Job

“Naked I came out of my mother’s belly,+

And naked shall I return there.+

Jehovah himself has given,+ and Jehovah himself has taken away.+

Let the name of Jehovah continue to be blessed.”+

 3 “Let the day perish on which I came to be born,+

Also the night that someone said, ‘An able-bodied man* has been conceived!’

 4 As for that day, let it become darkness.

Let not God* look for it from above,

Nor let daylight beam upon it.

 5 Let darkness and deep shadow* reclaim it.

Let a rain cloud reside over it.

Let the things that darken a day terrorize it.+

 6 That night—let gloom take it;+

Let it not feel glad among the days of a year;

Among the number of the lunar months let it not enter.

 7 Look! That night—let it become sterile;

Let no joyful cry come in it.+

 8 Let cursers* of the day execrate it,

Those ready to awaken Le·viʹa·than.*+

 9 Let the stars of its twilight grow dark;

Let it wait for the light and there be none;

And let it not see the beams of dawn.

10 For it did not close the doors of my [mother’s] belly,+

And so conceal trouble from my eyes.

11 Why from the womb did I not proceed to die?+

[Why did I not] come forth from the belly itself and then expire?

12 Why was it that knees confronted me,

And why breasts+ that I should take suck?

13 For by now I should have lain down that I might be undisturbed;+

I should have slept then; I should be at rest+

14 With kings and counselors of the earth,+

Those building desolate places* for themselves,+

15 Or with princes who have gold,

Those who fill their houses with silver;

16 Or, like a hidden miscarriage,+ I should not come to be,

Like children that have seen no light.+

17 There the wicked themselves have ceased from agitation,+

And there those weary in power are at rest.+

18 Together prisoners themselves are at ease;

They actually do not hear the voice of one driving them to work.+

19 Small and great are there the same,+

And the slave is set free from his master.*

20 Why does he give light to one having trouble,

And life to those bitter of soul?+

21 Why are there those waiting for death, and it is not,+

Although they keep digging for it more than for hidden treasures?

22 Those who are rejoicing to gleefulness,*

They exult because they find a burial place.

23 [Why does he give light] to able-bodied man,* whose way has been concealed,+

And whom God* hedges in?+

24 For before my food my sighing comes,+

And like waters my roaring cries pour forth;+

25 Because a dreadful thing I have dreaded, and it comes upon me;

And what I have been scared of comes to me.+

26 I have not been carefree, nor have I been undisturbed,

Nor been at rest, and yet agitation comes.”

 2 “If one does try out a word* to you, will you become weary?

But to put a restraint on words who is able?

 3 Look! You have corrected many,+

And the weak hands you used to strengthen.+

 4 Anyone stumbling, your words* would raise up;+

And knees giving way you would make firm.+

 5 But this time it comes to you, and you become weary;

It touches even you, and you get disturbed.

 6 Is not your reverence [the basis of] your confidence?

Is not your hope even the integrity+ of your ways?

 7 Remember, please: Who that is innocent has ever perished?

And where have the upright+ ever been effaced?

 8 According to what I have seen, those devising what is hurtful

And those sowing trouble will themselves reap it.+

 9 Through the breath of God they perish,

And through the spirit of his anger they come to an end.

10 There is the roaring of a lion,* and the voice of a young lion,

But the teeth of maned young lions do get broken down.

11 A lion is perishing from there being no prey,

And the cubs of a lion* are separated from one another.

12 Now to me a word was stealthily brought,

And my ear proceeded to get a whisper of it,+

13 In disquieting thoughts from visions of the night,

When deep sleep falls upon men.

14 A dread came over me, and a trembling,

And the multitude of my bones it filled with dread.

15 And a spirit itself went passing over my face;

The hair of my flesh began to bristle.

16 It began to stand still,

But I did not recognize its appearance;

A form was in front of my eyes;

There was a calm, and I now heard a voice:

17 ‘Mortal man*—can he be more just than God* himself?

Or can able-bodied man be cleaner than his own Maker?’

18 Look! In his servants he has no faith,

And his messengers* he charges with faultiness.

19 How much more so with those dwelling in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust!+

One crushes them* more quickly than a moth.

20 From morning to evening they are crushed to pieces;

Without anyone’s taking [it to heart] they perish forever.

21 Has not their tent cord within them been pulled out?

They die for lack of wisdom.

5 “Call, please! Is there anyone answering you?

And to which one of the holy ones* will you turn?

 2 For the foolish one vexation will kill,

And the one easily enticed envying will put to death.

 3 I myself have seen the foolish one taking root,+

But suddenly I began to execrate his abiding place.

 4 His sons remain far from salvation,+

And they are crushed in the gate without a deliverer.

 5 What he harvests* the hungry one eats;

And even from butcher hooks* one takes it,

And a snare actually snaps at their means of maintenance.*

 6 For not from mere dust does what is hurtful go forth,

And from mere ground trouble does not spring up.

 7 For man* himself is born for trouble,

As the very sparks* fly upward.

 8 However, I myself would apply to God,*

And to God* I would submit my cause,*+

 9 [To the] One doing great things unsearchable,*

Wonderful things without number;+

10 [To] the One giving rain upon the surface of the earth+

And sending waters upon the open fields;+

11 [To] the One putting those who are low on a high place,+

So that those who are sad are high up in salvation;

12 [To the] One frustrating the schemes of the shrewd,+

So that their hands do not work with effect;

13 [To the] One catching the wise in their own cunning,+

So that the counsel of astute ones is carried headlong;+

14 They encounter darkness even by day,

And they grope about at midday as if at night;+

15 And [to the] One saving from the sword out of their mouth,

And from the hand of the strong one, a poor one,+

16 So that for the lowly one there comes to be hope,+

But unrighteousness actually shuts its mouth.+

17 Look! Happy is the man* whom God* reproves;+

And the discipline of the Almighty do not you reject!

18 For he himself causes pain, but binds up [the wound];

He breaks to pieces, but his own hands do the healing.

19 In six distresses he will deliver you,+

And in seven nothing injurious will touch you.+

20 During famine he will certainly redeem you from death,+

And during war from the power* of a sword.

21 From the whip of a tongue you will be hidden,+

And you will not be afraid of despoiling when it comes.

22 At despoiling and hunger you will laugh,

And of the wild beast of the earth you need not be afraid.

23 For with the stones of the field your covenant will be,

And the wild beast of the field himself will be made to live at peace with you.+

24 And you will certainly know that peace itself is your tent,

And you will be bound to go and see your pasture ground, and you will miss nothing.

25 And you will certainly know that your offspring are many+

And your descendants like the vegetation of the earth.+

26 You will come in vigor to the burial place,+

As when sheaves pile up in their time.

27 Look! This is what we have investigated. So is it.

Hear it, and you—know it for yourself.”

 2 “O that my vexation+ were altogether weighed,

And that at the same time my adversity they would put on scales themselves!

 3 For now it is heavier even than the sands of the seas.

That is why my own words have been wild talk.+

 4 For the arrows of the Almighty* are with me,+

The venom of which my spirit is drinking;+

The terrors from God* range themselves up against me.*+

 5 Will a zebra*+ cry out over grass,

Or a bull low over its fodder?

 6 Will tasteless things be eaten without salt,

Or is there any taste in the slimy juice of marshmallow?

 7 My soul has refused to touch [anything].

They are like disease in my food.

 8 O that my request would come

And that God* would grant even my hope!

 9 And that God would go ahead and crush me,

That he would release his hand and cut me off!+

10 Even it would still be my comfort;

And I should leap [for joy]+ at [my] labor pains,

[Though] he would have no compassion, for I have not hidden the sayings+ of the Holy One.+

11 What is my power, that I should keep waiting?+

And what is my end, that I should keep prolonging my soul?*

12 Is my power the power of stones?

Or is my flesh of copper?

13 Is it that self-assistance is not in me,

And effectual working itself has been chased away from me?

14 As regards anyone who withholds loving-kindness* from his own fellow,+

He will also leave off even the fear of the Almighty.+

15 My own brothers have dealt treacherously,+ like a winter torrent,

Like the channel of winter torrents that keep passing away.

16 They are dark from ice,

Upon them snow hides itself.

17 In due season they become waterless,+ they have been silenced;

When it grows hot they are dried up from their place.+

18 The paths of their way are turned aside;

They go up into the empty place and perish.

19 The caravans of Teʹma+ have looked,

The traveling company of Sa·beʹans*+ have waited for them.

20 They certainly are ashamed because they had trusted;

They have come clear to the place and they get disappointed.+

21 For now YOU men have amounted to nothing;+

YOU see terror, and YOU become afraid.+

22 Is it because I have said, ‘GIVE me [something],

Or from some of the power of YOU men make a present in my behalf;

23 And rescue me out of the hand of an adversary,+

And out of the hand of tyrants YOU men should redeem me’?+

24 Instruct me, and I, for my part, shall be silent;+

And what mistake I have committed make me understand.+

25 The sayings of uprightness have been—O not painful!+

But what does reproving* on the part of YOU men reprove?+

26 Is it to reprove words that YOU men scheme,

When the sayings of one in despair+ are for mere wind?+

27 How much more will YOU cast lots even over someone fatherless,+

And barter over YOUR companion!+

28 And now GO ahead, pay attention to me,

[And see] whether I shall lie+ to YOUR very faces.

29 Return, please—let no unrighteousness arise—

Yes, return—my righteousness is yet in it.+

30 Is there unrighteousness on my tongue,

Or does my own palate not discern adversity?

7 “Is there not a compulsory labor+ for mortal man on earth,

And are not his days like the days of a hired laborer?+

 2 Like a slave he pants for the shadow,+

And like a hired laborer he waits for his wages.+

 3 Thus I have been made to possess worthless lunar months,+

And nights of trouble+ they have counted out to me.

 4 When I have lain down I have also said, ‘When shall I get up?’+

And [when] evening actually goes its measure, I have also been glutted with restlessness until morning twilight.

 5 My flesh has become clothed with maggots+ and lumps of dust;+

My skin itself has formed crusts and dissolves.+

 6 My days themselves have become swifter+ than a weaver’s shuttle,

And they come to an end in hopelessness.+

 7 Remember that my life is wind;+

That my eye will not see good again.

 8 The eye of him that sees me will not behold me;

Your eyes will be upon me, but I shall not be.+

 9 The cloud certainly comes to its end and goes away;

So he that is going down to Sheʹol will not come up.+

10 He will not return anymore to his house,

And his place will not acknowledge him anymore.+

11 I, also, I shall not hold back my mouth.

I will speak in the distress of my spirit;*

I will be concerned with the bitterness of my soul!+

12 Am I a sea or a sea monster,

That you should set a guard+ over me?

13 When I said, ‘My divan will comfort me,

My bed will help carry my concern,’

14 You even have terrified me with dreams,

And by visions you make me start up in fright,

15 So that my soul chooses suffocation,

Death+ rather than my bones.

16 I have rejected [it];+ to time indefinite I would not live.

Cease from me, for my days are an exhalation.+

17 What is mortal man+ that you should rear him,*

And that you should set your heart upon him,

18 And that you should pay attention to him every morning,

That every moment you should test him?+

19 Why will you not turn your gaze from me,+

Nor let me alone until I swallow my saliva?*

20 If I have sinned, what can I accomplish against you, the Observer of mankind?*+

Why is it that you have set me as your target, so that I should become a burden to you?*

21 And why do you not pardon my transgression+

And overlook my error?

