5:1Give now a cry for help; is there anyone who will give you an answer? and to which of the holy ones will you make your prayer? 5:2For wrath is the cause of death to the foolish, and he who has no wisdom comes to his end through passion. 5:3I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly the curse came on his house. 5:4Now his children have no safe place, and they are crushed before the judges, for no one takes up their cause. 5:5Their produce is taken by him who has no food, and their grain goes to the poor, and he who is in need of water gets it from their spring. 5:6For evil does not come out of the dust, or trouble out of the earth; 5:7But trouble is man's fate from birth, as the flames go up from the fire. 5:8But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him: 5:9Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number: 5:10Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields: 5:11Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place; 5:12Who makes the designs of the wise go wrong, so that they are unable to give effect to their purposes. 5:13He takes the wise in their secret designs, and the purposes of the twisted are cut off suddenly. 5:14In the daytime it becomes dark for them, and in the sunlight they go feeling about as if it was night. 5:15But he keeps safe from their sword those who have no father, and the poor from the power of the strong. 5:16So the poor man has hope, and the mouth of the evil-doer is stopped. 5:17Truly, that man is happy who has training from the hand of God: so do not let your heart be shut to the teaching of the Ruler of all. 5:18For after his punishment he gives comfort, and after wounding, his hands make you well. 5:19He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you. 5:20When there is need of food he will keep you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. 5:21He will keep you safe from the evil tongue; and you will have no fear of wasting when it comes. 5:22You will make sport of destruction and need, and will have no fear of the beasts of the earth. 5:23For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you. 5:24And you will be certain that your tent is at peace, and after looking over your property you will see that nothing is gone. 5:25You will be certain that your seed will be great, and your offspring like the plants of the earth. 5:26You will come to your last resting-place in full strength, as the grain is taken up to the crushing-floor in its time. 5:27See, we have made search with care, and it is so; it has come to our ears; see that you take note of it for yourself.
6:1And Job made answer and said, 6:2If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble! 6:3For then its weight would be more than the sand of the seas: because of this my words have been uncontrolled. 6:4For the arrows of the Ruler of all are present with me, and their poison goes deep into my spirit: his army of fears is put in order against me. 6:5Does the ass of the fields give out his voice when he has grass? or does the ox make sounds over his food? 6:6Will a man take food which has no taste without salt? or is there any taste in the soft substance of purslain? 6:7My soul has no desire for such things, they are as disease in my food. 6:8If only I might have an answer to my prayer, and God would give me my desire! 6:9If only he would be pleased to put an end to me; and would let loose his hand, so that I might be cut off! 6:10So I would still have comfort, and I would have joy in the pains of death, for I have not been false to the words of the Holy One. 6:11Have I strength to go on waiting, or have I any end to be looking forward to? 6:12Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh brass? 6:13I have no help in myself, and wisdom is completely gone from me. 6:14He whose heart is shut against his friend has given up the fear of the Ruler of all. 6:15My friends have been false like a stream, like streams in the valleys which come to an end: 6:16Which are dark because of the ice, and the snow falling into them; 6:17Under the burning sun they are cut off, and come to nothing because of the heat. 6:18The camel-trains go out of their way; they go up into the waste and come to destruction. 6:19The camel-trains of Tema were searching with care, the bands of Sheba were waiting for them: 6:20They were put to shame because of their hope; they came and their hope was gone. 6:21So have you now become to me; you see my sad condition and are in fear. 6:22Did I say, Give me something? or, Make a payment for me out of your wealth? 6:23Or, Get me out of the power of my hater? or, Give money so that I may be free from the power of the cruel ones? 6:24Give me teaching and I will be quiet; and make me see my error. 6:25How pleasing are upright words! but what force is there in your arguments? 6:26My words may seem wrong to you, but the words of him who has no hope are for the wind. 6:27Truly, you are such as would give up the child of a dead man to his creditors, and would make a profit out of your friend. 6:28Now then, let your eyes be turned to me, for truly I will not say what is false to your face. 6:29Let your minds be changed, and do not have an evil opinion of me; yes, be changed, for my righteousness is still in me. 6:30Is there evil in my tongue? is not the cause of my trouble clear to me?
