Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition

THE BOOK OF JOB

Job and His Family

1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil. ²There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. ³He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. ⁴His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each on his day; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

Satan Is Allowed to Tempt Job

⁶Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan^a also came among them. ⁷The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going back and forth on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ⁸And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” ⁹Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰Have you not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” ¹²And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand.” So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job Loses His Property and Children

¹³Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house; ¹⁴and there came a messenger to Job, and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them; ¹⁵and the Sabe'ans fell upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁶While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁷While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, “The Chalde'ans formed three companies, and made a raid upon the camels and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.” ¹⁸While he was yet speaking, there came another, and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house; ¹⁹and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the ground, and worshiped. ²¹And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Job Is Afflicted with Sores

2Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. ²And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD, “From going back and forth on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ³And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you moved me against him, to destroy him without cause.” ⁴Then Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. ⁵But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” ⁶And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life.”

⁷So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. ⁸And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.

⁹Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die.” ¹⁰But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job’s Three Friends

¹¹Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eli'phaz the Te'manite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zo'phar the Na'amathite. They made an appointment together to come to condole with him and comfort him. ¹²And when they saw him from afar, they did not recognize him; and they raised their voices and wept; and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. ¹³And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Job Curses the Day of His Birth

3After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

⁰²And Job said:

⁰³“Let the day perish wherein I was born,

and the night which said,

‘A man-child is conceived.’

⁴Let that day be darkness!

May God above not seek it,

nor light shine upon it.

⁵Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.

Let clouds dwell upon it;

let the blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶That night—let thick darkness seize it!

let it not rejoice among the days of the year,

let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷Yes, let that night be barren;

let no joyful cry be heard^b in it.

⁸Let those curse it who curse the day,

who are skilled to rouse up Levi'athan.

⁹Let the stars of its dawn be dark;

let it hope for light, but have none,

nor see the eyelids of the morning;

¹⁰because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,

nor hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹“Why did I not die at birth,

come forth from the womb and expire?

¹²Why did the knees receive me?

Or why the breasts, that I should suck?

¹³For then I should have lain down and been quiet;

I should have slept; then I should have been at rest,

¹⁴with kings and counselors of the earth

who rebuilt ruins for themselves,

¹⁵or with princes who had gold,

who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth,

as infants that never see the light?

¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling,

and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸There the prisoners are at ease together;

they hear not the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹The small and the great are there,

and the slave is free from his master.

²⁰“Why is light given to him who is in misery,

and life to the bitter in soul,

²¹who long for death, but it comes not,

and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

²²who rejoice exceedingly,

and are glad, when they find the grave?

²³Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

²⁴For my sighing comes as^c my bread,

and my groanings are poured out like water.

²⁵For the thing that I fear comes upon me,

and what I dread befalls me.

²⁶I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;

I have no rest; but trouble comes.”

Eliphaz Speaks: Suffering Is a Result of Sin

4Then Eli'phaz the Te'manite answered:

²“If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

³Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the weak hands.

⁴Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

⁵But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

⁶Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷“Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

⁸As I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.

⁹By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

¹⁰The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

the teeth of the young lions, are broken.

¹¹The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

¹²“Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

my ear received the whisper of it.

¹³Amid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

¹⁴dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

¹⁶It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

¹⁷‘Can mortal man be righteous before^d God?

Can a man be pure before^d his Maker?

¹⁸Even in his servants he puts no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

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

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed before the moth.

²⁰Between morning and evening they are destroyed;

they perish for ever without any regarding it.

²¹If their tent-cord is plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

5“Call now; is there any one who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

²Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

³I have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

⁴His sons are far from safety,

they are crushed in the gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

⁵His harvest the hungry eat,

and he takes it even out of thorns;^e

and the thirsty^f pant after his^g wealth.

⁶For affliction does not come from the dust,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground;

⁷but man is born to trouble

as the sparks fly upward.

⁸“As for me, I would seek God,

and to God would I commit my cause;

⁹who does great things and unsearchable,

marvelous things without number:

¹⁰he gives rain upon the earth

and sends waters upon the fields;

¹¹he sets on high those who are lowly,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹²He frustrates the devices of the crafty,

so that their hands achieve no success.

¹³He takes the wise in their own craftiness;

and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime,

and grope at noonday as in the night.

¹⁵But he saves the fatherless from their mouth,^h

the needy from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷“Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves;

therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.

¹⁸For he wounds, but he binds up;

he strikes, but his hands heal.

¹⁹He will deliver you from six troubles;

in seven there shall no evil touch you.

²⁰In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,

and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

²²At destruction and famine you shall laugh,

and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.

²³For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,

and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

²⁴You shall know that your tent is safe,

and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

²⁵You shall know also that your descendants shall be many,

and your offspring as the grass of the earth.

²⁶You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,

as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.

²⁷Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.

Hear, and know it for your good.”ⁱ

Job Replies to Eliphaz

6Then Job answered:

²“O that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

³For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

⁵Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,

or the ox low over his fodder?

⁶Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

or is there any taste in the slime of the purslane?^j

⁷My appetite refuses to touch them;

they are as food that is loathsome to me.^k

⁸“O that I might have my request,

and that God would grant my desire;

⁹that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

¹⁰This would be my consolation;

I would even exult^l in pain unsparing;

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should be patient?

¹²Is my strength the strength of stones,

or is my flesh bronze?

¹³In truth I have no help in me,

and any resource is driven from me.

¹⁴“He who withholds^m kindness from a friend

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵My brethren are treacherous as a torrent-bed,

as freshets that pass away,

¹⁶which are dark with ice,

and where the snow hides itself.

¹⁷In time of heat they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

¹⁸The caravans turn aside from their course;

they go up into the waste, and perish.

¹⁹The caravans of Te'ma look,

the travelers of Sheba hope.

²⁰They are disappointed because they were confident;

they come there and are confounded.

²¹Such you have now become to me;ⁿ

you see my calamity, and are afraid.

²²Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?

Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?

²³Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?

Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?

²⁴“Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have erred.

²⁵How forceful are honest words!

But what does reproof from you reprove?

²⁶Do you think that you can reprove words,

when the speech of a despairing man is wind?

²⁷You would even cast lots over the fatherless,

and bargain over your friend.

²⁸“But now, be pleased to look at me;

for I will not lie to your face.

²⁹Turn, I beg, let no wrong be done.

Turn now, my vindication is at stake.

³⁰Is there any wrong on my tongue?

Cannot my taste discern calamity?

Job Speaks of His Sufferings

7“Has not man a hard service upon earth,

and are not his days like the days of a hireling?

²Like a slave who longs for the shadow,

and like a hireling who looks for his wages,

³so I am allotted months of emptiness,

and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

⁴When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’

But the night is long,

and I am full of tossing till the dawn.

⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;

my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.

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

and come to their end without hope.

⁷“Remember that my life is a breath;

my eye will never again see good.

⁸The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;

while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.

⁹As the cloud fades and vanishes,

so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

¹⁰he returns no more to his house,

nor does his place know him any more.

¹¹“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I the sea, or a sea monster,

that you set a guard over me?

¹³When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,

my couch will ease my complaint,’

¹⁴then you scare me with dreams

and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵so that I would choose strangling

and death rather than my bones.

¹⁶I loathe my life; I would not live for ever.

Let me alone, for my days are a breath.

¹⁷What is man, that you make so much of him,

and that you set your mind upon him,

¹⁸visit him every morning,

and test him every moment?

