² ‘Do you think this is just?
    You say, “I am in the right, not God.”
³ Yet you ask him, “What profit is it to me,^[a]
    and what do I gain by not sinning?”

⁴ ‘I would like to reply to you
    and to your friends with you.
⁵ Look up at the heavens and see;
    gaze at the clouds so high above you.
⁶ If you sin, how does that affect him?
    If your sins are many, what does that do to him?
⁷ If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
    or what does he receive from your hand?
⁸ Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,
    and your righteousness only other people.

⁹ ‘People cry out under a load of oppression;
    they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.
¹⁰ But no one says, “Where is God my Maker,
    who gives songs in the night,
¹¹ who teaches us more than he teaches^[b] the beasts of the earth
    and makes us wiser than^[c] the birds in the sky?”
¹² He does not answer when people cry out
    because of the arrogance of the wicked.
¹³ Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
    the Almighty pays no attention to it.
¹⁴ How much less, then, will he listen
    when you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him
    and you must wait for him,
¹⁵ and further, that his anger never punishes
    and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.^[d]
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;
    without knowledge he multiplies words.’

² ‘Bear with me a little longer and I will show you
    that there is more to be said on God’s behalf.
³ I get my knowledge from afar;
    I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
⁴ Be assured that my words are not false;
    one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

⁵ ‘God is mighty, but despises no one;
    he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.
⁶ He does not keep the wicked alive
    but gives the afflicted their rights.
⁷ He does not take his eyes off the righteous;
    he enthrones them with kings
    and exalts them for ever.
⁸ But if people are bound in chains,
    held fast by cords of affliction,
⁹ he tells them what they have done –
    that they have sinned arrogantly.
¹⁰ He makes them listen to correction
    and commands them to repent of their evil.
¹¹ If they obey and serve him,
    they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity
    and their years in contentment.
¹² But if they do not listen,
    they will perish by the sword^[a]
    and die without knowledge.

¹³ ‘The godless in heart harbour resentment;
    even when he fetters them, they do not cry for help.
¹⁴ They die in their youth,
    among male prostitutes of the shrines.
¹⁵ But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering;
    he speaks to them in their affliction.

¹⁶ ‘He is wooing you from the jaws of distress
    to a spacious place free from restriction,
    to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.
¹⁷ But now you are laden with the judgment due to the wicked;
    judgment and justice have taken hold of you.
¹⁸ Be careful that no one entices you by riches;
    do not let a large bribe turn you aside.
¹⁹ Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts
    sustain you so you would not be in distress?
²⁰ Do not long for the night,
    to drag people away from their homes.^[b]
21 Beware of turning to evil,
    which you seem to prefer to affliction.

²² ‘God is exalted in his power.
    Who is a teacher like him?
²³ Who has prescribed his ways for him,
    or said to him, “You have done wrong”?
²⁴ Remember to extol his work,
    which people have praised in song.
²⁵ All humanity has seen it;
    mortals gaze on it from afar.
²⁶ How great is God – beyond our understanding!
    The number of his years is past finding out.

²⁷ ‘He draws up the drops of water,
    which distil as rain to the streams^[c];
²⁸ the clouds pour down their moisture
    and abundant showers fall on mankind.
²⁹ Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
    how he thunders from his pavilion?
³⁰ See how he scatters his lightning about him,
    bathing the depths of the sea.
³¹ This is the way he governs^[d] the nations
    and provides food in abundance.
³² He fills his hands with lightning
    and commands it to strike its mark.
³³ His thunder announces the coming storm;
    even the cattle make known its approach.^[e]