Job 22-37

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

² “Can a mortal be of use to God?
    Can even the wisest be of service to him?^(A)
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty^[a] if you are righteous,
    or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
⁴ Is it for your piety that he reproves you
    and enters into judgment with you?^(B)
5 Is not your wickedness great?
    There is no end to your iniquities.^(C)
6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason
    and stripped the naked of their clothing.^(D)
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
    and you have withheld bread from the hungry.^(E)
8 The powerful possess the land,
    and the favored live in it.
⁹ You have sent widows away empty-handed,
    and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.^[b](F)
10 Therefore snares are around you,
    and sudden terror overwhelms you,
¹¹ or darkness so that you cannot see;
    a flood of water covers you.^(G)

¹² “Is not God high in the heavens?
    See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
¹³ Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
    Can he judge through the deep darkness?^(H)
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
    and he walks on the dome of heaven.’
¹⁵ Will you keep to the old way
    that the wicked have trod?
¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time;
    their foundation was washed away by a flood.^(I)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’
    and ‘What can the Almighty^[c] do to us?’^[d]
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
    but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.^(J)
19 The righteous see it and are glad;
    the innocent laugh them to scorn,^(K)
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
    and what they left, the fire has consumed.’^(L)

²¹ “Agree with God,^[e] and be at peace;
    in this way good will come to you.^(M)
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
    and lay up his words in your heart.^(N)
23 If you return to the Almighty,^[f] you will be restored,
    if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,^(O)
24 if you treat gold like dust
    and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent bed,^(P)
25 and if the Almighty^[g] is your gold
    and your precious silver,^(Q)
26 then you will delight yourself in the Almighty^[h]
    and lift up your face to God.^(R)
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will pay your vows.^(S)
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
    and light will shine on your ways.^(T)
29 When others are humiliated, you say it is pride,
    for he saves the humble.^(U)
30 He will deliver even those who are guilty;
    they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”^[i](V)

² “Today also my complaint is bitter;^[j]
    his^[k] hand is heavy despite my groaning.^(W)
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
    that I might come even to his dwelling!^(X)
4 I would lay my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.^(Y)
5 I would learn what he would answer me
    and understand what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
    No, but he would give heed to me.
⁷ There the upright could reason with him,
    and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.^(Z)

⁸ “If I go forward, he is not there;
    or backward, I cannot perceive him;^(AA)
9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
    I turn^[l] to the right, but I cannot see him.
¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take;
    when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold.^(AB)
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
    I have kept his way and have not turned aside.^(AC)
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
    I have treasured his words in my bosom.^[m](AD)
13 But he stands alone, and who can dissuade him?
    What he desires, that he does.^(AE)
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,
    and many such things are in his mind.^(AF)
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
    when I consider, I am in dread of him.
¹⁶ God has made my heart faint;
    the Almighty^[n] has terrified me.^(AG)
17 If only I could vanish in darkness,
    and thick darkness would cover my face!^[o](AH)

⁹ “There are those who snatch the orphan child from the breast
    and take as a pledge the infant of the poor.^(AP)
10 They go about naked, without clothing;
    though hungry, they carry the sheaves;
¹¹ between their terraces^[r] they press out oil;
    they tread the winepresses but suffer thirst.
¹² From the city the dying groan,
    and the throat of the wounded cries for help;
    yet God pays no attention to their prayer.^(AQ)

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light,
    who are not acquainted with its ways
    and do not stay in its paths.^(AR)
14 The murderer rises at dusk
    to kill the poor and needy
    and in the night is like a thief.^(AS)
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
    saying, ‘No eye will see me,’
    and he disguises his face.^(AT)
16 In the dark they dig through houses;
    by day they shut themselves up;
    they do not know the light.^(AU)
17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
    for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.^(AV)

¹⁸ “Swift are they on the face of the waters;
    their portion in the land is cursed;
    no treader turns toward their vineyards.^(AW)
19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
    so does Sheol those who have sinned.^(AX)
20 The womb forgets them;
    the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered,
    so wickedness is broken like a tree.^(AY)