For now in dust+ I shall lie down;

And you will certainly look for me, and I shall not be.”

 2 “How long will you keep uttering these things,+

When the sayings of your mouth are but a powerful wind?+

 3 Will God* himself pervert judgment,+

Or will the Almighty himself pervert righteousness?+

 4 If your own sons have sinned against him,

So that he lets them go into the hand of their revolt,

 5 If you yourself will look for God,+

And [if] of the Almighty you will implore favor,

 6 If you are pure and upright,+

By now he would awake for you*

And he would certainly restore your righteous abiding place.

 7 Also, your beginning may have proved to be a small thing,

But your own end afterward would grow very great.+

 8 Indeed, ask, please, of the former generation,+

And direct [your attention] to the things searched out by their fathers.+

 9 For we were only yesterday,+ and we know nothing,

Because our days on earth are a shadow.+

10 Will not they themselves instruct you, tell you,*

And from their heart will they not bring forth words?

11 Will a papyrus plant+ grow tall without a swampy place?

Will a reed grow big without water?

12 While it is yet in its bud, not plucked off,

Even ahead of all other grass it will dry up.+

13 Thus are the pathways* of all those forgetting God,*+

And the very hope of an apostate* will perish,+

14 Whose confidence is cut off,

And whose trust is a spider’s house.*+

15 He will lean upon his house, but it will not keep standing;

He will take hold of it, but it will not last.

16 He is full of sap before the sun,

And in his garden his own twig goes forth.+

17 In a stone heap his roots become interwoven,

A house of stones he beholds.

18 If one swallows him up from his place,+

It will also certainly deny him, [saying,] ‘I have not seen you.’+

19 Look! That is the dissolving of his way;+

And from the dust others spring up.

20 Look! God* himself will not reject anyone blameless,

Neither will he take hold of the hand of evildoers,

21 Until he fills your mouth with laughter,

And your lips with joyful shouting.

22 The very ones hating you will be clothed with shame,+

And the tent of wicked ones will not be.”

 2 “For a fact I do know that it is so.

But how can mortal man be in the right in a case with God?*+

 3 If he should find delight in contending with him,+

He cannot answer him once out of a thousand.

 4 He is wise in heart and strong in power.+

Who can show stubbornness to him and come off uninjured?+

 5 He is moving mountains away,+ so that people do not even know [of them],

He who has overthrown them in his anger.+

 6 He is making the earth go quaking from its place,

So that its very pillars+ shudder.

 7 He is saying to the sun* that it should not shine forth,

And around stars he puts a seal,+

 8 Stretching out the heavens by himself+

And treading upon the high waves* of the sea;+

 9 Making the Ash constellation,* the Keʹsil constellation,*

And the Kiʹmah constellation*+ and the interior rooms of the South;*

10 Doing great things unsearchable,+

And wonderful things without number.+

11 Look! He passes by me and I do not see [him],

And he moves on and I do not discern him.+

12 Look! He snatches away. Who can resist him?

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

13 God* himself will not turn back his anger;+

Beneath him the helpers of a stormer*+ must bow down.

14 How much more so in case I myself answer him!

I will choose my words with him,+

15 Whom I would not answer, even though I were really in the right.+

Of my opponent-at-law I would implore favor.+

16 If I called him, would he answer me?+

I do not believe that he would give ear to my voice;

17 Who with a storm bruises me

And certainly makes my wounds many for no reason.+

18 He will not grant me my taking* of a fresh breath,+

For he keeps glutting me with bitter things.

19 If in power anyone is strong, there [he is];*+

And if in justice [anyone is strong], O that I may be summoned!

20 If I were in the right, my own mouth* would pronounce me wicked;

Were I blameless, then he would declare me crooked.

21 Were I blameless, I would not know my soul;

I would refuse my life.

22 One thing there is. That is why I do say,

‘One blameless, also a wicked one, he is bringing to their end.’+

23 If a flash flood* itself should cause death suddenly,

At the very despair of the innocent ones he would mock.

24 Earth itself has been given into the hand of the wicked one;+

The face of its judges he covers.

If not, who, then, is it?

25 Also my own days have become swifter than a runner;+

They have run away, they will certainly not see good.

26 They have moved on like reed boats,

Like an eagle that darts to and fro for something to eat.+

27 If I have said, ‘Let me forget my concern,+

Let me alter my countenance+ and brighten up,’

28 I have been scared of all my pains;+

I do know that you will not hold me innocent.

29 I myself am to become wicked.

Why is it that I toil merely in vain?+

30 If I actually washed myself in snow water,

And I actually cleansed my hands* in potash,+

31 Then in a pit you would dip me,

And my garments would certainly detest me.

32 For he is not a man+ like me [that] I should answer him,

That we should come together in judgment.

33 There exists no* person to decide* between us,+

That he should put his hand upon both of us.

34 Let him remove his rod from upon me,+

And his frightfulness, let it not terrify me.

35 Let me speak and not be afraid of him,

For I am not so disposed in myself.

10 “My soul certainly feels a loathing toward my life.+

I will give vent to my concern about myself.*

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul!

 2 I shall say to God,* ‘Do not pronounce me wicked.

Cause me to know why it is that you are contending with me.

 3 Is it good for you that you should do wrong,+

That you should reject [the product of] the hard work of your hands,*+

And that upon the counsel of wicked ones you should actually beam?

 4 Do you have eyes+ of flesh,

Or is it as a mortal man sees that you see?+

 5 Are your days like the days of mortal man,+

Or your years just like the days of an able-bodied man,

 6 That you should try to find my error

And for my sin you should keep looking?+

 7 This in spite of your own knowledge that I am not in the wrong,+

And there is no one delivering out of your own hand?+

 8 Your own hands have shaped me so that they made me+

In entirety round about, and yet you would swallow me up.

 9 Remember, please, that out of clay+ you have made me

And to dust you will make me return.+

10 Did you not proceed to pour me out as milk itself

And like cheese to curdle me?+

11 With skin and flesh you proceeded to clothe me

And with bones and sinews to weave me together.+

12 Life and loving-kindness* you have worked with me;+

And your own care+ has guarded my spirit.*

13 And these things you have concealed in your heart.

I well know that these things are with you.

14 If I have sinned+ and you have kept watching me

And of my error you do not hold me innocent;+

15 If I am actually in the wrong, too bad for me!+

And [if] I am actually in the right, I may not raise my head,+

Glutted with dishonor and saturated with affliction.+

16 And [if] it acts haughtily,+ like a young lion you will hunt for me,+

And you will again show yourself marvelous in my case.

17 You will bring forth new witnesses* of yours in front of me,

And you will make your vexation with me greater;

Hardship after hardship is with me.*

18 So why from a womb did you bring me out?+

Could I have expired,* that not even an eye could see me,

19 There as though I had not come to be I should have become;

From the belly to the burial place I should have been brought.’

20 Are not my days few?+ Let him leave off,

Let him turn his gaze from me, that I may brighten up+ a little

21 Before I go away—and I shall not come back+—

To the land of darkness and deep shadow,*+

22 To the land of obscurity like gloom, of deep shadow

And disorder, where it beams no more than gloom does.”

 2 “Will a multitude of words go unanswered,

Or will a mere boaster* be in the right?

 3 Will your empty talk itself put men* to silence,

And will you keep deriding without having anyone rebuke [you]?+

 4 Also, you say, ‘My instruction+ is pure,

And I have proved really clean+ in your eyes.’

 5 Yet O if only God himself would speak

And open his lips with you!+

 6 Then he would tell you the secrets of wisdom,

For the things of practical wisdom are manifold.*

Also, you would know* that God allows some of your error to be forgotten for you.+

 7 Can you find out the deep things of God,+

Or can you find out to the very limit of the Almighty?

 8 It is higher than heaven. What can you accomplish?

It is deeper than Sheʹol.+ What can you know?

 9 It is longer than the earth in measure,

And broader than the sea.

10 If he moves on and hands [someone] over

And calls a court, then who can resist him?

11 For he himself well knows men* who are untrue.+

When he sees what is hurtful, will he not also show himself attentive?

12 Even a hollow-minded man* himself will get good motive

As soon as an asinine zebra be born a man.*

13 If you yourself will really prepare your heart

And actually spread out your palms to him,+

14 If what is hurtful is in your hand, put it far away,

And let no unrighteousness dwell in your tents.

15 For then you will raise your face without defect+

And you will certainly become established, and you will not fear.

16 For you—you will forget trouble itself;

As waters that have passed along you will remember [it].

17 And brighter than midday will [your] life’s duration+ arise;

Darkness will become like the morning itself.+

18 And you will be bound to trust because there exists hope;

And you will certainly look carefully around—in security you will lie down.+

19 And you will indeed stretch yourself out, with no one to make [you] tremble.

And many people will certainly put you in a gentle mood;*+

20 And the very eyes of the wicked will fail;+

And a place for flight will certainly perish from them,+

And their hope will be an expiring of the soul.”+

 2 “For a fact YOU men are the people,

And with YOU wisdom will die out!+

 3 I too have a heart+ as well as YOU.

I am not inferior to YOU,*+

And with whom are there not things like these?

 4 [One who is] a laughingstock to his fellowman I* become,+

One calling to God* that he should answer him.+

A laughingstock is the righteous, unblamable one.

 5 In thought, the carefree one has contempt for extinction itself;+

It is made ready for those of wobbling feet.+

 6 The tents of the despoilers are unworried,+

And the ones enraging God* have the safety

Belonging to one who has brought a god* in his hand.+

 7 However, ask, please, the domestic animals, and they will instruct you;+

Also the winged creatures of the heavens, and they will tell you.+

 8 Or show your concern to the earth,* and it will instruct you;+

And the fishes of the sea+ will declare it to you.

 9 Who among all these does not well know

That the hand of Jehovah* itself has done this,+

10 In whose hand is the soul+ of everyone alive

And the spirit* of all flesh of man?*+

11 Does not the ear itself test out words+

As the palate+ tastes food?

12 Is there not wisdom among the aged+

And understanding [in] length of days?*

13 With him there are wisdom and mightiness;+

He has counsel and understanding.+

14 Look! He tears down, that there may be no building up;+

He makes it shut to man, that it may not be opened up.+

15 Look! He puts a restraint upon the waters and they dry up;+

And he sends them, and they change the earth.+

16 With him there are strength and practical wisdom;+

To him belong the one making a mistake and the one leading astray;+

17 He is making counselors go barefoot,*+

And he makes judges themselves go crazy.

18 The bonds* of kings he actually loosens,+

And he binds a belt upon their hips.

19 He is making priests walk barefoot,+

And permanently seated ones he subverts;*+

20 He is removing speech* from the faithful ones,

And the sensibleness of old men he takes away;

21 He is pouring out contempt upon nobles,+

And the girdle of powerful ones he actually weakens;

22 He is uncovering deep things from the darkness,+

And he brings forth to the light deep shadow;

23 Making the nations grow great, that he may destroy them;+

Spreading out the nations, that he may lead them away;

24 Taking away the heart of the head ones of the people of the land,

That he may make them wander about in an empty place,+ where there is no way.

25 They grope in darkness,+ where there is no light,

That he may make them wander about like a drunken man.+

13 “Look! All this my eye has seen,

My ear has heard and considers it.

