Job 3:1-22:15

Common English Bible

² Job said:
³ Perish the day I was born,
    the night someone said,
    “A boy has been conceived.”
⁴ That day—let it be darkness;
    may God above ignore it,
    and light not shine on it.
⁵ May deepest darkness claim it
    and a cloud linger over it;
    may all that darkens the day terrify it.
⁶ May gloom seize that night;
    may it not be counted in the days of a year;
    may it not appear in the months.
⁷ May that night be childless;
    may no happy singing come in it.
⁸ May those who curse the day curse it,
    those with enough skill to awaken Leviathan.
⁹ May its evening stars stay dark;
    may it wait in vain for light;
    may it not see dawn’s gleam,
¹⁰     because it didn’t close the doors of my mother’s womb,^[a]
    didn’t hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ Why didn’t I die at birth,
    come forth from the womb and die?
¹² Why did knees receive me
    and breasts let me nurse?
¹³ For now I would be lying down quietly;
    I’d sleep; rest would be mine
¹⁴         with kings and earth’s advisors,
        who rebuild ruins for themselves,
¹⁵         or with princes who have gold,
        who fill their houses with silver.
¹⁶ Or why wasn’t I like a buried miscarried infant,
    like babies who never see light?
¹⁷ There the wicked rage no more;
    there the weak rest.
¹⁸ Prisoners are entirely at ease;
    they don’t hear a boss’s voice.
¹⁹ Both small and great are there;
    a servant is free from his masters.
²⁰ Why is light given to the hard worker,
    life to those bitter of soul,
²¹     those waiting in vain for death,
        who search for it more than for treasure,
²²     who rejoice excitedly,
        who are thrilled when they find a grave?
²³ Why is light given^[b] to the person whose way is hidden,
    whom God has fenced in?
²⁴ My groans become my bread;
    my roars pour out like water.
²⁵ Because I was afraid of something awful,
    and it arrived;
    what I dreaded came to me.
²⁶ I had no ease, quiet, or rest,
    and trembling came.

² If one tries to answer you, will you be annoyed?
    But who can hold words back?
³ Look, you’ve instructed many
    and given strength to drooping hands.
⁴ Your words have raised up the falling;
    you’ve steadied failing knees.
⁵ But now it comes to you, and you are dismayed;
    it has struck you, and you are frightened.
⁶ Isn’t your religion the source of^[c] your confidence;
    the integrity of your conduct, the source of your hope?

⁷ Think! What innocent person has ever perished?
    When have those who do the right thing been destroyed?
⁸ As I’ve observed, those who plow sin
    and sow trouble will harvest it.
⁹ When God breathes deeply, they perish;
    by a breath of his nostril they are annihilated.
¹⁰ The roar of a lion and snarl of the king of beasts—
    yet the teeth of lions are shattered;
¹¹         the lion perishes without prey,
            and its cubs are scattered.

¹² But a word sneaked up on me;
    my ears caught a hint of it.
¹³ In profound thoughts, visions of night,
    when deep sleep falls on people,
¹⁴         fear and dread struck me;
            all of my bones shook.
¹⁵ A breeze swept by my face;
    the hair of my skin bristled.
¹⁶ It stopped. I didn’t recognize its visible form,
    although a figure was in front of my eyes.
Silence! Then I heard a voice:
¹⁷     “Can a human be more righteous than God,
        a person purer than their maker?”

¹⁸ If he doesn’t trust his servants
        and levels a charge against his messengers,
¹⁹     how much less those who dwell in houses of clay,
        whose foundations are in dust,
        and who are crushed like a moth?
²⁰ They are smashed between morning and evening;
    they perish forever without anyone knowing.
²¹ Isn’t their tent cord pulled up?
    They die without wisdom.^[d]

5 Call out. Will anyone answer you?
    To which holy one will you turn?
² Surely anger can kill the foolish;
    fury can kill the simple.
³ I’ve seen the foolish take root
    and promptly curse their house.
⁴ Their children are far^[e] from safety,
    crushed in the gate without a deliverer.
⁵ The hungry devour^[f] their crops;
    it’s taken even from the thorns,^[g]
    and the thirsty pant after their yield.
⁶ Surely trouble doesn’t come from dust,
    nor does distress sprout from the ground.
⁷ Surely humans are born to distress,
    just as sparks rise up.

⁸ But I would seek God,
        put my case to God,
⁹     who does great things beyond comprehension,
    wonderful things without number;
¹⁰     who provides rain over the earth’s surface,
    sends water to the open country,
¹¹     exalts the lowly,
        raises mourners to victory;
¹²     who frustrates the schemes of the clever
        so that their hands achieve no success,
¹³     trapping the wise in their cleverness
            so that the plans of the devious don’t succeed.
¹⁴ They encounter darkness during the day,
    and at noon they fumble about as at night.
¹⁵ Yet he rescues the orphan^[h] from the sword of their mouth,
    the needy from the grip of the strong;
¹⁶         so the poor have hope
        and violence shuts its mouth.