¹⁹How long will you not look away from me,

nor let me alone till I swallow my spittle?

²⁰If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of men?

Why have you made me your mark?

Why have I become a burden to you?

²¹Why do you not pardon my transgression

and take away my iniquity?

For now I shall lie in the earth;

you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

Bildad Speaks: God Is Just

8Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a great wind?

³Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

⁴If your children have sinned against him,

he has delivered them into the power of their transgression.

⁵If you will seek God

and make supplication to the Almighty,

⁶if you are pure and upright,

surely then he will rouse himself for you

and reward you with a rightful habitation.

⁷And though your beginning was small,

your latter days will be very great.

⁸“For inquire, I beg you, of bygone ages,

and consider what the fathers have found;

⁹for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,

for our days on earth are a shadow.

¹⁰Will they not teach you, and tell you,

and utter words out of their understanding?

¹¹“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

¹²While yet in flower and not cut down,

they wither before any other plant.

¹³Such are the paths of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless man shall perish.

¹⁴His confidence breaks in sunder,

and his trust is a spider’s web.^o

¹⁵He leans against his house, but it does not stand;

he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

¹⁶He thrives before the sun,

and his shoots spread over his garden.

¹⁷His roots twine about the stone-heap;

he lives among the rocks.^p

¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place,

then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of his way;

and out of the earth others will spring.

²⁰“Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

nor take the hand of evildoers.

²¹He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with shouting.

²²Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

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

Job Replies to Bildad

9Then Job answered:

²“Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be just before God?

³If one wished to contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

⁴He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength

—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

⁵he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger;

⁶who shakes the earth out of its place,

and its pillars tremble;

⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

⁸who alone stretched out the heavens,

and trampled the waves of the sea;^q

⁹who made the Bear and Ori'on,

the Plei'ades and the chambers of the south;

¹⁰who does great things beyond understanding,

and marvelous things without number.

¹¹Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

¹²Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him?

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

¹³“God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of Ra'hab.

¹⁴How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

¹⁵Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;

I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.^r

¹⁶If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For he crushes me with a tempest,

and multiplies my wounds without cause;

¹⁸he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a contest of strength, behold him!

If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?^s

²⁰Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

²¹I am blameless; I regard not myself;

I loathe my life.

²²It is all one; therefore I say,

he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.

²³When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity^t of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he covers the faces of its judges—

if it is not he, who then is it?

²⁵“My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They go by like skiffs of reed,

like an eagle swooping on the prey.

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

I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer,’

²⁸I become afraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not hold me innocent.

²⁹I shall be condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow,

and cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should come to trial together.

³³There is no^u umpire between us,

who might lay his hand upon us both.

³⁴Let him take his rod away from me,

and let not dread of him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.

Job Says He Loathes His Life

10“I loathe my life;

I will give free utterance to my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God, Do not condemn me;

let me know why you contend against me.

³Does it seem good to you to oppress,

to despise the work of your hands

and favor the designs of the wicked?

⁴Do you have eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

⁵Are your days as the days of man,

or your years as man’s years,

⁶that you seek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

⁷although you know that I am not guilty,

and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

⁸Your hands fashioned and made me;

and now you turn about and destroy me.^v

⁹Remember that you have made me of clay;^w

and will you turn me to dust again?

¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

¹²You have granted me life and mercy;

and your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³Yet these things you hid in your heart;

I know that this was your purpose.

¹⁴If I sin, you mark me,

and do not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am wicked, woe to me!

If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,

for I am filled with disgrace

and look upon my affliction.

¹⁶And if I lift myself up,^x you hunt me like a lion,

and again work wonders against me;

¹⁷you renew your witnesses against me,

and increase your vexation toward me;

you bring fresh hosts against me.^y

¹⁸“Why did you bring me forth from the womb?

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me,

¹⁹and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are not the days of my life few?^z

Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort^a

²¹before I go from where I shall not return,

to the land of gloom and deep darkness,

²²the land of gloom^b and chaos,

where light is as darkness.”

Zophar Speaks: Job’s Guilt Deserves Punishment

11Then Zo'phar the Na'amathite answered:

²“Should a multitude of words go unanswered,

and a man full of talk be vindicated?

³Should your babble silence men,

and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

⁴For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,

and I am clean in God’s eyes.’

⁵But oh, that God would speak,

and open his lips to you,

⁶and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!

For he is manifold in understanding.^c

Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

⁷“Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

⁸It is higher than heaven^d—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

⁹Its measure is longer than the earth,

and broader than the sea.

¹⁰If he passes through, and imprisons,

and calls to judgment, who can hinder him?

¹¹For he knows worthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

¹²But a stupid man will get understanding,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.

¹³“If you set your heart aright,

you will stretch out your hands toward him.

¹⁴If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not wickedness dwell in your tents.

¹⁵Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;

you will be secure, and will not fear.

¹⁶You will forget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

¹⁷And your life will be brighter than the noonday;

its darkness will be like the morning.

¹⁸And you will have confidence, because there is hope;

you will be protected^e and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will entreat your favor.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is to breathe their last.”

Job Replies to Zophar

12Then Job answered:

²“No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

³But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know such things as these?

⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends;

I, who called upon God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

⁵In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;

it is ready for those whose feet slip.

⁶The tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure,

who bring their god in their hand.^f

⁷“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸or the plants of the earth,^g and they will teach you;

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

⁹Who among all these does not know

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰In his hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Does not the ear try words

as the palate tastes food?

¹²Wisdom is with the aged,

and understanding in length of days.

¹³“With God^h are wisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

¹⁴If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he shuts a man in, none can open.

¹⁵If he withholds the waters, they dry up;

if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

¹⁶With him are strength and wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped,

and judges he makes fools.

¹⁸He looses the bonds of kings,

and binds a waistcloth on their loins.

¹⁹He leads priests away stripped,

and overthrows the mighty.

²⁰He deprives of speech those who are trusted,

and takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹He pours contempt on princes,

and looses the belt of the strong.

²²He uncovers the deeps out of darkness,

and brings deep darkness to light.

²³He makes nations great, and he destroys them:

he enlarges nations, and leads them away.

²⁴He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,

and makes them wander in a pathless waste.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light;

and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

13“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

my ear has heard and understood it.

²What you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

³But I would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to argue my case with God.

⁴As for you, you whitewash with lies;

worthless physicians are you all.

⁵Oh, that you would keep silent,

and it would be your wisdom!

⁶Hear now my reasoning,

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

⁷Will you speak falsely for God,

and speak deceitfully for him?

⁸Will you show partiality toward him,

will you plead the case for God?

⁹Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

¹⁰He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

¹¹Will not his majesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

¹²Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,

your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³“Let me have silence, and I will speak,

and let come on me what may.

¹⁴I will takeⁱ my flesh in my teeth,

and put my life in my hand.

¹⁵Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope;

yet I will defend my ways to his face.

¹⁶This will be my salvation,

that a godless man shall not come before him.

¹⁷Listen carefully to my words,

and let my declaration be in your ears.

¹⁸Behold, I have prepared my case;

I know that I shall be vindicated.

¹⁹Who is there that will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

²⁰Only grant two things to me,

then I will not hide myself from your face:

²¹withdraw your hand far from me,

and let not dread of you terrify me.

²²Then call, and I will answer;

or let me speak, and do reply to me.

²³How many are my iniquities and my sins?

Make me know my transgression and my sin.

²⁴Why do you hide your face,

and count me as your enemy?