 2 What YOU men know I myself well know also;

I am not inferior to YOU.*+

 3 However, I, for my part, would speak to the Almighty himself,+

And in arguing with God* I would find delight.

 4 On the other hand, YOU men are smearers of falsehood;+

All of YOU are physicians of no value.+

 5 If only YOU would absolutely keep silent,

That it might prove to be wisdom on YOUR part!+

 6 Hear, please, my counterarguments,+

And to the pleadings of my lips pay attention.

 7 Will YOU men speak unrighteousness for God himself,

And for him will YOU speak deceit?+

 8 Will YOU be treating him with partiality,+

Or for the [true] God will YOU contend at law?

 9 Would it be good that he sound YOU out?+

Or as one trifles with mortal man will YOU trifle with him?

10 He will positively reprove YOU+

If in secrecy YOU try to show partiality;*+

11 Will not his very dignity make YOU start up with fright,

And the very dread of him fall upon YOU?+

12 YOUR memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes;

YOUR shield bosses* are as shield bosses of clay.+

13 KEEP silent before me, that I myself may speak.

Then let come upon me whatever it may be!

14 Why do I carry my flesh in my teeth

And place my own soul* in my palm?+

15 Even if he would slay me, would I not wait?*+

I would only argue to his face for my own ways.

16 He* would also be my salvation,+

For before him no apostate will come in.+

17 HEAR my word clear through,+

And let my declaration be in YOUR ears.

18 Look! Please, I have presented a case of justice;+

I well know that I myself am in the right.

19 Who is the one that will contend with me?+

For now were I to become silent I should simply expire!

20 Only two things do not do* to me;

In that case I shall not conceal myself just on your account;+

21 Put your own hand far away from upon me,

And the fright of you—may it not terrify me.+

22 Either call that I myself may answer;

Or may I speak, and you return me answer.

23 In what way do I have errors and sins?

Make me to know my own revolt and my own sin.

24 Why do you conceal your very face+

And regard me as an enemy of yours?+

25 Will you make a mere leaf driven about quiver,

Or keep chasing after mere dry stubble?

26 For you keep writing against me bitter things+

And you make me possess [the consequences of] the errors of my youth.+

27 You also keep my feet put in the stocks,+

And you watch all my paths;

For the soles* of my feet you mark your own line.

28 And he* is like something rotten* that wears out;+

Like a garment that a moth actually eats up.+

14 “Man,* born of woman,+

Is short-lived+ and glutted with agitation.+

 2 Like a blossom he has come forth and is cut off,+

And he runs away like the shadow+ and does not keep existing.*

 3 Yes, upon this one you have opened your eye,

And me* you bring into judgment+ with you.

 4 Who can produce someone clean out of someone unclean?+

There is not one.*

 5 If his days are decided,+

The number of his months is with you;

A decree for him you have made that he may not go beyond.

 6 Turn your gaze from upon him that he may have rest,*+

Until he finds pleasure as a hired laborer does in his day.

 7 For there exists hope for even a tree.

If it gets cut down, it will even sprout again,*+

And its own twig will not cease to be.

 8 If its root grows old in the earth

And in the dust its stump dies,

 9 At the scent of water it will sprout+

And it will certainly produce a bough like a new plant.+

10 But an able-bodied man* dies and lies vanquished;

And an earthling man* expires, and where is he?*+

11 Waters do disappear from a sea,

And a river itself drains off and dries up.+

12 Man* also has to lie down and does not get up.+

Until heaven is no more they will not wake up,+

Nor will they be aroused from their sleep.*+

13 O that in Sheʹol* you would conceal me,+

That you would keep me secret until your anger turns back,

That you would set a time limit+ for me and remember me!+

14 If an able-bodied man* dies can he live again?+

All the days of my compulsory service I shall wait,+

Until my relief comes.+

15 You will call, and I myself shall answer you.+

For the work of your hands you will have a yearning.

16 For now you keep counting my very steps;+

You watch for nothing but my sin.+

17 Sealed up in a bag is my revolt,+

And you apply glue over my error.

18 However, a mountain itself, falling, will fade away,

And even a rock will be moved away from its place.

19 Water certainly rubs away even stones;

Its outpouring washes off earth’s dust.

So you have destroyed the very hope of mortal man.*

20 You overpower him forever so that he goes away;+

You are disfiguring his face so that you send him away.

21 His sons get honored, but he does not know [it];+

And they become insignificant, but he does not consider them.

22 Only his own flesh while upon him will keep aching,

And his own soul while within him will keep mourning.”*

 2 “Will a wise person himself answer with windy knowledge,*+

Or will he fill his belly with the east wind?+

 3 Merely reproving with a word will be of no use,

And mere utterances will be of no benefit by themselves.

 4 However, you yourself make fear [before God] to have no force,

And you diminish the having of any concern before God.*

 5 For your error trains your mouth,*

And you choose the tongue of shrewd people.

 6 Your mouth pronounces you wicked, and not I;

And your own lips answer against you.+

 7 Were you the very first man* to be born,+

Or before the hills+ were you brought forth with labor pains?

 8 To the confidential talk of God* do you listen,+

And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

 9 What do you actually know that we do not know?+

What do you understand that is not also with us?

10 Both the gray-headed and the aged one are with us,+

The one greater than your father in days.

11 Are the consolations of God* not enough for you,

Or a word [spoken] gently with you?

12 Why does your heart carry you away,

And why do your eyes flash?

13 For you turn your spirit against God himself,

And you have caused words to go forth from your own mouth.

14 What is mortal man* that he should be clean,+

Or that anyone born of a woman should be in the right?

15 Look! In his holy ones he has no faith,+

And the heavens themselves are actually not clean in his eyes.+

16 How much less so when one is detestable and corrupt,+

A man who is drinking in unrighteousness just like water!

17 I shall declare it to you. Listen to me!+

Even this I have beheld, so let me relate [it],

18 That which wise ones+ themselves tell

And which they did not hide, [it being] from their fathers.

19 To them alone the land was given,

And no stranger passed through the midst of them.

20 All his days a wicked one is suffering torture,

Even the very number of years that have been reserved for the tyrant.

21 The sound of dreadful things is in his ears;

During peace a despoiler himself comes upon him.+

22 He does not believe that he will come back out of darkness,+

And he is reserved for a sword.

23 He is straying about in search of bread*—where is it?+

He well knows that the day of darkness+ is ready at his hand.

24 Distress and anguish keep terrifying him;+

They overpower him like a king in readiness for the assault.

25 Because he stretches out his hand against God* himself,

And over the Almighty he tries to show himself superior;+

26 [Because] he runs against him stiff-neckedly,

With the thick bosses of his shields;

27 Because he actually covers his face with his fattiness

And he puts on fat upon his loins,+

28 He merely resides in cities that are to be effaced;

In houses in which people will not keep dwelling,

Which certainly prove destined for heaps of stones.

29 He will not grow rich and his wealth will not mount up,

Nor will he spread out the acquisition* of them over the earth.+

30 He will not turn away from darkness;

His twig a flame will dry up,

And he will turn aside by a blast* of His mouth.+

31 Let him put no faith in worthlessness, being led astray,

For mere worthlessness will prove to be what he gets in exchange;

32 Before his day* will it be fulfilled.

And his shoot itself will certainly not grow luxuriantly.+

33 He will thrust away his unripe grapes just like a vine,

And cast off his blossoms just like an olive tree.

34 For the assembly of apostates is sterile,+

And fire itself must eat up the tents of bribery.+

35 There is a conceiving of trouble and a giving birth to what is hurtful,+

And their belly itself prepares deceit.”

 2 “I have heard many things like these.

All of YOU are troublesome comforters!+

 3 Is there an end to windy words?+

Or what galls* you, that you answer?

 4 I myself also could well speak as YOU men do.

If only YOUR souls existed where my soul is,

Would I be brilliant in words* against YOU,+

And would I wag my head against YOU?+

 5 I would strengthen YOU with the words of my mouth,+

And the consolation of my own lips would hold back—.

 6 If I do speak, my own pain is not held back,+

And if I do cease doing so, what goes away from me?

 7 Only now he has made me weary;+

He has made all those assembling with me desolate.

 8 You also seize me. It has become a witness,+

So that my leanness rises up against me. In my face it testifies.

 9 His very anger has torn [me] to pieces, and he harbors animosity+ against me.

He actually grinds his teeth against me.+

My adversary himself sharpens his eyes against me.+

10 They have opened their mouth wide against me,+

With reproach they have struck my cheeks,

In large number they mass themselves against me.+

11 God* hands me over to young boys,*

And into the hands of wicked ones he throws me headlong.+

12 I had come to be at ease, but he proceeded to shake me up;+

And he grabbed me by the back of the neck and proceeded to smash me,

And he sets me up as a target for himself.

13 His archers+ encircle me;

He splits open my kidneys+ and feels no compassion;

He pours out my gallbladder to the very earth.

14 He keeps breaking through me with breach after breach;

He runs at me like a mighty one.+

15 Sackcloth+ I have sewed together over my skin,

And I have thrust my horn in the very dust.+

16 My face itself has become reddened from weeping,+

And upon my eyelids there is deep shadow,*+

17 Although there is no violence upon my palms,

And my prayer is pure.+

18 O earth, do not cover my blood!+

And let there prove to be no place for my outcry!

19 Also now, look! in the heavens is one testifying about me,

And my witness* is in the heights.+

20 My companions are spokesmen against me;+

To God* my eye has looked sleeplessly.+

21 And the decision is to be made between an able-bodied man and God,

The same as between a son of man* and his fellow.+

22 For just a few years* are to come,

And by the path by which I shall not return I shall go away.+

17 “My very spirit* has been broken,+ my own days have been extinguished;

The graveyard is for me.+

 2 Certainly there is mockery at me,+

And amid their rebellious behavior my eye lodges.

 3 Please, do put my security with yourself.+

Who else is there that will shake hands+ with me in pledge?

 4 For their heart you have closed to discretion.+

That is why you do not exalt them.

 5 He may tell companions to take their shares,

But the very eyes of his sons will fail.+

 6 And he has set me forth as a proverbial saying+ of peoples,

So that I become someone into whose face to spit.+

 7 And from vexation my eye grows dimmer+

And my members are all of them like the shadow.

 8 Upright people stare in amazement at this,

And even the innocent one gets excited over the apostate.

 9 The righteous one keeps holding fast to his way,+

And the one with clean hands+ keeps increasing in strength.+

10 However, YOU men may all of YOU resume. So come on, please,

As I do not find anyone wise among YOU.+

11 My own days have passed along,+ my own plans have been torn apart,+

The wishes of my heart.

12 Night they keep putting for day:+

‘Light is near on account of darkness.’

13 If I keep waiting, Sheʹol is my house;+

In the darkness+ I shall have to spread out my lounge.

14 To the pit+ I shall have to call out, ‘You are my father!’

To the maggot,+ ‘My mother and my sister!’

15 So where, then, is my hope?+

And my hope—who is it that beholds it?

16 To the bars of Sheʹol* they* will go down,

When we, all together, must descend to the very dust.”+

 2 “How long will YOU people be at putting an end to words?

YOU should understand, that afterward we may speak.

 3 Why should we be reckoned as beasts+

[And] be regarded as unclean in YOUR eyes?

 4 He is tearing his soul to pieces in his anger.

For your sake will the earth be abandoned,

Or a rock move away from its place?

 5 The light also of wicked ones will be extinguished+

And the spark of his fire will not shine.

