1My spirit is broken,

my days are cut short,

the grave awaits me.

2Surely mockers surround me;

my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

3“Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.

Who else will put up security for me?

4You have closed their minds to understanding;

therefore you will not let them triumph.

5If anyone denounces their friends for reward,

the eyes of their children will fail.

6“God has made me a byword to everyone,

a man in whose face people spit.

7My eyes have grown dim with grief;

my whole frame is but a shadow.

8The upright are appalled at this;

the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.

9Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,

and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

10“But come on, all of you, try again!

I will not find a wise man among you.

11My days have passed, my plans are shattered.

Yet the desires of my heart

12turn night into day;

in the face of the darkness light is near.

13If the only home I hope for is the grave,

if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,

14if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’

15where then is my hope—

who can see any hope for me?

16Will it go down to the gates of death?

Will we descend together into the dust?”

Job

1Then Job replied:

2“I have heard many things like these;

you are miserable comforters, all of you!

3Will your long-winded speeches never end?

What ails you that you keep on arguing?

4I also could speak like you,

if you were in my place;

I could make fine speeches against you

and shake my head at you.

5But my mouth would encourage you;

comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

6“Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;

and if I refrain, it does not go away.

7Surely, God, you have worn me out;

you have devastated my entire household.

8You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;

my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.

9God assails me and tears me in his anger

and gnashes his teeth at me;

my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.

10People open their mouths to jeer at me;

they strike my cheek in scorn

and unite together against me.

11God has turned me over to the ungodly

and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.

12All was well with me, but he shattered me;

he seized me by the neck and crushed me.

He has made me his target;

13his archers surround me.

Without pity, he pierces my kidneys

and spills my gall on the ground.

14Again and again he bursts upon me;

he rushes at me like a warrior.

15“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin

and buried my brow in the dust.

16My face is red with weeping,

dark shadows ring my eyes;

17yet my hands have been free of violence

and my prayer is pure.

18“Earth, do not cover my blood;

may my cry never be laid to rest!

19Even now my witness is in heaven;

my advocate is on high.

20My intercessor is my friend

as my eyes pour out tears to God;

21on behalf of a man he pleads with God

as one pleads for a friend.

22“Only a few years will pass

before I take the path of no return.

Eliphaz

1Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2“Would a wise person answer with empty notions

or fill their belly with the hot east wind?

3Would they argue with useless words,

with speeches that have no value?

4But you even undermine piety

and hinder devotion to God.

5Your sin prompts your mouth;

you adopt the tongue of the crafty.

6Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;

your own lips testify against you.

7“Are you the first man ever born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

8Do you listen in on God’s council?

Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?

9What do you know that we do not know?

What insights do you have that we do not have?

10The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,

men even older than your father.

11Are God’s consolations not enough for you,

words spoken gently to you?

12Why has your heart carried you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

13so that you vent your rage against God

and pour out such words from your mouth?

14“What are mortals, that they could be pure,

or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?

15If God places no trust in his holy ones,

if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

16how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,

who drink up evil like water!

17“Listen to me and I will explain to you;

let me tell you what I have seen,

18what the wise have declared,

hiding nothing received from their ancestors

19(to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigners moved among them):

20All his days the wicked man suffers torment,

the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.

21Terrifying sounds fill his ears;

when all seems well, marauders attack him.

1“Mortals, born of woman,

are of few days and full of trouble.

2They spring up like flowers and wither away;

like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.

3Do you fix your eye on them?

Will you bring them before you for judgment?

4Who can bring what is pure from the impure?

No one!

5A person’s days are determined;

you have decreed the number of his months

and have set limits he cannot exceed.

6So look away from him and let him alone,

till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.

7“At least there is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its new shoots will not fail.

8Its roots may grow old in the ground

and its stump die in the soil,

9yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put forth shoots like a plant.

10But a man dies and is laid low;

he breathes his last and is no more.

11As the water of a lake dries up

or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,

12so he lies down and does not rise;

till the heavens are no more, people will not awake

or be roused from their sleep.

13“If only you would hide me in the grave

and conceal me till your anger has passed!

If only you would set me a time

and then remember me!

14If someone dies, will they live again?

All the days of my hard service

I will wait for my renewal to come.

15You will call and I will answer you;

you will long for the creature your hands have made.

16Surely then you will count my steps

but not keep track of my sin.

17My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;

you will cover over my sin.

18“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles

and as a rock is moved from its place,

1“My eyes have seen all this,

my ears have heard and understood it.

2What you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3But I desire to speak to the Almighty

and to argue my case with God.

4You, however, smear me with lies;

you are worthless physicians, all of you!

5If only you would be altogether silent!

For you, that would be wisdom.

6Hear now my argument;

listen to the pleas of my lips.

7Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

8Will you show him partiality?

Will you argue the case for God?

9Would it turn out well if he examined you?

Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?

10He would surely call you to account

if you secretly showed partiality.

11Would not his splendor terrify you?

Would not the dread of him fall on you?

12Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

13“Keep silent and let me speak;

then let come to me what may.

14Why do I put myself in jeopardy

and take my life in my hands?

15Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;

I will surely defend my ways to his face.

16Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,

for no godless person would dare come before him!

17Listen carefully to what I say;

let my words ring in your ears.

18Now that I have prepared my case,

I know I will be vindicated.

19Can anyone bring charges against me?

If so, I will be silent and die.

20“Only grant me these two things, God,

and then I will not hide from you:

21Withdraw your hand far from me,

and stop frightening me with your terrors.

22Then summon me and I will answer,

Job

1Then Job replied:

2“Doubtless you are the only people who matter,

and wisdom will die with you!

3But I have a mind as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know all these things?

4“I have become a laughingstock to my friends,

though I called on God and he answered—

a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

5Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune

as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

6The tents of marauders are undisturbed,

and those who provoke God are secure—

those God has in his hand.

7“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

8or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish in the sea inform you.

9Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this?

10In his hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all mankind.

11Does not the ear test words

as the tongue tastes food?

12Is not wisdom found among the aged?

Does not long life bring understanding?

13“To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

14What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

those he imprisons cannot be released.

15If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

16To him belong strength and insight;

both deceived and deceiver are his.

17He leads rulers away stripped

and makes fools of judges.

18He takes off the shackles put on by kings

and ties a loincloth around their waist.

19He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows officials long established.

20He silences the lips of trusted advisers

Zophar

1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2“Are all these words to go unanswered?

Is this talker to be vindicated?

3Will your idle talk reduce others to silence?

Will no one rebuke you when you mock?

4You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless

and I am pure in your sight.’

5Oh, how I wish that God would speak,

that he would open his lips against you

6and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,

for true wisdom has two sides.

Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

7“Can you fathom the mysteries of God?

Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

8They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?

They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?

9Their measure is longer than the earth

and wider than the sea.

10“If he comes along and confines you in prison

and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

11Surely he recognizes deceivers;

and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

12But the witless can no more become wise

than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.

13“Yet if you devote your heart to him

and stretch out your hands to him,

14if you put away the sin that is in your hand

and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

15then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;

you will stand firm and without fear.

16You will surely forget your trouble,

recalling it only as waters gone by.

17Life will be brighter than noonday,

and darkness will become like morning.

18You will be secure, because there is hope;

you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

19You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,

and many will court your favor.

20But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

and escape will elude them;

their hope will become a dying gasp.”