7:1Has not man his ordered time of trouble on the earth? and are not his days like the days of a servant working for payment? 7:2As a servant desiring the shades of evening, and a workman looking for his payment: 7:3So I have for my heritage months of pain to no purpose, and nights of weariness are given to me. 7:4When I go to my bed, I say, When will it be time to get up? but the night is long, and I am turning from side to side till morning light. 7:5My flesh is covered with worms and dust; my skin gets hard and then is cracked again. 7:6My days go quicker than the cloth-worker's thread, and come to an end without hope. 7:7O, keep in mind that my life is wind: my eye will never again see good. 7:8The eye of him who sees me will see me no longer: your eyes will be looking for me, but I will be gone. 7:9A cloud comes to an end and is gone; so he who goes down into the underworld comes not up again. 7:10He will not come back to his house, and his place will have no more knowledge of him. 7:11So I will not keep my mouth shut; I will let the words come from it in the pain of my spirit, my soul will make a bitter outcry. 7:12Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me? 7:13When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease; 7:14Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear; 7:15So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains. 7:16I have no desire for life, I would not be living for ever! Keep away from me, for my days are as a breath. 7:17What is man, that you have made him great, and that your attention is fixed on him, 7:18And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute? 7:19How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space? 7:20If I have done wrong, what have I done to you, O keeper of men? why have you made me a mark for your blows, so that I am a weariness to myself? 7:21And why do you not take away my sin, and let my wrongdoing be ended? for now I go down to the dust, and you will be searching for me with care, but I will be gone.
8:1Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said, 8:2How long will you say these things, and how long will the words of your mouth be like a strong wind? 8:3Does God give wrong decisions? or is the Ruler of all not upright in his judging? 8:4If your children have done evil against him, then their punishment is from his hand. 8:5If you will make search for God with care, and put your request before the Ruler of all; 8:6If you are clean and upright; then he will certainly be moved to take up your cause, and will make clear your righteousness by building up your house again. 8:7And though your start was small, your end will be very great. 8:8Put the question now to the past generations, and give attention to what has been searched out by their fathers: 8:9(For we are but of yesterday, and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are gone like a shade:) 8:10Will they not give you teaching, and say words of wisdom to you? 8:11Will the river-plant come up in its pride without wet earth? will the grass get tall without water? 8:12When it is still green, without being cut down, it becomes dry and dead before any other plant. 8:13So is the end of all who do not keep God in mind; and the hope of the evil-doer comes to nothing: 8:14Whose support is cut off, and whose hope is no stronger than a spider's thread. 8:15He is looking to his family for support, but it is not there; he puts his hope in it, but it comes to nothing. 8:16He is full of strength before the sun, and his branches go out over his garden. 8:17His roots are twisted round the stones, forcing their way in between them. 8:18If he is taken away from his place, then it will say, I have not seen you. 8:19Such is the joy of his way, and out of the dust another comes up to take his place. 8:20Truly, God will not give up him who is without sin, and will not take evil-doers by the hand. 8:21The time will come when your mouth will be full of laughing, and cries of joy will come from your lips. 8:22Your haters will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the sinner will not be seen again.
9:1And Job made answer and said, 9:2Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God? 9:3If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions. 9:4He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it? 9:5It is he who takes away the mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his wrath: 9:6Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking: 9:7Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining. 9:8By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea: 9:9Who made the Bear and Orion, and the Pleiades, and the store-houses of the south: 9:10Who does great things not to be searched out; yes, wonders without number. 9:11See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him. 9:12If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing? 9:13God's wrath may not be turned back; the helpers of Rahab were bent down under him. 9:14How much less may I give an answer to him, using the right words in argument with him? 9:15Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me. 9:16If I had sent for him to be present, and he had come, I would have no faith that he would give ear to my voice. 9:17For I would be crushed by his storm, my wounds would be increased without cause. 9:18He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief. 9:19If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day? 9:20Though I was in the right, he would say that I was in the wrong; I have done no evil; but he says that I am a sinner. 9:21I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life. 9:22It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together. 9:23If death comes suddenly through disease, he makes sport of the fate of those who have done no wrong. 9:24The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it? 9:25My days go quicker than a post-runner: they go in flight, they see no good. 9:26They go rushing on like reed-boats, like an eagle dropping suddenly on its food. 9:27If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright; 9:28I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes. 9:29You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing? 9:30If I am washed with snow water, and make my hands clean with soap; 9:31Then you will have me pushed into the dust, so that I will seem disgusting to my very clothing. 9:32For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge. 9:33There is no one to give a decision between us, who might have control over us. 9:34Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me: 9:35Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.