²¹ “They harm^[s] the childless woman
    and do no good to the widow.^(AZ)
22 Yet God^[t] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
    they rise up when they despair of life.^(BA)
23 He gives them security, and they are supported;
    his eyes are upon their ways.^(BB)
24 They are exalted a little while and then are gone;
    they wither and fade like the mallow;^[u]
    they are cut off like the heads of grain.^(BC)
25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar
    and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

² “Dominion and fear are with God;^[v]
    he makes peace in his high heaven.^(BD)
3 Is there any number to his armies?
    Upon whom does his light not arise?^(BE)
4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(BF)
5 If even the moon is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his sight,^(BG)
6 how much less a mortal, who is a maggot,
    and a human being, who is a worm!”^(BH)

² “How you have helped one who has no power!
    How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!^(BI)
3 How you have counseled one who has no wisdom
    and given much good advice!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose spirit has come forth from you?
⁵ The shades below tremble,
    the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶ Sheol is naked before God,
    and Abaddon has no covering.^(BJ)
7 He stretches out Zaphon^[w] over the void
    and hangs the earth upon nothing.^(BK)
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not torn open by them.^(BL)
9 He covers the face of the full moon
    and spreads over it his cloud.^(BM)
10 He has described a circle on the face of the waters,
    at the boundary between light and darkness.^(BN)
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his rebuke.
¹² By his power he stilled the Sea;
    by his understanding he struck down Rahab.^(BO)
13 By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.^(BP)
14 These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways,
    and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”^(BQ)

² “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
    and the Almighty,^[x] who has made my soul bitter,^(BS)
3 as long as my breath is in me
    and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter deceit.^(BT)
5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.^(BU)
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart will not reproach me as long as I live.^(BV)

⁷ “May my enemy be like the wicked,
    and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off,
    when God takes away their lives?^(BW)
9 Will God hear their cry
    when trouble comes upon them?^(BX)
10 Will they take delight in the Almighty?^[y]
    Will they call upon God at all times?^(BY)
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    that which is with the Almighty^[z] I will not conceal.
¹² All of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³ “This is the portion of the wicked with God
    and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:^[aa](BZ)
14 If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
    and their offspring have not enough to eat.^(CA)
15 Those who survive them the pestilence buries,
    and their widows make no lamentation.^(CB)
16 Though they heap up silver like dust
    and pile up clothing like clay,^(CC)
17 they may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
    and the innocent will divide the silver.^(CD)
18 They build their houses like nests,
    like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
¹⁹ They go to bed with wealth but will do so no more;
    they open their eyes, and it is gone.^(CE)
20 Terrors overtake them like a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind carries them off.^(CF)
21 The east wind lifts them up, and they are gone;
    it sweeps them out of their place.^(CG)
22 It^[ab] hurls at them without pity;
    they flee from its^[ac] power in headlong flight.^(CH)
23 It^[ad] claps its^[ae] hands at them
    and hisses at them from its^[af] place.^(CI)

⁷ “That path no bird of prey knows,
    and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
⁸ The proud wild animals have not trodden it;
    the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ “They put their hand to the flinty rock
    and overturn mountains by the roots.^(CL)
10 They cut out channels in the rocks,
    and their eyes see every precious thing.
¹¹ The sources of the rivers they probe;^[ai]
    hidden things they bring to light.

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?^(CM)
13 Mortals do not know the way to it,^[aj]
    and it is not found in the land of the living.^(CN)
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.^[ak]
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.^(CO)
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.^(CP)
19 The chrysolite of Cush cannot compare with it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.^(CQ)

²⁰ “Where then does wisdom come from?
    And where is the place of understanding?^(CR)
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
²² Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’^(CS)

²³ “God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.^(CT)
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.^(CU)
25 When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned out the waters by measure,^(CV)
26 when he made a decree for the rain,
    and a way for the thunderbolt,^(CW)
27 then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to humankind,
‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
    and to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”^(CX)

