Chronological
10 My nefesh is sick of my life; I will give free rein to my si’akh (complaint); I will speak in the mar (bitterness) of my nefesh.
2 I will say unto Eloah, Do not condemn me; show me what charge Thou dost contend with me.
3 Is it hatov (pleasing) unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress, that Thou shouldest reject the work of Thine hands, and shine [favor] upon the etzah (scheme) of the resha’im?
4 Hast Thou eyes of basar? Or seest Thou as enosh seeth?
5 Are Thy yamim like the yamim of enosh? Are Thy years like the days of gever (man),
6 That Thou seekest after mine avon, and searchest after my chattat?
7 Though Thou has da’as that I am not a resha, and there is none that can deliver out of Thine yad,
8 Thine yadayim have formed me and altogether round about have fashioned me; yet Thou hast now swallowed me.
9 Remember, now, that Thou hast molded me like the chomer (clay), and wilt Thou turn me into aphar again?
10 Hast Thou not poured me out like cholov, and curdled me like gvinah (cheese)?
11 Thou hast clothed me with ohr and basar, and hast knitted me together with atzmot and sinews.
12 Thou hast granted me chayyim and chesed, and Thy visitation hath been shomer over my ruach.
13 And these things hast Thou hid in Thine lev; I have da’as that this was in Thy mind.
14 If I sin, then Thou art shomer over me, and Thou wilt not let my avon go unpunished.
15 If I am guilty, woe unto me; even if I be tzaddik (innocent), yet will I not lift up my head, being full of kalon (shame) and conscious of my oni (misery),
16 For if my head is held high, Thou stalkest me like a fierce lion, and ever Thou displayest Thy awesome power against me.
17 Thou bringest Thy fresh edim (witnesses) against me, and increasest Thine hot indignation toward me; in waves Thy tzava troop against me.
18 Why then hast Thou brought me forth out of the rechem (womb)? Oh that I had expired, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had never been; I should have been carried from the beten straight to the kever.
20 Are not my yamim few? Then cease, and let me alone, that I may take a little cheer
21 Before I go from where I shall not return, even to the Eretz Choshech V’Tzalmavet,
22 An eretz of darkness, like darkness itself; and of tzalmavet, no sedarim (order), where the light is like darkness.
11 Then answered Tzophar the Na’amati, and said,
2 Should not the multitude of dvarim be answered? And should an ish full of talk yitzdak (be justified)?
3 Should thy vain talk silence men, so that thou mockest, v’ein machlim (without anyone putting thee to shame)?
4 For thou hast said, My lekach (doctrine, teaching, belief) is pure, and I am clean in Thine eyes.
5 But oh that Eloah would speak, and open His lips against thee,
6 And that He would show thee the secrets of chochmah, that tushiyyah (true wisdom) has two sides! Have da’as therefore that Eloah forgetteth much of thy avon.
7 Canst thou search out the cheker Eloah (depths of G-d)? Canst thou probe to the tachlis Shaddai (the end, completeness of Almighty)?
8 It is like the heights of Shomayim; what canst thou do? Deeper than Sheol; of what canst thou have da’as?
9 The measure thereof is longer than ha’aretz, and broader than the yam (sea).
10 When Eloah passes by and arrests and convenes for judgment, who then can constrain Him?
11 For He has da’as of deceitful men; He seeth wickedness also; will He not then take note of it?
12 But before a witless ish can become wise, a colt of a pereh (wild donkey) would be born an adam!
13 If thou direct thine lev, and stretch out thine hands to Him,
14 If iniquity be in thine yad, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy ohalim.
15 For then shalt thou lift up thy face without mum; yea, thou shalt be firm, and shalt not fear,
16 Because thou shalt forget thy amal (grief), and remember it as waters that flow by,
17 And thine cheled (duration of life) shall be brighter than the tzohorayim (noonday); thou shalt shine forth; thou shalt be as the boker.
18 And thou shalt be secure, because now there is tikveh; yea, thou shalt search, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
19 Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, rabbim (many) shall court thy favor.
20 But the eyes of the resha’im faileth, and they shall not escape, and their tikveh shall be as the last gasp of the nefesh.
12 And Iyov answered and said,
2 Doubtless then ye are the people, and chochmah shall die with you.
3 But I have levav (understanding) as well as you; I am not inferior to you; yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
4 I am as a laughingstock to his neighbor: The man who calleth upon Eloah [they say of me], and He answereth him! [To them I am] a laughingstock, the tzaddik, the tamim (blameless one)!