¹⁷ Look, happy is the person whom God corrects;
    so don’t reject the Almighty’s instruction.
¹⁸ He injures, but he binds up;
    he strikes, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ From six adversities he will deliver you;
    from seven harm won’t touch you.
²⁰ In famine he will ransom you from death;
    in war, from the power of the sword.
²¹ You will be hidden from the tongue’s sting,
    and you won’t fear destruction when it comes.
²² You will laugh at destruction and hunger;
    you won’t be afraid of wild beasts;
²³         for you will make an agreement with the stones of the field;
        and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure.
    You will examine your home and miss nothing.
²⁵ You will know that you’ll have many children.
    Your offspring will be like the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You will come to your grave in old age
    as bundles of grain stacked up at harvesttime.
²⁷ Look, we’ve searched this out, and so it is;
    listen and find out for yourself.

² Oh, that my grief were actually weighed,
    all of it were lifted up in scales;
³     for now it’s heavier than the sands of the sea;
        therefore, my words are rash.^[i]
4 The Almighty’s arrows are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison,
    and God’s terrors are arrayed against me.
⁵ Does a donkey bray over grass
    or an ox bellow over its fodder?
⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt,
    or does egg white^[j] have taste?
⁷ I refuse to touch them;
    they resemble food for the sick.

⁸ Oh, that what I’ve requested would come
        and God grant my hope;
⁹     that God be willing to crush me,
    release his hand and cut me off.
¹⁰ I’d still take comfort,
    relieved^[k] even though in persistent pain;
        for I’ve not denied the words of the holy one.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should hope;
    my end, that my life should drag on?
¹² Is my strength that of rocks,
    my flesh bronze?
¹³ I don’t have a helper for myself;
    success has been taken from me.

¹⁴ Are friends loyal to the one who despairs,^[l]
    or do they stop fearing the Almighty?
¹⁵ My companions are treacherous like a stream in the desert,
    like channels that overrun their streambeds,
¹⁶     like those darkened by thawing ice,
        in which snow is obscured
¹⁷     but that stop flowing in dry times
        and vanish from their channels in heat.
¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their paths;
    they go up into untamed areas and perish.
¹⁹ Caravans from Tema look;
    merchants from Sheba hope for it.
²⁰ They are ashamed that they trusted;
    they arrive and are dismayed.
²¹ That’s what you are like;^[m]
    you see something awful and are afraid.

²² Have I said, “Give me something?
    Offer a bribe from your wealth for me?
²³     Rescue me from the hand of my enemy?
    Ransom me from the grip of the ruthless?”
²⁴ Instruct me and I’ll be quiet;
    inform me how I’ve erred.
²⁵ How painful are truthful words,
    but what do your condemnations accomplish?
²⁶ Do you intend to correct my words,
    to treat the words of a hopeless man as wind?
²⁷ Would you even gamble over an orphan,
    barter away your friend?
²⁸ Now look at me—
    would I lie to your face?
²⁹ Turn! Don’t be faithless.
    Turn now! I am righteous.
³⁰ Is there wrong on my tongue,
    or can my mouth not recognize disaster?

7 Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth,
    our days like those of a hired worker?
²         Like a slave we pant for a shadow,
            await our task like a hired worker.
³ So I have inherited months of emptiness;
    nights of toil have been measured out for me.
⁴ If I lie down and think—When will I get up?—
    night drags on,^[n] and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.
⁵ My flesh is covered with worms and crusted earth;
    my skin hardens and oozes.
⁶ My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;
    they reach their end without hope.^[o]
7 Remember that my life is wind;
    my eyes won’t see pleasure again.
⁸ The eye that sees me now will no longer look on me;
    your eyes will be on me, and I won’t exist.
⁹ A cloud breaks apart and moves on—
    like the one who descends to the grave^[p] and won’t rise,
¹⁰         won’t return home again,
        won’t be recognized in town anymore.

¹¹ But I won’t keep quiet;
    I will speak in the adversity of my spirit,
    groan in the bitterness of my life.
¹² Am I Sea^[q] or the Sea Monster^[r]
    that you place me under guard?
¹³ If I say, “My couch will comfort me,”
    my bed will diminish my murmuring.
¹⁴ You scare me with dreams,
    frighten me with visions.
¹⁵ I would choose strangling
    and death instead of my bones.
¹⁶ I reject life;^[s] I don’t want to live long;
    leave me alone, for my days are empty.

¹⁷ What are human beings, that you exalt them,
    that you take note of them,
¹⁸     visit them each morning,
    test them every moment?
¹⁹ Why not look away from me;
    let me alone until I swallow my spit?
²⁰ If I sinned, what did I do to you,
    guardian of people?
Why have you made me your target
    so that I’m a burden to myself?
²¹ Why not forgive my sin,
    overlook my iniquity?
Then I would lie down in the dust;
    you would search hard for me,
    and I would not exist.

