1 Then Job answered,
2 ``In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God?
3 ``If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
4 ``Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?
5 `` It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how, When He overturns them in His anger;
6 Who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble;
7 Who commands the sun not to shine, And sets a seal upon the stars;
8 Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea;
9 Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;
10 Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number.
11 ``Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
12 ``Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, `What are You doing?'
13 ``God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.
14 ``How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?
15 ``For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge.
16 ``If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
17 ``For He bruises me with a tempest And multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 ``He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness.
19 ``If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
20 ``Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.
21 ``I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life.
22 ``It is all one; therefore I say, `He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.'
23 ``If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 ``The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
25 ``Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no good.
26 ``They slip by like reed boats, Like an eagle that swoops on its prey.
27 ``Though I say, `I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,'
28 I am afraid of all my pains, I know that You will not acquit me.
29 ``I am accounted wicked, Why then should I toil in vain?
30 ``If I should wash myself with snow And cleanse my hands with lye,
31 Yet You would plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would abhor me.
32 ``For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, That we may go to court together.
33 ``There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both.
34 ``Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not dread of Him terrify me.
35 `` Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.
1 ``I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 ``I will say to God, `Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me.
3 `Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?
4 `Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees?
5 `Are Your days as the days of a mortal, Or Your years as man's years,
6 That You should seek for my guilt And search after my sin?
7 `According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.
8 `Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would You destroy me?
9 `Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into 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 have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 `Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You:
14 If I sin, then You would take note of me, And would not acquit me of my guilt.
15 `If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery.
16 `Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion; And again You would show Your power against me.
17 `You renew Your witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me.
18 `Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!
19 `I should have been as though I had not been, Carried from womb to tomb.'
20 ``Would He not let my few days alone? Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
21 Before I go--and I shall not return-- To the land of darkness and deep shadow,
22 The land of utter gloom as darkness itself, Of deep shadow without order, And which shines as the darkness."
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
2 ``Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted?
3 ``Shall your boasts silence men? And shall you scoff and none rebuke?
4 ``For you have said, `My teaching is pure, And I am innocent in your eyes.'
5 ``But would that God might speak, And open His lips against you,
6 And show you the secrets of wisdom! For sound wisdom has two sides. Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.
7 ``Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
8 `` They are high as the heavens, what can you do? Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?
9 ``Its measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea.
10 ``If He passes by or shuts up, Or calls an assembly, who can restrain Him?
11 ``For He knows false men, And He sees iniquity without investigating.
12 ``An idiot will become intelligent When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.
13 ``If you would direct your heart right And spread out your hand to Him,
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
15 ``Then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect, And you would be steadfast and not fear.
16 ``For you would forget your trouble, As waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
17 ``Your life would be brighter than noonday; Darkness would be like the morning.
18 ``Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely.
19 ``You would lie down and none would disturb you, And many would entreat your favor.
20 ``But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And there will be no escape for them; And their hope is to breathe their last."
1 Then Job responded,
2 ``Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die!
3 ``But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?
4 ``I am a joke to my friends, The one who called on God and He answered him; The just and blameless man is a joke.
5 ``He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt, As prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 ``The tents of the destroyers prosper, And those who provoke God are secure, Whom God brings into their power.
7 ``But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you.
8 ``Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9 ``Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this,
10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind?
11 ``Does not the ear test words, As the palate tastes its food?
12 ``Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding.
13 ``With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding.
14 ``Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 ``Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.
16 ``With Him are strength and sound wisdom, The misled and the misleader belong to Him.
17 ``He makes counselors walk barefoot And makes fools of judges.
18 ``He loosens the bond of kings And binds their loins with a girdle.
19 ``He makes priests walk barefoot And overthrows the secure ones.
20 ``He deprives the trusted ones of speech And takes away the discernment of the elders.
21 ``He pours contempt on nobles And loosens the belt of the strong.
22 ``He reveals mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light.
23 ``He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
24 ``He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth's people And makes them wander in a pathless waste.
25 ``They grope in darkness with no light, And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
