's womb,
Nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.
3:11"Why didn't I die from the
womb?
Why didn't I give up the spirit when
my mother bore me?
3:12Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breast, that I should suck?
3:13For now should I have lain down
and been quiet.
I should have slept, then I would
have been at rest,
3:14With kings and counselors of the
earth,
Who built up waste places for
themselves;
3:15Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver:
3:16Or as a hidden untimely birth I
had not been,
As infants who never saw light.
3:17There the wicked cease from
troubling;
There the weary are at rest.
3:18There the prisoners are at ease
together.
They don't hear the voice of the
taskmaster.
3:19The small and the great are there.
The servant is free from his master.
3:20"Why is light given to him
who is in misery,
Life to the bitter in soul,
3:21Who long for death, but it
doesn't come;
Dig for it more than for hidden
treasures,
3:22Who rejoice exceedingly,
Are glad, when they can find the
grave?
3:23Why is light given to a man whose
way is hid,
Whom God has hedged in?
3:24For my sighing comes before I eat,
My groanings are poured out like
water.
3:25For the thing which I fear comes
on me,
That which I am afraid of comes to me.
3:26I am not at ease, neither am I
quiet, neither have I rest;
But trouble comes."
4:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
4:2"If someone ventures to talk
with you, will you be grieved?
But who can withhold himself from
speaking?
4:3Behold, you have instructed many,
You have strengthened the weak hands.
4:4Your words have supported him who
was falling,
You have made firm the feeble knees.
4:5But now it is come to you, and you
faint;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
4:6Isn't your piety your confidence,
The integrity of your ways your hope?
4:7"Remember, now, whoever
perished, being innocent?
Or where were the upright cut off?
4:8According to what I have seen,
those who plow iniquity,
And sow trouble,
Reap the same.
4:9By the breath of God they perish,
By the blast of his anger are they
consumed.
4:10The roaring of the lion, and the
voice of the fierce lion,
The teeth of the young lions, are
broken.
4:11The old lion perishes for lack of
prey,
The whelps of the lioness are
scattered abroad.
4:12"Now a thing was secretly
brought to me,
My ear received a whisper of it.
4:13In thoughts from the visions of
the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
4:14Fear came on me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones shake.
4:15Then a spirit passed before my
face;
The hair of my flesh stood up.
4:16It stood still, but I couldn't
discern the appearance of it;
A form was before my eyes.
Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,
4:17'Shall mortal man be more just
than God?
Shall a man be more pure than his
Maker?
4:18Behold, he puts no trust in his
servants.
He charges his angels with error.
4:19How much more, those who dwell in
houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed before the moth!
4:20Between morning and evening they
are destroyed.
They perish forever without any
regarding it.
4:21Isn't their tent-cord plucked up
within them?
They die, and that without wisdom.'
5:1"Call now; is there any who
will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you
turn?
5:2For resentment kills the foolish
man,
And jealousy kills the simple.
5:3I have seen the foolish taking
root,
But suddenly I cursed his habitation.
5:4His children are far from safety,
They are crushed in the gate.
Neither is there any to deliver them,
5:5Whose harvest the hungry eats up,
And take it even out of the thorns;
The snare gapes for their substance.
5:6For affliction doesn't come forth
from the dust,
Neither does trouble spring out of
the ground;
5:7But man is born to trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.
5:8"But as for me, I would seek
God,
To God would I commit my cause;
5:9Who does great things that can't
be fathomed,
Marvelous things without number;
5:10Who gives rain on the earth,
And sends waters on the fields;
5:11So that he sets up on high those
who are low,
Those who mourn are exalted to safety.
5:12He frustrates the devices of the
crafty,
So that their hands can't perform
their enterprise.
5:13He takes the wise in their own
craftiness;
The counsel of the cunning is carried
headlong.
5:14They meet with darkness in the
day-time,
And grope at noonday as in the night.
5:15But he saves from the sword of
their mouth,
Even the needy from the hand of the
mighty.
5:16So the poor has hope,
And injustice shuts her mouth.
5:17"Behold, happy is the man
whom God corrects:
Therefore do not despise the
chastening of the Almighty.
5:18For he wounds, and binds up;
He injures, and his hands make whole.
5:19He will deliver you in six
troubles;
Yes, in seven there shall no evil
touch you.
5:20In famine he will redeem you from
death;
In war, from the power of the sword.
5:21You shall be hidden from the
scourge of the tongue,
Neither shall you be afraid of
destruction when it comes.
5:22At destruction and famine you
shall laugh,
Neither shall you be afraid of the
animals of the earth.
5:23For you shall be in league with
the stones of the field.
The animals of the field shall be at
peace with you.
5:24You shall know that your tent is
in peace.
You shall visit your fold, and shall
miss nothing.
5:25You shall know also that your
seed shall be great,
Your offspring as the grass of the
earth.
5:26You shall come to your grave in a
full age,
Like a shock of grain comes in its
season.
5:27Look this, we have searched it,
so it is;
Hear it, and know it for your
good."
6:1Then Job answered,
6:2"Oh that my anguish were
weighed,
And all my calamity laid in the
balances!
6:3For now it would be heavier than
the sand of the seas,
Therefore have my words been rash.
6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are
within me,
My spirit drinks up their poison.
The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
6:5Does the
wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?
