Job

Chapter 1

¹There was a man in the land of Uz named Job, and he was a simple and honest man, fearing God and withdrawing from evil ✟ ²And there had been born to him seven sons and three daughters ✟ ³And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, along with five hundred pairs of oxen and five hundred she-donkeys, and also a very large family. And this man was great among all the people of the east ✟ ⁴And his sons went and made a feast by houses, each one on his day. And sending, they called their three sisters to eat and drink with them ✟ ⁵And when the days of their feasting had been completed, Job sent to them and sanctified them, and, getting up at dawn, he offered holocausts for each one. For he said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and have not praised God in their hearts.” So Job did all the days ✟ ⁶But on a certain day, when the sons of God came to attend in the presence of the Lord, Satan also arrived among them ✟ ⁷The Lord said to him, “Where do you come from?” Answering, he said, “I have circled the land, and walked around in it. ✟ ⁸And the Lord said to him, “Have you not considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him in the land, a simple and honest man, fearing God and withdrawing from evil. ✟ ⁹Answering him, Satan said, “Does Job fear God to no purpose ✟ ¹⁰Have you not fortified him, as well as his house and every one of his belongings around him, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession has increased in the land ✟ ¹¹But extend your hand a little, and touch all that he possesses, and see if he still praises you to your face. ✟ ¹²Therefore, the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, everything that he has is in your hand, only do not extend your hand against him.” And Satan departed from the face of the Lord ✟ ¹³So, on a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine, in the house of their first-born brother ✟ ¹⁴a messenger came to Job, who said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were grazing beside them ✟ ¹⁵and the Sabeans rushed in and carried away everything, and they struck the servants with the sword; and I alone evaded them to tell you. ✟ ¹⁶And while he was still speaking, another arrived, and he said, “The fire of God fell from heaven, and, having struck the sheep and the servants, it consumed them; and I alone escaped to tell you. ✟ ¹⁷And while he also was still speaking, another arrived, and he said, “The Chaldeans organized three attacks, and advanced on the camels and took them; and not only that, but they have struck the servants with the sword; and I alone fled to tell you. ✟ ¹⁸He was still speaking, and behold, another entered, and he said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine in the house of their first-born brother ✟ ¹⁹when suddenly a severe wind rushed forth from a region of the desert and shook the four corners of the house, which collapsed and crushed your children, and they are dead; and I alone escaped to tell you. ✟ ²⁰Then Job got up and tore his garments, and, having shaved his head, he collapsed on the ground, and worshipped ✟ ²¹and he said, “Naked I departed from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Just as it pleased the Lord, so has it been done. Blessed be the name of the Lord. ✟ ²²In all this, Job did not sin by his lips, nor did he speak any foolish thing against God ✟

Chapter 2

¹But it happened that, on a certain day, when the sons of God had arrived and they stood before the Lord, Satan likewise arrived among them, and he stood in his sight ✟ ²So the Lord said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Answering, he said, “I have circled the land, and walked around in it. ✟ ³And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you not considered my servant, Job, that there is no one like him in the land, a simple and honest man, fearing God and withdrawing from evil, and still retaining his innocence? Yet you have stirred me against him, so that I would afflict him to no purpose. ✟ ⁴Answering him, Satan said, “Skin for skin; and everything that a man has, he will give for his life ✟ ⁵Yet send your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and then you will see whether or not he blesses you to your face. ✟ ⁶Therefore, the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but even so, spare his life. ✟ ⁷And so, Satan departed from the face of the Lord and he struck Job with a very serious ulcer from the sole of the foot all the way to the crown of his head ✟ ⁸So he took a shard of earthenware and scraped the discharge, while sitting on a heap of refuse ✟ ⁹But his wife said to him, “Do you still continue in your simplicity? Bless God and die. ✟ ¹⁰He said to her, “You have spoken like one of the foolish wives. If we accepted good things from the hand of God, why should we not accept bad things?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips ✟ ¹¹And so, three friends of Job, hearing about all the evil that had befallen him, arrived, each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had agreed to come together to visit and console him ✟ ¹²And when they had raised up their eyes from a distance, they did not recognize him, and, crying out, they wept, and, tearing their garments, they scattered dust over their heads into the sky ✟ ¹³And they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his sorrow was very great ✟

Chapter 3

¹After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day ✟ ²and this is what he said ✟ ³May the day perish on which I was born, and the night, in which it was said, “A man has been conceived. ✟ ⁴May that day be turned into darkness, may God not seek it from above, and may light not illuminate it ✟ ⁵Let darkness and the shadow of death obscure it, let a fog overtake it, and let it be enveloped in bitterness ✟ ⁶Let a whirlwind of darkness take hold of that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months ✟ ⁷May that night be alone and unworthy of praise ✟ ⁸May they curse it, who curse the day, who are prepared to awaken a leviathan ✟ ⁹Let the stars be concealed with its darkness. Let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawn in the East ✟ ¹⁰For it did not close the doors of the womb that bore me, nor take away evils from my eyes ✟ ¹¹Why did I not die in the womb? Having left the womb, why did I not immediately perish ✟ ¹²Why was I received upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts ✟ ¹³For by now, I should have been sleeping silently, and taking rest in my slee ✟ ¹⁴with the kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes ✟ ¹⁵either with princes, who possess gold and fill their houses with silver ✟ ¹⁶or, like a hidden miscarriage, I should not have continued, just like those who, being conceived, have not seen the light ✟ ¹⁷There the impious cease from rebellion, and there the wearied in strength take rest ✟ ¹⁸And at such times, having been bound together without difficulty, they have not heard the voice of the bailiff ✟ ¹⁹The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master ✟ ²⁰Why is light given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul ✟ ²¹who expect death, and it does not arrive, like those who dig for treasur ✟ ²²and who rejoice greatly when they have found the grave ✟ ²³to a man whose way is hidden and whom God has surrounded with darkness ✟ ²⁴Before I eat, I sigh; and like overflowing waters, so is my howl ✟ ²⁵for the terror that I feared has happened to me, and so has the dread befallen me ✟ ²⁶Have I not remained hidden? Have I not kept silence? Have I not remained calm? Yet indignation has overcome me ✟

Chapter 4

¹But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said ✟ ²If we start to speak to you, perhaps you will take it badly, but who can hold back the words he has conceived ✟ ³Behold, you have taught many, and you have strengthened weary hands ✟ ⁴Your words have reassured the wavering, and you have fortified the trembling knees ✟ ⁵But now the scourge has overcome you, and you falter. It has touched you, and you are disturbed ✟ ⁶Where is your reverence, your fortitude, your patience, and the perfection of your ways ✟ ⁷Consider this, I beg you: who ever perished being innocent? Or when have the righteous been destroyed ✟ ⁸In fact, I have instead seen those who work iniquity and who sow resentments, reap them ✟ ⁹perishing by the breath of God, and being consumed by the wrath of his spirit ✟ ¹⁰The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of young lions have been worn away ✟ ¹¹The tiger has perished because it does not have prey, and the young lions have been scattered ✟ ¹²Furthermore, a word was spoken to me in secret, and, as if by theft, my ears received the pulse of its whisper ✟ ¹³In the horror of a vision by night, when men are accustomed to be overtaken by a deep sleep ✟ ¹⁴fear and trembling seized me and all my bones were terrified ✟ ¹⁵And when a spirit passed before me, the hair on my body stood up ✟ ¹⁶There appeared an image before my eyes, someone whose face I did not recognize, and I heard a voice like a gentle breeze ✟ ¹⁷Should man be justified in relation to God, or will a man be more pure than his Maker ✟ ¹⁸Behold, those who serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he finds imperfection ✟ ¹⁹How much more will those who live in houses of clay, which have an earthly foundation, be consumed like the moth ✟ ²⁰From morning all the way to evening, they will be cut down, and because no one understands, they will be destroyed without ceasing ✟ ²¹But those who are left behind will be taken away from them; they will die, and not in wisdom ✟

Chapter 5

¹Therefore call, if there are any who will respond to you, and turn to one or another of the saints ✟ ²Truly, anger condemns the foolish to death, and envy kills the petty ✟ ³I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I have cursed his excellence without hesitation ✟ ⁴His sons will be far from prosperity and will be crushed at the gate, and there will be none who can rescue them ✟ ⁵Their harvest, the starving will eat. The armed man will rob him, and the thirsty will drink his resources ✟ ⁶Nothing on earth occurs without a reason, and sorrow does not rise from the earth ✟ ⁷Man is born to labor, and the bird to fly ✟ ⁸Therefore, because of this, I will beg the Lord, and place my eloquence before God ✟ ⁹He does great and unfathomable and miraculous things without number ✟ ¹⁰He gives rain over the face of the earth and irrigates all things with the waters ✟ ¹¹He places the humble on high and encourages the grieving towards health ✟ ¹²He dispels the thoughts of the spiteful, lest their hands be able to complete what they had begun ✟ ¹³He catches the wise in their cleverness and dissipates the counsel of the perverse ✟ ¹⁴They will encounter darkness in the daytime, and they will grope at midday just as in the night ✟ ¹⁵Thereafter, he will act to save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent ✟ ¹⁶And there will be hope for those in need, for iniquity will diminish its speech ✟ ¹⁷Blessed is the man whom God corrects; therefore, do not reject the chastisement of the Lord ✟ ¹⁸For he wounds and he cures; he strikes and his hands will heal ✟ ¹⁹He will deliver you into six tribulations, and in the seventh, evil will not touch you ✟ ²⁰During famine, he will rescue you from death, and during war, from the hand of the sword ✟ ²¹You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you will not fear calamity when it arrives ✟ ²²In desolation and in famine, you will laugh, and you will not dread the beasts of the earth ✟ ²³For you are in harmony with the stones of the land, and the beasts of the earth will make peace with you ✟ ²⁴And you will know that your home has peace, and, concerning your appearance, you will not sin ✟ ²⁵Likewise, you will know that your offspring will be manifold and your progeny will be like the grass of the earth ✟ ²⁶You will enter the grave with abundance, just as a crop of wheat is gathered in its time ✟ ²⁷Behold, this is just as we have found it, which you have heard; walk it through your mind ✟