²⁵Will you frighten a driven leaf

and pursue dry chaff?

²⁶For you write bitter things against me,

and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

²⁷You put my feet in the stocks,

and watch all my paths;

you set a bound to the soles of my feet.

²⁸Man^j wastes away like a rotten thing,

like a garment that is moth-eaten.

The Frailty of Man

14“Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

²He comes forth like a flower, and withers;

he flees like a shadow, and continues not.

³And do you open your eyes upon such a one

and bring him^k into judgment with you?

⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

There is not one.

⁵Since his days are determined,

and the number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,

⁶look away from him, and desist,^l

that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day.

⁷“For there is hope for a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

⁸Though its root grow old in the earth,

and its stump die in the ground,

⁹yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put forth branches like a young plant.

¹⁰But man dies, and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹As waters fail from a lake,

and a river wastes away and dries up,

¹²so man lies down and rises not again;

till the heavens are no more he will not awake,

or be roused out of his sleep.

¹³Oh, that you would hide me in Sheol,

that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

¹⁴If a man die, shall he live again?

All the days of my service I would wait,

till my release should come.

¹⁵You would call, and I would answer you;

you would long for the work of your hands.

¹⁶For then you would number my steps,

you would not keep watch over my sin;

¹⁷my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸“But the mountain falls and crumbles away,

and the rock is removed from its place;

¹⁹the waters wear away the stones;

the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy the hope of man.

²⁰You prevail for ever against him, and he passes;

you change his countenance, and send him away.

²¹His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;

they are brought low, and he perceives it not.

²²He feels only the pain of his own body,

and he mourns only for himself.”

Eiphaz Rebukes Job

15Then Eli'phaz the Te'manite answered:

²“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,

and fill himself with the east wind?

³Should he argue in unprofitable talk,

or in words with which he can do no good?

⁴But you are doing away with the fear of God,

and hindering meditation before God.

⁵For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

⁶Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

your own lips testify against you.

⁷“Are you the first man that was born?

Or were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸Have you listened in the council of God?

And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹What do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

¹⁰Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

older than your father.

¹¹Are the consolations of God too small for you,

or the word that deals gently with you?

¹²Why does your heart carry you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

¹³that you turn your spirit against God,

and let such words go out of your mouth?

¹⁴What is man, that he can be clean?

Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

¹⁵Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones,

and the heavens are not clean in his sight;

¹⁶how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,

a man who drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷“I will show you, hear me;

and what I have seen I will declare

¹⁸(what wise men have told,

and their fathers have not hidden,

¹⁹to whom alone the land was given,

and no stranger passed among them).

²⁰The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

²¹Terrifying sounds are in his ears;

in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

²²He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

and he is destined for the sword.

²³He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

²⁴distress and anguish terrify him;

they prevail against him, like a king prepared for battle.

²⁵Because he has stretched forth his hand against God,

and bids defiance to the Almighty,

²⁶running stubbornly against him

with a thick-bossed shield;

²⁷because he has covered his face with his fat,

and gathered fat upon his loins,

²⁸and has lived in desolate cities,

in houses which no man should inhabit,

which were destined to become heaps of ruins;

²⁹he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

nor will he strike root in the earth;^m

³⁰he will not escape from darkness;

the flame will dry up his shoots,

and his blossomⁿ will be swept away^o by the wind.

³¹Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;

for emptiness will be his recompense.

³²It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not be green.

³³He will shake off his unripe grape, like the vine,

and cast off his blossom, like the olive tree.

³⁴For the company of the godless is barren,

and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

³⁵They conceive mischief and bring forth evil

and their heart prepares deceit.”

Job Reaffirms His Innocence

16Then Job answered:

²“I have heard many such things;

miserable comforters are you all.

³Shall windy words have an end?

Or what provokes you that you answer?

⁴I also could speak as you do,

if you were in my place;

I could join words together against you,

and shake my head at you.

⁵I could strengthen you with my mouth,

and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

⁶“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,

and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

⁷Surely now God has worn me out;

he has^p made desolate all my company.

⁸And he has^p shriveled me up,

which is a witness against me;

and my leanness has risen up against me,

it testifies to my face.

⁹He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me;

he has gnashed his teeth at me;

my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

¹⁰Men have gaped at me with their mouth,

they have struck me insolently upon the cheek,

they mass themselves together against me.

¹¹God gives me up to the ungodly,

and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, and he broke me asunder;

he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;

he set me up as his target,

¹³ his archers surround me.

He slashes open my kidneys, and does not spare;

he pours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴He breaks me with breach upon breach;

he runs upon me like a warrior.

¹⁵I have sewn sackcloth upon my skin,

and have laid my strength in the dust.

¹⁶My face is red with weeping,

and on my eyelids is deep darkness;

¹⁷although there is no violence in my hands,

and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸“O earth, cover not my blood,

and let my cry find no resting place.

¹⁹Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,

and he that vouches for me is on high.

²⁰My friends scorn me;

my eye pours out tears to God,

²¹that he would maintain the right of a man with God,

like^q that of a man with his neighbor.

²²For when a few years have come

I shall go the way from where I shall not return.

Job Prays for Relief

17My spirit is broken, my days are extinct,

the grave is ready for me.

²Surely there are mockers about me,

and my eye dwells on their provocation.

³“Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;

who is there that will give surety for me?

⁴Since you have closed their minds to understanding,

therefore you will not let them triumph.

⁵He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property,

the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶“He has made me a byword of the peoples,

and I am one before whom men spit.

⁷My eye has grown dim from grief,

and all my members are like a shadow.

⁸Upright men are appalled at this,

and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

⁹Yet the righteous holds to his way,

and he that has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.

¹⁰But you, come on again, all of you,

and I shall not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days are past, my plans are broken off,

the desires of my heart.

¹²They make night into day;

‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’^r

¹³If I look for Sheol as my house,

if I spread my couch in darkness,

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

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

¹⁵where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

¹⁶Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?

Shall we descend together into the dust?”

Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked

18Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“How long will you hunt for words?

Consider, and then we will speak.

³Why are we counted as cattle?

Why are we stupid in your sight?

⁴You who tear yourself in your anger,

shall the earth be forsaken for you,

or the rock be removed out of its place?

⁵“Yes, the light of the wicked is put out,

and the flame of his fire does not shine.

⁶The light is dark in his tent,

and his lamp above him is put out.

⁷His strong steps are shortened

and his own schemes throw him down.

⁸For he is cast into a net by his own feet,

and he walks on a pitfall.

⁹A trap seizes him by the heel,

a snare lays hold of him.

¹⁰A rope is hid for him in the ground,

a trap for him in the path.

¹¹Terrors frighten him on every side,

and chase him at his heels.

¹²His strength is hunger-bitten,

and calamity is ready for his stumbling.

¹³By disease his skin is consumed,^s

the first-born of death consumes his limbs.

¹⁴He is torn from the tent in which he trusted,

and is brought to the king of terrors.

¹⁵In his tent dwells that which is none of his;

brimstone is scattered upon his habitation.

¹⁶His roots dry up beneath,

and his branches wither above.

¹⁷His memory perishes from the earth,

and he has no name in the street.

¹⁸He is thrust from light into darkness,

and driven out of the world.

¹⁹He has no offspring or descendant among his people,

and no survivor where he used to live.

²⁰They of the west are appalled at his day,

and horror seizes them of the east.

²¹Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly,

such is the place of him who knows not God.”