10:1My soul is tired of life; I will let my sad thoughts go free in words; my soul will make a bitter outcry. 10:2I will say to God, Do not put me down as a sinner; make clear to me what you have against me. 10:3What profit is it to you to be cruel, to give up the work of your hands, looking kindly on the design of evil-doers? 10:4Have you eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees? 10:5Are your days as the days of man, or your years like his, 10:6That you take note of my sin, searching after my wrongdoing, 10:7Though you see that I am not an evil-doer; and there is no one who is able to take a man out of your hands? 10:8Your hands made me, and I was formed by you, but then, changing your purpose, you gave me up to destruction. 10:9O keep in mind that you made me out of earth; and will you send me back again to dust? 10:10Was I not drained out like milk, becoming hard like cheese? 10:11By you I was clothed with skin and flesh, and joined together with bones and muscles. 10:12You have been kind to me, and your grace has been with me, and your care has kept my spirit safe. 10:13But you kept these things in the secret of your heart; I am certain this was in your thoughts: 10:14That, if I did wrong, you would take note of it, and would not make me clear from sin: 10:15That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble. 10:16And that if there was cause for pride, you would go after me like a lion; and again put out your wonders against me: 10:17That you would send new witnesses against me, increasing your wrath against me, and letting loose new armies on me. 10:18Why then did you make me come out of my mother's body? It would have been better for me to have taken my last breath, and for no eye to have seen me, 10:19And for me to have been as if I had not been; to have been taken from my mother's body straight to my last resting-place. 10:20Are not the days of my life small in number? Let your eyes be turned away from me, so that I may have a little pleasure, 10:21Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black, 10:22A land of thick dark, without order, where the very light is dark.
11:1Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said, 11:2Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk? 11:3Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame? 11:4You may say, My way is clean, and I am free from sin in your eyes. 11:5But if only God would take up the word, opening his lips in argument with you; 11:6And would make clear to you the secrets of wisdom, and the wonders of his purpose! 11:7Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all? 11:8They are higher than heaven; what is there for you to do? deeper than the underworld, and outside your knowledge; 11:9Longer in measure than the earth, and wider than the sea. 11:10If he goes on his way, shutting a man up and putting him to death, who may make him go back from his purpose? 11:11For in his eyes men are as nothing; he sees evil and takes note of it. 11:12And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching. 11:13But if you put your heart right, stretching out your hands to him; 11:14If you put far away the evil of your hands, and let no wrongdoing have a place in your tent; 11:15Then truly your face will be lifted up, with no mark of sin, and you will be fixed in your place without fear: 11:16For your sorrow will go from your memory, like waters flowing away: 11:17And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning. 11:18And you will be safe because there is hope; after looking round, you will take your rest in quiet; 11:19Sleeping with no fear of danger; and men will be desiring to have grace in your eyes; 11:20But the eyes of the evil-doers will be wasting away; their way of flight is gone, and their only hope is the taking of their last breath.
12:1And Job made answer and said, 12:2No doubt you have knowledge, and wisdom will come to an end with you. 12:3But I have a mind as well as you; I am equal to you: yes, who has not knowledge of such things as these? 12:4It seems that I am to be as one who is a cause of laughing to his neighbour, one who makes his prayer to God and is answered! the upright man who has done no wrong is to be made sport of! 12:5In the thought of him who is in comfort there is no respect for one who is in trouble; such is the fate of those whose feet are slipping. 12:6There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength. 12:7But put now a question to the beasts, and get teaching from them; or to the birds of the heaven, and they will make it clear to you; 12:8Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it. 12:9Who does not see by all these that the hand of the Lord has done this? 12:10In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all flesh of man. 12:11Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth? 12:12Old men have wisdom, and a long life gives knowledge. 12:13With him there is wisdom and strength; power and knowledge are his. 12:14Truly, there is no building up of what is pulled down by him; when a man is shut up by him, no one may let him loose. 12:15Truly, he keeps back the waters and they are dry; he sends them out and the earth is overturned. 12:16With him are strength and wise designs; he who is guided into error, together with his guide, are in his hands; 12:17He takes away the wisdom of the wise guides, and makes judges foolish; 12:18He undoes the chains of kings, and puts his band on them; 12:19He makes priests prisoners, overturning those in safe positions; 12:20He makes the words of responsible persons without effect, and takes away the good sense of the old; 12:21He puts shame on chiefs, and takes away the power of the strong; 12:22Uncovering deep things out of the dark, and making the deep shade bright; 12:23Increasing nations, and sending destruction on them; making wide the lands of peoples, and then giving them up. 12:24He takes away the wisdom of the rulers of the earth, and sends them wandering in a waste where there is no way. 12:25They go feeling about in the dark without light, wandering without help like those overcome with wine.