Chapter 6

¹But Job, responding, said ✟ ²I wish that my sins, for which I deserve wrath, and the calamity that I endure, were weighed out on a balance ✟ ³Compared to the sand of the sea, they would appear heavier, and so my words are full of sorrow ✟ ⁴For the arrows of the Lord are in me, my spirit drinks of their indignation, and the terrors of the Lord are soldiers against me ✟ ⁵Will the wild ass bray when he has grass? Or will the ox bellow when he stands before a full manger ✟ ⁶Or can one eat bland food, which is not seasoned with salt? Or can anyone taste that which, if tasted, causes death ✟ ⁷The things that my soul was unwilling to touch before, now, because of anguish, are my foods ✟ ⁸Who will grant that my petition may arrive and that God may bestow on me what I expect ✟ ⁹and that he who, at first, had crushed me, will let loose his hand and cut me down ✟ ¹⁰And may this be my consolation, that in afflicting me with sorrow, although he might not be lenient with me, I still do not contradict the words of the Holy One ✟ ¹¹For what is my strength, that I may continue? Or what is my goal, so that I may act patiently ✟ ¹²My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh made of bronze ✟ ¹³Behold, there is no help for me in myself, and my loved ones also have withdrawn from me ✟ ¹⁴He who takes away mercy from his friend, abandons the fear of the Lord ✟ ¹⁵My brethren have disregarded me, like a torrent that passes swiftly through the steep valleys ✟ ¹⁶Those who fear frost, snow will rush over them ✟ ¹⁷At that time, when they are scattered, they will perish, and when it becomes hot, they will be freed from their place ✟ ¹⁸The paths of their steps are entangled; they will walk in vain and will perish ✟ ¹⁹Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a little while ✟ ²⁰They have been thrown into confusion, just as I had hoped; they have even come to me and are overwhelmed with shame ✟ ²¹Now you have arrived, and merely by seeing my affliction, you are afraid ✟ ²²Did I say: “Bring to me and give to me from your necessities? ✟ ²³or, “Free me from the hand of the enemy and rescue me from the hand of the strong? ✟ ²⁴Teach me, and I will be silent, and if by chance I have been ignorant of anything, instruct me ✟ ²⁵Why have you diminished the words of truth, when there is none of you who is able to offer proof against me ✟ ²⁶You prepare speeches as so much noise, and you offer words into the wind ✟ ²⁷You encroach upon the orphan, and you strive to undermine your friend ✟ ²⁸Such is true, so finish what you have begun. Listen closely, and see if I lie ✟ ²⁹Respond, I beg you, without contention, and, speaking what is just, pass judgment ✟ ³⁰And you will not find iniquity on my tongue, nor will foolishness resound in my throat ✟

Chapter 7

¹The life of a man on the earth is a battle, and his days are like the days of a hired hand ✟ ²Just as a servant desires the shade, and just as the hired hand looks forward to the end of his work ✟ ³so also have I had empty months and have counted my burdensome nights ✟ ⁴If I lie down to sleep, I will say, “When will I rise?” And next I will hope for the evening and will be filled with sorrows even until darkness ✟ ⁵My flesh is clothed with particles of rottenness and filth; my skin is dried up and tightened ✟ ⁶My days have passed by more quickly than threads are cut by a weaver, and they have been consumed without any hope ✟ ⁷Remember that my life is wind, and my eye will not return to see good things ✟ ⁸Neither will the sight of man gaze upon me; your eyes are upon me, and I will not endure ✟ ⁹Just as a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to hell will not ascend ✟ ¹⁰He will not return again to his house, nor will his own place know him any longer ✟ ¹¹And because of this, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the affliction of my spirit. I will converse from the bitterness of my soul ✟ ¹²Am I an ocean or a whale, that you have encircled me in a prison ✟ ¹³If I say, “My bed will comfort me, and I will find rest, speaking with myself on my blanket, ✟ ¹⁴then you will frighten me with dreams, and strike dread through visions ✟ ¹⁵so that, because of these things, my soul would choose hanging, and my bones, death ✟ ¹⁶I despair; by no means will I live any longer. Spare me, for my days are nothing ✟ ¹⁷What is man, that you should praise him? Or why do you place your heart near him ✟ ¹⁸You visit him at dawn, and you test him unexpectedly ✟ ¹⁹How long will you not spare me, nor release me to ingest my saliva ✟ ²⁰I have sinned; what should I do for you, O keeper of men? Why have you set me against you, so that I have become burdensome even to myself ✟ ²¹Why do you not steal away my sin, and why do you not sweep away my iniquity? Behold, now I will sleep in the dust, and if you seek me in the morning, I will not remain ✟

Chapter 8

¹But Baldad the Suhite, responding, said ✟ ²How long will you speak this way, so that the words of your mouth are like a changeable wind ✟ ³Does God supplant judgment, or does the Almighty subvert that which is just ✟ ⁴And if now your children have sinned against him, and he has dismissed them into the power of their iniquity ✟ ⁵even so, you should arise early to God, so as to beseech the Almighty ✟ ⁶If you approach with purity and honesty, he will quickly be attentive to you, and a peaceful life will repay your righteousness ✟ ⁷so much so that, if your former things were small, your latter things would be multiplied greatly ✟ ⁸For inquire of the earliest generation, and investigate diligently the history of the fathers ✟ ⁹(of course, we are but of yesterday and are ignorant that our days on earth are like a shadow, ✟ ¹⁰and they will teach you; they will speak with you and will offer you the eloquence of their hearts ✟ ¹¹Can the marsh plant live without moisture? Or can sedges grow without water ✟ ¹²When it is still in flower, and has not been pulled up by hand, it withers before all other plants ✟ ¹³Just so are the ways of all who forget God, and the hope of the hypocrite will perish ✟ ¹⁴His frenzy will not please him, and his faith will be like a spider’s web ✟ ¹⁵He will lean on his house, and it will not stand; he will prop it up, but it will not rise ✟ ¹⁶He seems to have moisture before the sun arrives; and at sunrise, his sprout shoots forth ✟ ¹⁷His roots will crowd together over a heap of stones, and among the stones he will remain ✟ ¹⁸If someone is devoured right beside him, he will deny him and will say: “I do not know you. ✟ ¹⁹For this is the benefit of his way, that others in turn may spring up from the earth ✟ ²⁰God will not discard the simple, nor will he extend his hand to the spiteful ✟ ²¹even until your mouth is filled with laughter and your lips with rejoicing ✟ ²²Those who hate you, will be clothed with confusion, and the tabernacle of the impious will not continue ✟

Chapter 9

¹And Job, responding, said ✟ ²Truly, I know that it is so, and that man cannot be justified compared with God ✟ ³If he chooses to contend with him, he is not able to respond to him once out of a thousand times ✟ ⁴He is understanding in heart and mighty in strength; who has resisted him and yet had peace ✟ ⁵He has moved mountains, and those whom he overthrew in his fury did not know it ✟ ⁶He shakes the earth out of its place and its pillars tremble ✟ ⁷He commands the sun and it does not rise, and he closes the stars as if under a seal ✟ ⁸He alone extends the heavens, and he walks upon the waves of the sea ✟ ⁹He fashions Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the interior of the south ✟ ¹⁰He accomplishes great and incomprehensible and miraculous things, which cannot be numbered ✟ ¹¹If he approaches me, I will not see him; if he departs, I will not understand ✟ ¹²If he suddenly should question, who will answer him? Or who can say, “Why did you do so? ✟ ¹³God, whose wrath no one is able to resist, and under whom they bend who carry the world ✟ ¹⁴what am I then, that I should answer him and exchange words with him ✟ ¹⁵And if I now have any justice, I will not respond, but will beseech my judge ✟ ¹⁶And if he should listen to me when I call, I would not believe that he had heard my voice ✟ ¹⁷For he will crush me in a whirlwind and multiply my wounds, even without cause ✟ ¹⁸He does not permit my spirit to rest, and he fills me with bitterness ✟ ¹⁹If strength is sought, he is most strong; if equity in judgment, no one would dare to give testimony for me ✟ ²⁰If I wanted to justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me; if I would reveal my innocence, he would prove me depraved ✟ ²¹And if I now became simple, my soul would be ignorant even of this, and my life would weary me ✟ ²²There is one thing that I have said: both the innocent and the impious he consumes ✟ ²³If he scourges, let him kill all at once, and not laugh at the punishment of the innocent ✟ ²⁴Since the earth has been given into the hand of the impious, he covers the face of its judges; for if it is not him, then who is it ✟ ²⁵My days have been swifter than a messenger; they have fled and have not seen goodness ✟ ²⁶They have passed by like ships carrying fruits, just like an eagle flying to food ✟ ²⁷If I say: “By no means will I speak this way.” I change my face and I am tortured with sorrow ✟ ²⁸I have dreaded all my works, knowing that you did not spare the offender ✟ ²⁹Yet, if I am also just as impious, why have I labored in vain ✟ ³⁰If I had been washed with snow-like waters, and my hands were shining like the cleanest thing ✟ ³¹yet you would plunge me in filth, and my own garments would abhor me ✟ ³²For even I would not answer a man who were like myself, nor one who could be heard with me equally in judgment ✟ ³³There is no one who could both prevail in argument and in placing his hand between the two ✟ ³⁴Let him take his staff away from me, and let not the fear of him terrify me ✟ ³⁵I will speak and I will not fear him, for in fearfulness I am not able to respond ✟

Chapter 10

¹My soul is weary of my life. I will release my words against myself. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul ✟ ²I will say to God: Do not be willing to condemn me. Reveal to me why you judge me this way ✟ ³Does it seem good to you, if you find fault with me and oppress me, the work of your own hands, and assist the counsel of the impious ✟ ⁴Do you have bodily eyes? Or, just as man sees, will you see ✟ ⁵Are your days just like the days of man, and are your years as the times of humans ✟ ⁶so that you would inquire about my iniquity and examine my sin ✟ ⁷And you know that I have done nothing impious, yet there is no one who can deliver from your hand ✟ ⁸Your hands have made me and formed me all around, and, in this way, do you suddenly throw me away ✟ ⁹Remember, I ask you, that you have fashioned me like clay, and you will reduce me to dust ✟ ¹⁰Have you not extracted me like milk and curdled me like cheese ✟ ¹¹You have clothed me with skin and flesh. You have put me together with bones and nerves ✟ ¹²You have assigned to me life and mercy, and your visitation has preserved my spirit ✟ ¹³Though you may conceal this in your heart, yet I know that you remember everything ✟ ¹⁴If I have sinned, and you have spared me for an hour, why do you not endure me to be clean from my iniquity ✟ ¹⁵And if I should be impious, woe to me, and if I should be just, I will not lift up my head, being drenched with affliction and misery ✟ ¹⁶And because of pride, you will seize me like a lioness, and having returned, you torment me to an extraordinary degree ✟ ¹⁷You renew your testimony against me, and you multiply your wrath against me, and these punishments make war within me ✟ ¹⁸Why did you lead me out of the womb? If only I had been consumed, so that no eye would ever see me ✟ ¹⁹I should have been as if I had not been: transferred from the womb to the tomb ✟ ²⁰Will not my few days be completed soon? Release me, therefore, so that I may lament my sorrows a little ✟ ²¹before I depart and return no more to a land that is dark and covered with the fog of death ✟ ²²a land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and nothing else but everlasting horror, dwells ✟

