² Job said:
³ Perish the day I was born,
    the night someone said,
    “A boy has been conceived.”
⁴ That day—let it be darkness;
    may God above ignore it,
    and light not shine on it.
⁵ May deepest darkness claim it
    and a cloud linger over it;
    may all that darkens the day terrify it.
⁶ May gloom seize that night;
    may it not be counted in the days of a year;
    may it not appear in the months.
⁷ May that night be childless;
    may no happy singing come in it.
⁸ May those who curse the day curse it,
    those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
⁹ May its evening stars stay dark;
    may it wait in vain for light;
    may it not see dawn’s gleam,
¹⁰     because it didn’t close the doors of my mother’s womb,^[a]
    didn’t hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ Why didn’t I die at birth,
    come forth from the womb and die?
¹² Why did knees receive me
    and breasts let me nurse?
¹³ For now I would be lying down quietly;
    I’d sleep; rest would be mine
¹⁴         with kings and earth’s advisors,
        who rebuild ruins for themselves,
¹⁵         or with princes who have gold,
        who fill their houses with silver.
¹⁶ Or why wasn’t I like a buried miscarried infant,
    like babies who never see light?
¹⁷ There the wicked rage no more;
    there the weak rest.
¹⁸ Prisoners are entirely at ease;
    they don’t hear a boss’s voice.
¹⁹ Both small and great are there;
    a servant is free from his masters.
²⁰ Why is light given to the hard worker,
    life to those bitter of soul,
²¹     those waiting in vain for death,
        who search for it more than for treasure,
²²     who rejoice excitedly,
        who are thrilled when they find a grave?
²³ Why is light given^[b] to the person whose way is hidden,
    whom God has fenced in?
²⁴ My groans become my bread;
    my roars pour out like water.
²⁵ Because I was afraid of something awful,
    and it arrived;
    what I dreaded came to me.
²⁶ I had no ease, quiet, or rest,
    and trembling came.

² I know for certain that this is so;
    and how can anyone be innocent before God?
³ If one wants to contend with him,
    he won’t answer one in a thousand.
⁴ He is wise^[a] and powerful;
    who can resist him and prosper?
⁵ Who removes mountains, and they are unaware;
    who overthrows them in anger?
⁶ Who shakes the earth from its place,
    and its pillars shudder?
⁷ Who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
    even seals up the stars;
⁸     stretched out the heavens alone
    and trod on the waves of the Sea;^[b]
9     made the Bear and Orion, Pleiades
    and the southern constellations;
¹⁰     does great and unsearchable things,
    wonders beyond number?

¹¹ If God goes by me, I can’t see him;
    he glides past, and I can’t perceive him.
¹² If he seizes, who can bring back?
    Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
¹³ God won’t retract his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
¹⁴ Yet I myself will answer him;
    I’ll choose my words in a contest^[c] with him.
¹⁵ Even if I’m innocent, I can’t answer;
    I must plead for justice.
¹⁶ If I were to call and he answered me,
    I couldn’t believe that he heard my voice.
¹⁷ Who bruises me with a tempest
    and multiplies my wounds for no reason?
¹⁸ He doesn’t let me catch my breath,
    for he fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If the issue is strength—behold power!
    If justice—who calls God to meet me?

²⁰ If I’m innocent, my mouth condemns me;
    I have integrity; but God declares me perverse.
²¹ I’m blameless, yet don’t know myself;
    I reject my life.
²² It’s all the same;
    therefore, I say God destroys the blameless and the sinners.
²³ If calamity suddenly kills,
    he mocks at the slaying^[d] of innocents.
²⁴ The earth is handed over to the wicked;
    he covers the faces of its judges.
    If not God, then who does?

²⁵ My days are swifter than a runner;
    they flee and don’t experience good.
²⁶ They sweep by like ships made of reeds,
    as an eagle swoops on prey.
²⁷ If I say, “I’ll forget my lament,
    put on a different face so I can smile,”
²⁸     I’m still afraid of all my suffering;
        I know that you won’t declare me innocent.
²⁹ I myself am thought guilty;
    why have I tried so hard in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow,
        purify my hands with soap,
³¹     then you’ll hurl me into a slimy pit
        so that my clothes detest me.
³² God is not a man like me—someone I could answer—
    so that we could come together in court.
³³ Oh, that^[e] there were a mediator between us;
    he would lay his hand on both of us,
³⁴     remove his rod from me,
        so his fury wouldn’t frighten me.
³⁵ Then I would speak—unafraid—
    for I’m not that way.

² How long will you harass me
    and crush me with words?
³ These ten times you’ve humiliated me;
    shamelessly you insult me.
⁴ Have I really gone astray?
    If so, my error remains hidden inside me.
⁵ If you look down on me
        and use my disgrace to criticize me,
⁶     know then that God has wronged me
        and enclosed his net over me.