² “O that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,^(CZ)
3 when his lamp shone over my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,^(DA)
4 when I was in my prime,
    when the friendship of God was upon my tent,^(DB)
5 when the Almighty^[al] was still with me,
    when my children were around me,
⁶ when my steps were washed with milk
    and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!^(DC)
7 When I went out to the gate of the city,
    when I took my seat in the square,
⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew,
    and the aged rose up and stood;
⁹ the nobles refrained from talking
    and laid their hands on their mouths;^(DD)
10 the voices of princes were hushed,
    and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.^(DE)
11 When the ear heard, it commended me,
    and when the eye saw, it approved,
¹² because I delivered the poor who cried
    and the orphan who had no helper.^(DF)
13 The blessing of the wretched came upon me,
    and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.^(DG)
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and a turban.^(DH)
15 I was eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,
    and I championed the cause of the stranger.^(DI)
17 I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
    and made them drop their prey from their teeth.^(DJ)
18 Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
    and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix;^[am](DK)
19 my roots spread out to the waters,
    with the dew all night on my branches;^(DL)
20 my glory was fresh with me
    and my bow ever new in my hand.’^(DM)

²¹ “They listened to me and waited
    and kept silence for my counsel.^(DN)
22 After I spoke they did not speak again,
    and my word dropped upon them like dew.^[an](DO)
23 They waited for me as for the rain;
    they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
    and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish.^[ao]
25 I chose what they should do and sat as chief,
    and I lived like a king among his troops,
    like one who comforts mourners.^(DP)

30 “But now they make sport of me,
    those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to set with the dogs of my flock.^(DQ)
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands?
    All their vigor is gone.
³ Through want and hard hunger
    they gnaw the dry and desolate ground;
⁴ they pick mallow and the leaves of bushes
    and to warm themselves the roots of broom.
⁵ They are driven out from society;
    people shout after them as after a thief.
⁶ In the gullies of wadis they must live,
    in holes in the ground and in the rocks.
⁷ Among the bushes they bray;
    under the nettles they huddle together.
⁸ A senseless, disreputable brood,
    they have been whipped out of the land.

⁹ “And now they mock me in song;
    I am a byword to them.^(DR)
10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
    they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.^(DS)
11 Because God has loosed my bowstring and humbled me,
    they have cast off restraint in my presence.^(DT)
12 On my right hand the rabble rise up;
    they send me sprawling
    and build roads for my ruin.^(DU)
13 They break up my path;
    they promote my calamity;
    no one restrains^[ap] them.
¹⁴ As through a wide breach they come;
    amid the crash they roll on.
¹⁵ Terrors are turned upon me;
    my honor is pursued as by the wind,
    and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.^(DV)

¹⁶ “And now my soul is poured out within me;
    days of affliction have taken hold of me.^(DW)
17 The night racks my bones,
    and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
¹⁸ With violence he seizes my garment;^[aq]
    he grasps me by^[ar] the collar of my tunic.
¹⁹ He has cast me into the mire,
    and I have become like dust and ashes.^(DX)
20 I cry to you, and you do not answer me;
    I stand, and you merely look at me.^(DY)
21 You have turned cruel to me;
    with the might of your hand you persecute me.^(DZ)
22 You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,
    and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.^(EA)
23 I know that you will bring me to death,
    to the house appointed for all living.^(EB)

²⁴ “Surely one does not turn against the needy,^[as]
    when in disaster they cry for help.^[at](EC)
25 Did I not weep for those whose day was hard?
    Was not my soul grieved for the poor?^(ED)
26 But when I looked for good, evil came,
    and when I waited for light, darkness came.^(EE)
27 My inward parts are in turmoil and are never still;
    days of affliction come to meet me.
²⁸ I go about in sunless gloom;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(EF)
29 I am a brother of jackals
    and a companion of ostriches.^(EG)
30 My skin turns black and falls from me,
    and my bones burn with heat.^(EH)
31 My lyre is turned to mourning
    and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.^(EI)

31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
    how, then, could I look upon a virgin?^(EJ)
2 What would be my portion from God above
    and my heritage from the Almighty^[au] on high?
³ Does not calamity befall the unrighteous
    and disaster the workers of iniquity?
⁴ Does he not see my ways
    and number all my steps?^(EK)

⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood,
    and my foot has hurried to deceit—^(EL)
6 let me be weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!—^(EM)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way,
    and my heart has followed my eyes,
    and if any spot has clung to my hands,^(EN)
8 then let me sow and another eat,
    and let what grows for me be rooted out.^(EO)

⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,^(EP)
10 then let my wife grind for another,
    and let other men kneel over her.^(EQ)
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be a criminal offense;^(ER)
12 for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my harvest.^(ES)