Job Answers: I Know That My Redeemer Lives

19Then Job answered:

²“How long will you torment me,

and break me in pieces with words?

³These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;

are you not ashamed to wrong me?

⁴And even if it be true that I have erred,

my error remains with myself.

⁵If indeed you magnify yourselves against me,

and make my humiliation an argument against me,

⁶know then that God has put me in the wrong,

and closed his net about me.

⁷Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;

I call aloud, but there is no justice.

⁸He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,

and he has set darkness upon my paths.

⁹He has stripped from me my glory,

and taken the crown from my head.

¹⁰He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,

and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

¹¹He has kindled his wrath against me,

and counts me as his adversary.

¹²His troops come on together;

they have cast up siegeworks^t against me,

and encamp round about my tent.

¹³“He has put my brethren far from me,

and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

¹⁴My kinsfolk and my close friends have failed me;

¹⁵ the guests in my house have forgotten me;

my maidservants count me as a stranger;

I have become an alien in their eyes.

¹⁶I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;

I must beseech him with my mouth.

¹⁷I am repulsive to my wife,

loathsome to the sons of my own mother.

¹⁸Even young children despise me;

when I rise they talk against me.

¹⁹All my intimate friends abhor me,

and those whom I loved have turned against me.

²⁰My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,

and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,

for the hand of God has touched me!

²²Why do you, like God, pursue me?

Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

²³“Oh, that my words were written!

Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!

²⁴Oh, that with an iron pen and lead

they were graven in the rock for ever!

²⁵For I know that my Redeemer^u lives,

and at last he will stand upon the earth;^v

and after my skin has been thus destroyed,

then from^w my flesh I shall see God,^x

whom I shall see on my side,^y

and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

My heart faints within me!

²⁸If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’

and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him’;

²⁹be afraid of the sword,

for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,

that you may know there is a judgment.”

Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Retribution

20Then Zo'phar the Na'amathite answered:

²“Therefore my thoughts answer me,

because of my haste within me.

³I hear censure which insults me,

and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

⁴Do you not know this from of old,

since man was placed upon earth,

⁵that the exulting of the wicked is short,

and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

⁶Though his height mount up to the heavens,

and his head reach to the clouds,

⁷he will perish for ever like his own dung;

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

⁸He will fly away like a dream, and not be found;

he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹The eye which saw him will see him no more,

nor will his place any more behold him.

¹⁰His children will seek the favor of the poor,

and his hands will give back his wealth.

¹¹His bones are full of youthful vigor,

but it will lie down with him in the dust.

¹²“Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth,

though he hides it under his tongue,

¹³though he is loath to let it go,

and holds it in his mouth,

¹⁴yet his food is turned in his stomach;

it is the gall of asps within him.

¹⁵He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;

God casts them out of his belly.

¹⁶He will suck the poison of asps;

the tongue of a viper will kill him.

¹⁷He will not look upon the rivers,

the streams flowing with honey and curds.

¹⁸He will give back the fruit of his toil,

and will not swallow it down;

from the profit of his trading

he will get no enjoyment.

¹⁹For he has crushed and abandoned the poor,

he has seized a house which he did not build.

²⁰“Because his greed knew no rest,

he will not save anything in which he delights.

²¹There was nothing left after he had eaten;

therefore his prosperity will not endure.

²²In the fulness of his sufficiency he will be in straits;

all the force of misery will come upon him.

²³To fill his belly to the full

God^z will send his fierce anger into him,

and rain it upon him as his food.^a

²⁴He will flee from an iron weapon;

a bronze arrow will strike him through.

²⁵It is drawn forth and comes out of his body,

the glittering point comes out of his gall;

terrors come upon him.

²⁶Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;

a fire not blown upon will devour him;

what is left in his tent will be consumed.

²⁷The heavens will reveal his iniquity,

and the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸The possessions of his house will be carried away,

dragged off in the day of God’s^b wrath.

²⁹This is the wicked man’s portion from God,

the heritage decreed for him by God.”

Job Replies: The Wicked Often Prosper

21Then Job answered:

²“Listen carefully to my words,

and let this be your consolation.

³Bear with me, and I will speak,

and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴As for me, is my complaint against man?

Why should I not be impatient?

⁵Look at me, and be appalled,

and lay your hand upon your mouth.

⁶When I think of it I am dismayed,

and shuddering seizes my flesh.

⁷Why do the wicked live,

reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

⁸Their children are established in their presence,

and their offspring before their eyes.

⁹Their houses are safe from fear,

and no rod of God is upon them.

¹⁰Their bull breeds without fail;

their cow calves, and does not cast her calf.

¹¹They send forth their little ones like a flock,

and their children dance.

¹²They sing to the tambourine and the lyre,

and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.

¹³They spend their days in prosperity,

and in peace they go down to Sheol.

¹⁴They say to God, ‘Depart from us!

We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

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

And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’

¹⁶Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?

The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?

That their calamity comes upon them?

That God^c distributes pains in his anger?

¹⁸That they are like straw before the wind,

and like chaff that the storm carries away?

¹⁹You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their sons.’

Let him recompense it to themselves, that they may know it.

²⁰Let their own eyes see their destruction,

and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹For what do they care for their houses after them,

when the number of their months is cut off?

²²Will any teach God knowledge,

seeing that he judges those that are on high?

²³One dies in full prosperity,

being wholly at ease and secure,

²⁴his body^d full of fat

and the marrow of his bones moist.

²⁵Another dies in bitterness of soul,

never having tasted of good.

²⁶They lie down alike in the dust,

and the worms cover them.

²⁷“Behold, I know your thoughts,

and your schemes to wrong me.

²⁸For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is the tent in which the wicked dwelt?’

²⁹Have you not asked those who travel the roads,

and do you not accept their testimony

³⁰that the wicked man is spared in the day of calamity,

that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

³¹Who declares his way to his face,

and who repays him for what he has done?

³²When he is borne to the grave,

watch is kept over his tomb.

³³The clods of the valley are sweet to him;

all men follow after him,

and those who go before him are innumerable.

³⁴How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?

There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Eliphaz Speaks: Job’s Wickedness Must Be Great

22Then Eli'phaz the Te'manite answered:

²“Can a man be profitable to God?

Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

³Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,

or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?

⁴Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you,

and enters into judgment with you?

⁵Is not your wickedness great?

There is no end to your iniquities.

⁶For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing,

and stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷You have given no water to the weary to drink,

and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

⁸The man with power possessed the land,

and the favored man dwelt in it.

⁹You have sent widows away empty,

and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.

¹⁰Therefore snares are round about you,

and sudden terror overwhelms you;

¹¹your light is darkened, so that^e you cannot see,

and a flood of water covers you.

¹²“Is not God high in the heavens?

See the highest stars, how lofty they are!

¹³Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?

Can he judge through the deep darkness?

¹⁴Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,

and he walks on the vault of heaven.’

¹⁵Will you keep to the old way

which wicked men have trod?

¹⁶They were snatched away before their time;

their foundation was washed away.

¹⁷They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’^f

¹⁸Yet he filled their houses with good things—

but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹The righteous see it and are glad;

the innocent laugh them to scorn,

²⁰saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,

and what they left the fire has consumed.’

²¹“Agree with God, and be at peace;

thereby good will come to you.

²²Receive instruction from his mouth,

and lay up his words in your heart.