² How long will you mouth such things
    such that your utterances become a strong wind?
³ Does God pervert justice,
    or does the Almighty distort what is right?
⁴ If your children sinned against him,
    then he delivered them into the power of their rebellion.
⁵ If you will search eagerly for God,
    plead with the Almighty.
⁶ If you are pure and do the right thing,
    then surely he will become active on your behalf
    and reward your innocent dwelling.
⁷ Although your former state was ordinary,
    your future will be extraordinary.

⁸ Ask a previous generation
        and verify the findings of your ancestors,
⁹     for we are only recently here and don’t know
        because our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰ Won’t they instruct you and tell you;
    will words not^[t] proceed from their hearts?

¹¹ Does papyrus grow apart from a marsh?
    Does a reed flourish without water?
¹²         While still tender, uncut,
        it will wither before every other grass.
¹³ So are the paths of all who forget God.
    Hope perishes for the godless,
¹⁴     whose confidence is a fragile thing,^[u]
        their trust, a spider’s web.
¹⁵ He leans on its web, and it doesn’t stand;
    grasps it, and it can’t remain in place.
¹⁶ It’s like a well-watered plant in the sun;
    its runners spread over its gardens.
¹⁷ Its roots are entwined over a pile of rocks,
    for it sees a home among stones.
¹⁸ If it’s uprooted from its place,
    it lies, saying, “I can’t see you.”
¹⁹ Surely its way is a joy,
    for from the dust other plants^[v] sprout.

²⁰ Surely God won’t reject integrity,
    won’t strengthen the hand of the wicked.
²¹ He will still fill your mouth with joy,
    your lips with a victorious shout.
²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
    and the tent of the wicked will vanish.

² I know for certain that this is so;
    and how can anyone be innocent before God?
³ If one wants to contend with him,
    he won’t answer one in a thousand.
⁴ He is wise^[w] and powerful;
    who can resist him and prosper?
⁵ Who removes mountains, and they are unaware;
    who overthrows them in anger?
⁶ Who shakes the earth from its place,
    and its pillars shudder?
⁷ Who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
    even seals up the stars;
⁸     stretched out the heavens alone
    and trod on the waves of the Sea;^[x]
9     made the Bear and Orion, Pleiades
    and the southern constellations;
¹⁰     does great and unsearchable things,
    wonders beyond number?

¹¹ If God goes by me, I can’t see him;
    he glides past, and I can’t perceive him.
¹² If he seizes, who can bring back?
    Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
¹³ God won’t retract his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
¹⁴ Yet I myself will answer him;
    I’ll choose my words in a contest^[y] with him.
¹⁵ Even if I’m innocent, I can’t answer;
    I must plead for justice.
¹⁶ If I were to call and he answered me,
    I couldn’t believe that he heard my voice.
¹⁷ Who bruises me with a tempest
    and multiplies my wounds for no reason?
¹⁸ He doesn’t let me catch my breath,
    for he fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If the issue is strength—behold power!
    If justice—who calls God to meet me?

²⁰ If I’m innocent, my mouth condemns me;
    I have integrity; but God declares me perverse.
²¹ I’m blameless, yet don’t know myself;
    I reject my life.
²² It’s all the same;
    therefore, I say God destroys the blameless and the sinners.
²³ If calamity suddenly kills,
    he mocks at the slaying^[z] of innocents.
²⁴ The earth is handed over to the wicked;
    he covers the faces of its judges.
    If not God, then who does?

²⁵ My days are swifter than a runner;
    they flee and don’t experience good.
²⁶ They sweep by like ships made of reeds,
    as an eagle swoops on prey.
²⁷ If I say, “I’ll forget my lament,
    put on a different face so I can smile,”
²⁸     I’m still afraid of all my suffering;
        I know that you won’t declare me innocent.
²⁹ I myself am thought guilty;
    why have I tried so hard in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow,
        purify my hands with soap,
³¹     then you’ll hurl me into a slimy pit
        so that my clothes detest me.
³² God is not a man like me—someone I could answer—
    so that we could come together in court.
³³ Oh, that^[aa] there were a mediator between us;
    he would lay his hand on both of us,
³⁴     remove his rod from me,
        so his fury wouldn’t frighten me.
³⁵ Then I would speak—unafraid—
    for I’m not that way.

10 I loathe my life; I will let loose my complaint;
    I will speak out of my own bitterness.
² I will say to God, Don’t declare me guilty;
    tell me what you are accusing me of doing.
³ Does it seem good to you that you oppress me,
    that you reject the work of your hands
    and cause the purpose of sinners to shine?
⁴ Do you have physical eyes;
    do you see like a human?
⁵ Are your days like those of a human,
    your years like years of a human,
⁶         that you search for my wrongdoing
        and seek my sin?
⁷ You know that I’m not guilty,
    yet no one delivers me from your power.