13:1Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it. 13:2The same things are in my mind as in yours; I am equal to you. 13:3But I would have talk with the Ruler of all, and my desire is to have an argument with God. 13:4But you put a false face on things; all your attempts to put things right are of no value. 13:5If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom! 13:6Give ear to the argument of my mouth, and take note of the words of my lips. 13:7Will you say in God's name what is not right, and put false words into his mouth? 13:8Will you have respect for God's person in this cause, and put yourselves forward as his supporters? 13:9Will it be good for you to be searched out by him, or have you the thought that he may be guided into error like a man? 13:10He will certainly put you right, if you have respect for persons in secret. 13:11Will not his glory put you in fear, so that your hearts will be overcome before him? 13:12Your wise sayings are only dust, and your strong places are only earth. 13:13Keep quiet, and let me say what is in my mind, whatever may come to me. 13:14I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. 13:15Truly, he will put an end to me; I have no hope; but I will not give way in argument before him; 13:16And that will be my salvation, for an evil-doer would not come before him, 13:17Give ear with care to my words, and keep what I say in your minds. 13:18See now, I have put my cause in order, and I am certain that I will be seen to be right. 13:19Is any one able to take up the argument against me? If so, I would keep quiet and give up my breath. 13:20Only two things do not do to me, then I will come before your face: 13:21Take your hand far away from me; and let me not be overcome by fear of you. 13:22Then at the sound of your voice I will give answer; or let me put forward my cause for you to give me an answer. 13:23What is the number of my evil-doings and my sins? give me knowledge of them. 13:24Why is your face veiled from me, as if I was numbered among your haters? 13:25Will you be hard on a leaf in flight before the wind? will you make a dry stem go more quickly on its way? 13:26For you put bitter things on record against me, and send punishment on me for the sins of my early years; 13:27And you put chains on my feet, watching all my ways, and making a limit for my steps; 13:28Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.
14:1As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble. 14:2He comes out like a flower, and is cut down: he goes in flight like a shade, and is never seen again. 14:3Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him? 14:4If only a clean thing might come out of an unclean! But it is not possible. 14:5If his days are ordered, and you have knowledge of the number of his months, having given him a fixed limit past which he may not go; 14:6Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment. 14:7For there is hope of a tree; if it is cut down, it will come to life again, and its branches will not come to an end. 14:8Though its root may be old in the earth, and its cut-off end may be dead in the dust; 14:9Still, at the smell of water, it will make buds, and put out branches like a young plant. 14:10But man comes to his death and is gone: he gives up his spirit, and where is he? 14:11The waters go from a pool, and a river becomes waste and dry; 14:12So man goes down to his last resting-place and comes not again: till the heavens come to an end, they will not be awake or come out of their sleep. 14:13If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again! 14:14If death takes a man, will he come to life again? All the days of my trouble I would be waiting, till the time came for me to be free. 14:15At the sound of your voice I would give an answer, and you would have a desire for the work of your hands. 14:16For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked. 14:17My wrongdoing is corded up in a bag, and my sin is shut up safe. 14:18But truly a mountain falling comes to dust, and a rock is moved from its place; 14:19The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man. 14:20You overcome him for ever, and he is gone; his face is changed in death, and you send him away. 14:21His sons come to honour, and he has no knowledge of it; they are made low, but he is not conscious of it. 14:22Only his flesh still has pain, and his soul is sad.
