Iyov

^1:1There was a man in the land of `Utz, whose name was Iyov. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared G-d, and turned away from evil. ^1:2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. ^1:3His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east. ^1:4His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. ^1:5It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Iyov sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Iyov said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced G-d in their hearts." Thus did Iyov continually.

^1:6Now it happened on the day when the sons of G-d came to present themselves before the LORD, that Hasatan also came among them. ^1:7The LORD said to Hasatan, "Where have you come from?"

Then Hasatan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

^1:8The LORD said to Hasatan, "Have you considered my servant, Iyov? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears G-d, and turns away from evil."

^1:9Then Hasatan answered the LORD, and said, "Does Iyov fear G-d for nothing? ^1:10Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. ^1:11But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face."

^1:12The LORD said to Hasatan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don't put forth your hand."

So Hasatan went forth from the presence of the LORD. ^1:13It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, ^1:14that there came a messenger to Iyov, and said, "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them, ^1:15and the Seva'im attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

^1:16While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, "The fire of G-d has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

^1:17While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "The Kasdim made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

^1:18While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, ^1:19and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead. I alone have escaped to tell you."

^1:20Then Iyov arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down on the ground, and worshiped. ^1:21He said, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." ^1:22In all this, Iyov did not sin, nor charge G-d with wrongdoing.

^2:1Again it happened on the day when the sons of G-d came to present themselves before the LORD, that Hasatan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. ^2:2The LORD said to Hasatan, "Where have you come from?"

Hasatan answered the LORD, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

^2:3The LORD said to Hasatan, "Have you considered my servant Iyov? For there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears G-d, and turns away from evil. He still maintains his integrity, although you incited me against him, to ruin him without cause."

^2:4Hasatan answered the LORD, and said, "Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has will he give for his life. ^2:5But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."

^2:6The LORD said to Hasatan, "Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life."

^2:7So Hasatan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and struck Iyov with painful sores from the sole of his foot to his head. ^2:8He took for himself a potsherd to scrape himself with, and he sat among the ashes. ^2:9Then his wife said to him, "Do you still maintain your integrity? Renounce God, and die."

^2:10But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of G-d, and shall we not receive evil?"

In all this Iyov didn't sin with his lips. ^2:11Now when Iyov's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Elifaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuchite, and Tzofar the Na`amatite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. ^2:12When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn't recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky. ^2:13So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

^3:1After this Iyov opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. ^3:2Iyov answered:

 ^3:3"Let the day perish in which I was born,
      The night which said, 'There is a man-child conceived.'

 ^3:4Let that day be darkness;
      Don't let G-d from above seek for it,
      Neither let the light shine on it.

 ^3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own.
      Let a cloud dwell on it.
      Let all that makes black the day terrify it.

 ^3:6As for that night, let thick darkness seize on it.
      Let it not rejoice among the days of the year.
      Let it not come into the number of the months.

 ^3:7Behold, let that night be barren.
      Let no joyful voice come therein.

 ^3:8Let them curse it who curse the day,
      Who are ready to rouse up livyatan.

 ^3:9Let the stars of the twilight of it be dark.
      Let it look for light, but have none,
      Neither let it see the eyelids of the morning,

 ^3:10Because it didn't shut up the doors of my mother's womb,
      Nor did it hide trouble from my eyes.

 ^3:11"Why didn't I die from the womb?
      Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

 ^3:12Why did the knees receive me?
      Or why the breast, that I should suck?

 ^3:13For now should I have lain down and been quiet.
      I should have slept, then I would have been at rest,

 ^3:14With kings and counselors of the earth,
      Who built up waste places for themselves;

 ^3:15Or with princes who had gold,
      Who filled their houses with silver:

 ^3:16Or as a hidden untimely birth I had not been,
      As infants who never saw light.

 ^3:17There the wicked cease from troubling;
      There the weary are at rest.

 ^3:18There the prisoners are at ease together.
      They don't hear the voice of the taskmaster.

 ^3:19The small and the great are there.
      The servant is free from his master.

 ^3:20"Why is light given to him who is in misery,
      Life to the bitter in soul,

 ^3:21Who long for death, but it doesn't come;
      Dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

 ^3:22Who rejoice exceedingly,
      Are glad, when they can find the grave?

 ^3:23Why is light given to a man whose way is hid,
      Whom G-d has hedged in?

 ^3:24For my sighing comes before I eat,
      My groanings are poured out like water.

 ^3:25For the thing which I fear comes on me,
      That which I am afraid of comes to me.

 ^3:26I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest;
      But trouble comes."

^4:1Then Elifaz the Temanite answered,

 ^4:2"If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved?
      But who can withhold himself from speaking?

 ^4:3Behold, you have instructed many,
      You have strengthened the weak hands.

 ^4:4Your words have supported him who was falling,
      You have made firm the feeble knees.

 ^4:5But now it is come to you, and you faint;
      It touches you, and you are troubled.