 6 A light itself will certainly grow dark in his tent,+

And in it his own lamp will be extinguished.

 7 His steps of vigor* will become cramped.

Even his counsel will cast him off.+

 8 For he will indeed be let go into a net by his feet,

And onto a network he will walk.+

 9 A trap will seize [him] by the heel;+

A snare+ keeps hold upon him.

10 A cord for him is hidden on the earth,

And a catching device for him on [his] pathway.

11 Round about, sudden terrors certainly make him start up in fright,+

And indeed chase him at his feet.

12 His vigor becomes famished,

And disaster+ stands ready to make him limp.

13 It will eat the pieces of his skin;*

The firstborn of death* will eat his limbs.

14 His confidence will be torn away from his own tent+

And it will march him to the king of terrors.

15 There will reside in his tent something that is not his;

Sulphur+ will be strewed upon his own abiding place.

16 Underneath will his very roots dry up,+

And, up above, his bough will wither.

17 The very mentioning of him will certainly perish from the earth,+

And he will have no name out in the street.

18 They will push him out of the light into the darkness,

And from the productive land* they will chase him away.

19 He will have no posterity and no progeny among his people,+

And there will be no survivor in his place of alien residence.

20 At his day the people in the West will indeed stare in amazement,

And a shudder will certainly seize even the people in the East.

21 Only these are the tabernacles of a wrongdoer,

And this is the place of one that has not known God.”*

 2 “How long will YOU men keep irritating my soul+

And keep crushing me with words?+

 3 These ten times YOU proceeded to rebuke me;

YOU are not ashamed [that] YOU deal so hard with me.+

 4 And, granted that I have made a mistake,+

It is with me that my mistake will lodge.*

 5 If for a fact against me YOU men do put on great airs,+

And YOU show my reproach to be proper against me,+

 6 KNOW, then, that God* himself has misled me,

And his hunting net he has closed in upon me.+

 7 Look! I keep crying out, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;+

I keep crying for help, but there is no justice.+

 8 My very path he has blocked with a stone wall,+ and I cannot pass over;

And upon my roadways he puts darkness itself.+

 9 My own glory he has stripped from me,+

And he takes away the crown of my head.

10 He pulls me down on all sides, and I go away;

And he pulls my hope out just like a tree.

11 His anger also grows hot against me,+

And he keeps reckoning me as an adversary of his.

12 Unitedly his troops come and cast up their way against me,+

And they camp round about my tent.

13 My own brothers he has put far away from me,+

And the very ones knowing me have even turned aside from me.

14 My intimate acquaintances* have ceased to be,+

And those known by me have themselves forgotten me,

15 Those residing as aliens in my house;+ and my slave girls themselves reckon me as a stranger;

A real foreigner I have become in their eyes.

16 To my servant I have called, but he does not answer.

With my own mouth I keep imploring him for compassion.

17 My breath* itself has become loathsome to my wife,+

And I have become foul-smelling to the sons of my [mother’s] belly.

18 Also young boys themselves have rejected me;+

Let me but rise up, and they begin to speak against me.

19 All the men of my intimate group detest me,+

And those whom I loved have turned against me.+

20 To my skin and to my flesh my bones actually cleave,+

And I escape with the skin of my teeth.*

21 Show me some favor, show me some favor, O YOU my companions,+

For God’s* own hand has touched me.+

22 Why do YOU men keep persecuting me as God* does,+

And not become satisfied with my very flesh?

23 O that now my words were written down!

O that in a book they were even inscribed!

24 With an iron stylus+ and [with] lead,

Forever in the rock O that they were hewn!

25 And I myself well know that my redeemer*+ is alive,

And that, coming after [me], he will rise up+ over [the] dust.

26 And after my skin, [which] they have skinned off,—this!

Yet reduced in my flesh* I shall behold God,*

27 Whom even I shall behold for myself,+

And [whom] my very eyes will certainly see, but not some stranger.

My kidneys have failed deep within me.

28 For YOU men say, ‘Why do we keep persecuting+ him?’

When the very root of [the] matter is found in me.*

29 Be frightened for yourselves because of a sword,+

For the sword means a raging against errors,

In order that YOU men may know there is a judge.”*+

 2 “Therefore do my own disquieting thoughts themselves answer me,

Even on account of my inward excitement.

 3 An insulting exhortation to me I hear;

And a spirit without the understanding that I have replies to me.

 4 Have you at all times known this very thing,

Since man* was put upon the earth,+

 5 That the joyful cry of wicked people is short+

And the rejoicing of an apostate is for a moment?

 6 Although his excellency ascends to heaven itself+

And his very head reaches to the clouds,

 7 Like his manure cakes he perishes forever;+

The very ones seeing him will say, ‘Where is he?’+

 8 Like a dream he will fly off, and they will not find him;

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

 9 The eye that has caught sight of him will not do so+ again,

And no more will his place behold him.+

10 His own sons will seek the favor of lowly people,

And his own hands will give back his valuable things.+

11 His own bones have been full of his youthful vigor,

But with him it will lie down in mere dust.+

12 If what is bad tastes sweet in his mouth,

If he causes it to melt away under his tongue,

13 If he has compassion upon it and does not leave it,

And if he keeps holding it back in the midst of his palate,

14 His food itself will certainly be changed in his own intestines;

It will be the gall of cobras within him.

15 Wealth he has swallowed down, but he will vomit it up;

God* will drive it out from his very belly.

16 The venom of cobras he will suck;

The tongue of a viper will kill him.+

17 He will never see the watercourses,+

Torrential streams of honey and butter.

18 He will be giving back [his] acquired property and will not swallow [it] down;

Like wealth from his trade, but which he will not enjoy.+

19 For he has crushed to pieces, he has left lowly ones;

He has snatched away a house itself that he did not proceed to build.+

20 For he will certainly know no ease in his belly;

By means of his desirable things he will not escape.+

21 There is nothing left over for him to devour;

That is why his well-being will not endure.

22 While his plenty is at its peak he will be feeling anxious;+

All the power* of misfortune itself will come against him.

23 Let it occur that, to fill his belly,

He will send his burning anger upon him+

And will rain [it] upon him, into his bowels.

24 He will run away+ from armor of iron;

A bow of copper will cut him up.

25 A missile* itself will even go out through his back,

And a glittering weapon* out through his gall;+

Frightful objects will go against him.+

26 All darkness will be reserved for his treasured things;

A fire that no one fanned will eat him up;+

It will go badly with a survivor in his tent.

27 Heaven will uncover his error,+

And earth will be in revolt against him.

28 A heavy shower will roll his house away;*

There will be things poured forth on the day of his anger.+

29 This is the share of the wicked man* from God,*+

Even his stated inheritance from God.”*

 2 “Listen, YOU men, attentively to my word,

And let this become YOUR consolation.

 3 Put up with me, and I myself shall speak;

And after my speaking you may [each] deride.+

 4 As for me, is my concern [expressed] to man?

Or why is it that my spirit does not get impatient?

 5 Turn YOUR faces to me and stare in amazement,

And put [YOUR] hand upon [YOUR] mouth.+

 6 And if I have remembered, I have also become disturbed,

And shuddering has taken hold of my flesh.

 7 Why is it that the wicked themselves keep living,+

Have grown old, also have become superior in wealth?+

 8 Their offspring are firmly established with them in their sight,

And their descendants before their eyes.

 9 Their houses are peace itself, free from dread,+

And the rod of God* is not upon them.

10 His own bull actually impregnates, and it does not waste semen;

His cow brings forth+ and suffers no abortion.

11 They keep sending out their young boys just like a flock,

And their own male children go skipping about.

12 They continue raising [their voice] with the tambourine and harp,+

And keep rejoicing at the sound of the pipe.

13 They spend their days in good times,+

And in a moment down to Sheʹol they descend.

14 And they say to the [true] God, ‘Turn away from us!+

And in the knowledge of your ways we have found no delight.+

15 What does the Almighty amount to, that we should serve him,*+

And how do we benefit ourselves in that we have come in touch with him?’+

16 Look! Their well-being is not in their own power.*+

The very counsel of wicked ones has kept far from me.+

17 How many times is the lamp of the wicked ones extinguished,+

And [how many times] does their disaster come upon them?

[How many times] in his anger does he apportion destruction?+

18 Do they become like straw before a wind,*+

And like chaff that a storm wind has stolen away?

19 God* himself will store up one’s hurtfulness for one’s own sons;+

He will reward him that he may know [it].+

20 His eyes will see his decay,

And from the rage of the Almighty he will drink.+

21 For what will his delight be in his house after him,

When the number of his months will really be cut in two?+

22 Will he teach knowledge even to God,*+

When that One himself judges high ones?+

23 This very one will die during his full self-sufficiency,+

When he is altogether carefree and at ease;

24 [When] his own thighs have become full of fat

And the very marrow of his bones is being kept moist.

25 And this other one will die with a bitter soul

When he has not eaten of good things.+

26 Together in the dust they will lie down+

And maggots themselves will form a cover over them.+

27 Look! I well know the thoughts of YOU men

And the schemes with which YOU would act violently against me.+

28 For YOU say, ‘Where is the house of the noble one,

And where is the tent, the tabernacles of wicked ones?’+

29 Have YOU not asked those traveling over the roads?

And do YOU not carefully inspect their very signs,

30 That at the day of disaster an evil one is spared,+

At the day of fury he is delivered?*

31 Who will tell him of his way to his very face?+

And for what he himself has done who will reward him?+

32 As for him, to the graveyard he will be brought,+

And over a tomb* a vigil will be kept.

33 To him the clods of earth of a torrent valley will certainly become sweet,+

And after him he will drag all mankind,*+

And those before him were without number.

34 So how vainly YOU men try to comfort me,+

And YOUR very replies do remain as unfaithfulness!”

 2 “Can an able-bodied man* be of use to God* himself,+

That anyone having insight should be of use toward him?

 3 Does the Almighty have any delight in that you are righteous,+

Or any gain in that you make your way blameless?+

 4 For your reverence will he reprove you,

Will he come with you into the judgment?+

 5 Is not your own badness too much already,+

And will there be no end to your errors?

 6 For you seize a pledge from your brothers without cause,+

And you strip off even the garments of naked people.

 7 You do not give the tired one a drink of water,

And from the hungry one you hold back bread.+

 8 As for a man* of strength,* the land is his,+

And one who is treated with partiality himself dwells in it.

 9 Widows you have sent away empty-handed,

And the arms of fatherless boys are crushed.*+

10 That is why bird traps are all around you,+

And sudden dread disturbs you;

11 Or darkness, [so that] you cannot see,

And a heaving mass of water itself covers you.

12 Is not God* the height of heaven?+

Also see* the sum total of the stars,*+ that they are high.

13 And yet you have said: ‘What does God* really know?

Through thick gloom can he judge?

14 Clouds are a concealment place for him so that he does not see,

And on the vault of heaven he walks about.’

15 Will you keep to the very way of long ago

That hurtful men* have trodden,

16 [Men] who have been snatched away before their time,+

Whose foundation+ is poured away just as a river,

17 Who are saying to the [true] God:* ‘Turn away from us!+

And what can the Almighty accomplish against us?’*

18 Yet he himself has filled their houses with good things;+

And the very counsel of wicked ones has kept far from me.+

19 The righteous ones will see and rejoice,+

And the innocent one himself will hold them in derision:

20 ‘Truly our antagonists* have been effaced;

And what is left of them a fire will certainly eat up.’