15:1And Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said, 15:2Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind? 15:3Will he make arguments with words in which is no profit, and with sayings which have no value? 15:4Truly, you make the fear of God without effect, so that the time of quiet worship before God is made less by your outcry. 15:5For your mouth is guided by your sin, and you have taken the tongue of the false for yourself. 15:6It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you. 15:7Were you the first man to come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills? 15:8Were you present at the secret meeting of God? and have you taken all wisdom for yourself? 15:9What knowledge have you which we have not? is there anything in your mind which is not in ours? 15:10With us are men who are grey-haired and full of years, much older than your father. 15:11Are the comforts of God not enough for you, and the gentle word which was said to you? 15:12Why is your heart uncontrolled, and why are your eyes lifted up; 15:13So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth? 15:14What is man, that he may be clean? and how may the son of woman be upright? 15:15Truly, he puts no faith in his holy ones, and the heavens are not clean in his eyes; 15:16How much less one who is disgusting and unclean, a man who takes in evil like water! 15:17Take note and give ear to my words; and I will say what I have seen: 15:18(The things which wise men have got from their fathers, and have not kept secret from us; 15:19For only to them was the land given, and no strange people were among them:) 15:20The evil man is in pain all his days, and the number of the years stored up for the cruel is small. 15:21A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him: 15:22He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword; 15:23He is wandering about in search of bread, saying, Where is it? and he is certain that the day of trouble is ready for him: 15:24He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him: 15:25Because his hand is stretched out against God, and his heart is lifted up against the Ruler of all, 15:26Running against him like a man of war, covered by his thick breastplate; even like a king ready for the fight, 15:27Because his face is covered with fat, and his body has become thick; 15:28And he has made his resting-place in the towns which have been pulled down, in houses where no man had a right to be, whose fate was to become masses of broken walls. 15:29He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth. 15:30He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud. 15:31Let him not put his hope in what is false, falling into error: for he will get deceit as his reward. 15:32His branch is cut off before its time, and his leaf is no longer green. 15:33He is like a vine whose grapes do not come to full growth, or an olive-tree dropping its flowers. 15:34For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire. 15:35Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.
16:1And Job made answer and said, 16:2Such things have frequently come to my ears: you are comforters who only give trouble. 16:3May words which are like the wind be stopped? or what is troubling you to make answer to them? 16:4It would not be hard for me to say such things if your souls were in my soul's place; joining words together against you, and shaking my head at you: 16:5I might give you strength with my mouth, and not keep back the comfort of my lips. 16:6If I say what is in my mind, my pain becomes no less: and if I keep quiet, how much of it goes from me? 16:7But now he has overcome me with weariness and fear, and I am in the grip of all my trouble. 16:8It has come up as a witness against me, and the wasting of my flesh makes answer to my face. 16:9I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes; 16:10Their mouths are open wide against me; the blows of his bitter words are falling on my face; all of them come together in a mass against me. 16:11God gives me over to the power of sinners, sending me violently into the hands of evil-doers. 16:12I was in comfort, but I have been broken up by his hands; he has taken me by the neck, shaking me to bits; he has put me up as a mark for his arrows. 16:13His bowmen come round about me; their arrows go through my body without mercy; my life is drained out on the earth. 16:14I am broken with wound after wound; he comes rushing on me like a man of war. 16:15I have made haircloth the clothing of my skin, and my horn is rolled in the dust. 16:16My face is red with weeping, and my eyes are becoming dark; 16:17Though my hands have done no violent acts, and my prayer is clean. 16:18O earth, let not my blood be covered, and let my cry have no resting-place! 16:19Even now my witness is in heaven, and the supporter of my cause is on high. 16:20My friends make sport of me; to God my eyes are weeping, 16:21So that he may give decision for a man in his cause with God, and between a son of man and his neighbour. 16:22For in a short time I will take the journey from which I will not come back.
17:1My spirit is broken, my days are ended, the last resting-place is ready for me. 17:2Truly, those who make sport of me are round about me, and my eyes become dark because of their bitter laughing. 17:3Be pleased, now, to be responsible for me to yourself; for there is no other who will put his hand in mine. 17:4You have kept their hearts from wisdom: for this cause you will not give them honour. 17:5As for him who is false to his friend for a reward, light will be cut off from the eyes of his children. 17:6He has made me a word of shame to the peoples; I have become a mark for their sport. 17:7My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade. 17:8The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers. 17:9Still the upright keeps on his way, and he who has clean hands gets new strength. 17:10But come back, now, all of you, come; and I will not see a wise man among you. 17:11My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the desires of my heart. 17:12They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark. 17:13If I am waiting for the underworld as my house, if I have made my bed in the dark; 17:14If I say to the earth, You are my father; and to the worm, My mother and my sister; 17:15Where then is my hope? and who will see my desire? 17:16Will they go down with me into the underworld? Will we go down together into the dust?