Chapter 11

¹But Zophar the Naamathite, responding, said ✟ ²Will he who speaks much, not also listen? Or will a talkative man be justified ✟ ³Will men be silent only for you? And when you have mocked others, will no one refute you ✟ ⁴For you said: “My word is pure, and I am clean in your sight. ✟ ⁵Yet I wish that God would speak with you, and would open his lips to you ✟ ⁶so that he might reveal to you the secrets of wisdom, and how intricate his law is, and that you would understand how much less he requires of you than your iniquity deserves ✟ ⁷By chance, will you comprehend the footsteps of God and reach all the way to the perfection of the Almighty ✟ ⁸He is higher than heaven, and what will you do? He is deeper than hell, but how will you know ✟ ⁹His measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea ✟ ¹⁰If he overturns all things, or packs them together, who will contradict him ✟ ¹¹For he knows the vanity of men, and when he sees iniquity, does he not evaluate it ✟ ¹²A vain man is lifted up in arrogance, and he thinks that he is born free like a wild ass’s colt ✟ ¹³But you have fortified your heart and extended your hands to him ✟ ¹⁴If you would send away from you the iniquity that is in your hand, and not let injustice remain in your tabernacle ✟ ¹⁵then you would be able to lift up your face without blemish, and you would be steadfast and unafraid ✟ ¹⁶Misery, likewise, you would forget, or would remember only like waters that have passed by ✟ ¹⁷And brightness, like that of midday, will rise upon you until evening, and when you would think yourself consumed, you will rise up like the morning star ✟ ¹⁸And, when hope has been set before you, you will have faith, and, when buried, you will sleep secure ✟ ¹⁹You will rest, and there will be nothing to make you afraid, and many will make requests before your face ✟ ²⁰But the eyes of the impious will fade away, and the path to escape will perish before them, for the abomination of the soul is their hope ✟

Chapter 12

¹Then Job, answering, said ✟ ²Are you, therefore, alone among men, and will wisdom die with you ✟ ³And I have a heart just as you also do, and I am not inferior to you. For who is ignorant of these things, which you know ✟ ⁴He who is mocked by his friends as I am, will call upon God, and he will listen to him because it is the sincerity of the just that is being mocked ✟ ⁵The lamp that is despised in the thoughts of the rich is ready for the appointed time ✟ ⁶The tabernacles of robbers are numerous, and they provoke God boldly; whereas, it is he who has given all things into their hands ✟ ⁷In truth, ask the mules, and they will teach you, and the birds of the sky, and they will reveal to you ✟ ⁸Speak with the earth, and it will respond to you, and the fish of the sea will explain ✟ ⁹Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord has made all these things ✟ ¹⁰In his hand is the soul of all the living and the spirit of all the flesh of mankind ✟ ¹¹Does not the ear perceive words, and the palate, when eating, perceive flavor ✟ ¹²In old age is wisdom, and in length of days is prudence ✟ ¹³With him is wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding ✟ ¹⁴If he tears down, there is no one who can build up; if he encloses a man, there is no one who can open ✟ ¹⁵If he restrains the waters, everything will dry up; and if he sends them forth, they will subdue the land ✟ ¹⁶With him is strength and wisdom; he knows both the deceiver and he who is deceived ✟ ¹⁷He leads advisors to a foolish end and judges to stupidity ✟ ¹⁸He removes the belt of kings and encircles their waist with a rope ✟ ¹⁹He leads away priests in dishonor and displaces nobles ✟ ²⁰altering the lips of those who speak the truth and sweeping away the teaching of the aged ✟ ²¹He pours disdain upon the leaders, relieving those who had been oppressed ✟ ²²He reveals the depths of the darkness, and he brings the shadow of death into the light ✟ ²³He multiplies peoples, and destroys them, and, having been overthrown, he restores them anew ✟ ²⁴He transforms the heart of the leaders of the people on earth, and misleads those who in vain advance upon the inviolable ✟ ²⁵They will grope as in the darkness, not the light, and he will make them stagger like drunkards ✟

Chapter 13

¹Behold, my eye has seen all these things, and my ear has heard, and I have understood each one ✟ ²In conformity with your knowledge, I also know. I am not inferior to you ✟ ³Yet I speak this way to the Almighty, and I desire to argue with God ✟ ⁴having first shown that you fabricate lies and cultivate perverse teachings ✟ ⁵And I wish that you would remain silent, so that you would be counted among the wise ✟ ⁶Therefore, listen to my correction, and pay attention to the judgment of my lips ✟ ⁷Does God require your lie, so that you would speak deceitfully for him ✟ ⁸Have you taken his place, and do you struggle to give judgment in favor of God ✟ ⁹Or, will it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed? Or, will he be deceived, like a man, by your deceitfulness ✟ ¹⁰He will accuse you because in secret you have preempted his presence ✟ ¹¹As soon as he moves himself, he will disturb you, and his dread will fall over you ✟ ¹²Your remembrance will be compared to ashes, and your necks will be reduced to clay ✟ ¹³Be silent for a little while, so that I may speak whatever my mind suggests to me ✟ ¹⁴Why do I wound my flesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in my hands ✟ ¹⁵And now, if he would kill me, I will hope in him; in this, truly, I will correct my ways in his sight ✟ ¹⁶And he will be my savior, for no hypocrite at all will approach in his sight ✟ ¹⁷Listen to my words, and perceive an enigma with your ears ✟ ¹⁸If I will be judged, I know that I will be found to be just ✟ ¹⁹Who is it that will go to judgment with me? Let him approach. Why should I be consumed in silence ✟ ²⁰Do not do such things to me twice, and then I will not hide from your face ✟ ²¹Take your hand far away from me, and do not let your dread terrify me ✟ ²²Call me, and I will answer you, or else I will speak, and you can answer me ✟ ²³How many iniquities and sins do I have? Reveal my crimes and offenses to me ✟ ²⁴Why do you conceal your face and consider me to be your enemy ✟ ²⁵Against a leaf, which is carried away by the wind, you reveal your power, and you pursue dry straw ✟ ²⁶For you write bitter things against me, and you want to consume me for the sins of my youth ✟ ²⁷You have put my feet on a tether, and you have observed all my paths, and you have considered the steps of my feet ✟ ²⁸I will be left to decay like something rotten and like a garment that is being eaten by moths ✟

Chapter 14

¹Man, born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries ✟ ²He comes forth like a flower, and is crushed, and he flees, as if a shadow, and never remains in the same state ✟ ³And do you consider it fitting to look down with your eyes on someone in this way and to lead him into judgment with you ✟ ⁴Who can make him clean who is conceived of unclean seed? Are you not the only one who can ✟ ⁵The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with you; you have determined his limits, which cannot be surpassed ✟ ⁶Withdraw a little from him, so that he may rest, until his awaited day arrives, like that of the hired hand ✟ ⁷A tree has hope: if it has been cut, it turns green again, and its branches spring forth ✟ ⁸If its roots grow old in the earth, and its trunk passes into dust ✟ ⁹at the scent of water, it will sprout and bring forth leaves, as when it had first been planted ✟ ¹⁰Truly, when a man dies, and has been left unprotected, and has decayed, I ask you where is he ✟ ¹¹It is as if the waters had receded from the sea and an emptied river had dried up ✟ ¹²just so, when a man is fallen asleep, he will not rise again, until the heavens are worn away; he will not awaken, nor rise from his sleep ✟ ¹³Who will grant this to me, that you will protect me in the underworld, and hide me until your fury passes by, and establish a time for me, in which you will remember me ✟ ¹⁴Do you suppose that a dead man will live again? On each of the days in which I now battle, I wait until my transformation occurs ✟ ¹⁵You will call me and I will answer you; to the work of your hands, you will extend your right hand ✟ ¹⁶Indeed, you have numbered my steps, but you have been lenient with my sins ✟ ¹⁷You have sealed up my offenses, as if in a purse, but you have cured my iniquity ✟ ¹⁸A falling mountain flows away, and a stone is transferred from its place ✟ ¹⁹Waters wear away stones, and with a flood the land is reduced little by little; and similarly, you will destroy man ✟ ²⁰You have strengthened him for a little while, so that he may cross over into eternity. You will change his face and send him forth ✟ ²¹Whether his sons have been noble or ignoble, he will not understand ✟ ²²And in this way his body, while he yet lives, will have grief, and his soul will mourn over himself ✟

Chapter 15

¹But Eliphaz the Themanite, answering, said ✟ ²Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking wind, and will he fill his stomach with fire ✟ ³You rebuke with words he who is not equal to you, and you speak what is not expedient for you ✟ ⁴to such an extent that, within yourself, you have expelled reverence and have taken away prayers from the presence of God ✟ ⁵For your iniquity has mislead your mouth, and you imitate the tongue of blasphemers ✟ ⁶Your own mouth will condemn you, not I; and your own lips will answer you ✟ ⁷Are you the first man who was born, or were you formed before the hills ✟ ⁸Have you heard the intentions of God, and will his wisdom be inferior to you ✟ ⁹What do you know, about which we are ignorant? What do you understand that we do not know ✟ ¹⁰There are with us both aged and ancient men, even more senior than your fathers ✟ ¹¹Is it so important that God should console you? But your own depraved words prevent this ✟ ¹²Why does your heart exalt you, and why do you gaze with your eyes, as if thinking great things ✟ ¹³Why does your spirit stir against God, so as to utter such speeches from your mouth ✟ ¹⁴What is man that he should be immaculate, and that he should appear just, having been born of woman ✟ ¹⁵Behold, among his holy ones not one is immutable, and even the heavens are not pure in his sight ✟ ¹⁶How much more abominable and useless is the man who drinks as if from the water of iniquity ✟ ¹⁷I will reveal to you, so listen to me; and I will explain to you what I have seen ✟ ¹⁸The wise acknowledge, and they do not leave behind, their fathers ✟ ¹⁹to whom alone the earth has been given, and no stranger passed among them ✟ ²⁰The impious is arrogant for all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain ✟ ²¹The sound of terror is always in his ears; and when there is peace, he always suspects treason ✟ ²²He does not believe that it is possible for him to be turned from darkness into the light, for he sees around him the sword on every side ✟ ²³When he moves himself to seek bread, he knows that the day of darkness has been prepared for his hand ✟ ²⁴Tribulation will terrify him, and anguish will prevail over him, like a king who is being prepared to go to battle ✟ ²⁵For he has extended his hand against God, and he has strengthened himself against the Almighty ✟ ²⁶He has rushed against him with his throat exposed, and he has been armed with a fat neck ✟ ²⁷Thickness has covered his face, and lard hangs down from his sides ✟ ²⁸He has lived in desolate cities and deserted houses, which have been turned into tombs ✟ ²⁹He will not be enriched, nor will his basic necessities endure, nor will he establish his root in the earth ✟ ³⁰He will not withdraw from the darkness; the flame will burn up his branches, and he will be defeated by the breath of his own mouth ✟ ³¹He will not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he could be redeemed at any price ✟ ³²Before his time is completed, he will pass into ruin and his hands will wither away ✟ ³³He will be wounded like a grapevine, when its cluster is in first flower, and like an olive tree that casts off its flower ✟ ³⁴For the congregation of the hypocrites is fruitless, and fire will devour the tabernacles of those who love to accept money ✟ ³⁵He has conceived sorrow, and he has brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepares deceit ✟