21 Acquaint yourself, please, with him, and keep peace;

Thereby good things will come to you.

22 Take, please, the law from his own mouth,

And put his sayings in your heart.+

23 If you return to the Almighty,+ you will be built up;

[If] you will keep unrighteousness far from your tent,

24 And [if] there is a placing of precious ore in the dust

And gold of Oʹphir+ in the rock of torrent valleys,

25 The Almighty also will indeed become your precious ores,

And silver, the choicest, to you.+

26 For then in the Almighty you will find your exquisite delight,+

And you will raise your face to God* himself.+

27 You will make entreaty to him, and he will hear you;+

And your vows you will pay.+

28 And you will decide on something, and it will stand for you;

And upon your ways light will certainly shine.+

29 For there must be a humiliation when you speak arrogantly;+

But one with downcast eyes he will save.+

30 He will rescue an innocent man,*+

And you will certainly be rescued for the cleanness of your hands.”*+

 2 “Even today my state of concern+ is rebelliousness;

My own hand is heavy on account of my sighing.

 3 O that I really knew where I might find him!+

I would come clear to his fixed place.+

 4 I would present before* him a case of justice,

And my mouth I would fill with counterarguments;

 5 I would know the words with which he answers me,

And I would consider what he says to me.+

 6 Would he with an abundance of power contend with me?

O no! Surely he himself would pay heed to me.+

 7 There the upright one himself will certainly set matters straight with him,

And I would go safe forever from my judge.*

 8 Look! To the east I go, and he is not there;

And back again, and I cannot discern him;+

 9 To the left where he is working, but I cannot behold [him];

He turns aside* to the right, but I do not see [him].

10 For he well knows the way I take.+

[After] he has tested me out, I shall come forth as gold itself.+

11 Of his steps* my foot has laid hold;

His way I have kept, and I do not deviate.+

12 [From] the commandment of his lips I do not move away.+

I have treasured up the sayings of his mouth+ more than what is prescribed for me.

13 And he is in one [mind], and who can resist him?+

And his own soul has a desire, and he will do [it].+

14 For he will carry out completely what is prescribed for me,+

And things like these are many with him.

15 That is why I feel disturbed because of him;

I show myself attentive and am in dread of him.+

16 Even God* himself has made my heart timid,+

And the Almighty himself has disturbed me.+

17 For I have not been put to silence because of darkness,

Nor because gloom has covered my own face.

24 “Why is it that times have not been stored up by the Almighty himself,+

And the very ones knowing him have not beheld his days?+

 2 There are those who move back boundary marks;+

A drove they have snatched away, that they may shepherd [it].*

 3 They drive off even the male ass of fatherless boys;

They seize the widow’s bull as a pledge.+

 4 They turn aside the poor ones from the way;+

At the same time the afflicted of the earth have kept themselves hidden.

 5 Look! [As] zebras+ in the wilderness

They have gone forth in their activity, looking for food.

The desert plain [gives] to each one bread for the boys.

 6 In the field its fodder they harvest,

And the vineyard of the wicked one they hastily despoil.

 7 Naked, they pass the night without a garment,+

And without any covering in the cold.+

 8 From the rainstorm of the mountains they get drenched,

And because there is no shelter+ they have to hug a rock.

 9 They snatch away a fatherless boy even from the breast,+

And what is on the afflicted one they take as a pledge.+

10 Naked, they have to go about without a garment,

And, hungry, they have to carry the reaped ears.+

11 Between the terrace walls they pass the noontime;*

Winepresses they have to tread, and yet they go thirsty.+

12 From out of the city the dying keep groaning,

And the soul of deadly wounded ones cries for help;+

And God* himself considers [it] not as anything improper.+

13 As for them, they proved to be among the rebels against light;+

They did not recognize its ways,

And they did not dwell in its roadways.

14 At daylight the murderer gets up,

He proceeds to slay the afflicted and the poor one;+

And during the night he becomes a regular thief.*+

15 As for the eye of the adulterer,+ it has watched for evening darkness,+

Saying, ‘No eye will behold me!’+

And over his face he puts a covering.

16 In the darkness he has dug into houses;

By day they must keep themselves locked in.

They have not known daylight.+

17 For morning is the same as deep shadow+ for them,

For they recognize what the sudden terrors of deep shadow are.

18 He is swift on the surface of the waters.

Their tract of land will be cursed in the earth.+

He will not turn toward the way of the vineyards.

19 The drought, also the heat, snatch away the snow waters;

So does Sheʹol those who have sinned!+

20 The womb will forget him, the maggot will sweetly suck him,+

He will be remembered no more.+

And unrighteousness will be broken just like a tree.+

21 He is having dealings with a barren woman who does not bear,

And with a widow,+ to whom he does no good.

22 And he will certainly draw away strong people by his power;

He will rise up and not be sure of his life.*

23 He will grant him to become confident+ that he may support himself;

And his eyes will be upon their ways.+

24 They have become high up a little while, then they are no more,+

And they have been brought low;+ like everyone else they are plucked off,

And like the head of an ear of grain they are cut off.

25 So really now, who will make me out a liar

Or reduce my word to nothing?”

 2 “Rulership and dreadfulness are with him;+

He is making peace on his heights.

 3 Is there any number to his troops?

And upon whom does his light not rise?

 4 So how can mortal man* be in the right before God,*+

Or how can one born of a woman be clean?+

 5 Look! There is even the moon, and it is not bright;

And the stars themselves have not proved clean in his eyes.

 6 How much less so mortal man, who is a maggot,

And a son of man,* who is a worm!”+

 2 “O how much help you have been to one without power!

O [how] you have saved an arm that is without strength!+

 3 How much you have advised one that is without wisdom,+

And you have made practical wisdom itself known to the multitude!

 4 To whom have you told words,

And whose breath* has come forth from you?

 5 Those impotent in death* keep trembling

Beneath the waters and those residing in them.+

 6 Sheʹol is naked in front of him,+

And [the place of] destruction* has no covering.

 7 He is stretching out the north over the empty place,+

Hanging the earth upon nothing;

 8 Wrapping up the waters in his clouds,+

So that the cloud mass is not split under them;

 9 Enclosing the face of the throne,*

Spreading out* over it his cloud.+

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

To where light ends in darkness.

11 The very pillars of heaven shake,

And they are amazed because of his rebuke.

12 By his power he has stirred up the sea,+

And by his understanding he has broken the stormer*+ to pieces.+

13 By his wind* he has polished up heaven itself,+

His hand has pierced the gliding serpent.+

14 Look! These are the fringes of his ways,+

And what a whisper of a matter has been heard of him!

But of his mighty thunder who can show an understanding?”+

 2 “As God* lives,+ who has taken away my judgment,+

And as the Almighty [lives], who has made my soul bitter,+

 3 While my breath is yet whole within me,

And the spirit of God* is in my nostrils,+

 4 My lips will speak no unrighteousness

And my own tongue will mutter no deceit!

 5 It is unthinkable on my part that I should declare YOU men righteous!+

Until I expire I shall not take away my integrity+ from myself!

 6 On my justness I have laid hold, and I shall not let it go;+

My heart will not taunt [me] for any of my days.+

 7 Let my enemy become in every way a wicked man,+

And the one revolting against me really a wrongdoer.

 8 For what is the hope of an apostate in case he cuts [him] off,+

In case God* carries off his soul from him?+

 9 Will God* hear an outcry of his

In case distress comes upon him?+

10 Or in the Almighty will he find exquisite delight?

Will he call to God at all times?

11 I shall instruct YOU men by the hand of God;

That which is with the Almighty I shall not hide.+

12 Look! YOU yourselves have all of YOU seen visions;

So why is it that YOU show yourselves utterly vain?+

13 This is the share of the wicked man* from God;+

And the inheritance of the tyrants they will receive from the Almighty himself.

14 If his sons become many, it is for a sword;+

And his descendants themselves will not have enough food.*

15 His own survivors will be buried during a deadly plague,*

And their own widows will not weep.+

16 If he should pile up silver like dust itself,

And he should prepare attire just as if clay,

17 He would prepare, but the righteous would be the one to clothe himself,+

And in the silver the innocent would be the one to have a share.

18 He has built his house like a mere moth,

And like a booth+ that a watchman has made.

19 Rich he will lie down, but nothing will be gathered;*

His eyes he has opened, but there will be nothing.+

20 Like waters* sudden terrors will overtake him;+

At night a storm wind will certainly steal him away.

21 An east wind will carry him off+ and he will go away,

And it will whirl him away from his place.+

22 And it will hurl itself at him and have no compassion;+

From its power he will without fail try to run away.+

23 One will clap his hands at him+

And will whistle+ at him from his place.*

28 “Indeed, for silver there exists a place to find it

And a place for gold that they refine;+

 2 Iron itself is taken from the very dust+

And [from] stone copper is being poured out.

 3 An end to the darkness he has set;

And to every limit he is searching out+

Stone in the gloom and deep shadow.

 4 He has sunk a shaft far from where [people] reside as aliens,+

Places forgotten far from the foot;

Some of mortal men* have swung down, they have dangled.

 5 As for the earth, out of it food goes forth;+

But underneath it, it has been upturned as if by fire.

 6 Its stones are the place of the sapphire,+

And it has gold dust.

 7 A pathway—no bird of prey+ has known it,

Nor has the eye of a black kite caught sight of it.+

 8 The majestic wild beasts* have not trodden it down solid;

The young lion has not paced over it.

 9 Upon the flint he has thrust out his hand;

He has overthrown mountains from [their] root;

10 Into the rocks he has channeled water-filled galleries,+

And all precious things his eye has seen.

11 The places from which rivers trickled he has dammed up,+

And the concealed thing he brings forth to the light.

12 But wisdom—where can it be found,+

And where, now, is the place of understanding?

13 Mortal man has not come to know its valuation,*+

And it is not found in the land of those living.

14 The watery deep* itself has said,

‘It is not in me!’

The sea too has said, ‘It is not with me!’+

15 Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,+

And silver cannot be weighed out as its price.

16 It cannot be paid for with gold* of Oʹphir,+

With the rare onyx stone and the sapphire.

17 Gold* and glass cannot be compared to it,

Nor is any vessel of refined gold an exchange for it.

18 Coral+ and rock crystal themselves will not be mentioned,

But a bagful of wisdom is worth more than [one full of] pearls.+

19 The topaz+ of Cush* cannot be compared to it;

It cannot be paid for even with gold in its purity.

20 But wisdom itself—from where does it come,+

And where, now, is the place of understanding?

21 It has been hidden even from the eyes of everyone alive,+

And from the flying creatures of the heavens it has been concealed.

22 Destruction* and death themselves have said,

‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

23 God* is the One who has understood its way,+

And he himself has known its place,

24 For he himself looks to the very ends of the earth;+

Under the whole heavens* he sees,

25 To make a weight for the wind,*+

While he has proportioned the waters themselves by a measure;+

26 When he made for the rain a regulation,+

And a way for the thunderous storm cloud,

27 Then it was that he saw [wisdom]* and proceeded to tell about it;

He prepared it and also searched it through.

28 And he went on to say to man,*

‘Look! The fear of Jehovah*—that is wisdom,+

And to turn away from bad is understanding.’”+

 2 “O that I were as in the lunar months of long ago,+

As in the days when God* was guarding me;+

 3 When he caused his lamp to shine upon my head,

[When] I would walk [through] darkness by his light;+

 4 Just as I happened to be in the days of my prime,+

When intimacy with God was at my tent;+

 5 When the Almighty was yet with me,

[When] my attendants were all around me!