18:1Then Bildad the Shuhite made answer and said, 18:2How long will it be before you have done talking? Get wisdom, and then we will say what is in our minds. 18:3Why do we seem as beasts in your eyes, and as completely without knowledge? 18:4But come back, now, come: you who are wounding yourself in your passion, will the earth be given up because of you, or a rock be moved out of its place? 18:5For the light of the sinner is put out, and the flame of his fire is not shining. 18:6The light is dark in his tent, and the light shining over him is put out. 18:7The steps of his strength become short, and by his design destruction overtakes him. 18:8His feet take him into the net, and he goes walking into the cords. 18:9His foot is taken in the net; he comes into its grip. 18:10The twisted cord is put secretly in the earth to take him, and the cord is placed in his way. 18:11He is overcome by fears on every side, they go after him at every step. 18:12His strength is made feeble for need of food, and destruction is waiting for his falling footstep. 18:13His skin is wasted by disease, and his body is food for the worst of diseases. 18:14He is pulled out of his tent where he was safe, and he is taken away to the king of fears. 18:15In his tent will be seen that which is not his, burning stone is dropped on his house. 18:16Under the earth his roots are dry, and over it his branch is cut off. 18:17His memory is gone from the earth, and in the open country there is no knowledge of his name. 18:18He is sent away from the light into the dark; he is forced out of the world. 18:19He has no offspring or family among his people, and in his living-place there is no one of his name. 18:20At his fate those of the west are shocked, and those of the east are overcome with fear. 18:21Truly, these are the houses of the sinner, and this is the place of him who has no knowledge of God.
19:1And Job made answer and said, 19:2How long will you make my life bitter, crushing me with words? 19:3Ten times now you have made sport of me; it gives you no sense of shame to do me wrong. 19:4And, truly, if I have been in error, the effect of my error is only on myself. 19:5If you make yourselves great against me, using my punishment as an argument against me, 19:6Be certain that it is God who has done me wrong, and has taken me in his net. 19:7Truly, I make an outcry against the violent man, but there is no answer: I give a cry for help, but no one takes up my cause. 19:8My way is walled up by him so that I may not go by: he has made my roads dark. 19:9He has put off my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head. 19:10I am broken down by him on every side, and I am gone; my hope is uprooted like a tree. 19:11His wrath is burning against me, and I am to him as one of his haters. 19:12His armies come on together, they make their road high against me, and put up their tents round mine. 19:13He has taken my brothers far away from me; they have seen my fate and have become strange to me. 19:14My relations and my near friends have given me up, and those living in my house have put me out of their minds. 19:15I am strange to my women-servants, and seem to them as one from another country. 19:16At my cry my servant gives me no answer, and I have to make a prayer to him. 19:17My breath is strange to my wife, and I am disgusting to the offspring of my mother's body. 19:18Even young children have no respect for me; when I get up their backs are turned on me. 19:19All the men of my circle keep away from me; and those dear to me are turned against me. 19:20My bones are joined to my skin, and I have got away with my flesh in my teeth. 19:21Have pity on me, have pity on me, O my friends! for the hand of God is on me. 19:22Why are you cruel to me, like God, for ever saying evil against me? 19:23If only my words might be recorded! if they might be put in writing in a book! 19:24And with an iron pen and lead be cut into the rock for ever! 19:25But I am certain that he who will take up my cause is living, and that in time to come he will take his place on the dust; 19:26And ... without my flesh I will see God; 19:27Whom I will see on my side, and not as one strange to me. My heart is broken with desire. 19:28If you say, How cruel we will be to him! because the root of sin is clearly in him: 19:29Be in fear of the sword, for the sword is the punishment for such things, so that you may be certain that there is a judge.