Chapter 16

¹Then Job, answering, said ✟ ²I have often heard such things; you are all aggravating comforters ✟ ³Will there be no end to windy words? Or is it at all a burden to you, if you speak ✟ ⁴I, too, can speak like you; and I also wish that your soul favored my soul ✟ ⁵I would also comfort you with speeches and would wag my head over you ✟ ⁶I would strengthen you with my mouth, and would move my lips, as if being lenient to you ✟ ⁷But what can I do? When I am speaking, my grief will not be quiet; and if I am quiet, it will not withdraw from me ✟ ⁸But now my grief has crushed me, and all my limbs have been reduced to nothing ✟ ⁹My wrinkles bear witness against me, and a liar rises up against my face, contradicting me ✟ ¹⁰He has gathered together his fury towards me, and, threatening me, he has roared against me with his teeth; my enemy has beheld me with terrible eyes ✟ ¹¹They have opened their mouths against me, and, reproaching me, they have struck me on the cheek; they are nourished by my sufferings ✟ ¹²God has confined me with the immoral, and he has delivered me into the hands of the impious ✟ ¹³I, who once was wealthy, am now crushed. He has grabbed me by my neck; he has broken me and has placed me before him as a sign ✟ ¹⁴He has surrounded me with his lances. He has severely wounded my lower back, he has not been lenient, and he has poured out my organs upon the earth ✟ ¹⁵He has cut me with wound after wound. He has rushed upon me like a giant ✟ ¹⁶I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, and I have covered my body with ashes ✟ ¹⁷My face is swollen from weeping, and my eyelids have dimmed my vision ✟ ¹⁸These things I have endured without iniquity in my hand, while I held pure prayers before God ✟ ¹⁹O earth, do not conceal my blood, nor let my outcry find a hiding place in you ✟ ²⁰For behold, my witness is in heaven, and my confidante is on high ✟ ²¹My friends are full of words; my eye rains tears upon God ✟ ²²And I wish that a man might be so judged before God, just as the son of man is judged with his assistant ✟ ²³For behold, a few years pass by, and I am walking a path by which I will not return ✟

Chapter 17

¹My spirit will be wasted, my days will be shortened, and only the grave will be left for me ✟ ²I have not sinned, yet my eye remains in bitterness ✟ ³Free me, O Lord, and set me beside you, and let the hand of anyone you wish fight against me ✟ ⁴You have set their heart far from discipline; therefore, they will not be praised ✟ ⁵He promises prey to his companions, but the eyes of his sons will grow faint ✟ ⁶He has posted me like a proverb to the people, and I am an example in their presence ✟ ⁷My eyesight has been clouded by indignation, and my limbs have been reduced, as if to nothing ✟ ⁸The just will be astounded over this, and the innocent will be stirred up against the hypocrite ✟ ⁹And the just will cling to his way, and clean hands will increase strength ✟ ¹⁰Therefore, be converted, all of you, and approach, for I do not find in you any wisdom ✟ ¹¹My days have passed away; my thoughts have been scattered, tormenting my heart ✟ ¹²They have turned night into day, and I hope for light again after the darkness ✟ ¹³If I should wait, the underworld is my house, and in darkness I have spread out my bed ✟ ¹⁴I have said to decay and to worms: “You are my father, my mother, and my sister. ✟ ¹⁵Therefore, where is my expectation now, and who is it that considers my patience ✟ ¹⁶Everything of mine will descend into the deepest underworld; do you think that, in that place at least, there will be rest for me ✟

Chapter 18

¹But Baldad the Suhite responded by saying ✟ ²How long will you throw around words? Understand first, and then let us speak ✟ ³Why have we been treated like mules, as if we were unworthy before you ✟ ⁴You, who ruins your own soul in your fury, will the earth be forsaken because of you, and will the cliffs be moved from their place ✟ ⁵Will not the light of the impious be put out, and the flame of his fire refuse to shine ✟ ⁶Light will become darkness in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him will be extinguished ✟ ⁷His strong steps will be constrained, and his own counsel will cast him down uncontrollably ✟ ⁸For he has caused his own feet to go into a net, and he has walked into its web ✟ ⁹His heel will be held in a snare, and thirst will rage against him ✟ ¹⁰A trap has been hidden for him in the earth, and a decoy, along his path ✟ ¹¹Horrifying things will terrify him everywhere and will entangle his feet ✟ ¹²Let his strength be diminished by famine, and let starvation invade his ribs ✟ ¹³Let it devour the beauty of his skin; let the ancient death consume his arms ✟ ¹⁴Let his confidence be torn away from his tabernacle, and let ruin trample over him like a king ✟ ¹⁵Let the companions of he who is not, dwell in his tabernacle; let brimstone rain down upon his tabernacle ✟ ¹⁶Let his roots be dried up from beneath him, and his harvest be crushed from above ✟ ¹⁷Let the memory of him perish from the earth, and let not his name be celebrated in the streets ✟ ¹⁸He will expel him from light into darkness, and he will remove him from the world ✟ ¹⁹Neither his offspring, nor his descendents, will exist among his people, nor will there be any remnants in his country ✟ ²⁰The last will be astonished at his day, and the first will be overcome with horror ✟ ²¹And so, these are the tabernacles of the sinful, and this the place of he who does not know God ✟

Chapter 19

¹But Job answered by saying ✟ ²How long will you afflict my soul and wear me down with words ✟ ³So, ten times you confound me and are not ashamed to oppress me ✟ ⁴Now, of course, if I have been ignorant, my ignorance will be with me ✟ ⁵But you have risen up against me, and you accuse me to my disgrace ✟ ⁶At least now you should understand that God has not afflicted me with a balanced judgment, though he has encompassed me with his scourges ✟ ⁷Behold, I will cry out, enduring violence, and no one will hear. I will announce loudly, but there is no one who may judge ✟ ⁸He has hemmed in my path, and I cannot pass; he has added darkness to my difficult path ✟ ⁹He has plundered me of my glory, and he has stolen the crown from my head ✟ ¹⁰He has destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and, like an uprooted tree, he has taken away my hope ✟ ¹¹His fury has raged against me, and in this way he has treated me like his enemy ✟ ¹²His troops have gathered together, and they have made their way to me, and they have besieged my tabernacle all around ✟ ¹³He has put my brothers far from me, and my friends have withdrawn from me like strangers ✟ ¹⁴My kinsmen have forsaken me, and those who knew me, have forgotten me ✟ ¹⁵The inhabitants of my house and my maidservants treat me just as if I were a stranger, and I have been like a sojourner in their eyes ✟ ¹⁶I called my servant, and he did not respond; I pleaded with him with my own mouth ✟ ¹⁷My wife has shuddered at my breath, and I have begged the sons of my loins ✟ ¹⁸Even the foolish have looked down on me, and, when I withdrew from them, they spoke ill of me ✟ ¹⁹Those who were sometimes my counselors, treat me like an abomination; and he whom I valued the most has turned against me ✟ ²⁰Since my flesh has been consumed, my bone adheres to my skin, and only my lips have been left around my teeth ✟ ²¹Have mercy on me, have compassion on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord has touched me ✟ ²²Why do you pursue me just as God does, and satiate yourselves with my flesh ✟ ²³Who will grant to me that my words may be written down? Who will grant to me that they may be inscribed in a book ✟ ²⁴with an iron pen and a plate of lead, or else be carved in stone ✟ ²⁵For I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I will rise out of the earth ✟ ²⁶And I will be enveloped again with my skin, and in my flesh I will see my God ✟ ²⁷It is he whom I myself will see, and he whom my eyes will behold, and no other. This, my hope, has taken rest in my bosom ✟ ²⁸Why then do you now say: “Let us pursue him, and let us find a basis to speak against him? ✟ ²⁹So then, flee from the face of the sword, for the sword is the avenger of iniquities; but know this: there is to be a judgment ✟

Chapter 20

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite answered by saying ✟ ²In response, various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind moves quickly through different ideas ✟ ³The teaching you use to admonish me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding will respond for me ✟ ⁴This, I know, is from the beginning, from the time that man was set over the earth ✟ ⁵that the praise of the impious shall be short, and the joy of the hypocrite lasts only a moment ✟ ⁶If his pride ascends even towards the heavens, and his head touches the clouds ✟ ⁷in the end, he will be destroyed like a trash heap, and those who had seen him will say: “Where is he? ✟ ⁸Like a dream that flies away, he will not be found; he will pass away like a nightmare ✟ ⁹The eyes that had seen him, will not see him; no longer will his own place admire him ✟ ¹⁰His sons will be worn away by poverty, and his own hands will deliver his grief to him ✟ ¹¹His bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust ✟ ¹²For, when evil will be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue ✟ ¹³He will permit it, and not abandon it, and he will conceal it in his throat ✟ ¹⁴His bread in his belly will be turned into the venom of snakes within him ✟ ¹⁵The riches that he devours, he will vomit up, and from his stomach God will draw them out ✟ ¹⁶He will suck the head of snakes, and the tongue of the viper will kill him ✟ ¹⁷(May he never see the streams of the river, the torrents of honey and butter. ✟ ¹⁸He will be repaid for all he has done, yet he will not be consumed; according to the multitude of his schemes, so also will he suffer ✟ ¹⁹For, having broken in, he stripped the poor. He has quickly stolen away a house he did not build ✟ ²⁰And yet his stomach will not be satisfied, and when he has the things he desires, he will not be able to possess them ✟ ²¹Nothing remained of his portion, and, because of this, nothing will continue of his kind ✟ ²²When he will be satisfied, he will be constrained; he will seethe, and all anguish will fall upon him ✟ ²³May his stomach be filled, so that God may send forth the fury of his wrath to him and may rain down his battle upon him ✟ ²⁴He will flee from weapons of iron, and he will fall in an arc of brass ✟ ²⁵which had been drawn and had issued forth from its sheath, glittering in its bitterness: the horrible ones will go forth and approach over him ✟ ²⁶All darkness has been hidden in his secrecy. A fire that has not been set will devour him; he will be thrown down and forsaken in his tabernacle ✟ ²⁷The heavens will reveal his sinfulness, and the earth will rise up against him ✟ ²⁸The offspring of his house will be exposed; he will be pulled down in the day of God’s wrath ✟ ²⁹This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his words from the Lord ✟