6:6Can that
which has no flavor be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
6:7My soul
refuses to touch them;
They are as loathsome food to me.
6:8"Oh that I might have my
request;
That God would grant the thing that I
long for!
6:9Even that it would please God to
crush me;
That he would let loose his hand, and
cut me off!
6:10Be it still my consolation,
Yes, let me exult in pain that
doesn't spare,
That I have not denied the words of
the Holy One.
6:11What is my strength, that I
should wait?
What is my end, that I should be
patient?
6:12Is my strength the strength of
stones?
Or is my flesh of brass?
6:13Isn't it that I have no help in
me,
That wisdom is driven quite from me?
6:14"To him who is ready to
faint, kindness should be shown from his friend;
Even to him who forsakes the fear of
the Almighty.
6:15My brothers have dealt
deceitfully as a brook,
As the channel of brooks that pass
away;
6:16Which are black by reason of the
ice,
in which the snow hides itself:
6:17In the dry season, they vanish.
When it is hot, they are consumed out
of their place.
6:18The caravans that travel beside
them turn aside;
They go up into the waste, and perish.
6:19The caravans of Tema looked,
The companies of Sheba waited for
them.
6:20They were put to shame because
they had hoped;
They came there, and were confounded.
6:21For now you are nothing.
You see a terror, and are afraid.
6:22Did I say, 'Give to me?'
Or, 'Offer a present for me from your
substance?'
6:23Or, 'Deliver me from the
adversary's hand?'
Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the
oppressors?'
6:24"Teach me, and I will hold
my peace;
Cause me to understand wherein I have
erred.
6:25How forcible are words of
uprightness!
But your reproof, what does it
reprove?
6:26Do you intend to reprove words,
Seeing that the speeches of one who
is desperate are as wind?
6:27Yes, you would even cast lots for
the fatherless,
And make merchandise of your friend.
6:28Now therefore be pleased to look
at me,
For surely I shall not lie to your
face.
6:29Please return. Let there be no
injustice;
Yes, return again, my cause is
righteous.
6:30Is there injustice on my tongue?
Can't my taste discern mischievous
things?
7:1"Isn't a man forced to labor
on earth?
Aren't his days like the days of a
hired hand?
7:2As a servant who earnestly desires
the shadow,
As a hireling who looks for his wages,
7:3So am I made to possess months of
misery,
Wearisome nights are appointed to me.
7:4When I lie down, I say,
'When shall I arise, and the night be
gone?'
I toss and turn until the dawning of
the day.
7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and
clods of dust.
My skin closes up, and breaks out
afresh.
7:6My days are swifter than a
weaver's shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
7:7Oh remember that my life is a
breath.
My eye shall no more see good.
7:8The eye of him who sees me shall
see me no more.
Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall
not be.
7:9As the cloud is consumed and
vanishes away,
So he who goes down to Sheol shall
come up no more.
7:10He shall return no more to his
house,
Neither shall his place know him any
more.
7:11"Therefore I will not keep
silent.
I will speak in the anguish of my
spirit.
I will complain in the bitterness of
my soul.
7:12Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,
That you put a guard over me?
7:13When I say, 'My bed shall comfort
me,
My couch shall ease my complaint;'
7:14Then you scar me with dreams,
And terrify me through visions:
7:15So that my soul chooses
strangling,
Death rather than my bones.
7:16I loathe my life. I don't want to
live forever.
Leave me alone; for my days are but a
breath.
7:17What is man, that you should
magnify him,
That you should set your mind on him,
7:18That you should visit him every
morning,
And test him every moment?
7:19How long will you not look away
from me,
Nor leave me alone until I swallow
down my spittle?
7:20If I have sinned, what do I do to
you, you watcher of men?
Why have you set me as a mark for you,
So that I am a burden to myself?
7:21Why do you not pardon my
disobedience, and take away my iniquity?
For now shall I lie down in the dust.
You will seek me diligently, but I
shall not be."
8:1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
8:2"How long will you speak
these things?
Shall the words of your mouth be a
mighty wind?
8:3Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert
righteousness?
8:4If your children have sinned
against him,
He has delivered them into the hand
of their disobedience;
8:5If you want to seek God diligently,
Make your supplication to the
Almighty.
8:6If you were pure and upright,
Surely now he would awaken for you,
And make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
8:7Though your
beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would greatly increase.
8:8"Please inquire of past
generations,
Find out about the learning of their
fathers.
8:9(For we are but of yesterday, and
know nothing,
Because our days on earth are a
shadow.)
8:10Shall they not teach you, tell
you,
And utter words out of their heart?
8:11"Can the papyrus grow up
without mire?
Can the rushes grow without water?
8:12While it is yet in its greenness,
not cut down,
It withers before any other reed.
8:13So are the paths of all who
forget God.
The hope of the godless man shall
perish,
8:14Whose confidence shall break
apart,
Whose trust is a spider's web.
8:15He shall lean on his house, but
it shall not stand.
He shall cling to it, but it shall
not endure.
8:16He is green before the sun,
His shoots go forth over his garden.
8:17His roots are wrapped around the
rock pile,
He sees the place of stones.
8:18If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it shall deny him, saying, 'I
have not seen you.'
8:19Behold, this is the joy of his
way:
Out of the earth shall others spring.
8:20"Behold, God will not cast
away a blameless man,
Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.
8:21He will still fill your mouth
with laughter,
Your lips with shouting.
