When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send [for them] and consecrate them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all [such] times.

Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept [only] good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

“If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You, O Watcher of mankind? Why have You set me as a target for You, So that I am a burden to myself?

“Why then do You not pardon my transgression And take away my sin and guilt? For now I will lie down in the dust; And You will seek me [diligently], but I will not be.”

“If your children have sinned against Him, Then He has handed them over to the power of their transgression and punished them.

That You seek my guilt And search for my sin?

‘[You have] clothed me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews.

‘Yet these [present evils] You have hidden in Your heart [since my creation]: I know that this was within You [in Your purpose and thought].

‘If I sin, then You would take note and observe me, And You would not acquit me of my guilt.

If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you], And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

“How many are my iniquities and sins [that so much sorrow should come to me]? Make me recognize and understand my transgression and my sin.

“Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You [in Your control], And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].

“But now You number [each of] my steps; You do not observe nor take note of my sin.

“If you say, ‘How shall we [continue to] persecute him?’ And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find [since we claim the root of these afflictions is found in him]?’

“Do you not know this from the old days, Since the time that man was placed on the earth,

“They lift up their voices and sing to the tambourine and the lyre And rejoice to the sound of the flute.

“How then can you vainly comfort me with empty words, Since your answers remain untrue?”

“Is not your wickedness great, And your sins without end?

“Drought and heat consume the snow waters; So does Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) [consume] those who have sinned.

“The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

“For adultery is a heinous and lustful crime; Moreover, it would be a sin punishable by the judges.

This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

“No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By cursing my enemy and asking for his life.

Because I feared the great multitude, And the contempt of families terrified me, So that I kept silence and did not acknowledge my sin and did not go out of the door?