1 “My eyes have seen all this,
my ears have heard and understood it.

2 What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty
and to argue my case with God.

4 You, however, smear me with lies;
you are worthless physicians, all of you!

5 If only you would be altogether silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.

6 Hear now my argument;
listen to the plea of my lips.

7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?

8 Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?

9 Would it turn out well if he examined you?
Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?

10 He would surely rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality.

11 Would not his splendor terrify you?
Would not the dread of him fall on you?

12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 “Keep silent and let me speak;
then let come to me what may.

14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy
and take my life in my hands?

15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely [a] defend my ways to his face.

16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless man would dare come before him!

17 Listen carefully to my words;
let your ears take in what I say.

18 Now that I have prepared my case,
I know I will be vindicated.

19 Can anyone bring charges against me?
If so, I will be silent and die.

20 “Only grant me these two things, O God,
and then I will not hide from you:

21 Withdraw your hand far from me,
and stop frightening me with your terrors.

22 Then summon me and I will answer,
or let me speak, and you reply.

23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed?
Show me my offense and my sin.

24 Why do you hide your face
and consider me your enemy?

25 Will you torment a windblown leaf?
Will you chase after dry chaff?

26 For you write down bitter things against me
and make me inherit the sins of my youth.

27 You fasten my feet in shackles;
you keep close watch on all my paths
by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

28 “So man wastes away like something rotten,
like a garment eaten by moths.

1 Then Job replied:

2 “Doubtless you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!

3 But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?

4 “I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
though I called upon God and he answered—
a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

5 Men at ease have contempt for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

6 The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
and those who provoke God are secure—
those who carry their god in their hands. [a]

7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.

9 Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?

10 In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.

11 Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?

12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?

13 “To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.

14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
the man he imprisons cannot be released.

15 If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

16 To him belong strength and victory;
both deceived and deceiver are his.

17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.

18 He takes off the shackles put on by kings
and ties a loincloth [b] around their waist.

19 He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows men long established.

20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.

21 He pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the mighty.

22 He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings deep shadows into the light.

23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
he sends them wandering through a trackless waste.

25 They grope in darkness with no light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 “Are all these words to go unanswered?
Is this talker to be vindicated?

3 Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?

4 You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.’

5 Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you

6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

7 “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave [a] —what can you know?

9 Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

10 “If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

11 Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

12 But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey’s colt can be born a man. [b]

13 “Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

14 if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

15 then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

16 You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

17 Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

18 You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

19 You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.

20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp.”

1 “I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges you have against me.

3 Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?

4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?

5 Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a man,

6 that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin-

7 though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?

8 “Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?

9 Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?

10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,

11 clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?

12 You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.

13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:

14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.

15 If I am guilty—woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in [a] my affliction.

16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.

17 You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.

18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.

19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!

20 Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy

21 before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow, [b]

22 to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”

1 Then Job replied:

2 “Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

3 Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

5 He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.

6 He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.

7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.

8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.

9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

12 If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13 God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

14 “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?

15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

17 He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.

18 He would not let me regain my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.

19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him [a] ?

20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

21 “Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.

22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23 When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.

24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?

25 “My days are swifter than a runner;
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

26 They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like eagles swooping down on their prey.

27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,’

28 I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?

30 Even if I washed myself with soap [b]
and my hands with washing soda,

31 you would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.

32 “He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.

33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

1Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

2How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?

3Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?

4If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;

5If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty;

6If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

7Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

8For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:

9(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

10Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?

11Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?

12Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.

13So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:

14Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.

15He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

16He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.

17His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.

18If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

19Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.

20Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:

21Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.

22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.

1 “Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man? 2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, 3 so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. 4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. 5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering. 6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.

7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. 8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more. 9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return. 10 He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more. 11 “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard? 13 When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, 14 even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 15 so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. 16 I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

17 “What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, 18 that you examine him every morning and test him every moment? 19 Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? 20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? 21 Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

1 Then Job replied: 2 “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! 3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas– no wonder my words have been impetuous. 4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me. 5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? 6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? 7 I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

8 “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, 9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off! 10 Then I would still have this consolation– my joy in unrelenting pain– that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. 11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? 12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? 13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

14 “A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow 16 when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, 17 but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels. 18 Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish. 19 The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. 20 They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed. 21 Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.

22 Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, 23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless’? 24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. 25 How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? 26 Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind? 27 You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend. 28 “But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? 29 Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. 30 Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?

1 “Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? 2 Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. 3 I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. 4 His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. 5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. 7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. 8 “But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. 9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. 10 He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside. 11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. 13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. 14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night. 15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

17 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. 18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. 19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you. 20 In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. 21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. 22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth. 23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. 24 You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. 25 You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth. 26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. 27 “We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: 2 “If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking? 3 Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. 4 Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. 5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. 6 Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

7 “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? 8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. 9 At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish. 10 The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken. 11 The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 “A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. 13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, 14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. 15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. 16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: 17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? 18 If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, 19 how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth! 20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever. 21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’