Chapter 21

¹Then Job responded by saying ✟ ²I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance ✟ ³Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words ✟ ⁴Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged ✟ ⁵Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth ✟ ⁶As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body ✟ ⁷Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches ✟ ⁸They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children’s children in their sight ✟ ⁹Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them ✟ ¹⁰Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn ✟ ¹¹Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully ✟ ¹²They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ ✟ ¹³Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell ✟ ¹⁴Who has said to God, “Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways ✟ ¹⁵Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him? ✟ ¹⁶It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me ✟ ¹⁷How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath ✟ ¹⁸They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters ✟ ¹⁹God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand ✟ ²⁰His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty ✟ ²¹For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half ✟ ²²Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted ✟ ²³This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy ✟ ²⁴His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow ✟ ²⁵In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources ✟ ²⁶And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them ✟ ²⁷Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me ✟ ²⁸For you say, “Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious? ✟ ²⁹Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things ✟ ³⁰that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath ✟ ³¹Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done ✟ ³²He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead ✟ ³³He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him ✟ ³⁴Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth ✟

Chapter 22

¹Then Eliphaz the Themanite responded by saying ✟ ²Can man be compared with God, even if he were perfect in knowledge ✟ ³What advantage is it to God, if you were just? Or what do you provide for him, if your way should be immaculate ✟ ⁴Will he reprove you and take you to judgment for being afraid ✟ ⁵and not because of your many evil deeds and your infinite unfairness ✟ ⁶For you have taken away the collateral of your brothers without cause, and stripped them naked of their clothing ✟ ⁷You have not given water to the weary; you have taken bread away from the hungry ✟ ⁸By the strength of your arm, you took possession of the land, and you retain it by being the strongest ✟ ⁹You have sent widows away empty, and you have crushed the shoulders of orphans ✟ ¹⁰Because of this, you are surrounded by traps, and unexpected fears will disturb you ✟ ¹¹And did you think that you would not see darkness and that you were not to be overwhelmed by the on-rush of overflowing waters ✟ ¹²Have you not considered that God is higher than the heavens and is lifted above the height of the stars ✟ ¹³And you say: “Well, what does God know?” and, “He judges, as if through a fog, ✟ ¹⁴and, “The clouds are his hiding-place,” and, “He does not examine us closely,” and, “He makes his rounds at the limits of the heavens. ✟ ¹⁵Do you not want to tend the path of the ages, which wicked men have spurned ✟ ¹⁶These were taken away before their time, and a flood overthrew their foundation ✟ ¹⁷They said to God, “Withdraw from us,” and they treated the Almighty as if he could do nothing ✟ ¹⁸though he had filled their houses with good things. May their way of thinking be far from me ✟ ¹⁹The just will see and will rejoice, and the innocent will mock them ✟ ²⁰Has not their haughtiness been cut down, and has not fire devoured the remnants of them ✟ ²¹So, repose yourself with him and be at peace, and, in this way, you will have the best fruits ✟ ²²Accept the law from his mouth, and place his words in your heart ✟ ²³If you will return to the Almighty, you will be rebuilt, and you will put sinfulness far from your tabernacle ✟ ²⁴He will give you stone in place of dirt, and torrents of gold in place of stone ✟ ²⁵And the Almighty will be against your enemies, and silver will be gathered together for you ✟ ²⁶Then will you flock together in delight over the Almighty, and you will lift up your face to God ✟ ²⁷You will plead with him, and he will listen to you, and you will pay your vows ✟ ²⁸You will decide on something, and it will come to you, and the light will shine in your ways ✟ ²⁹For he who had been humbled, will be in glory; and he who will lower his eyes, will be the one saved ✟ ³⁰The innocent will be saved, and he will be saved with purity in his hands ✟

Chapter 23

¹Then Job answered by saying ✟ ²Now again my conversation is in bitterness, and the force of my scourging weighs more heavily on me because of my mourning ✟ ³Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and that I may approach even to his throne ✟ ⁴I would place judgment before his eye, and my mouth would fill with criticism ✟ ⁵so that I may know the words that he will answer me and understand what he will say to me ✟ ⁶I do not want him to contend with me with much strength, nor to overwhelm me with the bulk of his greatness ✟ ⁷Let him show fairness in response to me, and let my judgment reach to victory ✟ ⁸If I go to the east, he does not appear; if I go to the west, I will not understand him ✟ ⁹If I turn to the left, what can I do? I will not take hold of him. If I turn myself to the right, I will not see him ✟ ¹⁰Truly, he knows my way and has tested me like gold that passes through fire ✟ ¹¹My feet have been following his footsteps; I have kept to his way and have not strayed from it ✟ ¹²I have not withdrawn from the commands of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have hidden in my sinews ✟ ¹³For he is alone, and no one is able to disturb his intention; and whatever his spirit wills, that he accomplishes ✟ ¹⁴And when he fulfills his will in me, many other similar ones will also be present with him ✟ ¹⁵And, for this reason, I have been troubled at his presence, and, when I consider him, I am approached by fear ✟ ¹⁶God has weakened my heart, and the Almighty has confused me ✟ ¹⁷Yet I have not perished because of the threatening darkness, nor has gloom covered my face ✟

Chapter 24

¹The times are not hidden from the Almighty; even those who know him, do not know his days ✟ ²Some have crossed the boundaries, plundered the flocks, and given them pasture ✟ ³They have driven away the donkey of orphans, and have taken the cow from the widow as collateral ✟ ⁴They have undermined the way of the poor, and have pressed together the meek of the earth ✟ ⁵Others, like wild asses in the desert, go forth to their work; by watching for prey, they obtain bread for their children ✟ ⁶They reap a field that is not their own, and they harvest a vineyard that they have taken by force ✟ ⁷They send men away naked, having taken the clothing of those who have no covering in the cold ✟ ⁸these are wet with the mountain rain, and, having no covering, they embrace the rocks ✟ ⁹They have used violence to deprive orphans, and they have robbed the poor common people ✟ ¹⁰From the naked and those who do not have enough clothing, and from the hungry, they have taken away sheaves of grain ✟ ¹¹They take their midday rest among the stockpiles of those who, though they have trodden the winepresses, suffer thirst ✟ ¹²In the cities, they caused the men to groan and the spirit of the wounded to cry out, and so God does not allow this to go unpunished ✟ ¹³They have been rebellious against the light; they have not known his ways, nor have they returned by his paths ✟ ¹⁴The killer of men rises at first light; he executes the destitute and the poor, but, in truth, he is like a thief in the night ✟ ¹⁵The eye of the adulterer waits for darkness, saying, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face ✟ ¹⁶He passes through houses in the nighttime, just as they had agreed among themselves in the daytime; and they are ignorant of the light ✟ ¹⁷If sunrise should suddenly appear, it is treated by them like the shadow of death; and they walk in darkness, as if in light ✟ ¹⁸He is nimble on the surface of water. His place on land is to be accursed. May he not walk by way of the vineyards ✟ ¹⁹May he cross from the snowy waters to excessive heat, and his sin, all the way to hell ✟ ²⁰Let mercy forget him. His charm is worms. Let him not be remembered, but instead be broken like an unfruitful tree ✟ ²¹For he has fed on the barren, who does not bear fruit, and he has not done good to the widow ✟ ²²He has pulled down the strong by his strength, and, when he stands up, he will not have trust in his life ✟ ²³God has given him a place for repentance, and he abuses it with arrogance, but his eyes are upon his ways ✟ ²⁴They are lifted up for a little while, but they will not continue, and they will be brought low, just like all things, and they will be taken away, and, like the tops of the ears of grain, they will be crushed ✟ ²⁵But, if this is not so, who is able to prove to me that I have lied and to place my words before God ✟

Chapter 25

¹Then Baldad the Suhite answered by saying ✟ ²Power and terror are with him that makes a pact with those in high places ✟ ³Is there any limit to the number of his soldiers or to the number of those over whom his light rises ✟ ⁴Is it right for man to compare himself to God, or to appear pure though he is born of woman ✟ ⁵Behold, even the moon is not radiant, and the stars are not pure, in his sight ✟ ⁶Is man much more than rottenness and the son of man much more than worms ✟

Chapter 26

¹Then Job responded by saying ✟ ²Whose assistant are you? Is he weak-minded? And do you sustain the arm of him that is not strong ✟ ³To whom have you given advice? Perhaps it is to him that has no wisdom or prudence that you have revealed your many ideas ✟ ⁴Who is it that you wanted to teach? Was it not him that created the breath of life ✟ ⁵Behold, giant things groan under the waters, and they dwell with them ✟ ⁶The underworld is naked before him, and there is no covering for perdition ✟ ⁷He stretched out the North over emptiness, and he suspended the land over nothing ✟ ⁸He secures the waters in his clouds, so that they do not burst forth downward all at once ✟ ⁹He holds back the face of his throne, and he stretches his cloud over it ✟ ¹⁰He has set limits around the waters, until light and darkness shall reach their limit ✟ ¹¹The pillars of heaven tremble and are frightened at his nod ✟ ¹²By his strength, the seas suddenly gather together, and his foresight has struck the arrogant ✟ ¹³His spirit has adorned the heavens, and his birthing hand has brought forth the winding serpent ✟ ¹⁴Behold, these things have been said about his ways in part, and, since we barely have heard a small drop of his word, who will be able to gaze upon the thunder of his greatness ✟

Chapter 27

¹Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said ✟ ²As God lives, who has taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who has led my soul to bitterness ✟ ³as long as my breath remains in me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils ✟ ⁴my lips will not speak iniquity, nor will my tongue devise lies ✟ ⁵Far be it from me that I should judge you to be right, for, until I expire, I will not withdraw from my innocence ✟ ⁶I will not forsake my justification, which I have just begun to grasp, for my heart does not find blame for me in my whole life ✟ ⁷Let the impious be as my enemy, and the sinful, as my adversary ✟ ⁸For what hope is there for the hypocrite, if he greedily plunders and God does not free his soul ✟ ⁹Will God pay attention to his cry, when anguish overcomes him ✟ ¹⁰Or will he take delight in the Almighty and call upon God at all times ✟ ¹¹I will teach you through the hand of God, what the Almighty holds, and I will not conceal it ✟ ¹²Behold, you know all this, and so why do you speak vain things without a reason ✟ ¹³This is the portion of the impious man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they will receive from the Almighty ✟ ¹⁴If his sons should happen to increase, they will be for the sword, and his grandsons will not be satisfied with bread ✟ ¹⁵Whatever will remain of him will be buried in the ruins, and his widows will not weep ✟ ¹⁶If he will amass silver as if it were dirt and fabricate garments as if they were clay ✟ ¹⁷then yes, he will gather, but the just will be clothed with it and the innocent will divide the silver ✟ ¹⁸He has built his house like a moth, and he has made a makeshift shelter like a sentry ✟ ¹⁹When he falls asleep, the rich man will leave him with nothing; he will open his eyes and find nothing ✟ ²⁰Destitution will surround him like water; a storm will overwhelm him in the night ✟ ²¹A burning wind will pick him up and carry him away, and, like a whirlwind, it will rush him from his place ✟ ²²And it will hurl over him and will not spare him; fleeing from its power, he will go into exile ✟ ²³He will clasp his hands over himself, and he will hiss at himself, while considering his situation ✟