8:22Those who hate you shall be
clothed with shame.
The tent of the wicked shall be no
more."
9:1Then Job answered,
9:2"Truly I know that it is so,
But how can man be just with God?
9:3If he is pleased to contend with
him,
He can't answer him one time in a
thousand.
9:4God who is wise in heart, and
mighty in strength:
Who has hardened himself against him,
and prospered?
9:5Who removes the mountains, and
they don't know it,
When he overturns them in his anger
9:6Who shakes the earth out of its
place;
The pillars of it tremble;
9:7Who commands the sun, and it
doesn't rise,
And seals up the stars;
9:8Who alone stretches out the
heavens,
Treads on the waves of the sea;
9:9Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the
Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
9:10Who does great things past
finding out,
Yes, marvelous things without number.
9:11Behold, he goes by me, and I
don't see him.
He passes on also, but I don't
perceive him.
9:12Behold, he snatches away; who can
hinder him?
Who will ask him, 'What are you
doing?'
9:13"God will not withdraw his
anger;
The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
9:14How much less shall I answer him,
Choose my words to argue with him?
9:15Whom, though I were righteous,
yet would I not answer.
I would make supplication to my judge.
9:16If I had called, and he had
answered me,
Yet would I not believe that he
listened to my voice.
9:17For he breaks me with a tempest,
Multiplies my wounds without cause.
9:18He will not allow me to take my
breath,
But fills me with bitterness.
9:19If it is a matter of strength,
behold, he is mighty!
If of justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will
summon me?'
9:20Though I am righteous, my own
mouth shall condemn me.
Though I am blameless, it shall prove
me perverse.
9:21I am blameless. I don't regard
myself.
I despise my life.
9:22"It is all the same.
Therefore I say,
He destroys the blameless and the
wicked.
9:23If the scourge kills suddenly,
He will mock at the trial of the
innocent.
9:24The earth is given into the hand
of the wicked.
He covers the faces of the judges of
it.
If not he, then who is it?
9:25"Now my days are swifter
than a runner.
They flee away, they see no good,
9:26They have passed away as the
swift ships,
As the eagle that swoops on the prey.
9:27If I say, 'I will forget my
complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and cheer
up;'
9:28I am afraid of all my sorrows,
I know that you will not hold me
innocent.
9:29I shall be condemned;
Why then do I labor in vain?
9:30If I wash myself with snow,
And cleanse my hands with lye,
9:31Yet you will plunge me in the
ditch.
My own clothes shall abhor me.
9:32For he is not a man, as I am,
that I should answer him,
That we should come together in
judgment.
9:33There is no umpire between us,
That might lay his hand on us both.
9:34Let him take his rod away from me,
Let his terror not make me afraid:
9:35Then I would speak, and not fear
him,
For I am not so in myself.
10:1"My soul is weary of my life;
I will give free course to my
complaint.
I will speak in the bitterness of my
soul.
10:2I will tell God, 'Do not condemn
me,
Show me why you contend with me.
10:3Is it good to you that you should
oppress,
That you should despise the work of
your hands,
And smile on the counsel of the
wicked?
10:4Do you have eyes of flesh?
Or do you see as man sees?
10:5Are your days as the days of
mortals,
Or your years as man's years,
10:6That you inquire after my
iniquity,
And search after my sin?
10:7Although you know that I am not
wicked,
There is no one who can deliver out
of your hand.
10:8'Your hands have framed me and
fashioned me altogether;
Yet you destroy me.
10:9Remember, I beg you, that you
have fashioned me as clay.
Will you bring me into dust again?
10:10Haven't you poured me out like
milk,
And curdled me like cheese?
10:11You have clothed me with skin
and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and
sinews.
10:12You have granted me life and
lovingkindness.
Your visitation has preserved my
spirit.
10:13Yet you hid these things in your
heart.
I know that this is with you:
10:14If I sin, then you mark me.
You will not acquit me from my
iniquity.
10:15If I am wicked, woe to me.
If I am righteous, I still shall not
lift up my head,
Being filled with disgrace,
And conscious of my affliction.
10:16If my head is held high, you
hunt me like a lion.
Again you show yourself powerful to
me.
10:17You renew your witnesses against
me,
And increase your indignation on me.
Changes and warfare are with me.
10:18"'Why, then, have you
brought me forth out of the womb?
I wish I had given up the spirit, and
no eye had seen me.
10:19I should have been as though I
had not been.
I should have been carried from the
womb to the grave.
10:20Aren't my days few? Cease then,
Leave me alone, that I may find a
little comfort,
10:21Before I go where I shall not
return from,
To the land of darkness and of the
shadow of death;
10:22The land dark as midnight,
Of the shadow of death, without any
order,
Where the light is as midnight.'"
11:1Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered,
11:2"Shouldn't the multitude of
words be answered?
Should a man full of talk be
justified?
11:3Should your boastings make men
hold their peace?
When you mock, shall no man make you
ashamed?
11:4For you say, 'My doctrine is pure,
I am clean in your eyes.'
11:5But oh that God would speak,
And open his lips against you,
11:6That he would show you the
secrets of wisdom!
For true wisdom has two sides.
Know therefore that God exacts of you
less than your iniquity deserves.
11:7"Can you fathom the mystery
of God?
Or can you probe the limits of the
Almighty?
