“And now, because He has not visited in His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged transgression well,

(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from infancy I guided her),

He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.

“Have the men of my tent not said,
‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’?

‘My root is spread out to the waters,
And dew lies all night on my branch.

“The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.

Then He declares to them their work
And their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.

“Do not say,
‘We have found wisdom;
God will rout him, not man.’

“Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and let me speak.

“They break up my path,
They profit from my destruction;
No one restrains them.

Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.

That too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

“The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

“Therefore He knows their works,
And He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.

“They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,

“They kneel down, they bring forth their young,
They get rid of their labor pains.

“His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.

“Can you count the months they fulfill,
Or do you know the time they give birth?

The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.

“He does not keep the wicked alive,
But gives justice to the afflicted.

“All men have seen it;
Man beholds from afar.

“May my enemy be as the wicked
And my opponent as the unjust.

“By a great force my garment is distorted;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

“They are dismayed, they no longer answer;
Words have failed them.

“Behold now, I open my mouth,
My tongue in my mouth speaks.

‘He puts my feet in the stocks;
He watches all my paths.’

“Refute me if you can;
Array yourselves before me, take your stand.

“Then the beast goes into its lair
And remains in its den.

“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?

“Be careful, do not turn to evil,
For you have preferred this to affliction.

“For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You?
What profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

“He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.

“Will your riches keep you from distress,
Or all the forces of your strength?

“Do you know how God establishes them,
And makes the lightning of His cloud to shine?

“Men of understanding will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,

“He strikes them like the wicked
In a public place,

“I even paid close attention to you;
Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job,
Not one of you who answered his words.

“Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.

But I am not silenced by the darkness,
Nor deep gloom which covers me.

Which I have reserved for the time of distress,
For the day of war and battle?

“But you were full of judgment on the wicked;
Judgment and justice take hold of you.

To satisfy the waste and desolate land
And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

“So I say, ‘Listen to me,
I too will tell what I think.’

“Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

Let me sow and another eat,
And let my crops be uprooted.

“Behold, no fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

“Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him,
And He covers the depths of the sea.

“Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘You have done wrong’?

“Then if you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I desire to justify you.

That you may take it to its territory
And that you may discern the paths to its home?

“As through a wide breach they come,
Amid the tempest they roll on.

Because they turned aside from following Him,
And had no regard for any of His ways;

“What counsel you have given to one without wisdom!
What helpful insight you have abundantly provided!

“Do not long for the night,
When people vanish in their place.

“Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

“You know, for you were born then,
And the number of your days is great!

“Shall I wait, because they do not speak,
Because they stop and no longer answer?

“But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.

“Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.

“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act foolishly?

“If not, listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

“For I do not know how to flatter,
Else my Maker would soon take me away.

“I too will answer my share,
I also will tell my opinion.

“He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.

‘Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your power against me.

“I will answer you,
And your friends with you.

“Shall it be told Him that I would speak?
Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up?

When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me;

“Teach us what we shall say to Him;
We cannot arrange our case because of darkness.

“Let me speak that I may get relief;
Let me open my lips and answer.