¹³ “If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves,
    when they brought a complaint against me,^(ET)
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?^(EU)

¹⁶ “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail^(EV)
17 or have eaten my morsel alone
    and the orphan has not eaten from it—^(EW)
18 for from my youth I reared the orphan^[av] like a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow^[aw]—
¹⁹ if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing
    or a poor person without covering,
²⁰ whose loins have not blessed me,
    and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;^(EX)
21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan
    because I saw I had supporters at the gate;^(EY)
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.^(EZ)
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.^(FA)

²⁴ “If I have made gold my trust
    or called fine gold my confidence,^(FB)
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great
    or because my hand had gotten much,^(FC)
26 if I have looked at the sun^[ax] when it shone
    or the moon moving in splendor,^(FD)
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
²⁸ this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I should have been false to God above.^(FE)

²⁹ “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me
    or exulted when evil overtook them—^(FF)
30 I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for their lives with a curse—^(FG)
31 if those of my tent ever said,
    ‘O that we might be sated with his flesh!’^[ay]—^(FH)
32 the stranger has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler—^(FI)
33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do,^[az]
    by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,^(FJ)
34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence and did not go out of doors—^(FK)
35 O that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty^[ba] answer me!)
    O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!^(FL)
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
    I would bind it on me like a crown;
³⁷ I would give him an account of all my steps;
    like a prince I would approach him.^(FM)

³⁸ “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have wept together,^(FN)
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and caused the death of its owners,^(FO)
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.^(FP)

“I am young in years,
    and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
    to declare my opinion to you.^(FT)
7 I said, ‘Let days speak
    and many years teach wisdom.’
⁸ But truly it is the spirit in a mortal,
    the breath of the Almighty^[bc] that makes for understanding.^(FU)
9 It is not the old^[bd] who are wise
    nor the aged who understand what is right.^(FV)
10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
    let me also declare my opinion.’

¹¹ “See, I waited for your words;
    I listened for your wise sayings
    while you searched out what to say.^(FW)
12 I gave you my attention,
    but there was, in fact, no one who confuted Job,
    no one among you who answered his words.
¹³ Yet do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;
    God may vanquish him, not a human.’^(FX)
14 He has not directed his words against me,
    and I will not answer him with your speeches.

¹⁵ “They are dismayed; they answer no more;
    they have not a word to say.
¹⁶ And am I to wait because they do not speak,
    because they stand there and answer no more?
¹⁷ I also will give my answer;
    I also will declare my opinion.
¹⁸ For I am full of words;
    the spirit within me constrains me.^(FY)
19 My belly is indeed like wine that has no vent;
    like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.^(FZ)
20 I must speak, so that I may find relief;
    I must open my lips and answer.
²¹ I will not show partiality to any person
    or use flattery toward anyone.^(GA)
22 For I do not know how to flatter—
    or my Maker would soon put an end to me!^(GB)

⁸ “Surely, you have spoken in my hearing,
    and I have heard the sound of your words.
⁹ You say, ‘I am clean, without transgression;
    I am pure, and there is no iniquity in me.^(GG)
10 Look, he finds occasions against me;
    he counts me as his enemy;^(GH)
11 he puts my feet in the stocks
    and watches all my paths.’^(GI)

¹² “But in this you are not right. I will answer you:
    God is greater than any mortal.
¹³ Why do you contend against him,
    saying, ‘He will answer none of my^[bf] words’?^(GJ)
14 For God speaks in one way
    and in two, though people do not perceive it.^(GK)
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on mortals,
    while they slumber on their beds,^(GL)
16 then he opens their ears
    and terrifies them with warnings,^(GM)
17 that he may turn them aside from their deeds
    and keep them from pride,
¹⁸ to spare their souls from the Pit,
    their lives from traversing the River.
¹⁹ They are also chastened with pain upon their beds
    and with continual strife in their bones,^(GN)
20 so that their lives loathe bread
    and their appetites dainty food.^(GO)
21 Their flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
    and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.^(GP)
22 Their souls draw near the Pit
    and their lives to those who bring death.^(GQ)
23 Then, if there should be for one of them an angel,
    a mediator, one of a thousand,
    one who declares a person upright,^(GR)
24 and he is gracious to that person and says,
    ‘Deliver him from going down into the Pit;
    I have found a ransom;^(GS)
25 let his flesh become fresh with youth;
    let him return to the days of his youthful vigor,’^(GT)
26 then he prays to God and is accepted by him;
    he comes into his presence with joy,
and God^[bg] repays him for his righteousness.^(GU)
27     That person sings to others and says,
‘I sinned and perverted what was right,
    and it was not paid back to me.^(GV)
28 He has redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
    and my life shall see the light.’^(GW)