 6 When I washed my steps in butter,

And the rock kept pouring out streams of oil for me;*+

 7 When I went forth to the gate by the town,+

In the public square I would prepare my seat!+

 8 The boys saw me and hid themselves,

And even the aged ones rose up, they stood.+

 9 Princes themselves restrained words,

And the palm they would put upon their mouth.+

10 The voice of the leaders themselves was hidden,

And their very tongue cleaved to their palate.+

11 For the ear itself listened and proceeded to pronounce me happy,

And the eye itself saw and proceeded to bear witness for me.

12 For I would rescue the afflicted one crying for help,+

And the fatherless boy and anyone that had no helper.+

13 The blessing+ of the one about to perish—upon me it would come,

And the heart of the widow I would make glad.+

14 With righteousness I clothed myself, and it was clothing me.+

My justice was like a sleeveless coat—and a turban.

15 Eyes I became to the blind one;+

And feet to the lame one I was.

16 I was a real father to the poor ones;+

And the legal case of one whom I did not know—I would examine it.+

17 And I would break the jawbones of the wrongdoer,+

And from his teeth I would tear* away the prey.

18 And I used to say, ‘Within my nest* I shall expire,+

And like the grains of sand I shall multiply [my] days.+

19 My root is opened for the waters,+

And dew itself will stay overnight upon my bough.

20 My glory is fresh with me,

And my bow in my hand will shoot repeatedly.’

21 To me they listened; and they waited,

And they would keep silent for my counsel.+

22 After my word they would not speak again,

And upon them my word would drip.+

23 And they waited for me as for the rain,+

And their mouth they opened wide for the spring rain.+

24 I would smile at them—they would not believe [it]—

And the light of my face+ they would not cast down.

25 I would choose the way for them, and I was sitting as head;

And I resided as a king among [his] troops,+

As one who comforts the mourners.+

30 “And now they have laughed at me,+

Those younger in days than I am,+

Whose fathers I would have refused

To place with the dogs of my flock.

 2 Even the power of their hands—of what use was it to me?

In them vigor has perished.+

 3 Because of want and hunger they are sterile,

Gnawing at a waterless region,+

[Where] yesterday there were storm and desolation.

 4 They were plucking the salt herb by the bushes,

And the root of broom trees was their food.

 5 From the community they would be driven away;+

People would shout at them as at a thief.

 6 [They have] to reside on the very slope of torrent valleys,

In holes of the dust and in rocks.

 7 Among the bushes they would cry out;

Under the nettles they would huddle together.

 8 Sons of the senseless one,+ also sons of the nameless one,

They have been scourged out of the land.

 9 And now I have become even the theme of their song,+

And I am to them for a byword.+

10 They have detested me, they have kept themselves far from me;+

And from my face they did not hold back [their] spit.+

11 For he loosened [my] own bowstring and proceeded to humble me,

And the bridle they left loose on my account.

12 At [my] right hand they rise up as a brood;

My feet they have let go,

But they proceeded to cast up against me their disastrous barriers.+

13 They have torn down my roadways;

They were beneficial only for adversity to me,+

Without their having any helper.

14 As through a wide gap they proceed to come;

Under a storm they have rolled along.

15 Sudden terrors have been turned upon me;

My noble bearing is chased like the wind,*

And like a cloud my salvation has passed away.

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

Days of affliction+ take hold upon me.

17 At night my very bones+ have been bored through [and dropped] from off me,

And [pains] gnawing me do not take any rest.+

18 By the abundance of power my garment takes on a change;

Like the collar of my long garment it engirdles me.

19 He has brought me down to the clay,

So that I show myself like dust and ashes.

20 I cry to you for help, but you do not answer me;+

I have stood, that you might show yourself attentive to me.

21 You change yourself to become cruel to me;+

With the full might of your hand you harbor animosity toward me.

22 You lift me to the wind, you cause me to ride [it];

Then you dissolve me with a crash.

23 For I well know that to death you will make me turn back,+

And to the house of meeting for everyone living.

24 Only no one thrusts his hand out against a mere heap of ruins,+

Nor during one’s decay is there a cry for help respecting those things.

25 Certainly I have wept for the one having a hard day;+

My soul has grieved for the poor one.+

26 Although for good I waited, yet bad came;+

And I kept awaiting the light, but gloom came.

27 My own intestines were made to boil and did not keep silent;

Days of affliction confronted me.

28 Saddened+ I walked about when there was no sunlight;*

I got up in the congregation,* I kept crying for help.

29 A brother to jackals I became,

And a companion to the daughters of the ostrich.+

30 My very skin became black+ [and dropped] off me,

And my very bones became hot from dryness.

31 And my harp came to be merely for mourning,

And my pipe for the voice of weeping ones.

31 “A covenant I have concluded with my eyes.+

So how could I show myself attentive to a virgin?+

 2 And what portion is there from God* above,+

Or inheritance from the Almighty from on high?

 3 Is there not disaster for a wrongdoer,+

And misfortune for those practicing what is hurtful?

 4 Does he not himself see my ways+

And count even all my steps?

 5 If I have walked with [men of] untruth,+

And my foot hastens to deception,+

 6 He will weigh me in accurate scales*+

And God* will get to know my integrity.+

 7 If my stepping deviates from the way,+

Or my heart has walked merely after my eyes,+

Or any defect has stuck in my own palms,+

 8 Let me sow seed and someone else eat,+

And let my own descendants be rooted out.

 9 If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,+

And I kept lying in wait+ at the very entranceway of my companion,

10 Let my wife do the grinding for another man,

And over her let other men kneel down.+

11 For that would be loose conduct,

And that would be an error for [attention by] the justices.+

12 For that is a fire that would eat clear to destruction,*+

And among all my produce it would take root.

13 If I used to refuse the judgment of my slave man

Or of my slave girl in their case at law with me,

14 Then what can I do when God* rises up?

And when he calls for an accounting, what can I answer him?+

15 Did not the One making me in the belly make him,+

And did not just One proceed to prepare us in the womb?

16 If I used to hold back the lowly ones from [their] delight,+

And the eyes of the widow I would cause to fail,+

17 And I used to eat my morsel by myself,

While the fatherless boy did not eat from it+

18 (For from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,

And from the belly of my mother I kept leading her);

19 If I used to see anyone perishing from having no garment,+

Or that the poor one had no covering;

20 If his loins did not bless me,+

Nor from the shorn wool+ of my young rams he would warm himself;

21 If I waved my hand to and fro against the fatherless boy,+

When I would see [need of] my assistance in the gate,+

22 Let my own shoulder blade fall from its shoulder,

And let my own arm be broken from its upper bone.

23 For disaster from God* was a dread to me,

And against his dignity+ I could not hold out.

24 If I have put gold* as my confidence,

Or to gold* I have said, ‘You are my trust!’+

25 If I used to rejoice because my property was much,+

And because my hand had found a lot of things;+

26 If I used to see the light when it would flash forth,

Or the precious moon walking along,+

27 And my heart began to be enticed in secrecy+

And my hand proceeded to kiss my mouth,*

28 That too would be an error for [attention by] the justices,

For I should have denied the [true] God above.

29 If I used to rejoice at the extinction of one intensely hating me,+

Or I felt excited* because evil had found him—

30 And I did not allow my palate to sin

By asking for an oath against his soul.+

31 If the men of my tent did not say,

‘Who can produce anyone that has not been satisfied from food* of his?’+—

32 Outside no alien resident would spend the night;+

My doors I kept open to the path.*

33 If like an earthling man* I covered over my transgressions+

By hiding my error in my shirt pocket—

34 Because I would suffer a shock at a large crowd,

Or the contempt itself of families would terrorize me

And I would keep silent, I would not go out of the entrance.

35 O that I had someone listening to me,+

That according to my signature* the Almighty himself would answer me!+

Or that the individual* in the case at law with me had written a document itself!

36 Surely upon my shoulder I would carry it;

I would bind it around me like a grand crown.

37 The number of my steps I would tell him;+

Like a leader I would approach him.

38 If against me my own ground would cry for aid,

And together its furrows themselves would weep;

39 If its fruitage* I have eaten without money,+

And the soul of its owners I have caused to pant,+

40 Instead of wheat let the thorny weed go forth,+

And instead of barley stinking weeds.”

“Young I am in days

And YOU men are aged.+

That is why I drew back* and was afraid

To declare my knowledge to YOU men.

 7 I said, ‘Days themselves should speak,

And a multitude of years are what should make wisdom known.’+

 8 Surely it is the spirit in mortal men

And the breath of the Almighty [that] gives them understanding.+

 9 It is not those merely abundant in days that prove wise,+

Nor those just old that understand judgment.+

10 Therefore I said, ‘Do listen to me.

I shall declare my knowledge, even I.’

11 Look! I have waited for the words of YOU men,

I kept giving ear to YOUR reasonings,+

Until YOU could search for words [to say].

12 And to YOU I kept my attention turned,

And here there is no one reproving Job,

None of YOU answering his sayings,

13 That YOU may not say, ‘We have found wisdom;+

It is God* that drives him away, not a man.’

14 As he has not arrayed words against me,

So with the sayings of YOU men I shall not reply to him.

15 They have been terrified, they have answered no more;

Words have moved away from them.

16 And I have waited, for they do not continue speaking;

For they stood still, they answered no more.

17 I shall give in answer my part, even I;

I shall declare my knowledge, even I;

18 For I have become full of words;

Spirit has brought pressure+ upon me in my belly.

19 Look! My belly is like wine that has no vent;

Like new skin bottles it wants to burst open.+

20 Let me speak that it may be a relief to me.

I shall open my lips that I may answer.+

21 Let me not, please, show partiality to a man;*+

And on an earthling man* I shall not bestow a title;+

22 For I certainly do not know how I can bestow a title;

Easily my Maker+ would carry me away.

33 “Now, however, O Job, please hear my words,*

And to all my speaking* do give ear.

 2 Look, please! I have to open my mouth;

My tongue with my palate+ has to speak.

 3 My sayings are the uprightness of my heart,+

And knowledge is what my lips do utter sincerely.+

 4 God’s own spirit* made me,+

And the Almighty’s own breath proceeded to bring me to life.+

 5 If you are able, make reply to me,

Array [words] before me; do take your station.

 6 Look! I am to the [true] God just what you are;+

From the clay I was shaped,+ I too.

 7 Look! No frightfulness in me will terrify you,

And no pressure+ by me will be heavy upon you.

 8 Only you have said in my ears,

And the sound of [your] words I kept hearing,

 9 ‘I am pure without transgression;+

Clean I am, and I have no error.+

10 Look! Occasions for opposition to me he finds,

He takes me for an enemy of his.+

11 He puts my feet in the stocks,+

He watches all my paths.’+

12 Look! In this you have not been in the right,+ I answer you;

For God* is much more than mortal man.+

13 Why is it against him that you contended,+

Because all your words he does not answer?+

14 For God* speaks once,

And twice+—though one does not regard it—

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

When deep sleep falls upon men,

During slumbers upon the bed.+

16 It is then that he uncovers the ear of men,+

And on exhortation to them he puts his seal,

17 To turn aside a man* from his deed,+

And that he may cover pride+ itself from an able-bodied man.*

18 He keeps his soul back from the pit+

And his life from passing away by a missile.*+

19 And he is actually reproved with pain upon his bed,

And the quarreling of his bones is continual.

