You do not give water to the tired traveller, and from him who has no food you keep back bread.

For it was the man with power who had the land, and the man with an honoured name who was living in it.

You have sent widows away without hearing their cause, and you have taken away the support of the child who has no father.

Who were snatched away before their time, Whose foundation was poured out as a stream,

Who said unto God, Depart from us; And, What can the Almighty do for us?

But it was He who filled their houses with good things.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!

The upright saw it and were glad: and those who had done no wrong made sport of them,

Is not he who rose against us destroyed, and doth not the fire consume his residue?

For who so humbleth himself, him shall he set up: and who so looketh meekly, shall be healed.

“He will even rescue the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent;
And he will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands.”

Who will give, I knew to find him: I will come even to his place.

“There the righteous and upright could reason with Him;
So I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.

But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

“It is God who has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

“Why does the Almighty not set seasons for judgment?
Why do those who know Him not see His days [for punishment of the wicked]?

There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.

They get mixed grain from the field, and they take away the late fruit from the vines of those who have wealth.

There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

Who make oil within their walls, and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.

From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.

“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;
They do not want to know its ways
Nor stay in its paths.

He who is purposing death gets up before day, so that he may put to death the poor and those in need.

Drought -- also heat -- consume snow-waters, Sheol those who have sinned.

Treating evil the barren who beareth not, And to the widow he doth no good,

Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

"Domination and dread [are] with him who makes peace in his high heavens.

Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?

How much less man, that maggot,
And the son of man, that worm!”

“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!
How you have saved the arm that is without strength!

“How you have counseled the one who has no wisdom!
And how abundantly you have provided sound wisdom and helpful insight!

To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

"Those who are deceased tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

“It is He who spreads out the north over emptiness
And hangs the earth on nothing.

Who bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent beneath them;

Who shutteth-in the face of the throne, he spreadeth over it his cloud;

Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

“May my enemy be as the wicked,
And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).

“Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And [their] widows will not be able to weep.

He may get them ready, but the upright will put them on, and he who is free from sin will take the silver for a heritage.

He breaks open a mine shaft {away from where people dwell}; [those] who are forgotten {by travelers}, they dangle, they sway [far away] from human beings.

Who doth make me as in months past, As in the days of God's preserving me?

For I delivered the afflicted that cried, and the fatherless who had no helper.

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

I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking.

I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn't know, I searched out.

“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king among his soldiers,
As one who comforts mourners.

“But now those younger than I mock and laugh at me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the sheepdogs of my flock.

Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?

In want and hunger, they were lean, - who used to gnaw the dry ground, a dark night of desolation!

Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.

“They are driven from the community;
They shout after them as after a thief.

They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land.

They mar my path. They set forward my calamity, [even] men who have no helper.

They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they'll roll on and on!

Yes, I know that You will lead me to death—
the place appointed for all who live.

“Did I not weep for one whose life was hard and filled with trouble?
Was not my heart grieved for the needy?

“Therefore my lyre (harp) is used for [the sound of] mourning,
And my flute for the [sound of the] voices of those who weep.

if not calamity that is due the unjust, and misfortune that is due those who practice iniquity?

“Did not He who made me in the womb make my servant,
And did not the same One fashion us both in the womb?

if I have seen [the one who] perishes because of no clothing or [that] there is no covering for the poor,

If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;

This also would be an iniquity for the judge, for I should have denied the God who is above.

“Have I rejoiced at the destruction of the enemy [who hated me],
Or exulted [in malicious triumph] when evil overtook him?

If the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one that hath not been filled with his meat?

Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written.

I said to myself, It is right for the old to say what is in their minds, and for those who are far on in years to give out wisdom.

“Those [who are] abundant in years may not [always] be wise,
Nor may the elders [always] understand justice.

And I directed my attention to you; and, look, there is no [one] for Job [who] refuted, answering his words among you.

since I don't know the first thing about how to flatter; and the one who made me would sweep me away as if I were nothing."

“Why do you complain against Him?
That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.

“Then his soul draws near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.

If there hath been near him a messenger who could interpret - one of a thousand, to declare to the son of earth His uprightness,

He made supplication unto GOD, who hath accepted him, and he hath beheld his face with a shout of triumph, Thus hath he given back to man his righteousness.

“Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who have [so much] knowledge.

For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right;

What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?

Who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, And walketh with wicked men?

"Therefore, listen to me, {people who have sense}: far be it from God {that he should commit wickedness} and that Shaddai {should do wrong}.

Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world?

To whom hath he given his heart, for to draw his spirit and breath unto him?

“Shall one who hates justice [and is an enemy of right] govern?
And will you condemn Him who is just and mighty?

Who hath said to a king -- 'Worthless,' Unto princes -- 'Wicked?'

who {shows no partiality to officials} and [who] {does not take note of the noble more than of the insignificant}, for all of them [are] the work of his hands?

There's no such thing as darkness to him not even deep darkness that can conceal those who practice evil.

Who therefore turned away from after him, and they consider not all his ways,

When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:

so that godless human beings should not reign, nor those who ensnare [the] people.

Men of understanding will say to me, and a wise man who heareth me:

Oh, how Job needs to be given a full court trial, as a rebuke to those who practice evil,

What [is] this thou think in judgment? Who are thou that thou said, I am righteousness before LORD?

“Your wickedness affects only a man such as you,
And your righteousness affects only a son of man [but it cannot affect God, who is sovereign].

But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;

Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

"They cry out there, but he doesn't answer because of the arrogance of those who practice evil.

“For truly my words are not false;
He who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

He will not keep alive one who is lawless, but, the right of oppressed ones, will he grant;