²⁹ “God indeed does all these things,
    twice, three times, with mortals,^(GX)
30 to bring back their souls from the Pit,
    so that they may see the light of life.^[bh](GY)
31 Pay heed, Job, listen to me;
    be silent, and I will speak.
³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
    speak, for I desire to justify you.
³³ If not, listen to me;
    be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”^(GZ)

² “Hear my words, you wise men,
    and give ear to me, you who know,
³ for the ear tests words
    as the palate tastes food.^(HA)
4 Let us choose what is right;
    let us determine among ourselves what is good.^(HB)
5 For Job has said, ‘I am innocent,
    and God has taken away my right;
⁶ in spite of being right I am counted a liar;
    my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’^(HC)
7 Who is there like Job,
    who drinks up scoffing like water,^(HD)
8 who goes in company with evildoers
    and walks with the wicked?^(HE)
9 For he has said, ‘It profits one nothing
    to take delight in God.’^(HF)

¹⁰ “Therefore, hear me, you who have sense;
    far be it from God that he should do wickedness
    and from the Almighty^[bi] that he should do wrong.^(HG)
11 For according to their deeds he will repay them,
    and according to their ways he will make it befall them.^(HH)
12 Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
    and the Almighty^[bj] will not pervert justice.^(HI)
13 Who gave him charge over the earth,
    and who laid on him^[bk] the whole world?^(HJ)
14 If he should take back his spirit^[bl] to himself
    and gather to himself his breath,^(HK)
15 all flesh would perish together,
    and all mortals return to dust.^(HL)

¹⁶ “If you have understanding, hear this;
    listen to what I say.
¹⁷ Shall one who hates justice govern?
    Will you condemn one who is righteous and mighty,^(HM)
18 who says to a king, ‘You scoundrel!’
    and to princes, ‘You wicked men!’;^(HN)
19 who shows no partiality to nobles,
    nor regards the rich more than the poor,
    for they are all the work of his hands?^(HO)
20 In a moment they die;
    at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,
    and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.^(HP)

²¹ “For his eyes are upon the ways of mortals,
    and he sees all their steps.^(HQ)
22 There is no gloom or deep darkness
    where evildoers may hide themselves.^(HR)
23 For he has not appointed a time^[bm] for anyone
    to go before God in judgment.
²⁴ He shatters the mighty without investigation
    and sets others in their place.^(HS)
25 Thus, knowing their works,
    he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.^(HT)
26 He strikes them for their wickedness
    while others look on,^(HU)
27 because they turned aside from following him
    and had no regard for any of his ways,^(HV)
28 so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,
    and he heard the cry of the afflicted—^(HW)
29 When he is quiet, who can condemn?
    When he hides his face, who can behold him?
    Whether nation or person, it is the same—^(HX)
30 so that the godless should not reign
    or those who ensnare the people.^(HY)

³¹ “For has anyone said to God,
    ‘I have endured punishment; I will not offend any more;
³² teach me what I do not see;
    if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?^(HZ)
33 Will he then pay back to suit you
    because you reject it?
For you must choose and not I;
    therefore declare what you know.^[bn]
34 Those who have sense will say to me,
    and the wise who hear me will say,
³⁵ ‘Job speaks without knowledge;
    his words are without insight.’^(IA)
36 Would that Job were tried to the limit,
    because his answers are those of the wicked.^(IB)
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
    he claps his hands among us
    and multiplies his words against God.”

² “Do you think this to be just?
    You say, ‘I am in the right before God.’^(IC)
3 If you ask, ‘What advantage have I?
    How am I better off than if I had sinned?’^(ID)
4 I will answer you
    and your friends with you.
⁵ Look at the heavens and see;
    observe the clouds, which are higher than you.^(IE)
6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
    And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?^(IF)
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
    or what does he receive from your hand?^(IG)
8 Your wickedness affects others like you,
    and your righteousness, other human beings.