20 And his life certainly makes bread loathsome,+

And his own soul desirable food.

21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

And his bones that were not seen certainly grow bare.

22 And his soul draws near to the pit,+

And his life to those inflicting death.*

23 If there exists for him a messenger,*

A spokesman,* one out of a thousand,

To tell to man his uprightness,*

24 Then he favors him and says,

‘Let him off from going down into the pit!+

I have found a ransom!*+

25 Let his flesh become fresher than in youth;+

Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor.’+

26 He will make entreaty to God* that he may take pleasure in him,+

And he will see his face with joyful shouting,

And He will restore His righteousness to mortal man.*

27 He will sing to men and say,

‘I have sinned;+ and what is upright I have perverted,

And it certainly was not the proper thing for me.

28 He has redeemed my* soul from passing into the pit,+

And my life itself will see the light.’

29 Look! All these things God* performs,

Two times, three times, in the case of an able-bodied man,

30 To turn his soul back from the pit,+

That he may be enlightened with the light* of those living.+

31 Pay attention, O Job! Listen to me!

Keep silent, and I myself shall continue speaking.

32 If there are any words [to say], make reply to me;

Speak, for I have taken delight in your righteousness.

33 If there are none, you yourself listen to me;+

Keep silent, and I shall teach you wisdom.”

 2 “Listen, YOU wise ones, to my words;

And YOU who know, give ear to me.

 3 For the ear itself makes a test of words,+

Just as the palate tastes when eating.+

 4 Judgment let us choose for ourselves;

Let us know among ourselves what is good.

 5 For Job has said, ‘I certainly am in the right,+

But God* himself has turned aside the judgment of me.+

 6 Against my own judgment do I tell lies?

My severe wound is incurable though there is no transgression.’+

 7 What able-bodied man* is like Job,+

[Who] drinks up derision like water?+

 8 And he is certainly on his way to companionship with practicers of what is hurtful

And to walking with men of wickedness.+

 9 For he has said, ‘An able-bodied man does not profit+

By his taking pleasure in God.’*

10 Therefore, YOU men of heart,+ listen to me.

Far be it from the [true] God* to act wickedly,+

And the Almighty to act unjustly!+

11 For [according to] the way earthling man* acts he will reward+ him,

And according to the path of man* he will cause it to come upon him.

12 Yes, for a fact, God* himself does not act wickedly,+

And the Almighty himself does not pervert judgment.+

13 Who has assigned to him the earth,

And who has appointed [to him] the productive land,* even all of it?

14 If he sets his heart upon anyone,

[If] that one’s spirit and breath he gathers to himself,+

15 All flesh will expire together,

And earthling man* himself will return to the very dust.+

16 So if [you have] understanding, do listen to this;

Do give ear to the sound of my words.

17 Really will anyone hating justice control,+

And if a powerful one is righteous will you pronounce [him] wicked?+

18 Shall one say* to a king, ‘You are good for nothing’?*

To nobles, ‘You are wicked’?+

19 [There is One] who has not shown partiality to princes

And has not given more consideration to the noble+ one than to the lowly one,

For all of them are the work of his hands.+

20 In a moment they die,+ even in the middle of the night;+

The people shake back and forth and pass away,

And powerful ones depart by no hand.+

21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man,*+

And all his steps he sees.

22 There is no darkness nor any deep shadow

For those practicing what is hurtful to conceal themselves there.+

23 For he sets no appointed time for any man

To go to God* in judgment.

24 He breaks powerful ones+ without any investigation,

And he makes others stand up instead of them.+

25 Therefore he recognizes what their works are,+

And he does overthrow [them] at night, and they get crushed.+

26 As wicked ones he does slap them

In the place of onlookers;+

27 For the reason that they have turned aside from following him,+

And none of his ways have they considered,+

28 So as to cause the outcry of the lowly one to come to him;

And so he hears the outcry of the afflicted ones.+

29 When he himself causes quietness, who, then, can condemn?

And when he conceals [his] face,+ who can behold him,

Whether it is toward a nation+ or toward a man,* it being the same thing?

30 So that an apostate man may not reign,+

Nor there be snares+ of the people.

31 For will anyone actually say to God himself,

‘I have borne, although I do not act corruptly;+

32 Although I behold nothing, instruct me yourself;

If any unrighteousness I have committed,

I shall not do [it] again’?+

33 Will he make good for it from your standpoint because you do refuse [judgment],

Because you yourself choose, and not I?

Even what you well know, speak.

34 Men of heart+ themselves will say to me—

Even a wise able-bodied man that is listening to me,

35 ‘Job himself speaks without knowledge,+

And his words are without [his] having insight.’

36 My father, let Job be tested* out to the limit

Over his replies among men of hurtfulness.+

37 For on top of his sin he adds revolt;+

Among us he claps [his hands] and multiplies his sayings against the [true] God!”*+

 2 “Is this what you have regarded as justice?

You have said, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s.’*+

 3 For you say, ‘Of what use is it to you?+

What benefit do I have more than by my sinning?’+

 4 I myself shall reply to you

And to your companions*+ with you.

 5 Look up to heaven+ and see,

And behold the clouds,+ [that] they are indeed higher than you.

 6 If you actually sin, what do you accomplish against him?+

And [if] your revolts actually increase, what do you do to him?

 7 If you are really in the right, what do you give him,

Or what does he receive from your own hand?+

 8 Your wickedness may be against a man* like you,+

And your righteousness to a son of earthling man.*+

 9 Because of the multitude of oppressions they keep calling for aid;+

They keep crying for help because of the arm of the great ones.+

10 And yet no one has said, ‘Where is God* my Grand Maker,*+

The One giving melodies in the night?’+

11 He is the One teaching+ us more than the beasts* of the earth,+

And he makes us wiser than even the flying creatures of the heavens.

12 There they keep crying out, but he does not answer,+

Because of the pride+ of the bad ones.

13 Only the untruth God* does not hear,+

And the Almighty himself does not behold it.+

14 How much less, then, when you say you do not behold him!+

The legal case is before him, and so you should wait anxiously for him.+

15 And now because his anger has not called for an accounting,+

He has also not taken note of the extreme rashness.+

16 And Job himself opens his mouth wide simply for nothing;

Without knowledge he multiplies mere words.”+

 2 “Have patience with me a little while, and I shall declare to you

That there are yet words [to say] for God.*

 3 I shall carry my knowledge from far off,

And to my Fashioner* I shall ascribe righteousness.+

 4 For my words are for a fact no falsehood;

The One perfect in knowledge+ is with you.

 5 Look! God* is mighty+ and will not reject;

[He is] mighty in power of heart;*

 6 He will not preserve anyone wicked alive,+

But the judgment of the afflicted ones he will give.+

 7 He will not take away his eyes from anyone righteous;+

Even kings on the throne+—

He will also seat them forever, and they will be exalted.

 8 And if they are bound in fetters,+

They are captured with ropes of affliction.

 9 Then he will tell them about the way they act

And their transgressions, because they take a superior air.

10 And he will uncover their ear to exhortation,+

And he will say that they should turn back from what is hurtful.+

11 If they obey and serve,

They will finish their days in what is good

And their years in pleasantness.+

12 But if they do not obey, they will pass away+ even by a missile,+

And they will expire without knowledge.

13 And those apostate in heart will themselves lay up anger.+

They should not cry for help because he has bound them.

14 Their soul will die in youth itself,+

And their life among male temple prostitutes.+

15 He will rescue the afflicted one in his affliction,

And he will uncover their ear in the oppression.

16 And he will also certainly allure you from the mouth of distress!+

Broader space,+ not constraint, will be in its place,

And the consolation of your table will be full of fatness.+

17 With the judicial sentence upon the wicked one+ you will certainly be filled;

Judicial sentence and justice will themselves take hold.

18 For [take care] that rage+ does not allure you into [spiteful] handclapping,

And let not a large ransom+ itself lead you astray.

19 Will your cry for help take effect?+ No, nor in distress

Even all [your] powerful efforts.+

20 Do not pant for the night,*

For peoples to retreat [from] where they are.

21 Be on your guard that you do not turn to what is hurtful,+

For this you have chosen rather than affliction.+

22 Look! God* himself acts exaltedly with his power;

Who is an instructor like him?

23 Who has called his way to account against him,+

And who has said, ‘You have committed unrighteousness’?+

24 Remember that you should magnify his activity+

Of which men have sung.+

25 All mankind* themselves have gazed upon it;

Mortal man himself keeps looking from far off.+

26 Behold! God is more exalted than we can know;+

In number his years are beyond searching.+

27 For he draws up the drops of water;+

They filter as rain for his mist,

28 So that the clouds trickle,+

They drip upon mankind abundantly.

29 Indeed, who can understand the cloud layers,

The crashings from his booth?+

30 Look! He has spread out over it his light,+

And the roots of the sea he has covered.

31 For by them he pleads the cause of peoples;+

He gives food in abundance.+

32 In his hands he has covered over the lightning,*

And he lays a command upon it against an assailant.+

33 His booming tells about him,+

The livestock also concerning the one coming up.

37 “Indeed at this my heart begins to tremble,+

And it leaps up from its place.

 2 Listen attentively, YOU men, to the rumbling of his voice,+

And the growling that goes forth from his mouth.

 3 Under the whole heavens he lets it loose,

And his lightning+ is to the extremities* of the earth.

 4 After it a sound roars;

He thunders+ with the sound of his superiority,+

And he does not hold them back when his voice is heard.+

 5 God* thunders with his voice+ in a wonderful way,

Doing great things that we cannot know.+

 6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall earthward,’+

And [to] the downpour of rain, even [to] the downpour of his strong rains.+

 7 On the hand of every earthling man he puts a seal

For every mortal man to know his work.

 8 And the wild beast comes into the ambush,

And in its hiding places it dwells.+

 9 Out of the interior room+ comes the storm wind

And out of the north winds the cold.+

10 By the breath of God* the ice is given+

And the breadth of waters is under constraint.*+

11 Yes, with moisture he burdens the cloud,

His light+ scatters the cloud mass,

12 And it is being turned round about by his steering [them] for their performance

Wherever he commands+ them upon the face of the productive land* of the earth.

13 Whether for a rod*+ or for his land+

Or for loving-kindness,*+ he makes it produce effects.

14 Do give ear to this, O Job;

Stand still and show yourself attentive to the wonderful works of God.+

15 Do you know when God* laid an appointment upon them,+

And when he caused the light of his cloud to beam?

16 Do you know about the poisings of the cloud,+

The wonderful works of the One perfect in knowledge?+

17 How your garments are hot

When the earth shows quietness* from the south?+

18 With him can you beat out the skies+

Hard like a molten mirror?

19 Let us know what we should say to him;

We cannot produce [words] because of darkness.

20 Should it be related to him that I would speak?

Or has any man said that it will be communicated?+

21 And now they do not really see the light;

It is brilliant in the skies,

When a wind* itself has passed by and proceeded to cleanse them.

22 Out of the north golden splendor* comes.

Upon God* dignity+ is fear-inspiring.