Chapter 28

¹Silver has its fissures where it is first found, and gold has a place where it is melted ✟ ²Iron is taken from the earth, and ore, unbound by heat, is turned into brass ✟ ³He has established a time for darkness, and he has settled on an end for all things, as well as for the stone that is in the gloom and shadow of death ✟ ⁴The burning separates a pilgrim people from those who have been forgotten by the feet of the destitute man and from the unapproachable ✟ ⁵The land, where bread appeared in its place, has been destroyed by fire ✟ ⁶Its stones are embedded with sapphires, and its soil, with gold ✟ ⁷The bird does not know its path, nor has the eye of the vulture beheld it ✟ ⁸The sons of merchants have not walked there, nor has the lioness traveled through it ✟ ⁹He has stretched out his hand to the rocks; he has overturned the foundations of the mountains ✟ ¹⁰He has cut rivers through the rocks, and his eye has seen all precious things ✟ ¹¹The depths of rivers he has also examined, and he has brought hidden things into the light ✟ ¹²But, in truth, where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding ✟ ¹³Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who live in sweetness ✟ ¹⁴The abyss declares, “It is not in me.” And the sea says, “It is not with me. ✟ ¹⁵The finest gold will not be paid for it, nor will silver be weighed in exchange for it ✟ ¹⁶It will not be compared with the dyed colors of India, nor with the very costly stone sardonyx, nor with the sapphire ✟ ¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal will be its equal; neither will vessels of gold be fitted for it ✟ ¹⁸The exalted and the eminent will not be remembered in comparison with it. Yet wisdom is drawn out of concealment ✟ ¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia will not be equal to it, nor will it be compared to the purest dyes ✟ ²⁰So then, where does wisdom begin, and where is the place of understanding ✟ ²¹It has been hidden from the eyes of all living things, just as the birds of the heavens escape notice ✟ ²²Perdition and death have said, “With our ears, we have heard its fame. ✟ ²³God understands its way, and he knows its location ✟ ²⁴For he beholds the limits of the world, and he looks upon all things that are under heaven ✟ ²⁵He created a counterweight for the winds, and he suspended the waters to measure them ✟ ²⁶At that time, he gave a law to the rain and a path to the resounding storms ✟ ²⁷Then he saw and explained it, and he made ready and examined it ✟ ²⁸And he said to man, “Behold the fear of the Lord. Such is wisdom. And to withdraw from evil, this is understanding. ✟

Chapter 29

¹Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said ✟ ²Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me ✟ ³At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness ✟ ⁴I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle ✟ ⁵At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me ✟ ⁶Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me ✟ ⁷When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me ✟ ⁸The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing ✟ ⁹The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth ✟ ¹⁰The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat ✟ ¹¹The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me ✟ ¹²This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper ✟ ¹³The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow ✟ ¹⁴I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem ✟ ¹⁵I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame ✟ ¹⁶I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently ✟ ¹⁷I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth ✟ ¹⁸And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days ✟ ¹⁹My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest ✟ ²⁰My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand. ✟ ²¹Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel ✟ ²²To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them ✟ ²³They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains ✟ ²⁴If I had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it, and the light of my face was not cast down towards the ground ✟ ²⁵If I wished to go to them, I sat down first, and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I was a comforter to those who mourned ✟

Chapter 30

¹But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock ✟ ²the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself ✟ ³They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery ✟ ⁴And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food ✟ ⁵They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry ✟ ⁶They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks ✟ ⁷They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns ✟ ⁸These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land ✟ ⁹Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb ✟ ¹⁰They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face ✟ ¹¹For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth ✟ ¹²Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves ✟ ¹³They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help ✟ ¹⁴They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries ✟ ¹⁵I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud ✟ ¹⁶But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me ✟ ¹⁷At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep ✟ ¹⁸By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat ✟ ¹⁹I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes ✟ ²⁰I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me ✟ ²¹You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me ✟ ²²You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully ✟ ²³I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living ✟ ²⁴Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them ✟ ²⁵Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor ✟ ²⁶I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth ✟ ²⁷My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it ✟ ²⁸I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion ✟ ²⁹I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches ✟ ³⁰My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat ✟ ³¹My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping ✟

Chapter 31

¹I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin ✟ ²For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep ✟ ³Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice ✟ ⁴Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps ✟ ⁵If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness ✟ ⁶let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity ✟ ⁷If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands ✟ ⁸then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated ✟ ⁹If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door ✟ ¹⁰then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her ✟ ¹¹For this is a crime and a very great injustice ✟ ¹²It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth ✟ ¹³If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me ✟ ¹⁴then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him ✟ ¹⁵Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb ✟ ¹⁶If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait ✟ ¹⁷if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it ✟ ¹⁸(for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb; ✟ ¹⁹if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering ✟ ²⁰if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep ✟ ²¹if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I have the advantage over him at the gate ✟ ²²then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken ✟ ²³For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear ✟ ²⁴If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust; ✟ ²⁵if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained ✟ ²⁶if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly ✟ ²⁷so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth ✟ ²⁸which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God ✟ ²⁹if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him ✟ ³⁰for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul ✟ ³¹if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled, ✟ ³²for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler ✟ ³³if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom ✟ ³⁴if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door ✟ ³⁵then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book ✟ ³⁶which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown ✟ ³⁷With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince ✟ ³⁸So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it ✟ ³⁹if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers ✟ ⁴⁰then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job. ✟

Chapter 32

¹But these three men ceased to answer Job, because he considered himself justified ✟ ²And Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram, was angry and indignant. But he was angry against Job because he described himself to be just in the presence of God ✟ ³Moreover, he was indignant with his friends because they had not found a reasonable response, except in so far as they condemned Job ✟ ⁴Therefore, Eliu waited while Job was talking, for these were his elders that were speaking ✟ ⁵But when he saw that these three were not able to respond, he was extremely angry ✟ ⁶And so Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite responded by saying: I am younger in years, and you are more ancient; therefore, I kept my head low, for I was afraid to reveal to you my opinion ✟ ⁷For I had hoped that greater age would speak, and that a multitude of years would teach wisdom ✟ ⁸But I see now that there is only breath in men, and that it is the inspiration of the Almighty that gives understanding ✟ ⁹The wise are not the aged, nor do the elders understand judgment ✟ ¹⁰Therefore, I will speak. Listen to me, and so I will show you my wisdom ✟ ¹¹For I have endured your words; I have paid attention to your deliberations, while you were being argumentative with words ✟ ¹²And as long as I supposed that you were saying something, I considered; but now I see that there is none of you that is able to argue with Job and to respond to his words ✟ ¹³So that you will not say, “We have found wisdom,” God has thrown him down, not man ✟ ¹⁴He has said nothing to me, and I will not respond to him according to your words ✟ ¹⁵Then they were filled with dread, and so they no longer responded, and they withdrew from their speechmaking ✟ ¹⁶Therefore, because I have waited and they have not been speaking, for they stood firm and did not respond at all ✟ ¹⁷I also will answer in my turn, and I will reveal my knowledge ✟ ¹⁸For I am full of words, and the feeling in my gut inspires me ✟ ¹⁹Yes, my stomach is like fermenting wine without a vent, which bursts the new containers ✟ ²⁰I should speak, but I will also breathe a little; I will open my lips, and I will answer ✟ ²¹I will not esteem the reputation of a man, and I will not equate God with man ✟ ²²For I do not know how long I will continue, and whether, after a while, my Maker might take me away ✟

Chapter 33

¹Therefore, hear my speeches, Job, and listen to all my words ✟ ²Behold, I have opened my mouth; let my tongue speak along with my throat ✟ ³My words are from my simple heart, and my lips will speak a pure judgment ✟ ⁴The Spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life ✟ ⁵If you can, answer me, and oppose me to my face ✟ ⁶Behold, God has made me, just as he also has made you, and I, likewise, have been formed of the same clay ✟ ⁷So, truly, do not let my wonders terrify you, and do not let my eloquence be burdensome to you ✟ ⁸For you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of your words, saying ✟ ⁹“I am clean and without sin; I am immaculate, and there is no iniquity in me ✟ ¹⁰Yet he has discovered blame in me, and so he has treated me like his enemy ✟ ¹¹He has put my feet in fetters; he has kept watch over all my ways. ✟ ¹²Therefore, it is for this reason that you have not been justified. For I tell you that God is greater than man ✟ ¹³Do you contend against him because he has not responded to all of your words ✟ ¹⁴God speaks once, and he does not repeat the same thing a second time ✟ ¹⁵Through a dream in a vision of the night, when a deep sleep falls over men, and they are sleeping in their beds ✟ ¹⁶then, he opens the ears of men, and, educating them, he teaches discipline ✟ ¹⁷so that he may divert a man from the things that he is doing, and may free him from pride ✟ ¹⁸rescuing his soul from corruption and his life from passing away by the sword ✟ ¹⁹Likewise, he rebukes by sorrow in bed, and he causes all of his bones to become weak ✟ ²⁰Bread becomes abominable to him in his life, and, to his soul, the meat which before he desired ✟ ²¹His body will waste away, and his bones, which had been covered, will be revealed ✟ ²²His soul has approached corruption, and his life has drawn near to what is deadly ✟ ²³If there were an angel speaking for him, one among thousands, to declare the fairness of the man ✟ ²⁴he will have mercy on him, and he will say, “Free him, so that he will not descend to destruction. I have found a reason to be favorable to him ✟ ²⁵His body is consumed by suffering. Let him return to the days of his youth. ✟ ²⁶He will beg pardon from God, and he will be soothing to him; and he will look upon his face in jubilation, and he will restore his justice to man ✟ ²⁷He will consider mankind, and he will say: “I have sinned and truly I have offended, yet I was not treated as I deserved. ✟ ²⁸He has freed his soul from continuing into destruction, so that, in living, it may see the light ✟ ²⁹Behold, all these things God works three times within each one ✟ ³⁰so that he may revive their souls from corruption and enlighten them with the light of life ✟ ³¹Pay attention Job, and listen to me; and remain silent, while I speak ✟ ³²Yet, if you have anything to say, answer me and speak, for I want you to be treated justly ✟ ³³But if you do not have anything to say, then listen to me. Be quiet and I will teach you wisdom ✟