20:1Then Zophar the Naamathite made answer and said, 20:2For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on. 20:3I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom. 20:4Have you knowledge of this from early times, when man was placed on the earth, 20:5That the pride of the sinner is short, and the joy of the evil-doer but for a minute? 20:6Though he is lifted up to the heavens, and his head goes up to the clouds; 20:7Like the waste from his body he comes to an end for ever: those who have seen him say, Where is he? 20:8He is gone like a dream, and is not seen again; he goes in flight like a vision of the night. 20:9The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him. 20:10His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth. 20:11His bones are full of young strength, but it will go down with him into the dust. 20:12Though evil-doing is sweet in his mouth, and he keeps it secretly under his tongue; 20:13Though he takes care of it, and does not let it go, but keeps it still in his mouth; 20:14His food becomes bitter in his stomach; the poison of snakes is inside him. 20:15He takes down wealth as food, and sends it up again; it is forced out of his stomach by God. 20:16He takes the poison of snakes into his mouth, the tongue of the snake is the cause of his death. 20:17Let him not see the rivers of oil, the streams of honey and milk. 20:18He is forced to give back the fruit of his work, and may not take it for food; he has no joy in the profit of his trading. 20:19Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up; 20:20There is no peace for him in his wealth, and no salvation for him in those things in which he took delight. 20:21He had never enough for his desire; for this cause his well-being will quickly come to an end. 20:22Even when his wealth is great, he is full of care, for the hand of everyone who is in trouble is turned against him. 20:23God gives him his desire, and sends the heat of his wrath on him, making it come down on him like rain. 20:24He may go in flight from the iron spear, but the arrow from the bow of brass will go through him; 20:25He is pulling it out, and it comes out of his back; and its shining point comes out of his side; he is overcome by fears. 20:26All his wealth is stored up for the dark: a fire not made by man sends destruction on him, and on everything in his tent. 20:27The heavens make clear his sin, and the earth gives witness against him. 20:28The produce of his house is taken away into another country, like things given into the hands of others in the day of wrath. 20:29This is the reward of the evil man, and the heritage given to him by God.
21:1Then Job made answer and said, 21:2Give attention with care to my words; and let this be your comfort. 21:3Let me say what is in my mind, and after that, go on making sport of me. 21:4As for me, is my outcry against man? is it then to be wondered at if my spirit is troubled? 21:5Take note of me and be full of wonder, put your hand on your mouth. 21:6At the very thought of it my flesh is shaking with fear. 21:7Why is life given to the evil-doers? why do they become old and strong in power? 21:8Their children are ever with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 21:9Their houses are free from fear, and the rod of God does not come on them. 21:10Their ox is ready at all times to give seed; their cow gives birth, without dropping her young. 21:11They send out their young ones like a flock, and their children have pleasure in the dance, 21:12They make songs to the instruments of music, and are glad at the sound of the pipe. 21:13Their days come to an end without trouble, and suddenly they go down to the underworld. 21:14Though they said to God, Go away from us, for we have no desire for the knowledge of your ways. 21:15What is the Ruler of all, that we may give him worship? and what profit is it to us to make prayer to him? 21:16Truly, is not their well-being in their power? (The purpose of the evil-doers is far from me.) 21:17How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords? 21:18How frequently are they as dry stems before the wind, or as grass taken away by the storm-wind? 21:19You say, God keeps punishment stored up for his children. Let him send it on the man himself, so that he may have the punishment of it! 21:20Let his eyes see his trouble, and let him be full of the wrath of the Ruler of all! 21:21For what interest has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is ended? 21:22Is anyone able to give teaching to God? for he is the judge of those who are on high. 21:23One comes to his end in complete well-being, full of peace and quiet: 21:24His buckets are full of milk, and there is no loss of strength in his bones. 21:25And another comes to his end with a bitter soul, without ever tasting good. 21:26Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm. 21:27See, I am conscious of your thoughts, and of your violent purposes against me; 21:28For you say, Where is the house of the ruler, and where is the tent of the evil-doer? 21:29Have you not put the question to the travellers, and do you not take note of their experience? 21:30How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath? 21:31Who will make his way clear to his face? and if he has done a thing, who gives him punishment for it? 21:32He is taken to his last resting-place, and keeps watch over it. 21:33The earth of the valley covering his bones is sweet to him, and all men come after him, as there were unnumbered before him. 21:34Why then do you give me comfort with words in which there is no profit, when you see that there is nothing in your answers but deceit?