23 As for the Almighty, we have not found him out;+

He is exalted in power,+

And justice+ and abundance of righteousness+ he will not belittle.+

24 Therefore let men* fear him.+

He does not regard any who are wise in [their own] heart.”+

 2 “Who is this that is obscuring counsel

By words without knowledge?+

 3 Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man,

And let me question you, and you inform me.+

 4 Where did you happen to be when I founded the earth?+

Tell [me], if you do know understanding.

 5 Who set its measurements, in case you know,

Or who stretched out upon it the measuring line?

 6 Into what have its socket pedestals+ been sunk down,

Or who laid its cornerstone,

 7 When the morning stars+ joyfully cried out together,

And all the sons of God*+ began shouting in applause?

 8 And [who] barricaded the sea with doors,*+

Which began to go forth as when it burst out from the womb;

 9 When I put the cloud as its* garment

And thick gloom as its swaddling band,

10 And I proceeded to break up* my regulation upon it

And to set a bar and doors,+

11 And I went on to say, ‘This far you may come, and no farther;+

And here your proud waves are limited’?+

12 Was it from your days onward that you commanded the morning?+

Did you cause the dawn to know its place,

13 To take hold on the extremities* of the earth,

That the wicked ones* might be shaken out from it?+

14 It transforms itself like clay+ under a seal,

And things* take their station as in clothing.

15 And from the wicked ones* their light is held back,+

And the high arm itself gets broken.+

16 Have you come to the sources* of the sea,

Or in search of the watery deep*+ have you walked about?+

17 Have the gates of death+ been uncovered to you,

Or the gates of deep shadow*+ can you see?

18 Have you intelligently considered the broad spaces of the earth?+

Tell, if you have come to know it all.

19 Where, now, is the way to where light resides?+

As for darkness, where, now, is its place,

20 That you should take it to its boundary

And that you should understand the roadways to its house?

21 Have you come to know because at that time you were being born,+

And [because] in number your days are many?

22 Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow,+

Or do you see even the storehouses of the hail,+

23 Which I have kept back for the time of distress,

For the day of fight and war?+

24 Where, now, is the way by which the light* distributes itself,

[And] the east wind+ scatters about upon the earth?

25 Who has divided a channel for the flood

And a way for the thunderous storm cloud,+

26 To make it rain upon the land where there is no man,*+

[Upon] the wilderness in which there is no earthling man,*

27 To satisfy storm-stricken and desolate places

And to cause the growth of grass to sprout?+

28 Does there exist a father for the rain,+

Or who gave birth to the dewdrops?+

29 Out of whose belly does the ice actually come forth,

And as for the hoarfrost+ of heaven, who indeed brings it to birth?

30 The very waters keep themselves hidden as by stone,

And the surface of the watery deep makes itself compact.+

31 Can you tie fast the bonds of the Kiʹmah constellation,*

Or can you loosen the very cords of the Keʹsil constellation?*+

32 Can you bring forth the Mazʹza·roth constellation* in its appointed time?

And as for the Ash constellation* alongside its sons, can you conduct them?

33 Have you come to know the statutes of the heavens,+

Or could you put its authority in the earth?

34 Can you raise your voice even to the cloud,

So that a heaving mass of water itself may cover you?+

35 Can you send forth lightnings that they may go

And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?

36 Who put wisdom+ in the cloud layers,*

Or who gave understanding+ to the sky phenomenon?*

37 Who can exactly number the clouds in wisdom,

Or the water jars of heaven—who can tip [them] over,+

38 When the dust pours out as into a molten mass,

And the clods of earth themselves get stuck together?

39 Can you hunt prey for a lion itself

And can you satisfy* the lively appetite of young lions,+

40 When they crouch in the hiding places,+

[Or] keep lying in the covert for an ambush?

41 Who prepares for the raven its food+

When its own young ones cry to God* for help,

[When] they keep wandering about because there is nothing to eat?

39 “Have you come to know the appointed time for the mountain goats of the crag to give birth?+

Do you observe just when the hinds bring forth+ with birth pangs?

 2 Do you count the lunar months that they fulfill,

Or have you come to know the appointed time that they give birth?

 3 They bow down when they cast forth their young ones,

[When] they get rid of their pangs.*

 4 Their sons become robust, they get big in the open field;

They actually go forth and do not return to them.

 5 Who sent forth the zebra+ free,

And who loosened the very bands of the wild ass,

 6 Whose house I have appointed the desert plain

And whose dwelling places the salt country?+

 7 It laughs at the turmoil of a town;

The noises of a stalker+ it does not hear.

 8 It explores mountains for its pasturage+

And after every sort of green plant+ it seeks.

 9 Does a wild bull want to serve you,+

Or will it spend the night by your manger?

10 Will you bind a wild bull fast with its ropes in the furrow,

Or will it harrow+ low plains after you?

11 Will you trust in it because its power is abundant,

And will you leave your toil to it?

12 Will you rely on it that it will bring back your seed

And that it will gather to your threshing floor?

13 Has the wing of the female ostrich flapped joyously,

Or [has she] the pinions of a stork+ and the plumage?

14 For she leaves her eggs to the earth itself

And in the dust she keeps them warm,

15 And she forgets that some foot may crush them

Or even a wild beast of the field may tread on them.

16 She does treat her sons roughly, as if not hers+—

In vain is her toil [because she has] no dread.

17 For God* has made her forget wisdom,

And he has not given her a share in understanding.+

18 At the time she flaps [her wings] on high,

She laughs at the horse and at its rider.

19 Can you give to the horse mightiness?+

Can you clothe its neck with a rustling mane?*

20 Can you cause it to leap like a locust?

The dignity of its snorting is frightful.+

21 It paws*+ in the low plain and exults in power;

It goes forth to meet armor.+

22 It laughs at dread, and is not terrified;+

Nor does it turn back on account of a sword.

23 Against it a quiver rattles,

The blade of a spear and a javelin.

24 With pounding and excitement it swallows up the earth,

And it does not believe that it is the sound of a horn.

25 As soon as the horn blows it says Aha!

And from far off it smells the battle,

The uproar of chiefs* and the war cry.+

26 Is it owing to your understanding that the falcon soars up,

That it spreads its wings to the south wind?

27 Or is it at your order that an eagle+ flies upward

And that it builds its nest high up,+

28 That on a crag it resides and stays during the night

Upon the tooth of a crag and an inaccessible place?

29 From there it has to search for food;+

Far into the distance its eyes keep looking.

30 And its young ones themselves keep sipping up blood;

And where the slain are, there it is.”+

 2 “Should there be any contending* of a faultfinder with the Almighty?+

Let the reprover of God* himself answer it.”+

 4 “Look! I have become of little account.+

What shall I reply to you?

My hand I have put over my mouth.+

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

And twice, and I will add nothing.”

 7 “Gird up your loins, please, like an able-bodied man;+

I shall question you, and you inform me.+

 8 Really, will you invalidate my justice?

Will you pronounce me wicked in order that you may be in the right?*+

 9 Or do you have an arm like that of the [true] God,*+

And with a voice like his can you make it thunder?+

10 Deck yourself, please, with superiority+ and highness;+

And with dignity+ and splendor+ may you clothe yourself.

11 Let flow the furious outbursts of your anger,+

And see every one haughty and bring him low.

12 See every one haughty, humble him,+

And tread down the wicked right where they are.

13 Hide them together in the dust,+

Bind their very faces in the hidden place,

14 And I, even I, shall commend you,

Because your right hand can save you.

15 Here, now, is Be·heʹmoth* that I have made as well as you.

Green grass it eats+ just as a bull does.

16 Here, now, its power is in its hips,

And its dynamic energy+ in the tendons of its belly.

17 It bends down its tail like a cedar;

The sinews of its thighs are interwoven.

18 Its bones are tubes of copper;

Its strong bones are like wrought-iron rods.

19 It is the beginning of the ways of God;*

Its Maker+ can bring near his sword.

20 For the mountains themselves bear their produce for it,+

And all the wild beasts of the field themselves play there.*

21 Under the thorny lotus trees it lies down,

In the concealed place of reeds+ and the swampy place.+

22 The thorny lotus trees keep it blocked off with their shadow;

The poplars of the torrent valley surround it.

23 If the river acts violently, it does not run in panic.

It is confident, although the Jordan+ should burst forth against its mouth.

24 Before its eyes can anyone take it?

With snares can anyone bore [its] nose?*

41 “Can you draw out Le·viʹa·than*+ with a fishhook,

Or with a rope can you hold down its tongue?

 2 Can you put a rush in its nostrils,+

Or with a thorn can you bore its jaws?

 3 Will it make many entreaties to you,

Or will it say soft words to you?

 4 Will it conclude a covenant with you,

That you may take it as a slave to time indefinite?

 5 Will you play with it as with a bird,

Or will you tie it for your young girls?

 6 Will partners barter for it?*

Will they divide it up among tradesmen?*

 7 Will you fill its skin with harpoons,+

Or its head with fish spears?

 8 Put your hand upon it.

Remember the battle. Do not do it again.*

 9 Look! One’s expectation about it will certainly be disappointed.

One will also be hurled down at the mere sight of it.

10 None is so audacious that he should stir it up.

And who is it that can hold his ground before me?+

11 Who has given me something first, that I ought to reward him?+

Under the whole heavens it is mine.+

12 I shall not keep silent about its parts

Or the matter of [its] mightiness and the grace of its proportions.

13 Who has uncovered the face of its clothing?

Into its double jaw* who will enter?

14 The doors of its face* who has opened?

Its teeth round about are frightful.

15 Furrows of scales are its haughtiness,

Closed as with a tight seal.

16 One to the other they fit closely,

And not even air can come in between them.

17 Each one to the other* they are stuck together;

They grasp one another and cannot be separated.

18 Its very sneezings flash forth light,

And its eyes are like the beams of dawn.

19 Out of its mouth there go lightning flashes,

Even sparks of fire make their escape.

20 Out of its nostrils smoke goes forth,

Like a furnace set aflame even with rushes.

21 Its soul* itself sets coals ablaze,

And even a flame goes forth out of its mouth.

22 In its neck lodges strength,

And before it despair leaps.*

23 The folds of its flesh do cling together;

They are as a casting upon it, immovable.

24 Its heart is cast like stone,

Yes, cast like a lower millstone.

25 Due to its rising up the strong get frightened;+

Due to consternation they get bewildered.

26 Overtaking it, the sword itself does not prove equal,

Nor spear, dart or arrowhead.+

27 It regards iron+ as mere straw,

Copper as mere rotten wood.

28 An arrow* does not chase it away;

The slingstones+ have been changed for it into mere stubble.

29 A club has been regarded [by it] as mere stubble,+

And it laughs at the rattling of a javelin.

30 As pointed earthenware fragments* are its underparts;

It spreads out a threshing instrument+ upon the mire.

31 It causes the depths to boil just like a pot;

It makes the very sea like an ointment pot.

32 Behind itself it makes a pathway shine;*

One would regard the watery deep as gray-headedness.*

33 Upon the dust there is not the like of it,

The one made to be without terror.

34 Everything high it sees.

It is king over all majestic wild beasts.”*

 2 “I have come to know that you are able to do all things,+

And there is no idea that is unattainable for you.+

 3 ‘Who is this that is obscuring counsel without knowledge?’+

Therefore I talked, but I was not understanding

Things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.+

 4 ‘Hear, please, and I myself shall speak.

I shall question you, and you inform me.’+

 5 In hearsay* I have heard about you,

But now my own eye does see you.

 6 That is why I make a retraction,

And I do repent*+ in dust and ashes.”