⁸ Your hands fashioned and made me;
    yet you want to destroy me utterly.
⁹ Remember that you made me from^[ab] clay,
    and you will return me to dust.
¹⁰ Didn’t you pour me out like milk,
    curdle me like cheese?
¹¹ You clothed me with skin and flesh,
    wove me from bones and sinews.
¹² Life and kindness you gave me,
    and you oversaw and preserved my breath.

¹³ These things you hid in your heart;
    I know this is the case with you.
¹⁴ If I sin and you observe me,
    you won’t consider me innocent of wrongdoing.
¹⁵ If I were guilty, doom to me;
    I’m innocent, but can’t lift my head,
    full of shame and facing my misery.
¹⁶ I could boast like a lion, and you would hunt me;
    you would do awesome things to me again.
¹⁷ You continue to send your witnesses against me
    and increase your anger toward me,
        a swift army against me.^[ac]

¹⁸ Why did you let me emerge from the womb?
    I wish I had died without any eye seeing me.
¹⁹ Then I would be just as if I hadn’t existed,
    taken from the belly to the grave.
²⁰ Aren’t my few days coming to an end?
Look away from me so I can brighten up a little
²¹     before I go and don’t return
    to a land of deepest darkness,
²²     a land whose light is like gloom,
        utter darkness and confusion,
        such that light shines like gloom.

² Should all these words go unanswered
    or a wordy man be justified?
³ Will your idle talk silence everyone;
    will you mock and not be put to shame?
⁴ You’ve said, “My teaching is pure,
    and I’m clean in God’s^[ad] eyes.”

⁵ But oh, that God would speak,
    open his lips against you
⁶     and tell you secrets of wisdom;
        for sound insight has two sides.
Know that God lets some of your sin be forgotten.
⁷ Can you find the secret of God
    or find the extent of the Almighty?
⁸ They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
    Deeper than the underworld^[ae]—what can you know?
⁹ Its measurement is longer than the earth
    and broader than the sea.
¹⁰ If God passes by, imprisons someone, and calls a trial,
    who can stop him?
¹¹ He knows worthless people,
    sees sin, and certainly^[af] takes note.
¹² A stupid person becomes intelligent
    when a wild ass of a person is born tame.^[ag]

¹³ If you make your mind resolute
        and spread your palms to him,
¹⁴     if you throw out the sin in your hands
        and don’t let injustice dwell in your tents,
¹⁵     then you will lift up your face without blemish;
        you will be secure and not fear.
¹⁶ You will forget trouble;
    you will remember it as water that flows past.
¹⁷ A life span will rise brighter than noon;
    darkness will be like morning.
¹⁸ You will be secure, for there is hope;
    you will look around and rest safely.
¹⁹ You will lie down without anyone to scare you;
    many will beg for your favor.
²⁰ The eyes of the wicked will grow faint;
    flight has vanished from them;
    their hope is a dying gasp.

² Surely you are the people,
    and wisdom will die with you.
³ I am also intelligent;
    I’m not inferior to you.
    Who isn’t like these people?^[ah]
4 I’m a joke to friends
        who called to God and he answered;
    the innocent and blameless one is a joke,
⁵     a torch^[ai] of contempt to one who is idle,
    a fixed point for slipping feet.

⁶ Raiders’ tents are prosperous
    and God’s provokers secure,
    who carry God in their hands.^[aj]
7 But ask Behemoth, and he will teach you,
    the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
⁸     or talk to earth, and it will teach you;
    the fish of the sea will recount it for you.
⁹ Among all these, who hasn’t known
    that the Lord’s hand did this?
¹⁰ In whose grasp is the life of every thing,
    the breath of every person?
¹¹ Doesn’t the ear test words
    and the palate taste food?
¹² “In old age is wisdom;
    understanding in a long life.”

¹³ With him are wisdom and power;
    counsel and understanding are his.
¹⁴ If he tears down, it can’t be rebuilt;
    if he ties a person up, he can’t be set free.
¹⁵ If he restricts water, they have drought;
    if he lets it loose, it overturns the land.
¹⁶ With him are might and success;
    the deceiver and the deceived are his.
¹⁷ He leads advisors away barefoot;
        makes madmen of judges;
¹⁸     unties the belt of kings,
        binds a garment around their loins;
¹⁹     leads priests away barefoot;
    overthrows the well-established;
²⁰     silences the talk of trusted people;
    takes away elders’ discernment;
²¹     pours contempt on royalty;
    loosens the belt of the strong;
²²     discloses deep secrets of darkness,
    makes utter darkness enter the light;
²³     makes nations prominent and destroys them,
    expands nations and leads them astray;
²⁴     takes away the power to think from earth’s leaders,
    making them wander in untraveled wastelands.
²⁵     They feel their way in the dark without light;
        he makes them stumble like drunks.