11:8They are high as heaven. What can
you do?
Deeper than Sheol: what can you know?
11:9The measure of it is longer than
the earth,
And broader than the sea.
11:10If he passes by, or confines,
Or convenes a court, then who can
oppose him?
11:11For he knows false men.
He sees iniquity also, even though he
doesn't consider it.
11:12But vain man can become wise
If a man can be born as a wild
donkey's colt.
11:13"If you set your heart
aright,
Stretch out your hands toward him.
11:14If iniquity is in your hand, put
it far away,
Don't let unrighteousness dwell in
your tents.
11:15Surely then shall you lift up
your face without spot;
Yes, you shall be steadfast, and
shall not fear:
11:16For you shall forget your misery;
You shall remember it as waters that
are passed away,
11:17Life shall be clearer than the
noonday;
Though there is darkness, it shall be
as the morning.
11:18You shall be secure, because
there is hope;
Yes, you shall search, and shall take
your rest in safety.
11:19Also you shall lie down, and
none shall make you afraid;
Yes, many shall court your favor.
11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall
fail,
They shall have no way to flee;
Their hope shall be the giving up of
the spirit."
12:1Then Job answered,
12:2"No doubt, but you are the
people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
12:3But I have understanding as well
as you;
I am not inferior to you:
Yes, who doesn't know such things as
these?
12:4I am like one who is a joke to
his neighbor,
I, who called on God, and he answered.
The just, the blameless man is a joke.
12:5In the thought of him who is at
ease there is contempt for misfortune,
It is ready for them whose foot slips.
12:6The tents of robbers prosper,
Those who provoke God are secure;
Who carry their God in their hands.
12:7"But ask the animals, now,
and they shall teach you;
The birds of the sky, and they shall
tell you.
12:8Or speak to the earth, and it
shall teach you;
The fish of the sea shall declare to
you.
12:9Who doesn't know that in all
these,
The hand of Yahweh has done this,
12:10In whose hand is the life of
every living thing,
The breath of all mankind?
12:11Doesn't the ear try words,
Even as the palate tastes its food?
12:12With aged men is wisdom,
In length of days understanding.
12:13"With God is wisdom and
might.
He has counsel and understanding.
12:14Behold, he breaks down, and it
can't be built again;
He imprisons a man, and there can be
no release.
12:15Behold, he withholds the waters,
and they dry up;
Again, he sends them out, and they
overturn the earth.
12:16With him is strength and wisdom;
The deceived and the deceiver are his.
12:17He leads counselors away
stripped.
He makes judges fools.
12:18He loosens the bond of kings,
He binds their loins with a belt.
12:19He leads priests away stripped,
And overthrows the mighty.
12:20He removes the speech of those
who are trusted,
And takes away the understanding of
the elders.
12:21He pours contempt on princes,
And loosens the belt of the strong.
12:22He uncovers deep things out of
darkness,
And brings out to light the shadow of
death.
12:23He increases the nations, and he
destroys them.
He enlarges the nations, and he leads
them captive.
12:24He takes away understanding from
the chiefs of the people of the earth,
And causes them to wander in a
wilderness where there is no way.
12:25They grope in the dark without
light.
He makes them stagger like a drunken
man.
13:1"Behold, my eye has seen all
this,
My ear has heard and understood it.
13:2What you know, I know also.
I am not inferior to you.
13:3"Surely I would speak to the
Almighty.
I desire to reason with God.
13:4But you are forgers of lies.
You are all physicians of no value.
13:5Oh that you would be completely
silent!
Then you would be wise.
13:6Hear now my reasoning.
Listen to the pleadings of my lips.
13:7Will you speak unrighteously for
God,
And talk deceitfully for him?
13:8Will you show partiality to him?
Will you contend for God?
13:9Is it good that he should search
you out?
Or as one deceives a man, will you
deceive him?
13:10He will surely reprove you
If you secretly show partiality.
13:11Shall not his majesty make you
afraid,
And his dread fall on you?
13:12Your memorable sayings are
proverbs of ashes,
Your defenses are defenses of clay.
13:13"Be silent, leave me alone,
that I may speak.
Let come on me what will.
13:14Why should I take my flesh in my
teeth,
And put my life in my hand?
13:15Behold, he will kill me; I have
no hope.
Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways
before him.
13:16This also shall be my salvation,
That a godless man shall not come
before him.
13:17Hear diligently my speech.
Let my declaration be in your ears.
13:18See now, I have set my cause in
order.
I know that I am righteous.
13:19Who is he who will contend with
me?
For then would I hold my peace and
give up the spirit.
13:20"Only don't do two things
to me;
Then I will not hide myself from your
face:
13:21Withdraw your hand far from me;
And don't let your terror make me
afraid.
13:22Then call, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, and you answer me.
13:23How many are my iniquities and
sins?
Make me know my disobedience and my
sin.
13:24Why hide you your face,
And hold me for your enemy?
13:25Will you harass a driven leaf?
Will you pursue the dry stubble?
13:26For you write bitter things
against me,
And make me inherit the iniquities of
my youth:
13:27You also put my feet in the
stocks,
And mark all my paths.
You set a bound to the soles of my
feet:
13:28Though I am decaying like a
rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.
14:1"Man, who is born of a woman,
Is of few days, and full of trouble.
14:2He comes forth like a flower, and
is cut down.