²³If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself,^g

if you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

²⁴if you lay gold in the dust,

and gold of O'phir among the stones of the torrent bed,

²⁵and if the Almighty is your gold,

and your precious silver;

²⁶then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,

and lift up your face to God.

²⁷You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you;

and you will pay your vows.

²⁸You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

²⁹For God abases the proud,^h

but he saves the lowly.

³⁰He delivers the innocent man;ⁱ

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

Job Replies: I Am Hemmed In

23Then Job answered:

²“Today also my complaint is bitter,^j

his^k hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

³Oh, that I knew where I might find him,

that I might come even to his seat!

⁴I would lay my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵I would learn what he would answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

⁶Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?

No; he would give heed to me.

⁷There an upright man could reason with him,

and I should be acquitted for ever by my judge.

⁸“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there;

and backward, but I cannot perceive him;

⁹on the left hand I seek him,^l but I cannot behold him;

I^m turn to the right hand, but I cannot see him.

¹⁰But he knows the way that I take;

when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

¹¹My foot has held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

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

I have treasured inⁿ my bosom the words of his mouth.

¹³But he is unchangeable and who can turn him?

What he desires, that he does.

¹⁴For he will complete what he appoints for me;

and many such things are in his mind.

¹⁵Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

when I consider, I am in dread of him.

¹⁶God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me;

¹⁷for I am^o hemmed in by darkness,

and thick darkness covers my face.^p

Job Complains of Violence

24“Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,

and why do those who know him never see his days?

²Men remove landmarks;

they seize flocks and pasture them.

³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

⁴They thrust the poor off the road;

the poor of the earth all hide themselves.

⁵Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert

they go forth to their toil,

seeking prey in the wilderness

as food^q for their children.

⁶They gather their^r fodder in the field

and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.

⁷They lie all night naked, without clothing,

and have no covering in the cold.

⁸They are wet with the rain of the mountains,

and cling to the rock for want of shelter.

⁹(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,

and take in pledge the infant of the poor.)

¹⁰They go about naked, without clothing;

hungry, they carry the sheaves;

¹¹among the olive rows of the wicked^s they make oil;

they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst.

¹²From out of the city the dying groan,

and the soul of the wounded cries for help;

yet God pays no attention to their prayer.

¹³“There are those who rebel against the light,

who are not acquainted with its ways,

and do not stay in its paths.

¹⁴The murderer rises in the dark,^t

that he may kill the poor and needy;

and in the night he is as a thief.

¹⁵The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,

saying, ‘No eye will see me’;

and he disguises his face.

¹⁶In the dark they dig through houses;

by day they shut themselves up;

they do not know the light.

¹⁷For deep darkness is morning to all of them;

for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

¹⁸“You say, ‘They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters;

their portion is cursed in the land;

no treader turns toward their vineyards.

¹⁹Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;

so does Sheol those who have sinned.

²⁰The squares of the town^u forget them;

their name^v is no longer remembered;

so wickedness is broken like a tree.’

²¹“They feed on the barren childless woman,

and do no good to the widow.

²²Yet God^w prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;

they rise up when they despair of life.

²³He gives them security, and they are supported;

and his eyes are upon their ways.

²⁴They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;

they wither and fade like the mallow;^x

they are cut off like the heads of grain.

²⁵If it is not so, who will prove me a liar,

and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

Bildad Speaks: How Can Man Be Righteous?

25Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“Dominion and fear are with God;^y

he makes peace in his high heaven.

³Is there any number to his armies?

Upon whom does his light not arise?

⁴How then can man be righteous before God?

How can he who is born of woman be clean?

⁵Behold, even the moon is not bright

and the stars are not clean in his sight;

⁶how much less man, who is a maggot,

and the son of man, who is a worm!”

Job Speaks of God’s Power

26Then Job answered:

²“How you have helped him who has no power!

How you have saved the arm that has no strength!

³How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,

and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

⁴With whose help have you uttered words,

and whose spirit has come forth from you?

⁵The shades below tremble,

the waters and their inhabitants.

⁶Sheol is naked before God,

and Abad'don has no covering.

⁷He stretches out the north over the void,

and hangs the earth upon nothing.

⁸He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,

and the cloud is not torn under them.

⁹He covers the face of the moon,^z

and spreads over it his cloud.

¹⁰He has described a circle upon the face of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of heaven tremble,

and are astounded at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he stilled the sea;

by his understanding he struck Ra'hab.

¹³By his wind the heavens were made fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

¹⁴Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways;

and how small a whisper do we hear of him!

But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Job Maintains His Integrity

27And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

²“As God lives, who has taken away my right,

and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter;

³as long as my breath is in me,

and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

⁴my lips will not speak falsehood,

and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵Far be it from me to say that you are right;

till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

⁶I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go;

my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

⁷“Let my enemy be as the wicked,

and let him that rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

⁸For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,

when God takes away his life?

⁹Will God hear his cry,

when trouble comes upon him?

¹⁰Will he take delight in the Almighty?

Will he call upon God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of God;

what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;

why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,

and the heritage which oppressors receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;

and his offspring have not enough to eat.

¹⁵Those who survive him the pestilence buries,

and their widows make no lamentation.

¹⁶Though he heap up silver like dust,

and pile up clothing like clay;

¹⁷he may pile it up, but the just will wear it,

and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸The house which he builds is like a spider’s web,^a

like a booth which a watchman makes.

¹⁹He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;^b

he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood;

in the night a whirlwind carries him off.

²¹The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

²²It^c hurls at him without pity;

he flees from its^d power in headlong flight.

²³It^c claps its^d hands at him,

and hisses at him from its^d place.

Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?

28“Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for gold which they refine.

²Iron is taken out of the earth,

and copper is smelted from the ore.

³Men put an end to darkness,

and search out to the farthest bound

the ore in gloom and deep darkness.

⁴They open shafts in a valley away from where men live;

they are forgotten by travelers,

they hang afar from men, they swing back and forth.

⁵As for the earth, out of it comes bread;

but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

⁶Its stones are the place of sapphires,^e

and it has dust of gold.

⁷“That path no bird of prey knows,

and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

⁸The proud beasts have not trodden it;

the lion has not passed over it.

⁹“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock,

and overturns mountains by the roots.

¹⁰He cuts out channels in the rocks,

and his eye sees every precious thing.

¹¹He binds up the streams so that they do not trickle,

and the thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.

¹²“But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man does not know the way to it,^f

and it is not found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

¹⁵It cannot be gotten for gold,

and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

¹⁶It cannot be valued in the gold of O'phir,

in precious onyx or sapphire.^g

¹⁷Gold and glass cannot equal it,

nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;

the price of wisdom is above pearls.

¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰“From where does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of all living,

and concealed from the birds of the air.

²²Abad'don and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

²³“God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth,

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When he gave to the wind its weight,

and meted out the waters by measure;

²⁶when he made a decree for the rain,

and a way for the lightning of the thunder;

²⁷then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

²⁸And he said to man,

‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

and to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Job Recalls Past Happiness

29And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

²“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,

as in the days when God watched over me;

³when his lamp shone upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness;

⁴as I was in my autumn days,

when the friendship of God was upon my tent;

⁵when the Almighty was yet with me,

when my children were about me;

⁶when my steps were washed with milk,

and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

⁷When I went out to the gate of the city,

when I prepared my seat in the square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew,

and the aged rose and stood;

⁹the princes refrained from talking,

and laid their hand on their mouth;

¹⁰the voice of the nobles was hushed,

and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹When the ear heard, it called me blessed,

and when the eye saw, it approved;

¹²because I delivered the poor who cried,

and the fatherless who had none to help him.