13 Look, my eye has seen it all;
    my ear has heard and understood it.
² Just as you know, I also know;
    I’m not inferior to you.
³ But I want to speak to the Almighty;
    I would gladly present my case to God.

⁴ You, however, are plasterers of lies;
    ineffective healers, all of you.
⁵ Would that you were completely quiet;
    that would be your wisdom.
⁶ Hear my teaching
    and pay attention to the arguments of my lips.
⁷ Will you speak injustice for God,
    speak deceit on his behalf?
⁸ Will you be partial
    or contend for God?
⁹ Will it go well when he searches you,
    or can you fool him as you fool people?
¹⁰ He will certainly correct you
    if you’ve been secretly partial.
¹¹ Wouldn’t his majesty scare you
    and dread of him fall on you?
¹² Your old sayings are proverbs made of ashes,
    your sayings defenses made of clay.

¹³ Be quiet and I will speak,
    come what may.
¹⁴ For what reason will I take my flesh in my teeth,
    put my life in jeopardy?
¹⁵ He will slay me; I’m without hope;^[ak]
    I will surely prove my way to his face.
¹⁶ Also this will be my vindication,
    that a godless person won’t come before him.
¹⁷ Listen closely to my words
    so that my remarks will be in your ears.

¹⁸ Look, I have laid out my case;
    I know that I’m innocent.
¹⁹ Who would dare contend with me,
    for then I would be quiet and die.
²⁰ Only don’t do two things to me,
    then I won’t hide from your face.
²¹ Remove your hand far from me
    and don’t terrify me with your anger.
²² Then call and I’ll answer,
    or I’ll speak and you can reply.
²³ How many are my offenses and sins?
    Inform me about my rebellions and sins.
²⁴ Why hide your face from me
    and consider me your enemy?
²⁵ Will you cause a wind-tossed leaf to tremble, or will you pursue dry straw?
²⁶ You even write bitter things about me,
    make me inherit my youthful indiscretions.
²⁷ You tie up my feet and restrict all actions;
    you stamp marks on the bottom of my feet.

²⁸ Surely a person wastes away like refuse,
    like clothing that a moth eats.

14 All of us^[al] are born of women,
    have few days, and are full of turmoil.
² Like a flower, we^[am] bloom, then wither,
    flee like a shadow, and don’t last.
(³ Yes, you open your eyes on this one;
    you bring me into trial against you.)
⁴ Who can make pure from impure?
    Nobody.
⁵ If our days are fixed, the number of our months with you,
    you set a statute and we can’t exceed it.
⁶ Look away from us that we may rest,
    until we are satisfied like a worker at day’s end.

⁷ Indeed there is hope for a tree.
    If it’s cut down and still sprouting
    and its shoots don’t fail,
⁸     if its roots age in the ground
        and its stump dies in the dust,
⁹     at the scent of water, it will bud
        and produce sprouts like a plant.
¹⁰ But a human dies and lies there;
    a person expires, and where is he?
¹¹ Water vanishes from the sea;
    a river dries up completely.
¹² But a human lies down and doesn’t rise
        until the heavens cease;
    they don’t get up and awaken from sleep.

¹³ I wish you would hide me in the underworld,^[an]
    conceal me until your anger passes,
    set a time for me, and remember me.
¹⁴ If people die, will they live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait
        until my restoration took place.
¹⁵ You would call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for your handiwork.
¹⁶ Though you now number my steps,
    you would not keep a record of my sin.
¹⁷ My rebellion is sealed in a bag;
    you would cover my sin.

¹⁸ But an eroding mountain breaks up,
    and rock is displaced.
¹⁹ Water wears away boulders;
    floods carry away soil;
    you destroy a people’s hope.
²⁰ You overpower them relentlessly, and they die;
    you change their appearance and send them away.
²¹ Their children achieve honor, and they don’t know it;
    their children become insignificant, and they don’t see it.
²² They only feel the pain of their body,
    and they mourn for themselves.

² Will the wise respond with windy knowledge
    and fill their belly with the east wind?
³ Will they argue with a word that has no benefit
    and with unprofitable words?
⁴ You are truly making religion ineffective
    and restraining meditation before God.
⁵ Your mouth multiplies your sins a thousand times;
    you opt for a clever tongue.
⁶ Your mouth condemns you, not I;
    your lips argue against you.
⁷ Were you born the first Adam,
    brought forth before the hills?
⁸ Did you listen in God’s council;
    is wisdom limited to you?
⁹ What do you know that we don’t know;
    what do you understand that isn’t among us?
¹⁰ Both the graybeard and the aged are with us;
    those much older than your father.
¹¹ Are God’s comforts not enough for you,
    a word spoken gently with you?
¹² Why has your mind seized you,
    why have your eyes flashed,
¹³     so that you return your breath to God
    and utter such words from your mouth?
¹⁴ What are humans that they might be pure,
    and those born of woman that they might be innocent?
¹⁵ If he doesn’t trust his holy ones
    and the heavens aren’t pure in his eyes,
¹⁶     how much less those who are abominable and corrupt,
        for they drink sin like water.