Chapter 34

¹After proclaiming these things, Eliu now had this to say ✟ ²May the wise hear my words, and may the educated listen to me ✟ ³For the ear examines words, and the mouth discerns foods by the taste ✟ ⁴Let us choose judgment for ourselves, and let us consider among ourselves what is best ✟ ⁵For Job has said: “I am just, yet God has subverted my judgment ✟ ⁶For, within my judgment, there is a lie: my vehement barbs are without any sin. ✟ ⁷What man is there that is like Job, who drinks up derision as if it were water ✟ ⁸who accompanies those who work iniquity, and who walks with impious men ✟ ⁹For he has said, “Man will not please God, even if he should travel with him. ✟ ¹⁰Therefore, prudent men, hear me: impiety is far from God, and iniquity is far from the Almighty ✟ ¹¹For he will restore to man his works, and according to the ways of each, he will repay them ✟ ¹²For truly, God will not condemn in vain, nor will the Almighty repudiate judgment ✟ ¹³What other is established over the earth? Or whom has he placed over the world, which he made ✟ ¹⁴But, if he directs his heart towards him, he will draw his spirit and breath to himself ✟ ¹⁵All flesh will fail together, and man will return to ashes ✟ ¹⁶Therefore, if you have understanding, hear what is said, and heed the sound of my eloquence ✟ ¹⁷Is he that does not love judgment able to be corrected? And how can you so greatly condemn him who is just ✟ ¹⁸He says to the king, “You are an apostate.” He calls commanders impious ✟ ¹⁹He does not accept the reputation of leaders; nor does he recognize the tyrant as he contends against the poor. For all are the work of his hands ✟ ²⁰They will die suddenly, and the people will be troubled in the middle of the night, but they will pass through it, and the violent will be taken away without a hand ✟ ²¹For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he examines all of their steps ✟ ²²There is no darkness and no shadow of death, where those who work iniquity may be hidden ✟ ²³For it is no longer within the power of man to enter into judgment with God ✟ ²⁴He will break into many innumerable pieces, and he will cause others to stand up in their place ✟ ²⁵For he knows their works, and, as a result, he will bring the night, and they will be crushed ✟ ²⁶Just as the impious do, he has struck them in a place where they can be seen ✟ ²⁷They, as if with great diligence, have withdrawn from him, and they refused to understand all his ways ✟ ²⁸so that they caused the outcry of the needy to reach him, and he heard the voice of the poor ✟ ²⁹For, when he grants peace, who is there that can condemn? When he hides his face, who is there that can contemplate him, either among the nations, or among all men ✟ ³⁰He causes a hypocritical man to reign because of the sins of the people ✟ ³¹Therefore, since I have been speaking about God, I will not prevent you from doing the same ✟ ³²If I have erred, you may teach me; if I have spoken unfairly, I will add no more ✟ ³³Does God require this of you because it is displeasing to you? For you were the first to speak, and not I. But if you know something better, speak ✟ ³⁴Let men of understanding speak to me, and let a wise man listen to me ✟ ³⁵But Job has been speaking foolishly, and his words contain unsound teaching ✟ ³⁶My father, let Job be tested even to the end; may you not retreat from a man of iniquity ✟ ³⁷For he adds blasphemy on top of his sins; nevertheless, let him be constrained to be among us, and then let him provoke God to judgment with his speeches ✟

Chapter 35

¹After this, Eliu again spoke in this way ✟ ²Does it seem right to you in your thoughts, that you should say, “I am more just than God? ✟ ³For you said, “Having done what is right does not please you,” and, “How will it benefit you, if I sin? ✟ ⁴And so, I will respond to your words, and to your friends who are with you ✟ ⁵Look up towards heaven and consider; also, think about the sky, which is higher than you ✟ ⁶If you sin, how will it hurt him? And if your iniquities are multiplied, what will you do against him ✟ ⁷Furthermore, if you act justly, what will you give him, or what will he receive from your hand ✟ ⁸Your impiety may hurt a man who is like you, though your justice may help the son of the man ✟ ⁹Because of the multitude of false accusers, they will cry out; and they will lament because of the strong arm of the tyrants ✟ ¹⁰Yet he has not said: “Where is God, who made me, who has given songs in the night ✟ ¹¹who teaches us in addition to the beasts of the earth, and who educates us along with the birds of the air? ✟ ¹²There they will cry, and he will not heed them, because of the arrogance of the wicked ✟ ¹³Therefore, God does not hear in vain, and the Almighty will look into each and every case ✟ ¹⁴And so, when you say, “He does not examine,” be judged before him, but wait for him ✟ ¹⁵For, at the present time, he does not bring forth his fury, nor does he punish sin exceedingly ✟ ¹⁶Therefore, Job has opened his mouth in vain and has multiplied words without knowledge ✟

Chapter 36

¹Continuing in a similar manner, Eliu had this to say ✟ ²Bear with me for a little while and I will show you; for I have still more to say in favor of God ✟ ³I will review my knowledge from the beginning, and I will prove my Maker to be just ✟ ⁴For truly my words are without any falsehood and perfect knowledge will be proven to you ✟ ⁵God does not abandon the powerful, for he himself is also powerful ✟ ⁶But he does not save the impious, though he grants judgment to the poor ✟ ⁷He will not take his eyes away from the just, and he continually establishes kings on their throne, and they are exalted ✟ ⁸And, if they are in captivity, or are bound with the chains of poverty ✟ ⁹he will reveal to them their works, as well as their sinfulness, in that they were violent ✟ ¹⁰Likewise, he will open their ears to his correction, and he will speak to them, so that they may return from iniquity ✟ ¹¹If they listen and obey, they will fill their days with goodness and complete their years in glory ✟ ¹²But if they will not listen, they will pass away by the sword and will be consumed by foolishness ✟ ¹³The false and the crafty provoke the wrath of God, yet they do not cry out to him when they are chained ✟ ¹⁴Their soul will die in a storm, and their life, among the unmanly ✟ ¹⁵He will rescue the poor from his anguish, and he will open his ear during tribulation ✟ ¹⁶Therefore, he will save you from the narrow mouth very widely, even though it has no foundation under it. Moreover, your respite at table will be full of fatness ✟ ¹⁷Your case has been judged like that of the impious; you will withdraw your plea and your judgment ✟ ¹⁸Therefore, do not let anger overwhelm you so that you oppress another; neither should you allow a multitude of gifts to influence you ✟ ¹⁹Lay down your greatness without distress, and put aside all of your power with courage ✟ ²⁰Do not prolong the night, even if people rise on their behalf ✟ ²¹Be careful that you do not turn to iniquity; for, after your misery, you have begun to follow this ✟ ²²Behold, God is exalted in his strength, and there is no one like him among the law-givers ✟ ²³Who is able to investigate his ways? And who can say, “You have done iniquity,” to him ✟ ²⁴Remember that you are ignorant of his work, yet men have sung its praises ✟ ²⁵All men consider him; and each one ponders from a distance ✟ ²⁶Behold, God is great, defeating our knowledge; the number of his years is inestimable ✟ ²⁷He carries away the drops of rain, and he sends forth showers like a raging whirlpool ✟ ²⁸they flow from the clouds that are woven above everything ✟ ²⁹If he wills it, he extends the clouds as his ten ✟ ³⁰and shines with his light from above; likewise, he covers the oceans within his tent ✟ ³¹For he judges the people by these things, and he gives food to a multitude of mortals ✟ ³²Within his hands, he hides the light, and he commands it to come forth again ✟ ³³He announces it to his friend, for it is his possession and he is able to reach out to it ✟

Chapter 37

¹At this, my heart became frightened, and it has been moved from its place ✟ ²Pay close attention to the alarm of his voice and to the sound that proceeds from his mouth ✟ ³He beholds everything under the heavens, and his light reaches beyond the ends of the earth ✟ ⁴After this, a noise will sound; he will thunder with the voice of his greatness, and it will not be tracked down, yet his voice will be obeyed ✟ ⁵God will thunder with his voice miraculously, for he performs great and unsearchable things ✟ ⁶He commands the snow to descend on earth, and the winter rains, and the shower of his strength ✟ ⁷He signs the hand of all men, so that each one may know his works ✟ ⁸The beast will enter his hiding-place, and he will remain in his cave ✟ ⁹From the interior, a storm will come forth, and a cold winter from the north ✟ ¹⁰As God breathes out, frost forms, and the waters are poured forth very widely again ✟ ¹¹Crops desire clouds, and the clouds scatter their light ✟ ¹²It shines all around, wherever the will of him that governs them will lead, to anywhere he will command, over the whole face of the earth ✟ ¹³whether in one tribe, or in his own region, or in whatever place of his mercy that he will order them to be found ✟ ¹⁴Listen to these things, Job. Stand up and consider the wonders of God ✟ ¹⁵Do you know when God ordered the rains, so as to show the light of his clouds ✟ ¹⁶Do you know the great paths of the clouds, and the perfect sciences ✟ ¹⁷Are not your garments hot, when the south wind blows across the land ✟ ¹⁸Perhaps you have made the heavens with him, which are very solid, as if they had been cast from brass ✟ ¹⁹Reveal to us what we should say to him, for, of course, we are wrapped in darkness ✟ ²⁰Who will explain to him the things that I am saying? Even while a man is still speaking, he will be devoured ✟ ²¹Although they do not see the light, the air will be thickened suddenly into clouds, and the wind, passing by, will drive them away ✟ ²²Riches arrive from the north, and fearful praise reaches out to God ✟ ²³We are not worthy to be able to find him. Great in strength, great in judgment, great in justice: he is indescribable ✟ ²⁴Therefore, men will fear him, and all those who seem to themselves to be wise, will not dare to contemplate him ✟