¹³The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,

and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

my justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind,

and feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor,

and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.

¹⁷I broke the fangs of the unrighteous,

and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

¹⁸Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,

and I shall multiply my days as the sand,

¹⁹my roots spread out to the waters,

with the dew all night on my branches,

²⁰my glory fresh with me,

and my bow ever new in my hand.’

²¹“Men listened to me, and waited,

and kept silence for my counsel.

²²After I spoke they did not speak again,

and my word dropped upon them.

²³They waited for me as for the rain;

and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.

²⁴I smiled on them when they had no confidence;

and the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

²⁵I chose their way, and sat as chief,

and I dwelt like a king among his troops,

like one who comforts mourners.

Job Speaks of His Present Suffering

30“But now they make sport of me,

men who are younger than I,

whose fathers I would have disdained

to set with the dogs of my flock.

²What could I gain from the strength of their hands,

men whose vigor is gone?

³Through want and hard hunger

they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;^h

⁴they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes,

and to warm themselves the roots of the broom.

⁵They are driven out from among men;

they shout after them as after a thief.

⁶In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,

in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they bray;

under the nettles they huddle together.

⁸A senseless, a disreputable brood,

they have been whipped out of the land.

⁹“And now I have become their song,

I am a byword to them.

¹⁰They abhor me, they keep aloof from me;

they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

¹¹Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,

they have cast off restraint in my presence.

¹²On my right hand the rabble rise,

they drive meⁱ forth,

they cast up against me their ways of destruction.

¹³They break up my path,

they promote my calamity;

no one restrains^j them.

¹⁴As through^k a wide breach they come;

amid the crash they roll on.

¹⁵Terrors are turned upon me;

my honor is pursued as by the wind,

and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

¹⁶“And now my soul is poured out within me;

days of affliction have taken hold of me.

¹⁷The night racks my bones,

and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.

¹⁸With violence it seizes my garment;^l

it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.

¹⁹God has cast me into the mire,

and I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry to you and you do not answer me;

I stand, and you do not^m heed me.

²¹You have turned cruel to me;

with the might of your hand you persecute me.

²²You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,

and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.

²³Yes, I know that you will bring me to death,

and to the house appointed for all living.

²⁴“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,

and in his disaster cry for help?ⁿ

²⁵Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

²⁶But when I looked for good, evil came;

and when I waited for light, darkness came.

²⁷My heart is in turmoil, and is never still;

days of affliction come to meet me.

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

I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

²⁹I am a brother of jackals,

and a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin turns black and falls from me,

and my bones burn with heat.

³¹My lyre is turned to mourning,

and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

Job Asserts His Integrity

31“I have made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I look upon a virgin?

²What would be my portion from God above,

and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

³Does not calamity befall the unrighteous,

and disaster the workers of iniquity?

⁴Does not he see my ways,

and number all my steps?

⁵“If I have walked with falsehood,

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

⁶(Let me be weighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!)

⁷if my step has turned aside from the way,

and my heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any spot has clung to my hands;

⁸then let me sow, and another eat;

and let what grows for me be rooted out.

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

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door;

¹⁰then let my wife grind for another,

and let others bow down upon her.

¹¹For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

¹²for that would be a fire which consumes unto Abad'don,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

¹³“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me;

¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

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

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

¹⁸(for from his youth I reared him as a father,

and from his mother’s womb I guided him^o);

¹⁹if I have seen any one perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without covering;

²⁰if his loins have not blessed me,

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

²¹if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

because I saw help in the gate;

²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

²³For I was in terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his majesty.

²⁴“If I have made gold my trust,

or called fine gold my confidence;

²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

or because my hand had gotten much;

²⁶if I have looked at the sun^p when it shone,

or the moon moving in splendor,

²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand;

²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I should have been false to God above.

²⁹“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him that hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

³⁰(I have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a curse);

³¹if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’

³²(the sojourner has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the wayfarer);

³³if I have concealed my transgressions from men,^q

by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!)

Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me as a crown;

³⁷I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

³⁸“If my land has cried out against me,

and its furrows have wept together;

³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment,

and caused the death of its owners;

⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

Young Elihu Rebukes Job’s Friends

32So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²Then Eli'hu the son of Bar'achel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God; ³he was angry also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. ⁴Now Eli'hu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. ⁵And when Eli'hu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.

⁶And Eli'hu the son of Bar'achel the Buzite answered:

“I am young in years,

and you are aged;

therefore I was timid and afraid

to declare my opinion to you.

⁷I said, ‘Let days speak,

and many years teach wisdom.’

⁸But it is the spirit in a man,

the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

⁹It is not the old^r that are wise,

nor the aged that understand what is right.

¹⁰Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;

let me also declare my opinion.’

¹¹“Behold, I waited for your words.

I listened for your wise sayings,

while you searched out what to say.

¹²I gave you my attention,

and, behold, there was none that confuted Job,

or that answered his words, among you.

¹³Beware lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom;

God may vanquish him, not man.’

¹⁴He has not directed his words against me,

and I will not answer him with your speeches.

¹⁵“They are discomfited, they answer no more;

they have not a word to say.

¹⁶And shall I wait, because they do not speak,

because they stand there, and answer no more?

¹⁷I also will give my answer;

I also will declare my opinion.

¹⁸For I am full of words,

the spirit within me constrains me.

¹⁹Behold, my heart is like wine that has no vent;

like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.

²⁰I must speak, that I may find relief;

I must open my lips and answer.

²¹I will not show partiality to any person

or use flattery toward any man.

²²For I do not know how to flatter,

else would my Maker soon put an end to me.

Elihu Addresses Job

33“But now, hear my speech, O Job,

and listen to all my words.

²Behold, I open my mouth;

the tongue in my mouth speaks.

³My words declare the uprightness of my heart,

and what my lips know they speak sincerely.

⁴The spirit of God has made me,

and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵Answer me, if you can;

set your words in order before me; take your stand.

⁶Behold, I am toward God as you are;

I too was formed from a piece of clay.

⁷Behold, no fear of me need terrify you;

my pressure will not be heavy upon you.

⁸“Surely, you have spoken in my hearing,

and I have heard the sound of your words.

⁹You say, ‘I am clean, without transgression;

I am pure, and there is no iniquity in me.

¹⁰Behold, he finds occasions against me,

he counts me as his enemy;

¹¹he puts my feet in the stocks,

and watches all my paths.’

¹²“Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you.

God is greater than man.

¹³Why do you contend against him,

saying, ‘He will answer none of my^s words’?

¹⁴For God speaks in one way,

and in two, though man does not perceive it.

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

when deep sleep falls upon men,

while they slumber on their beds,

¹⁶then he opens the ears of men,

and terrifies them with warnings,

¹⁷that he may turn man aside from his deed,

and cut off^t pride from man;

¹⁸he keeps back his soul from the Pit,

his life from perishing by the sword.

¹⁹“Man is also chastened with pain upon his bed,

and with continual strife in his bones;

²⁰so that his life loathes bread,

and his appetite dainty food.

²¹His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen;

and his bones which were not seen stick out.

²²His soul draws near the Pit,

and his life to those who bring death.