¹⁷ Listen to me; I will argue with you;
    what I’ve seen, I will declare to you;
¹⁸     what the wise have told and have not concealed from their family,
¹⁹     to whom alone the earth was given
        and no stranger passed in their midst.
²⁰ All the days of the wicked are painful;
    the number of years reserved for the hateful;
²¹ a sound of terror pierces^[ao] their ears;
    when safe, raiders overtake them.
²² They can’t count on turning away from darkness;
    they are destined for a sword.
²³ They wander about for bread. “Where is it?”
    They know that their day of darkness is fixed.
²⁴ Adversity and stress scare them,
    master them like a king ready to strike;
²⁵     for they raise a fist against God
        and try to overpower the Almighty.
²⁶ They run toward him aggressively,
    with a massive and strong shield.
²⁷ They cover their face with grease
    and make their loins gross.
²⁸ They lived in ruined cities,
    unoccupied houses that turn to rubble.
²⁹ They won’t get rich; their wealth won’t last;
    their property won’t extend over the earth.
³⁰ They can’t turn away from darkness;
    a flame will dry out their shoots,
        and they will be taken away by the wind from his mouth.
³¹ They shouldn’t trust in what has no worth,
    for their reward will be worthless.
³² Before their branch is formed,
        before it is green,
³³     like the vine, they will drop early grapes
        and cast off their blossoms like the olive.
³⁴ The ruthless gang is barren,
        and fire consumes the tents of bribers.
³⁵     They conceive toil and give birth to sorrow;
        their belly establishes deceit.

² I’ve heard many things like these.
    All of you are sorry comforters.
³ Will windy talk ever cease;
    what bothers you that you must argue?
⁴ In your situation I could speak like you;
    I could put words together to oppose you,
    shake my head over you.
⁵ I could heap up words, strengthen you with my speech;
    my trembling lips would be held in check.
⁶ If I speak, my pain is not eased;
    if I hold back, what have I lost?

⁷ Now God has surely worn me out.
    You have destroyed my entire group,
⁸     seized me, which became grounds for an accusation.^[ap]
My leanness rises to bear witness against me.
⁹ His anger tears me and afflicts me;
    he slashes at me with his teeth.
    My enemy pierces me with his eyes.
¹⁰ They open their mouths at me
    and strike my cheek in a taunt;
        they gang up on me.
¹¹ God delivers me to a criminal
    and forces me into the hands of the wicked.
¹² I was at rest, but he shattered me,
    seized me by the back of my neck,
    dashed me into pieces;
        he raised me up for his target.
¹³ His archers surround me;
    he cuts my kidneys open without pity and doesn’t care,
        pours my gall on the ground,
¹⁴     bursts me open over and over,
        runs against me like a strong man.
¹⁵ I’ve sewed rough cloth over my skin
    and buried my dignity in the dust.
¹⁶ My face is red from crying,
    and dark gloom hangs on my eyelids.
¹⁷ But there is no violence in my hands,
    and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ Earth, don’t cover my blood;
    let my outcry never cease.
¹⁹ Surely now my witness stands in heaven;
    my advocate is on high;
²⁰     my go-between, my friend.^[aq]
While my eyes drip tears to God,
²¹     let him plead with God for a human being,
    like a person pleads for a friend.
²² A number of years will surely pass,
    and then I’ll walk a path that I won’t return.

17 My spirit is broken,
    my days extinguished,
    the grave,^[ar] mine.
² Surely mockers are with me,
    and my eye looks on their rebellion.
³ Take my guarantee.
    Who else is willing to make an agreement?
⁴ You’ve closed their mind to insight;
    therefore, you won’t be exalted.
⁵ He denounces his friends for gain,
    and his children’s eyes fail.
⁶ He makes me a popular proverb;
    I’m like spit in people’s faces.
⁷ My eye is weak from grief;
    my limbs like a shadow—all of them.
⁸ Those who do the right thing are amazed at this;
    the guiltless become troubled about the godless.
⁹ The innocent clings to his way;
    the one whose hands are clean grows stronger.
¹⁰ But you can bring all of them again,
    and I won’t find a wise one among you.
¹¹ My days have passed;
    my goals are destroyed, my heart’s desires.
¹² They turn night into day;
    light is near because of the darkness.
¹³ If I hope for the underworld^[as] as my dwelling,
    lay out my bed in darkness,
¹⁴     I’ve called corruption “my father,”
    the worm, “my mother and sister.”
¹⁵     Where then is my hope?
        My hope—who can see it?
¹⁶ Will they go down with me to the underworld;^[at]
    will we descend together to the dust?