He also flees like a shadow, and
doesn't continue.
14:3Do you open your eyes on such a
one,
And bring me into judgment with you?
14:4Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean?
Not one.
14:5Seeing his
days are determined,
The number of his months is with you,
And you have appointed his bounds
that he can't pass;
14:6Look away from him, that he may
rest,
Until he shall accomplish, as a
hireling, his day.
14:7"For there is hope for a
tree,
If it is cut down, that it will
sprout again,
That the tender branch of it will not
cease.
14:8Though the root of it grows old
in the earth,
And the stock of it dies in the
ground;
14:9Yet through the scent of water it
will bud,
And put forth boughs like a plant.
14:10But man dies, and is laid low.
Yes, man gives up the spirit, and
where is he?
14:11As the waters fail from the sea,
And the river wastes and dries up,
14:12So man lies down and doesn't
rise;
Until the heavens are no more, they
shall not awake,
Nor be roused out of their sleep.
14:13"Oh that you would hide me
in Sheol,
That you would keep me secret, until
your wrath is past,
That you would appoint me a set time,
and remember me!
14:14If a man dies, shall he live
again?
All the days of my warfare would I
wait,
Until my release should come.
14:15You would call, and I would
answer you.
You would have a desire to the work
of your hands.
14:16But now you number my steps.
Don't you watch over my sin?
14:17My disobedience is sealed up in
a bag.
You fasten up my iniquity.
14:18"But the mountain falling
comes to nothing;
The rock is removed out of its place;
14:19The waters wear the stones;
The torrents of it wash away the dust
of the earth:
So you destroy the hope of man.
14:20You forever prevail against him,
and he passes;
You change his face, and send him
away.
14:21His sons come to honor, and he
doesn't know it;
They are brought low, but he doesn't
perceive it of them.
14:22But his flesh on him has pain;
His soul within him mourns."
15:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
15:2"Should a wise man answer
with vain knowledge,
And fill himself with the east wind?
15:3Should he reason with
unprofitable talk,
Or with speeches with which he can do
no good?
15:4Yes, you do away with fear,
And hinder devotion before God.
15:5For your iniquity teaches your
mouth,
And you choose the language of the
crafty.
15:6Your own mouth condemns you, and
not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against
you.
15:7"Are you the first man who
was born?
Or were you brought forth before the
hills?
15:8Have you heard the secret counsel
of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
15:9What do you know, that we don't
know?
What do you understand, which is not
in us?
15:10With us are both the gray-headed
and the very aged men,
Much elder than your father.
15:11Are the consolations of God too
small for you,
Even the word that is gentle toward
you?
15:12Why does your heart carry you
away?
Why do your eyes flash,
15:13That you turn your spirit
against God,
And let such words go out of your
mouth?
15:14What is man, that he should be
clean?
He who is born of a woman, that he
should be righteous?
15:15Behold, he puts no trust in his
holy ones;
Yes, the heavens are not clean in his
sight:
15:16How much less one who is
abominable and corrupt,
A man who drinks iniquity like water!
15:17"I will show you, listen to
me;
That which I have seen I will declare:
15:18(Which wise men have told
From their fathers, and have not
hidden it;
15:19To whom alone the land was given,
And no stranger passed among them):
15:20The wicked man travails with
pain all his days,
Even the number of years that are
laid up for the oppressor.
15:21A sound of terrors is in his
ears;
In prosperity the destroyer shall
come on him.
15:22He doesn't believe that he shall
return out of darkness,
He is waited for by the sword.
15:23He wanders abroad for bread,
saying, 'Where is it?'
He knows that the day of darkness is
ready at his hand.
15:24Distress and anguish make him
afraid;
They prevail against him, as a king
ready to the battle.
15:25Because he has stretched out his
hand against God,
And behaves himself proudly against
the Almighty;
15:26He runs at him with a stiff neck,
With the thick shields of his
bucklers;
15:27Because he has covered his face
with his fatness,
And gathered fat on his loins.
15:28He has lived in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabited,
Which were ready to become heaps.
15:29He shall not be rich, neither
shall his substance continue,
Neither shall their possessions be
extended on the earth.
15:30He shall not depart out of
darkness;
The flame shall dry up his branches,
By the breath of God's mouth shall he
go away.
15:31Let him not trust in emptiness,
deceiving himself;
For emptiness shall be his reward.
15:32It shall be accomplished before
his time.
His branch shall not be green.
15:33He shall shake off his unripe
grape as the vine,
And shall cast off his flower as the
olive tree.
15:34For the company of the godless
shall be barren,
And fire shall consume the tents of
bribery.
15:35They conceive mischief, and
bring forth iniquity.
Their heart prepares deceit."
16:1Then Job answered,
16:2"I have heard many such
things.
Miserable comforters are you all!
16:3Shall vain words have an end?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
16:4I also could speak as you do.
If your soul were in my soul's place,
I could join words together against
you,
And shake my head at you.
16:5But I would strengthen you with
my mouth.
The solace of my lips would relieve
you.
16:6"Though I speak, my grief is
not subsided.
Though I forbear, what am I eased?
16:7But now, God, you have surely
worn me out.
You have made desolate all my company.
16:8You have shriveled me up. This is
a witness against me.
My leanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
16:9He has torn me in his wrath, and
persecuted me;
He has gnashed on me with his teeth:
My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
16:10They have gaped on me with their
mouth;
They have struck me on the cheek
reproachfully.