²³If there be for him an angel,

a mediator, one of the thousand,

to declare to man what is right for him;

²⁴and he is gracious to him, and says,

‘Deliver him from going down into the Pit,

I have found a ransom;

²⁵let his flesh become fresh with youth;

let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;

²⁶then man prays to God, and he accepts him,

he comes into his presence with joy.

He recounts^u to men his salvation,

²⁷ and he sings before men, and says:

‘I sinned and perverted what was right,

and it was not repaid to me.

²⁸He has redeemed my soul from going down into the Pit,

and my life shall see the light.’

²⁹“Behold, God does all these things,

twice, three times, with a man,

³⁰to bring back his soul from the Pit,

that he may see the light of life.^v

³¹Give heed, O Job, listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say, answer me;

speak, for I desire to justify you.

³³If not, listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Elihu Proclaims God’s Justice

34Then Eli'hu said:

²“Hear my words, you wise men,

and give ear to me, you who know;

³for the ear tests words

as the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose what is right;

let us determine among ourselves what is good.

⁵For Job has said, ‘I am innocent,

and God has taken away my right;

⁶in spite of my right I am counted a liar;

my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

⁷What man is like Job,

who drinks up scoffing like water,

⁸who goes in company with evildoers

and walks with wicked men?

⁹For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing

that he should take delight in God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding,

far be it from God that he should do wickedness,

and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

¹¹For according to the work of a man he will repay him,

and according to his ways he will make it befall him.

¹²Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,

and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him charge over the earth

and who laid on him^w the whole world?

¹⁴If he should take back his spirit^x to himself,

and gather to himself his breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together,

and man would return to dust.

¹⁶“If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.

¹⁷Shall one who hates justice govern?

Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,

¹⁸who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’

and to nobles, ‘Wicked man’;

¹⁹who shows no partiality to princes,

nor regards the rich more than the poor,

for they are all the work of his hands?

²⁰In a moment they die;

at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,

and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

²¹“For his eyes are upon the ways of a man,

and he sees all his steps.

²²There is no gloom or deep darkness

where evildoers may hide themselves.

²³For he has not appointed a time^y for any man

to go before God in judgment.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without investigation,

and sets others in their place.

²⁵Thus, knowing their works,

he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them for their wickedness

in the sight of men,

²⁷because they turned aside from following him,

and had no regard for any of his ways,

²⁸so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,

and he heard the cry of the afflicted—

²⁹When he is quiet, who can condemn?

When he hides his face, who can behold him,

whether it be a nation or a man? —

³⁰that a godless man should not reign,

that he should not ensnare the people.

³¹“For has any one said to God,

‘I have borne chastisement; I will not offend any more;

³²teach me what I do not see;

if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

³³Will he then make repayment to suit you,

because you reject it?

For you must choose, and not I;

therefore declare what you know.^z

³⁴Men of understanding will say to me,

and the wise man who hears me will say:

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge,

his words are without insight.’

³⁶Would that Job were judged to the end,

because he answers like wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin;

he claps his hands among us,

and multiplies his words against God.”

Elihu Condemns Self-righteousness

35And Eli'hu said:

²“Do you think this to be just?

Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’

³that you ask, ‘What advantage have I?

How am I better off than if I had sinned?’

⁴I will answer you

and your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens, and see;

and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?

And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

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

or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,

and your righteousness a son of man.

⁹“Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out;

they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

who gives songs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,

and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

¹²There they cry out, but he does not answer,

because of the pride of evil men.

¹³Surely God does not hear an empty cry,

nor does the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say that you do not see him,

that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!

¹⁵And now, because his anger does not punish,

and he does not greatly heed transgression,^a

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in empty talk,

he multiplies words without knowledge.”

Elihu Speaks on God’s Behalf

36And Eli'hu continued, and said:

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

for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.

³I will fetch my knowledge from afar,

and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

⁴For truly my words are not false;

one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;

he is mighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive,

but gives the afflicted their right.

⁷He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,

but with kings upon the throne

he sets them for ever, and they are exalted.

⁸And if they are bound in fetters

and caught in the cords of affliction,

⁹then he declares to them their work

and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.

¹⁰He opens their ears to instruction,

and commands that they return from iniquity.

¹¹If they listen and serve him,

they complete their days in prosperity,

and their years in pleasantness.

¹²But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword,

and die without knowledge.

¹³“The godless in heart cherish anger;

they do not cry for help when he binds them.

¹⁴They die in youth,

and their life ends in shame.^b

¹⁵He delivers the afflicted by their affliction,

and opens their ear by adversity.

¹⁶He also allured you out of distress

into a broad place where there was no cramping,

and what was set on your table was full of rich food.

¹⁷“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;

judgment and justice seize you.

¹⁸Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing;

and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.

¹⁹Will your cry avail to keep you from distress,

or all the force of your strength?

²⁰Do not long for the night,

when peoples are cut off in their place.

²¹Take heed, do not turn to iniquity,

for this you have chosen rather than affliction.

²²Behold, God is exalted in his power;

who is a teacher like him?

²³Who has prescribed for him his way,

or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember to extol his work,

of which men have sung.

²⁵All men have looked on it;

man beholds it from afar.

²⁶Behold, God is great, and we know him not;

the number of his years is unsearchable.

²⁷For he draws up the drops of water,

he^c distils his mist in rain

²⁸which the skies pour down,

and drop upon man abundantly.

²⁹Can any one understand the spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion?

³⁰Behold, he scatters his lightning about him,

and covers the roots of the sea.

³¹For by these he judges peoples;

he gives food in abundance.

³²He covers his hands with the lightning,

and commands it to strike the mark.

³³Its crashing declares concerning him,

who is jealous with anger against iniquity.

The Greatness of God

37“At this also my heart trembles,

and leaps out of its place.

²Listen to the thunder of his voice

and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

³Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

and his lightning to the corners of the earth.

⁴After it his voice roars;

he thunders with his majestic voice

and he does not restrain the bolts of lightning^d when his voice is heard.

⁵God thunders wondrously with his voice;

he does great things which we cannot comprehend.

⁶For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’;

and to the shower and the rain,^e ‘Be strong.’

⁷He seals up the hand of every man,

that all men may know his work.^f

⁸Then the beasts go into their lairs,

and remain in their dens.

⁹From its chamber comes the whirlwind,

and cold from the scattering winds.

¹⁰By the breath of God ice is given,

and the broad waters are frozen fast.

¹¹He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

the clouds scatter his lightning.

¹²They turn round and round by his guidance,

to accomplish all that he commands them

on the face of the habitable world.

¹³Whether for correction, or for his land,

or for love, he causes it to happen.

¹⁴“Hear this, O Job;

stop and consider the wondrous works of God.

¹⁵Do you know how God lays his command upon them,

and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

¹⁶Do you know the balancings of the clouds,

the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,

¹⁷you whose garments are hot

when the earth is still because of the south wind?

¹⁸Can you, like him, spread out the skies,

hard as a molten mirror?

¹⁹Teach us what we shall say to him;

we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.

²⁰Shall it be told him that I would speak?

Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

²¹“And now men cannot look on the light

when it is bright in the skies,

when the wind has passed and cleared them.

²²Out of the north comes golden splendor;

God is clothed with awesome majesty.

²³The Almighty—we cannot find him;

he is great in power and justice,

and abundant righteousness he will not violate.

²⁴Therefore men fear him;

he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

The Lord Answers Job

38Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

²“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

³Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

⁵Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

⁶On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷when the morning stars sang together,

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸“Or who shut in the sea with doors,

when it burst forth from the womb;

⁹when I made clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band;

¹⁰and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

¹¹and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

¹²“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

and caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,

and the wicked be shaken out of it?