² How long? Would you all stop talking.
    Try to understand and then we can speak.
³ Why are we considered beasts,
    ignorant in your sight?
⁴ To you who tear yourself in rage—
    will earth be forsaken for your sake,
    a rock be dislodged from its place?

⁵ To be sure, the light of the wicked goes out;
    the blaze of their fire doesn’t shine.
⁶ The light in their tent becomes dark,
    and their lamp above doesn’t shine.
⁷ Their strong strides slow down;
    their plans trip themselves.
⁸ They are caught by their feet in a net;
    they walk on mesh.
⁹ A trap grabs them by the heel;
    a snare tightens on them.
¹⁰ A rope is hidden on the ground for them;
    a trap for them along the path.
¹¹ Terrors round about scare them;
    they follow their steps.
¹² Their offspring hunger;
    calamity is ready for their spouses.
¹³ It eats some of their skin.
    Death’s firstborn consumes their limbs.
¹⁴ They are snatched from the safety of their tent;
    it parades them before the king of terrors.
¹⁵ Nothing they own remains in their tent;
    sulfur is scattered over their home.
¹⁶ Their roots dry out below;
    their branches wither above.
¹⁷ The memory of them will perish from the earth;
    they will achieve no recognition abroad.
¹⁸ They are thrust from light into darkness,
    banished from the world.
¹⁹ They have no offspring or descendants among their people,
    no survivor in their dwelling place.
²⁰ Their successors are appalled at what happens to them;
    their predecessors pull their hair.
²¹ These are surely the dwelling places of the evil;
    this is the place of the one who doesn’t know God.

² How long will you harass me
    and crush me with words?
³ These ten times you’ve humiliated me;
    shamelessly you insult me.
⁴ Have I really gone astray?
    If so, my error remains hidden inside me.
⁵ If you look down on me
        and use my disgrace to criticize me,
⁶     know then that God has wronged me
        and enclosed his net over me.

⁷ If I cry “Violence!” I’m not answered;
    I shout—but there is no justice.
⁸ He walled up my path so I can’t pass
        and put darkness on my trail,
⁹     stripped my honor from me,
        removed the crown from my head,
¹⁰     tore me down completely so that I’ll die, and uprooted my hope like a tree.
¹¹ His anger burns against me;
    he considers me his enemy.
¹² His troops come as one
    and construct their siege ramp^[au] against me;
    they camp around my tent.

¹³ He has distanced my family from me;
    my acquaintances are also alienated from me.
¹⁴ My visitors have ceased;
    those who know me have forgotten me.
¹⁵ My guests and female servants think me a stranger;
    I’m a foreigner in their sight.
¹⁶ I call my servant, and he doesn’t answer;
    I myself must beg him.
¹⁷ My breath stinks to my wife;
    I am odious to my children.
¹⁸ Even the young despise me;
    I get up, and they rail against me.
¹⁹ All my closest friends despise me;
    the ones I have loved turn against me.

²⁰ My bones cling to my skin and flesh;
    I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
²¹ Pity me. Pity me. You’re my friends.
    God’s hand has truly struck me.
²² Why do you pursue me like God does,
    always hungry for my flesh?

²³ Oh, that my words were written down,
        inscribed on a scroll
²⁴     with an iron instrument and lead,
        forever engraved on stone.
²⁵ But I know that my redeemer^[av] is alive
        and afterward he’ll rise upon the dust.
²⁶ After my skin has been torn apart this way—
    then from my flesh^[aw] I’ll see God,
²⁷         whom I’ll see myself—
        my eyes see,^[ax] and not a stranger’s.
    I am utterly dejected.

²⁸ You say, “How will we pursue him
    so that the root of the matter can be found in him?”^[ay]
29 You ought to fear the sword yourselves,
    for wrath brings punishment by the sword.
    You should know that there is judgment.