⁷ If I cry “Violence!” I’m not answered;
    I shout—but there is no justice.
⁸ He walled up my path so I can’t pass
        and put darkness on my trail,
⁹     stripped my honor from me,
        removed the crown from my head,
¹⁰     tore me down completely so that I’ll die, and uprooted my hope like a tree.
¹¹ His anger burns against me;
    he considers me his enemy.
¹² His troops come as one
    and construct their siege ramp^[a] against me;
    they camp around my tent.

¹³ He has distanced my family from me;
    my acquaintances are also alienated from me.
¹⁴ My visitors have ceased;
    those who know me have forgotten me.
¹⁵ My guests and female servants think me a stranger;
    I’m a foreigner in their sight.
¹⁶ I call my servant, and he doesn’t answer;
    I myself must beg him.
¹⁷ My breath stinks to my wife;
    I am odious to my children.
¹⁸ Even the young despise me;
    I get up, and they rail against me.
¹⁹ All my closest friends despise me;
    the ones I have loved turn against me.

²⁰ My bones cling to my skin and flesh;
    I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
²¹ Pity me. Pity me. You’re my friends.
    God’s hand has truly struck me.
²² Why do you pursue me like God does,
    always hungry for my flesh?

²³ Oh, that my words were written down,
        inscribed on a scroll
²⁴     with an iron instrument and lead,
        forever engraved on stone.
²⁵ But I know that my redeemer^[b] is alive
        and afterward he’ll rise upon the dust.
²⁶ After my skin has been torn apart this way—
    then from my flesh^[c] I’ll see God,
²⁷         whom I’ll see myself—
        my eyes see,^[d] and not a stranger’s.
    I am utterly dejected.

²⁸ You say, “How will we pursue him
    so that the root of the matter can be found in him?”^[e]
29 You ought to fear the sword yourselves,
    for wrath brings punishment by the sword.
    You should know that there is judgment.

31 I’ve made a covenant with my eyes;
    how could I look at a virgin?
² What is God’s portion for me^[a] from above,
    the Almighty’s inheritance from on high?
³ Isn’t it disaster for the wicked,
    destruction for workers of iniquity?
⁴ Doesn’t he see my ways,
    count all my steps?

⁵ If I have walked with frauds
        or my feet have hurried to deceit,
⁶     let him weigh me on accurate scales;
        let God know my integrity.
⁷ If my step has turned from the way,
        if my heart has followed my eyes
        or a blemish has clung to my hands,
⁸     then let me sow and another reap;
        let my offspring be uprooted.

⁹ If my heart has been drawn to a woman
        and I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰     then may my wife grind for another
        and others kneel over her;
¹¹     for that’s a crime;
        it’s a punishable offense;
¹²     indeed, it’s a fire that consumes to the underworld,^[b]
        uprooting all my harvest.

¹³ If I’ve rejected the just cause of my male or female servant
        when they contended with me,
¹⁴     what could I do when God rises;
        when he requires an account, what could I answer?
¹⁵ Didn’t the one who made me in the belly make them;
    didn’t the same one fashion us in the womb?

¹⁶ If I have denied what the poor wanted,
        made a widow’s eyes tired,
¹⁷     eaten my morsel alone,
        and not shared any with an orphan
(¹⁸     for from my youth I raised the orphan as a father,
        and from my mother’s womb I led the widow);^[c]
19     if I ever saw someone dying without clothes, the needy naked;
²⁰     if they haven’t blessed me fervently,^[d]
        or if they weren’t warmed by the wool from my sheep;
²¹     if I have lifted my hand against the orphans,
        when I saw that I had help in the city gate—
²²     may my arm fall from my shoulder,
        my forearm be broken at the elbow—
²³     for God’s calamity is terror to me;
        I couldn’t endure his splendor.

²⁴ If I’ve made gold my trust,
        said to fine gold: “My security!”
²⁵     if I’ve rejoiced because my wealth was great,
        when my hand found plenty;
²⁶     if I’ve looked at the sun when it shone,
        the moon, splendid as it moved;
²⁷     and my mind has been secretly enticed,
        and threw a kiss with my hand,
²⁸     that also is a punishable offense,
        because I would then be disloyal to God above.

²⁹ If I have rejoiced over my foes’ ruin
        or was excited when evil found them,
³⁰     I didn’t let my mouth sin
        by asking for their life with a curse.
³¹ Surely those in my tent never said:
    “Who has been filled by Job’s food?”
³² A stranger didn’t spend the night in the street;
    I opened my doors to the road.

³³ If I have hidden my transgressions like Adam,^[e]
        concealing my offenses inside me
³⁴     because I feared the large crowd;
        the clan’s contempt frightened me;
    I was quiet and didn’t venture outside.

³⁵ Oh, that I had someone to hear me!
    Here’s my signature;^[f]
    let the Almighty respond,
    and let my accuser write an indictment.
³⁶ Surely I would bear it on my shoulder,
    tie it around me like a wreath.
³⁷ I would give him an account of my steps,
    approach him like a prince.

³⁸ If my land has cried out against me,
    its rows wept together;
³⁹ if I have eaten its yield without payment
        and caused its owners grief,
⁴⁰     may briars grow instead of wheat,
        poisonous weeds instead of barley.