22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite made answer and said, 22:2Is it possible for a man to be of profit to God? No, for a man's wisdom is only of profit to himself. 22:3Is it of any interest to the Ruler of all that you are upright? or is it of use to him that your ways are without sin? 22:4Is it because you give him honour that he is sending punishment on you and is judging you? 22:5Is not your evil-doing great? and there is no end to your sins. 22:6For you have taken your brother's goods when he was not in your debt, and have taken away the clothing of those who have need of it. 22:7You do not give water to the tired traveller, and from him who has no food you keep back bread. 22:8For it was the man with power who had the land, and the man with an honoured name who was living in it. 22:9You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father. 22:10For this cause nets are round your feet, and you are overcome with sudden fear. 22:11Your light is made dark so that you are unable to see, and you are covered by a mass of waters. 22:12Is not God as high as heaven? and see the stars, how high they are! 22:13And you say, What knowledge has God? is he able to give decisions through the deep dark? 22:14Thick clouds are covering him, so that he is unable to see; and he is walking on the arch of heaven. 22:15Will you keep the old way by which evil men went? 22:16Who were violently taken away before their time, who were overcome by the rush of waters: 22:17Who said to God, Go away from us; and, What is the Ruler of all able to do to us? 22:18Though he made their houses full of good things: but the purpose of the evil-doers is far from me! 22:19The upright saw it and were glad: and those who had done no wrong made sport of them, 22:20Saying, Truly, their substance is cut off, and their wealth is food for the fire. 22:21Put yourself now in a right relation with him and be at peace: so will you do well in your undertakings. 22:22Be pleased to take teaching from his mouth, and let his words be stored up in your heart. 22:23If you come back to the Ruler of all, making yourself low before him; if you put evil far away from your tents; 22:24And put your gold in the dust, even your gold of Ophir among the rocks of the valleys; 22:25Then the Ruler of all will be your gold, and his teaching will be your silver; 22:26For then you will have delight in the Ruler of all, and your face will be lifted up to God. 22:27You will make your prayer to him, and be answered; and you will give effect to your oaths. 22:28Your purposes will come about, and light will be shining on your ways. 22:29For God makes low those whose hearts are lifted up, but he is a saviour to the poor in spirit. 22:30He makes safe the man who is free from sin, and if your hands are clean, salvation will be yours.
23:1And Job made answer and said, 23:2Even today my outcry is bitter; his hand is hard on my sorrow. 23:3If only I had knowledge of where he might be seen, so that I might come even to his seat! 23:4I would put my cause in order before him, and my mouth would be full of arguments. 23:5I would see what his answers would be, and have knowledge of what he would say to me. 23:6Would he make use of his great power to overcome me? No, but he would give attention to me. 23:7There an upright man might put his cause before him; and I would be free for ever from my judge. 23:8See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him; 23:9I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him. 23:10For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold. 23:11My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other. 23:12I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart. 23:13But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul. 23:14For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs. 23:15For this cause I am in fear before him, my thoughts of him overcome me. 23:16For God has made my heart feeble, and my mind is troubled before the Ruler of all. 23:17For I am overcome by the dark, and by the black night which is covering my face.
24:1Why are times not stored up by the Ruler of all, and why do those who have knowledge of him not see his days? 24:2The landmarks are changed by evil men, they violently take away flocks, together with their keepers. 24:3They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt. 24:4The crushed are turned out of the way; all the poor of the earth go into a secret place together. 24:5Like asses in the waste land they go out to their work, looking for food with care; from the waste land they get bread for their children. 24:6They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth. 24:7They take their rest at night without clothing, and have no cover in the cold. 24:8They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and get into the cracks of the rock for cover. 24:9The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt. 24:10Others go about without clothing, and though they have no food, they get in the grain from the fields. 24:11Between the lines of olive-trees they make oil; though they have no drink, they are crushing out the grapes. 24:12From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer. 24:13Then there are those who are haters of the light, who have no knowledge of its ways, and do not go in them. 24:14He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need. 24:15And the man whose desire is for the wife of another is waiting for the evening, saying, No eye will see me; and he puts a cover on his face. And in the night the thief goes about; 24:16In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light. 24:17For the middle of the night is as morning to them, they are not troubled by the fear of the dark. 24:18They go quickly on the face of the waters; their heritage is cursed in the earth; the steps of the crusher of grapes are not turned to their vine-garden. 24:19Snow waters become dry with the heat: so do sinners go down into the underworld. 24:20The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree. 24:21He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child. 24:22But God by his power gives long life to the strong; he gets up again, though he has no hope of life. 24:23He takes away his fear of danger and gives him support; and his eyes are on his ways. 24:24For a short time they are lifted up; then they are gone; they are made low, they are pulled off like fruit, and like the heads of grain they are cut off. 24:25And if it is not so, now, who will make it clear that my words are false, and that what I say is of no value?