² Therefore, my troubled thoughts make me turn back—
    because of my inner turmoil.
³ I hear teaching that insults me,
    but I am forced to answer based on my own understanding.^[az]
4 Do you know this from long ago—
        from when humans were placed on earth—
⁵     that the rejoicing of the wicked is short,
        the joy of the godless, brief?
⁶ Though their height reaches heaven
    and their heads touch the clouds,
⁷     they will perish forever like their dung;
    those who saw them will say, “Where are they?”
⁸ They will disappear like a dream,
        and none will find them,
    carried away like a nighttime vision.
⁹ The eye that saw them will do so no more;
    they won’t be seen again at home.
¹⁰ Their children will repay the poor;
    their hands will give back their wealth.
¹¹ Vigor filled their bones
    and now sleeps with them in the dust.
¹² Though wickedness is sweet in their mouths,
    they hide it under their tongues;
¹³     they like it, won’t let it go;
    they hold it in their cheeks.
¹⁴ Food turns their stomachs,
    becoming a cobra’s poison inside.
¹⁵ They swallow wealth and vomit it;
    God dislodges it from their belly.
¹⁶ They suck cobra’s poison;
    a viper’s tongue kills them.
¹⁷ They won’t experience streams,
    rivers of honey, and brooks of cream.
¹⁸ They won’t receive the reward for their labor;
    they won’t enjoy the wealth from their business.
¹⁹ They crushed and abandoned the poor;
    stole a house they didn’t build;
²⁰     didn’t know contentment in their belly;
    couldn’t escape with their treasure.
²¹ Nothing remained of their food,
    so their riches will not endure.
²² Even in their plenty, they are hard-pressed;
    all sorts of trouble come on them.
²³ Let God^[ba] fill their belly,
    unleash his burning anger on them,
    rain punishing blows on them.
²⁴ If they flee an iron weapon,
    a bronze bow pierces them.
²⁵ They pull it out, but it sticks out from their backs;
    its shaft in their liver brings terror.
²⁶ Complete darkness waits for their treasured possessions;
    fire that no one stoked consumes them;
        what’s left in their tent is ruined.
²⁷ Heaven exposes their guilt;
    earth opposes them.
²⁸ Their household wealth will be carried off
    by rushing streams on the day of his anger.
²⁹ This is a wicked person’s lot from God,
    their heritage decreed by God.

² Listen carefully to my remarks
    and let that comfort you.
³ Bear with me so I can speak, I myself;
    and after my reply you can mock.
⁴ Are my complaints against another human;
    why is my patience short?
⁵ Turn to me and be appalled;
    lay your hand over your mouth.
⁶ If I recall it, I’m scared;
    shaking seizes my body.

⁷ Why do the wicked live,
    grow old, and even become strong?
⁸ Their children are always with them,
    their offspring in their sight,
⁹     their houses safe from dread,
    God’s punishing stick not upon them.
¹⁰ Their bull always breeds successfully;
    their cows give birth and never miscarry.
¹¹ They send forth their little ones like sheep;
    their infants bounce around.
¹² They raise drum and lyre,
    rejoice at the sound of a flute.
¹³ They spend their days contentedly,
    go down to the grave^[bb] peacefully.
¹⁴ They say to God, “Turn away from us;
    we take no pleasure in knowing your ways;
¹⁵     who is the Almighty^[bc] that we should serve him,
        and what can we gain if we meet him?”
¹⁶ Look, isn’t their well-being the work of their own hands?
    A sinner’s logic is beyond me.

¹⁷ How often does the lamp of the wicked flicker
    or disaster come upon them,
    with its fury inflicting pain on them?
¹⁸ Let them be like straw in the wind,
    like dry grass stolen by a storm.
¹⁹ God stores up his punishment for his children.
    Let him destroy them so they know.
²⁰     Let their own eyes witness their doom.
    Let them drink from the Almighty’s wrath.
²¹ What do they care about their household after they die,
    when their numbered days are cut off?

²² Will they instruct God—
    he who judges the most powerful?
²³ Someone dies in wonderful health,
    completely comfortable and well,
²⁴     their buckets full of milk,
    their bones marrow-filled and sound.
²⁵ Another dies in bitter spirit,
    never having tasted the good things.
²⁶ They lie together in the dust
    and worms cover them.

²⁷ Look, I know your thoughts;
    your plans harm me.
²⁸ You say, “Where is the official’s house?
    Where is the tent, the dwelling of the wicked?”
²⁹ Haven’t you asked travelers
    or paid attention to their reports?
³⁰ On the day of disaster the wicked are spared;
    on the day of fury they are rescued.
³¹ Who can criticize their behavior to their faces;
    they act, and who can avenge them?
³² They are carried to their graves;
    someone keeps guard over their tombs.
³³ The soil near the desert streambed is sweet to them;
    everyone marches after them—
    those before them, beyond counting.
³⁴ How empty is your comfort to me;
    only deceit remains in your responses.

² Can a human being be useful to God?
    Can an intelligent person bring profit?
³ Does the Almighty delight in your innocence?
    Does he gain when you perfect your ways?
⁴ Does he rebuke you for your piety,
    bring you in for judgment?
⁵ Isn’t your wickedness massive,
    your iniquity endless?
⁶ You have taken payments from your family for no reason;
    stripped the naked, leaving no clothes;
⁷     denied water to the thirsty,
    withheld bread from the starving.
(⁸ The powerful own land;
    the favored live in it.)
⁹ You have sent widows away empty;
    crushed orphans’ resources.
¹⁰ For this reason, snares surround you;
    sudden dread brings panic to you
¹¹     or a darkness that you can’t see;
    rushing water will cover you.

¹² Isn’t God in the heights of heaven;
    see how high the topmost stars are?
¹³ You say: “What does God know?
    Can he judge through thick clouds?
¹⁴     Clouds conceal him so he can’t see
        while he walks on heaven’s rim.”
¹⁵ Will you keep the ancient way
    traveled by sinful persons,