5 Those at ease have buz (contempt) for a downfall which awaits the one whose regel is slipping.
6 The ohalim of shodedim (robbers) remain in peace; they that defy El are secure, who Eloah brought forth by His yad.
7 But ask now the behemot, and they shall teach thee, and the oph haShomayim (birds of the air), and they shall tell thee;
8 Or speak to ha’aretz, and it shall teach thee; and the dagim of the yam shall declare unto thee.
9 Of all of these, who lacketh da’as that the yad Hashem hath wrought this?
10 In whose yad is the nefesh of every living thing, and the ruach of kol basar ish.
11 Doth not the ozen (ear) test words? And the mouth tastes its ochel?
12 With the ancient ones is chochmah; and in orech yamim (length of days) is binah (understanding).
13 With Him is chochmah and gevurah; He hath etzah and understanding.
14 See, what He tears down cannot be reconstructed; He shutteth up an ish, and there can be no prison release.
15 See, He withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; also He sendeth them out, and they overturn eretz.
16 With Him is oz (strength) and tushiyyah (true wisdom); the deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leadeth yoatzim (counsellors) away stripped, and maketh the shofetim (judges) fools.
18 He looseth the shackle of melachim (kings), and girdeth their loins with loincloth.
19 He leadeth kohanim away stripped, and overthroweth the mighty.
20 He removeth the speech of the ne’emanim (trusted ones), and taketh away the understanding of the zekenim.
21 He poureth buz (contempt) upon nobles, and loosens the belt of the mighty.
22 He uncovers the depths of choshech, and bringeth tzalmavet to light.
23 He giveth prosperity to the Goyim, and then destroyeth them; He enlargeth them, and then carrieth the Goyim away.
24 He taketh away the lev (understanding) of the Rashei Am HaAretz, and sendeth them to tohu lo derech (trackless wilderness).
25 They grope in the choshech without ohr, and He maketh them to stagger like a shikkor (drunken man).
13 See, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ozen hath heard and understood it.
2 What ye know, of the same I have da’as also; I am not inferior unto you.
3 Surely I would speak to Shaddai, and I desire to reason with El (G-d).
4 But ye are forgers of sheker, ye are all rofim (physicians) of no value.
5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! And it should be your chochmah.
6 Hear now my tokhachat (protest, public argumentation), and pay heed to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will ye talk wickedly on behalf of El (G-d) and speak deceitfully for Him?
8 Will ye be partial to Him? Will ye play the part of the defense attorney for El?
9 Is it hatov that He should search you out? Or do you play the jester with Him, as one plays the jester with enosh?
10 He will surely reprove you, if ye do act with partiality beseter (secretly).
11 Shall not His majesty make you afraid? And the pachad of Him fall upon you?
12 Your zichron meshalim (memorable sayings) are like unto ashes, your defenses are strongholds of chomer (clay).
13 Hold your peace, let me alone, that Ani (I) may speak, and let come on me what will.
14 Why do I take my basar in my teeth, and take my nefesh in mine yad?
15 Though He slay me, yet will I wait for and trust in Him; but I will maintain my derech before Him.
16 He also shall be my Yeshuah (salvation); for a chanef (irreligious man, hypocrite) shall not come before Him.
17 Hear diligently my confession, and my declaration with your oznayim.
18 Hinei now, I have prepared my mishpat (cause, case); I know that I shall be acquitted.
19 Who is he that can contend against me? For atah (now), if I hold my tongue, I shall expire.
20 Only do not shtayim (two things) unto me; then will I not hide myself from Thee.
21 Withdraw Thine hand far from me, and let not Thy eimah (dread, terror) make me afraid.
22 Then kerah (summon), and I will answer; or let me speak, and answer me.
23 How many are mine avonot and chatta’ot? Make me to know my peysha and my chattat.
24 Lammah (why) hidest Thou Thy face, and holdest me for Thine enemy?
25 Wilt Thou frighten away a leaf driven to and fro? And wilt Thou pursue the dry kash (straw, chaff)?
26 For Thou writest down merorot (bitter things) against me, and makest me to inherit the avonot of my neurim (youth).
27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and observest kol orkhot (paths, ways) of me; Thou settest a mark upon the soles of my raglayim,
28 Around one who wastes away as a rotten thing, as a beged (garment) that is moth eaten.
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