They gather themselves together
against me.
16:11God delivers me to the ungodly,
And casts me into the hands of the
wicked.
16:12I was at ease, and he broke me
apart.
Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and
dashed me to pieces.
He has also set me up for his target.
16:13His archers surround me.
He splits my kidneys apart, and does
not spare.
He pours out my gall on the ground.
16:14He breaks me with breach on
breach.
He runs on me like a giant.
16:15I have sewed sackcloth on my
skin,
And have thrust my horn in the dust.
16:16My face is red with weeping.
Deep darkness is on my eyelids.
16:17Although there is no violence in
my hands,
And my prayer is pure.
16:18"Earth, don't cover my
blood,
Let my cry have no place to rest.
16:19Even now, behold, my witness is
in heaven.
He who vouches for me is on high.
16:20My friends scoff at me.
My eyes pour out tears to God,
16:21That he would maintain the right
of a man with God,
Of a son of man with his neighbor!
16:22For when a few years are come,
I shall go the way from whence I
shall not return.
17:1"My spirit is consumed, my
days are extinct,
And the grave is ready for me.
17:2Surely there are mockers with me,
My eye dwells on their provocation.
17:3"Now give a pledge, be
collateral for me with yourself.
Who is there who will strike hands
with me?
17:4For you have hidden their heart
from understanding,
Therefore shall you not exalt them.
17:5He who denounces his friends for
a prey,
Even the eyes of his children shall
fail.
17:6"But he has made me a byword
of the people.
They spit in my face.
17:7My eye also is dim by reason of
sorrow.
All my members are as a shadow.
17:8Upright men shall be astonished
at this.
The innocent shall stir up himself
against the godless.
17:9Yet shall the righteous hold on
his way.
He who has clean hands shall grow
stronger and stronger.
17:10But as for you all, come on now
again;
I shall not find a wise man among you.
17:11My days are past, my plans are
broken off,
As are the thoughts of my heart.
17:12They change the night into day,
Saying 'The light is near' in the
presence of darkness.
17:13If I look for Sheol as my house,
If I have spread my couch in the
darkness,
17:14If I have said to corruption,
'You are my father;'
To the worm, 'My mother,' and 'my
sister;'
17:15Where then is my hope?
As for my hope, who shall see it?
17:16Shall it go down with me to the
gates of Sheol,
Or descend together into the
dust?"
18:1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
18:2"How long will you hunt for
words?
Consider, and afterwards we will
speak.
18:3Why are we counted as animals,
Which have become unclean in your
sight?
18:4You who tear yourself in your
anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
Or shall the rock be removed out of
its place?
18:5"Yes, the light of the
wicked shall be put out,
The spark of his fire shall not shine.
18:6The light shall be dark in his
tent,
His lamp above him shall be put out.
18:7The steps of his strength shall
be shortened,
His own counsel shall cast him down.
18:8For he is cast into a net by his
own feet,
And he wanders into its mesh.
18:9A snare shall take him by the
heel;
A trap shall lay hold on him.
18:10A noose is hidden for him in the
ground,
A trap for him in the way.
18:11Terrors shall make him afraid on
every side,
And shall chase him at his heels.
18:12His strength shall be famished,
Calamity shall be ready at his side.
18:13The members of his body shall be
devoured,
The firstborn of death shall devour
his members.
18:14He shall be rooted out of his
tent where he trusts.
He shall be brought to the king of
terrors.
18:15There shall dwell in his tent
that which is none of his.
Sulfur shall be scattered on his
habitation.
18:16His roots shall be dried up
beneath,
Above shall his branch be cut off.
18:17His memory shall perish from the
earth.
He shall have no name in the street.
18:18He shall be driven from light
into darkness,
And chased out of the world.
18:19He shall have neither son nor
grandson among his people,
Nor any remaining where he sojourned.
18:20Those who come after shall be
astonished at his day,
As those who went before were
frightened.
18:21Surely such are the dwellings of
the unrighteous,
This is the place of him who doesn't
know God."
19:1Then Job answered,
19:2"How long will you torment
me,
And crush me with words?
19:3You have reproached me ten times.
You aren't ashamed that you attack me.
19:4If it is true that I have erred,
My error remains with myself.
19:5If indeed you will magnify
yourselves against me,
And plead against me my reproach;
19:6Know now that God has subverted
me,
And has surrounded me with his net.
19:7"Behold, I cry out of wrong,
but I am not heard:
I cry for help, but there is no
justice.
19:8He has walled up my way so that I
can't pass,
And has set darkness in my paths.
19:9He has stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from my head.
19:10He has broken me down on every
side, and I am gone.
My hope he has plucked up like a tree.
19:11He has also kindled his wrath
against me.
He counts me among his adversaries.
19:12His troops come on together,
Build a siege ramp against me,
And encamp around my tent.
19:13"He has put my brothers far
from me.
My acquaintances are wholly estranged
from me.
19:14My relatives have gone away.
My familiar friends have forgotten me.
19:15Those who dwell in my house, and
my maids, count me for a stranger.
I am an alien in their sight.
19:16I call to my servant, and he
gives me no answer;
I beg him with my mouth.
19:17My breath is offensive to my
wife.
I am loathsome to the children of my
own mother.
19:18Even young children despise me.