¹⁴It is changed like clay under the seal,

and it is dyed^g like a garment.

¹⁵From the wicked their light is withheld,

and their uplifted arm is broken.

¹⁶“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

¹⁸Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?

Declare, if you know all this.

¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,

and where is the place of darkness,

²⁰that you may take it to its territory

and that you may discern the paths to its home?

²¹You know, for you were born then,

and the number of your days is great!

²²“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³which I have reserved for the time of trouble,

for the day of battle and war?

²⁴What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,

or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

²⁵“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain,

and a way for the thunderbolt,

²⁶to bring rain on a land where no man is,

on the desert in which there is no man;

²⁷to satisfy the waste and desolate land,

and to make the ground put forth grass?

²⁸“Has the rain a father,

or who has begotten the drops of dew?

²⁹From whose womb did the ice come forth,

and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

³⁰The waters become hard like stone,

and the face of the deep is frozen.

³¹“Can you bind the chains of the Plei'ades,

or loose the cords of Ori'on?

³²Can you lead forth the Maz'zaroth in their season,

or can you guide the Bear with its children?

³³Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

Can you establish their rule on the earth?

³⁴“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

that a flood of waters may cover you?

³⁵Can you send forth bolts of lightning, that they may go

and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁶Who has put wisdom in the clouds,^h

or given understanding to the mists?^h

³⁷Who can number the clouds by wisdom?

Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

³⁸when the dust runs into a mass

and the clods cling tightly together?

³⁹“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰when they crouch in their dens,

or lie in wait in their hiding places?

⁴¹Who provides for the raven its prey,

when its young ones cry to God,

and wander about for lack of food?

The Lord Questions Job

39“Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth?

Do you observe the deer bringing forth their young?

²Can you number the months that they fulfil,

and do you know the time when they bring forth,

³when they crouch, bring forth their offspring,

and are delivered of their young?

⁴Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open;

they go forth, and do not return to them.

⁵“Who has let the wild donkey go free?

Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

⁶to whom I have given the steppe for his home,

and the salt land for his dwelling place?

⁷He scorns the tumult of the city;

he hears not the shouts of the driver.

⁸He ranges the mountains as his pasture,

and he searches after every green thing.

⁹“Is the wild ox willing to serve you?

Will he spend the night at your crib?

¹⁰Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,

or will he harrow the valleys after you?

¹¹Will you depend on him because his strength is great,

and will you leave to him your labor?

¹²Do you have faith in him that he will return,

and bring your grain to your threshing floor?ⁱ

¹³“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly;

but are they the pinions and plumage of love?^j

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs to the earth,

and lets them be warmed on the ground,

¹⁵forgetting that a foot may crush them,

and that the wild beast may trample them.

¹⁶She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear;

¹⁷because God has made her forget wisdom,

and given her no share in understanding.

¹⁸When she rouses herself to flee,^k

she laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with strength?^l

²⁰Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic snorting is terrible.

²¹He paws^m in the valley, and exults in his strength;

he goes out to meet the weapons.

²²He laughs at fear, and is not dismayed;

he does not turn back from the sword.

²³Upon him rattle the quiver,

the flashing spear and the javelin.

²⁴With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;

he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

²⁵When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’

He smells the battle from afar,

the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,

and spreads his wings toward the south?

²⁷Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

and makes his nest on high?

²⁸On the rock he dwells and makes his home

in the fastness of the rocky crag.

²⁹From there he spies out the prey;

his eyes behold it afar off.

³⁰His young ones suck up blood;

and where the slain are, there is he.”

Dialogue: God Challenges Job

40And the LORD said to Job:

²“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

³Then Job answered the LORD:

⁴“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?

I lay my hand on my mouth.

⁵I have spoken once, and I will not answer;

twice, but I will proceed no further.”

⁶Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

⁷“Gird up your loins like a man;

I will question you, and you declare to me.

⁸Will you even put me in the wrong?

Will you condemn me that you may be justified?

⁹Have you an arm like God,

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰“Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;

clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

¹¹Pour forth the overflowings of your anger,

and look on every one that is proud, and abase him.

¹²Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low;

and tread down the wicked where they stand.

¹³Hide them all in the dust together;

bind their faces in the world below.ⁿ

¹⁴Then will I also acknowledge to you,

that your own right hand can give you victory.

¹⁵“Behold, Be'hemoth,^o

which I made as I made you;

he eats grass like an ox.

¹⁶Behold, his strength in his loins,

and his power in the muscles of his belly.

¹⁷He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;

the sinews of his thighs are knit together.

¹⁸His bones are tubes of bronze,

his limbs like bars of iron.

¹⁹“He is the first of the works^p of God;

let him who made him bring near his sword!

²⁰For the mountains yield food for him

where all the wild beasts play.

²¹Under the lotus plants he lies,

in the hiding place of the reeds and in the marsh.

²²For his shade the lotus trees cover him;

the willows of the brook surround him.

²³Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;

he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

²⁴Can one take him with hooks,^q

or pierce his nose with a snare?

41^r“Can you draw out Levi'athan^s with a fishhook,

or press down his tongue with a cord?

²Can you put a rope in his nose,

or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³Will he make many supplications to you?

Will he speak to you soft words?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for your servant for ever?

⁵Will you play with him as with a bird,

or will you put him on leash for your maidens?

⁶Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons,

or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay hands on him;

think of the battle; you will not do it again!

⁹^tBehold, the hope of a man is disappointed;

he is laid low even at the sight of him.

¹⁰No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.

Who then is he that can stand before me?

¹¹Who has given to me,^u that I should repay him?

Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

¹²“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

or his mighty strength, or his large frame.

¹³Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who can penetrate his double coat of mail?^v

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his face?

Round about his teeth is terror.

¹⁵His back^w is made of rows of shields,

shut up closely as with a seal.

¹⁶One is so near to another

that no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.

¹⁹Out of his mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap forth.

²⁰Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹His breath kindles coals,

and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

²²In his neck abides strength,

and terror dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh cling together,

firmly cast upon him and immovable.

²⁴His heart is hard as a stone,

hard as the nether millstone.

²⁵When he raises himself up the mighty^x are afraid;

at the crashing they are beside themselves.

²⁶Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail;

nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He counts iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make him flee;

for him slingstones are turned to stubble.

²⁹Clubs are counted as stubble;

he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp potsherds;

he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.

³¹He makes the deep boil like a pot;

he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³²Behind him he leaves a shining wake;

one would think the deep to be hoary.

³³Upon earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear.

³⁴He beholds everything that is high;

he is king over all the sons of pride.”

Job Is Humbled and Repents

42Then Job answered the LORD:

²“I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

³‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

⁴‘Hear, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you declare to me.’

⁵I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

⁶therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job’s Friends Are Humiliated

7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eli'phaz the Te'manite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. ⁸Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ⁹So Eli'phaz the Te'manite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zo'phar the Na'amathite went and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.

Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold

¹⁰And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house; and they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money^y and a ring of gold. ¹²And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. ¹³He had also seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴And he called the name of the first Jemi'mah; and the name of the second Kezi'ah; and the name of the third Ker'en-hap'puch. ¹⁵And in all the land there were no women so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers. ¹⁶And after this Job lived a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. ¹⁷And Job died, an old man, and full of days.