Chapter 38

¹But the Lord, responding to Job from a whirlwind, said ✟ ²Who is this that wraps sentences in unskilled words ✟ ³Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me ✟ ⁴Where were you, when I set the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding ✟ ⁵Who set its measurements, if you know, or who stretched a line over it ✟ ⁶Upon what have its bases been grounded, and who set forth its cornerstone ✟ ⁷when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful noise ✟ ⁸Who enclosed the sea with doors, when it broke forth as if issuing from the womb ✟ ⁹when I stationed a cloud as its garment and wrapped it in a mist as if swaddling an infant ✟ ¹⁰I encircled it with my limits, and I positioned its bars and doors ✟ ¹¹And I said: “This far you will approach, and you will proceed no further, and here you will break your swelling waves. ✟ ¹²Did you, after your birth, command the birth of the sun and show the sunrise its place ✟ ¹³And did you hold the extremities of the earth, shaking them, and have you shaken the impious out of it ✟ ¹⁴The seal will be restored like clay, and it will remain in place like a garment ✟ ¹⁵From the impious, the light will be taken away, and the exalted arm will be broken ✟ ¹⁶Have you entered the depths of the sea, and have you taken a walk in the uttermost parts of the abyss ✟ ¹⁷Have the gates of death been opened to you, and have you seen the doors of darkness ✟ ¹⁸Have you considered the breadth of the earth? If you know all things, reveal them to me ✟ ¹⁹Which is the way that holds the light, and which is the place of darkness ✟ ²⁰In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house ✟ ²¹So then, did you know when you were to be born? And did you know the number of your days ✟ ²²Have you been admitted into the storehouses of the snows, and have you gazed upon the stockpile of the brimstone ✟ ²³which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, for the day of the battle and the war ✟ ²⁴In what way is the light scattered, and the heat distributed, over the earth ✟ ²⁵Who gave a course to the rainstorms, and a path to the resounding thunder ✟ ²⁶so that it would rain on the earth far from man, in the wilderness where no mortal lingers ✟ ²⁷so that it would fill impassable and desolate places, and would bring forth green plants ✟ ²⁸Who is the father of rain, or who conceived the drops of dew ✟ ²⁹From whose womb did the ice proceed, and who created the frost from the air ✟ ³⁰The waters are hardened to become like stone, and the surface of the abyss freezes over ✟ ³¹Will you have the strength to join together the sparkling stars of the Pleiades, or are you able to disperse the circling of Arcturus ✟ ³²Can you bring forth the morning star, in its time, and make the evening star rise over the sons of the earth ✟ ³³Do you know the order of heaven, and can you explain its rules here on the earth ✟ ³⁴Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an onslaught of waters will cover you ✟ ³⁵Can you send forth lightning bolts, and will they go, and on returning, say to you: “Here we are? ✟ ³⁶Who placed discernment in the guts of man, or who gave the rooster intelligence ✟ ³⁷Who can describe the rules of the heavens, or who can put to rest the harmony of heaven ✟ ³⁸When was the dust cast to become the earth, and when were its clods fastened together ✟ ³⁹Will you seize prey for the lioness, and will you sustain the lives of her young ✟ ⁴⁰as they rest in their dens or lie in wait in pits ✟ ⁴¹Who provides the raven with its meal, when her chicks cry out to God, as they wander around because they have no food ✟

Chapter 39

¹Do you know at what time the wild goats have given birth among the rocks, or do you observe the deer when they go into labor ✟ ²Have you numbered the months since their conception, and do you know at what time they gave birth ✟ ³They bend themselves for their offspring, and they give birth, and they emit roars ✟ ⁴Their young are weaned and go out to feed; they depart and do not return to them ✟ ⁵Who has set the wild ass free, and who has released his bonds ✟ ⁶I have given a house in solitude to him, and his tabernacle is in the salted land ✟ ⁷He despises the crowded city; he does not pay attention to the bellow of the tax collector ✟ ⁸He looks around the mountains of his pasture, and he searches everywhere for green plants ✟ ⁹Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, and will he remain in your stall ✟ ¹⁰Can you detain the rhinoceros with your harness to plough for you, and will he loosen the soil of the furrows behind you ✟ ¹¹Will you put your faith in his great strength, and delegate your labors to him ✟ ¹²Will you trust him to return to you the seed, and to gather it on your drying floor ✟ ¹³The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk ✟ ¹⁴When she leaves eggs behind in the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust ✟ ¹⁵She forgets that feet may trample them, or that the beasts of the field may shatter them ✟ ¹⁶She is hardened against her young, as if they were not hers; she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her ✟ ¹⁷For God has deprived her of wisdom; neither has he given her understanding ✟ ¹⁸Yet, when the time is right, she raises her wings on high; she ridicules the horse and his rider ✟ ¹⁹Will you supply strength to the horse, or envelope his throat with neighing ✟ ²⁰Will you alarm him as the locusts do? His panic is revealed by the display of his nostrils ✟ ²¹He digs at the earth with his hoof; he jumps around boldly; he advances to meet armed men ✟ ²²He despises fear; he does not turn away from the sword ✟ ²³Above him, the quiver rattles, the spear and the shield shake ✟ ²⁴Seething and raging, he drinks up the earth; neither does he pause when the blast of the trumpet sounds ✟ ²⁵When he hears the bugle, he says, “Ha!” He smells the battle from a distance, the exhortation of the officers, and the battle cry of the soldiers ✟ ²⁶Does the hawk grow feathers by means of your wisdom, spreading her wings towards the south ✟ ²⁷Will the eagle lift herself up at your command and make her nest in steep places ✟ ²⁸She dwells among the rocks, and she lingers among broken boulders and inaccessible cliffs ✟ ²⁹From there, she looks for food, and her eyes catch sight of it from far away ✟ ³⁰Her young will drink blood, and wherever the carcass will be, she is there immediately ✟ ³¹And the Lord continued, and he said to Job ✟ ³²Will he who contends with God be so easily silenced? Certainly, he who argues with God must also respond to him ✟ ³³Then Job answered the Lord, saying ✟ ³⁴What could I possibly answer, since I have been speaking thoughtlessly? I will place my hand over my mouth ✟ ³⁵One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said; and another, to which I will add no more ✟

Chapter 40

¹But the Lord, answering Job out of the whirlwind, said ✟ ²Gird your waist like a man. I will question you, and you must answer me ✟ ³Will you make my judgment null and void; and will you condemn me so that you may be justified ✟ ⁴And do you have an arm like God, or a voice like thunder ✟ ⁵Envelop yourself with splendor, and raise yourself up on high, and be glorious, and put on splendid garments ✟ ⁶Scatter the arrogant with your wrath, and, when you see all the arrogant, humble them ✟ ⁷Look down upon each of the arrogant and confound them, and crush the impious in their place ✟ ⁸Hide them in the dust together and plunge their faces into the pit ✟ ⁹Then I will confess that your right hand is able to save you ✟ ¹⁰Behold, the behemoth, whom I created along with you, eats hay like an ox ✟ ¹¹His strength is in his lower back, and his power is in the center of his abdomen ✟ ¹²He draws up his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs have been drawn together ✟ ¹³His bones are like pipes of brass; his cartilage is like plates of iron ✟ ¹⁴He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him; he will use him as his sword ✟ ¹⁵The mountains bring forth grass for him; all the beasts of the field will play there ✟ ¹⁶He sleeps in the shadows, under the cover of branches, and in moist places ✟ ¹⁷The shadows cover his shadow; the willows of the brook will encircle him ✟ ¹⁸Behold, he will drink a river and not be amazed, and he has confidence that the Jordan could flow into his mouth ✟ ¹⁹He will seize him through his eyes, as if with a hook, and he will bore through his nostrils, as if with stakes ✟ ²⁰Can you draw out the leviathan with a hook, and can you bind his tongue with a cord ✟ ²¹Can you place a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with an arm band ✟ ²²Will he offer many prayers to you, or speak to you quietly ✟ ²³Will he form a covenant with you, and will you accept him as a servant forever ✟ ²⁴Will you play with him as with a bird, or tether him for your handmaids ✟ ²⁵Will your friends cut him into pieces, will dealers distribute him ✟ ²⁶Will you fill up bags with his hide, and let his head be used as a home for fishes ✟ ²⁷Place your hand upon him; remember the battle and speak no more ✟ ²⁸Behold, his hope will fail him, and in the sight of all, he will be thrown down ✟

Chapter 41

¹I will not rouse him, as the cruel would do, for who is able to withstand my countenance ✟ ²Who has given to me beforehand, so that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine ✟ ³I will not spare him, nor his powerful words and counterfeit attempts at supplication ✟ ⁴Who can reveal the beauty of his garment? And who can enter the middle of his mouth ✟ ⁵Who can open the doors of his face? I gave fear to the circle of his teeth ✟ ⁶His body is like shields fused together, like dense scales pressed over one another ✟ ⁷One is joined to another, and not even air can pass between them ✟ ⁸They adhere to one another, and they hold themselves in place and will not be separated ✟ ⁹His sneezing has the brilliance of fire, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning ✟ ¹⁰Lamps proceed from his mouth, like torches of fire burning brightly ✟ ¹¹Smoke passes out of his nostrils, like a pot that is heated and boiling ✟ ¹²His breath causes coal to burn, and a flame comes forth from his mouth ✟ ¹³Strength dwells in his neck, and destitution goes before his presence ✟ ¹⁴The parts of his body work in harmony together. He will send lightning bolts against him, and they will not be carried to another place ✟ ¹⁵His heart will be as hard as a stone and as dense as a blacksmith’s anvil ✟ ¹⁶When he will be raised up, the angels will be afraid, and, because they are terrified, they will purify themselves ✟ ¹⁷When a sword catches up with him, it will not be able to settle in, nor a spear, nor a breastplate ✟ ¹⁸For he will consider iron as if it were chaff, and brass as if it were rotten wood ✟ ¹⁹The archer will not cause him to flee; the stones of the sling have been turned into stubble for him ✟ ²⁰He will treat the hammer as if it were stubble, and he will ridicule those who brandish the spear ✟ ²¹The beams of the sun will be under him, and he will dispense gold to them as if it were clay ✟ ²²He will make the depths of the sea boil like a pot, and he will set it to bubble just as ointments do ✟ ²³A path will shine after him; he will esteem the abyss as if it were weakening with age ✟ ²⁴There is no power on the earth that is being compared to him, who has been made so that he fears no one ✟ ²⁵He sees every prominent thing; he is king over all the sons of arrogance ✟

Chapter 42

¹Then Job, responding to the Lord, said ✟ ²I know that you are able to do all things, and that no thoughts are hidden from you ✟ ³So, who is it that would disguise a lack of knowledge as counsel? Therefore, I have been speaking foolishly, about things whose measure exceeds my knowledge ✟ ⁴Listen, and I will speak. I will question you, and you may answer me ✟ ⁵By paying attention with the ear, I have heard you, but now my eye sees you ✟ ⁶Therefore, I find myself reprehensible, and I will do penance in embers and ashes ✟ ⁷But after the Lord had finished speaking these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath has been kindled against you, and against your two friends, because you have not been speaking correctly in my eyes, as my servant Job has done ✟ ⁸Therefore, have seven bulls and seven rams brought to you, and go to my servant Job, and offer these as a holocaust for yourselves. But also, my servant Job will pray for you; I will accept his face, so that foolishness will not be imputed to you. For you have not been speaking correctly about me, as my servant Job has done ✟ ⁹So Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Zophar the Naamathite departed, and they did just as the Lord had spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job ✟ ¹⁰Likewise, the Lord was moved by the repentance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave to Job twice as much as he had before ✟ ¹¹Yet all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and everyone who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house. They also shook their heads over him and comforted him, because of all the bad things that God had inflicted on him. And each one of them gave him one female sheep, and one earring of gold ✟ ¹²And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job even more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand pairs of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys ✟ ¹³And he had seven sons and three daughters ✟ ¹⁴And he called the name of one, Daylight, and the name of the second, Cinnamon, and the name of the third, Horn of Cosmetics ✟ ¹⁵And, in the whole world, there were not found women so beautiful as the daughters of Job. And so their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers ✟ ¹⁶But Job lived long after these events, for a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children’s children, all the way to the fourth generation, and he died an old man and full of days ✟