If I arise, they speak against me.
19:19All my familiar friends abhor me.
They whom I loved have turned against
me.
19:20My bones stick to my skin and to
my flesh.
I have escaped by the skin of my
teeth.
19:21"Have pity on me, have pity
on me, you my friends;
For the hand of God has touched me.
19:22Why do you persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
19:23"Oh that my words were now
written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
19:24That with an iron pen and lead
They were engraved in the rock
forever!
19:25But as for me, I know that my
Redeemer lives.
In the end, he will stand upon the
earth.
19:26After my skin is destroyed,
Then in my flesh shall I see God,
19:27Whom I, even I, shall see on my
side.
My eyes shall see, and not as a
stranger.
"My heart is consumed within me.
19:28If you say, 'How we will
persecute him!'
Because the root of the matter is
found in me,
19:29Be afraid of the sword,
For wrath brings the punishments of
the sword,
That you may know there is a
judgment."
20:1Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
20:2"Therefore do my thoughts
give answer to me,
Even by reason of my haste that is in
me.
20:3I have heard the reproof which
puts me to shame;
The spirit of my understanding
answers me.
20:4Don't you know this from old time,
Since man was placed on earth,
20:5That the triumphing of the wicked
is short,
The joy of the godless but for a
moment?
20:6Though his height mount up to the
heavens,
And his head reach to the clouds,
20:7Yet he shall perish forever like
his own dung,
Those who have seen him shall say,
'Where is he?'
20:8He shall fly away as a dream, and
shall not be found:
Yes, he shall be chased away like a
vision of the night.
20:9The eye which saw him shall see
him no more,
Neither shall his place any more see
him.
20:10His children shall seek the
favor of the poor.
His hands shall give back his wealth.
20:11His bones are full of his youth,
But youth shall lie down with him in
the dust.
20:12"Though wickedness is sweet
in his mouth,
Though he hide it under his tongue,
20:13Though he spare it, and will not
let it go,
But keep it still within his mouth;
20:14Yet his food in his bowels is
turned.
It is cobra venom within him.
20:15He has swallowed down riches,
and he shall vomit them up again.
God will cast them out of his belly.
20:16He shall suck cobra venom.
The viper's tongue shall kill him.
20:17He shall not look at the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and
butter.
20:18That for which he labored he
shall restore, and shall not swallow it down;
According to the substance that he
has gotten, he shall not rejoice.
20:19For he has oppressed and
forsaken the poor.
He has violently taken away a house,
and he shall not build it up.
20:20"Because he knew no
quietness within him,
He shall not save anything of that in
which he delights.
20:21There was nothing left that he
didn't devour,
Therefore his prosperity shall not
endure.
20:22In the fullness of his
sufficiency, distress shall overtake him:
The hand of everyone who is in misery
shall come on him.
20:23When he is about to fill his
belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him.
It will rain on him while he is
eating.
20:24He shall flee from the iron
weapon.
The bronze arrow shall strike him
through.
20:25He draws it forth, and it comes
out of his body.
Yes, the glittering point comes out
of his liver.
Terrors are on him.
20:26All darkness is laid up for his
treasures.
An unfanned fire shall devour him.
It shall consume that which is left
in his tent.
20:27The heavens shall reveal his
iniquity,
The earth shall rise up against him.
20:28The increase of his house shall
depart;
They shall rush away in the day of
his wrath.
20:29This is the portion of a wicked
man from God,
The heritage appointed to him by
God."
21:1Then Job answered,
21:2"Listen diligently to my
speech.
Let this be your consolation.
21:3Allow me, and I also will speak;
After I have spoken, mock on.
21:4As for me, is my complaint to man?
Why shouldn't I be impatient?
21:5Look at me, and be astonished.
Lay your hand on your mouth.
21:6When I remember, I am troubled.
Horror takes hold of my flesh.
21:7"Why do the wicked live,
Become old, yes, and grow mighty in
power?
21:8Their child is established with
them in their sight,
Their offspring before their eyes.
21:9Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.
21:10Their bulls breed without fail.
Their cows calve, and don't miscarry.
21:11They send forth their little
ones like a flock.
Their children dance.
21:12They sing to the tambourine and
harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
21:13They spend their days in
prosperity.
In an instant they go down to Sheol.
21:14They tell God, 'Depart from us,
For we don't want to know about your
ways.
21:15What is the Almighty, that we
should serve him?
What profit should we have, if we
pray to him?'
21:16Behold, their prosperity is not
in their hand:
The counsel of the wicked is far from
me.
21:17"How often is it that the
lamp of the wicked is put out?
That their calamity comes on them?
That God distributes sorrows in his
anger?
21:18That they are as stubble before
the wind,
As chaff that the storm carries away?
21:19You say, 'God lays up his
iniquity for his children.'
Let him recompense it to himself,
that he may know it.
21:20Let his own eyes see his
destruction.
Let him drink of the wrath of the
Almighty.
21:21For what does he care for his
house after him,
When the number of his months is cut
off?
21:22"Shall any teach God
knowledge,
Seeing he judges those who are high?
21:23One dies in his full strength,
Being wholly at ease and quiet.
21:24His pails are full of milk.
The marrow of his bones is moistened.
21:25Another dies in bitterness of
soul,
And never tastes of good.
21:26They lie down alike in the dust,
The worm covers them.