⁹ “Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out;
    they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.^(IH)
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
    who gives strength in the night,^(II)
11 who teaches us more than the animals of the earth
    and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’^(IJ)
12 There they cry out, but he does not answer,
    because of the pride of evildoers.^(IK)
13 Surely God does not hear an empty cry,
    nor does the Almighty^[bo] regard it.^(IL)
14 How much less when you say that you do not see him,
    that the case is before him and you are waiting for him!^(IM)
15 And now, because his anger does not punish
    and he does not greatly heed transgression,^[bp](IN)
16 Job opens his mouth in empty talk;
    he multiplies words without knowledge.”^(IO)

² “Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
    for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.
³ I will bring my knowledge from far away
    and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.^(IP)
4 For truly my words are not false;
    one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.^(IQ)

⁵ “Surely God is mighty and does not despise any;
    he is mighty in strength of understanding.^(IR)
6 He does not keep the wicked alive
    but gives the afflicted their right.^(IS)
7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,
    but with kings on the throne
    he sets them forever, and they are exalted.^(IT)
8 And if they are bound in fetters
    and caught in the cords of affliction,
⁹ then he declares to them their work
    and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.^(IU)
10 He opens their ears to instruction
    and commands that they return from iniquity.^(IV)
11 If they listen and serve him,
    they complete their days in prosperity
    and their years in pleasantness.^(IW)
12 But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword
    and die without knowledge.^(IX)

¹³ “The godless in heart cherish anger;
    they do not cry for help when he binds them.^(IY)
14 They die in their youth,
    and their life ends in shame.^[bq](IZ)
15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
    and opens their ear by adversity.^(JA)
16 He also allured you out of distress
    into a broad place where there was no constraint,
    and what was set on your table was full of fatness.^(JB)

¹⁷ “But you are obsessed with the case of the wicked;
    judgment and justice seize you.
¹⁸ Beware that wrath does not entice you into scoffing,
    and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.^(JC)
19 Will your cry avail to keep you from distress,
    or will all the force of your strength?
²⁰ Do not long for the night,
    when peoples are cut off in their place.^(JD)
21 Beware! Do not turn to iniquity;
    because of that you have been tried by affliction.^(JE)
22 See, God is exalted in his power;
    who is a teacher like him?
²³ Who has prescribed for him his way,
    or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?^(JF)

37 “At this also my heart trembles
    and leaps out of its place.
² Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice
    and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.^(JN)
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it loose,
    and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
⁴ After it his voice roars;
    he thunders with his majestic voice,
    and he does not restrain the lightnings^[bu] when his voice is heard.^(JO)
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
    he does great things that we cannot comprehend.^(JP)
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’;
    and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain,^(JQ)
7 serves as a sign on everyone’s hand,
    so that all whom he has made may know it.^[bv](JR)
8 Then the animals go into their lairs
    and remain in their dens.^(JS)
9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind
    and cold from the scattering winds.^(JT)
10 By the breath of God ice is given,
    and the broad waters are frozen fast.^(JU)
11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
    the clouds scatter his lightning.^(JV)
12 They turn round and round by his guidance
    to accomplish all that he commands them
    on the face of the habitable world.^(JW)
13 Whether for correction or for his land
    or for love, he causes it to happen.^(JX)

¹⁴ “Hear this, O Job;
    stop and consider the wondrous works of God.^(JY)
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them
    and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
¹⁶ Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
    the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,^(JZ)
17 you whose garments are hot
    when the earth is still because of the south wind?
¹⁸ Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
    hard as a molten mirror?^(KA)
19 Teach us what we shall say to him;
    we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
²⁰ Should he be told that I want to speak?
    Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?
²¹ Now, no one can look on the light
    when it is bright in the skies,
    when the wind has passed and cleared them.
²² Out of the north comes golden splendor;
    around God is awesome majesty.
²³ The Almighty^[bw]—we cannot find him;
    he is great in power and justice,
    and abundant righteousness he will not violate.^(KB)
24 Therefore mortals fear him;
    he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”^(KC)