21:27"Behold, I know your
thoughts,
The devices with which you would
wrong me.
21:28For you say, 'Where is the house
of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked
lived?'
21:29Haven't you asked wayfaring men?
Don't you know their evidences,
21:30That the evil man is reserved to
the day of calamity?
That they are led forth to the day of
wrath?
21:31Who shall declare his way to his
face?
Who shall repay him what he has done?
21:32Yet shall he be borne to the
grave,
Men shall keep watch over the tomb.
21:33The clods of the valley shall be
sweet to him.
All men shall draw after him,
As there were innumerable before him.
21:34So how can you comfort me with
nonsense,
Seeing that in your answers there
remains only falsehood?"
22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,
22:2"Can a man be profitable to
God?
Surely he who is wise is profitable
to himself.
22:3Is it any pleasure to the
Almighty, that you are righteous?
Or does it benefit him, that you make
your ways perfect?
22:4Is it for your piety that he
reproves you,
That he enters with you into judgment?
22:5Isn't your wickedness great?
Neither is there any end to your
iniquities.
22:6For you have taken pledges from
your brother for nothing,
And stripped the naked of their
clothing.
22:7You haven't given water to the
weary to drink,
And you have withheld bread from the
hungry.
22:8But as for the mighty man, he had
the earth.
The honorable man, he lived in it.
22:9You have sent widows away empty,
And the arms of the fatherless have
been broken.
22:10Therefore snares are round about
you.
Sudden fear troubles you,
22:11Or darkness, so that you can not
see,
And floods of waters cover you.
22:12"Isn't God in the heights
of heaven?
See the height of the stars, how high
they are!
22:13You say, 'What does God know?
Can he judge through the thick
darkness?
22:14Thick clouds are a covering to
him, so that he doesn't see.
He walks on the vault of the sky.'
22:15Will you keep the old way
Which wicked men have trodden,
22:16Who were snatched away before
their time,
Whose foundation was poured out as a
stream,
22:17Who said to God, 'Depart from
us;'
And, 'What can the Almighty do for
us?'
22:18Yet he filled their houses with
good things,
But the counsel of the wicked is far
from me.
22:19The righteous see it, and are
glad;
The innocent laugh them to scorn,
22:20Saying, 'Surely those who rose
up against us are cut off,
The fire has consumed the remnant of
them.'
22:21"Acquaint yourself with
him, now, and be at peace.
Thereby good shall come to you.
22:22Please receive instruction from
his mouth,
And lay up his words in your heart.
22:23If you return to the Almighty,
you shall be built up,
If you put away unrighteousness far
from your tents.
22:24Lay your treasure in the dust,
The gold of Ophir among the stones of
the brooks.
22:25The Almighty will be your
treasure,
Precious silver to you.
22:26For then shall you delight
yourself in the Almighty,
And shall lift up your face to God.
22:27You shall make your prayer to
him, and he will hear you.
You shall pay your vows.
22:28You shall also decree a thing,
and it shall be established to you.
Light shall shine on your ways.
22:29When they cast down, you shall
say, 'be lifted up.'
He will save the humble person.
22:30He will even deliver him who is
not innocent;
Yes, he shall be delivered through
the cleanness of your hands."
23:1Then Job answered,
23:2"Even today is my complaint
rebellious.
His hand is heavy in spite of my
groaning.
23:3Oh that I knew where I might find
him!
That I might come even to his seat!
23:4I would set my cause in order
before him,
And fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5I would know the words which he
would answer me,
And understand what he would tell me.
23:6Would he contend with me in the
greatness of his power?
No, but he would listen to me.
23:7There the upright might reason
with him,
So I should be delivered forever from
my judge.
23:8"If I go east, he is not
there;
If west, I can't find him;
23:9He works to the north, but I
can't see him;
He turns south, but I can't catch a
glimpse of him.
23:10But he knows the way that I take.
When he has tried me, I shall come
forth like gold.
23:11My foot has held fast to his
steps.
His way have I kept, and not turned
aside.
23:12I haven't gone back from the
commandment of his lips.
I have treasured up the words of his
mouth more than my necessary food.
23:13But he stands alone, and who can
oppose him?
What his soul desires, even that he
does.
23:14For he performs that which is
appointed for me.
Many such things are with him.
23:15Therefore I am terrified at his
presence.
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
23:16For God has made my heart faint.
The Almighty has terrified me.
23:17Because I was not cut off before
the darkness,
Neither did he cover the thick
darkness from my face.
24:1"Why aren't times laid up by
the Almighty?
Why don't those who know him see his
days?
24:2There are people who remove the
landmarks.
They violently take away flocks, and
feed them.
24:3They drive away the donkey of the
fatherless,
And they take the widow's ox for a
pledge.
24:4They turn the needy out of the
way.
The poor of the earth all hide
themselves.
24:5Behold, as wild donkeys in the
desert,
They go forth to their work, seeking
diligently for food;
The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
24:6They cut
their provender in the field.
They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
24:7They lie
all night naked without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
24:8They are
wet with the showers of the mountains,
And embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
24:9There are
those who pluck the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge of the poor,
24:10So that
they go around naked without clothing.
Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
24:11They make oil within the walls
of these men.
They tread wine presses, and suffer
thirst.
24:12From out of the populous city,
men groan.
The soul of the wounded cries out,
Yet God doesn't regard the folly.