 ^4:6Isn't your piety your confidence,
      The integrity of your ways your hope?

 ^4:7"Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent?
      Or where were the upright cut off?

 ^4:8According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity,
      And sow trouble,
      Reap the same.

 ^4:9By the breath of G-d they perish,
      By the blast of his anger are they consumed.

 ^4:10The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
      The teeth of the young lions, are broken.

 ^4:11The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
      The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.

 ^4:12"Now a thing was secretly brought to me,
      My ear received a whisper of it.

 ^4:13In thoughts from the visions of the night,
      When deep sleep falls on men,

 ^4:14Fear came on me, and trembling,
      Which made all my bones shake.

 ^4:15Then a spirit passed before my face;
      The hair of my flesh stood up.

 ^4:16It stood still, but I couldn't discern the appearance of it;
      A form was before my eyes.
      Silence, then I heard a voice, saying,

 ^4:17'Shall mortal man be more just than G-d?
      Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?

 ^4:18Behold, he puts no trust in his servants.
      He charges his angels with error.

 ^4:19How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay,
      Whose foundation is in the dust,
      Who are crushed before the moth!

 ^4:20Between morning and evening they are destroyed.
      They perish forever without any regarding it.

 ^4:21Isn't their tent-cord plucked up within them?
      They die, and that without wisdom.'

 ^5:1"Call now; is there any who will answer you?
      To which of the holy ones will you turn?

 ^5:2For resentment kills the foolish man,
      And jealousy kills the simple.

 ^5:3I have seen the foolish taking root,
      But suddenly I cursed his habitation.

 ^5:4His children are far from safety,
      They are crushed in the gate.
      Neither is there any to deliver them,

 ^5:5Whose harvest the hungry eats up,
      And take it even out of the thorns;
      The snare gapes for their substance.

 ^5:6For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust,
      Neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

 ^5:7But man is born to trouble,
      As the sparks fly upward.

 ^5:8"But as for me, I would seek God,
      To G-d would I commit my cause;

 ^5:9Who does great things that can't be fathomed,
      Marvelous things without number;

 ^5:10Who gives rain on the earth,
      And sends waters on the fields;

 ^5:11So that he sets up on high those who are low,
      Those who mourn are exalted to safety.

 ^5:12He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
      So that their hands can't perform their enterprise.

 ^5:13He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
      The counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.

 ^5:14They meet with darkness in the day-time,
      And grope at noonday as in the night.

 ^5:15But he saves from the sword of their mouth,
      Even the needy from the hand of the mighty.

 ^5:16So the poor has hope,
      And injustice shuts her mouth.

 ^5:17"Behold, happy is the man whom G-d corrects:
      Therefore do not despise the chastening of Shaddai.

 ^5:18For he wounds, and binds up;
      He injures, and his hands make whole.

 ^5:19He will deliver you in six troubles;
      Yes, in seven there shall no evil touch you.

 ^5:20In famine he will redeem you from death;
      In war, from the power of the sword.

 ^5:21You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
      Neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

 ^5:22At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
      Neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.

 ^5:23For you shall be in league with the stones of the field.
      The animals of the field shall be at shalom with you.

 ^5:24You shall know that your tent is in shalom.
      You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.

 ^5:25You shall know also that your seed shall be great,
      Your offspring as the grass of the earth.

 ^5:26You shall come to your grave in a full age,
      Like a shock of grain comes in its season.

 ^5:27Look this, we have searched it, so it is;
      Hear it, and know it for your good."

^6:1Then Iyov answered,

 ^6:2"Oh that my anguish were weighed,
      And all my calamity laid in the balances!

 ^6:3For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas,
      Therefore have my words been rash.

 ^6:4For the arrows of Shaddai are within me,
      My spirit drinks up their poison.

 The terrors of G-d set themselves in array against me.
      ^6:5Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?

 Or does the ox low over his fodder?
      ^6:6Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt?

 Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
      ^6:7My soul refuses to touch them;

 They are as loathsome food to me.
      

 ^6:8"Oh that I might have my request;
      That G-d would grant the thing that I long for!

 ^6:9Even that it would please G-d to crush me;
      That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!

 ^6:10Be it still my consolation,
      Yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't spare,
      That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

 ^6:11What is my strength, that I should wait?
      What is my end, that I should be patient?

 ^6:12Is my strength the strength of stones?
      Or is my flesh of brass?

 ^6:13Isn't it that I have no help in me,
      That wisdom is driven quite from me?

 ^6:14"To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend;
      Even to him who forsakes the fear of Shaddai.

 ^6:15My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook,
      As the channel of brooks that pass away;

 ^6:16Which are black by reason of the ice,
      in which the snow hides itself:

 ^6:17In the dry season, they vanish.
      When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.

 ^6:18The caravans that travel beside them turn aside;
      They go up into the waste, and perish.

 ^6:19The caravans of Tema looked,
      The companies of Sheva waited for them.

 ^6:20They were distressed because they were confident;
      They came there, and were confounded.

 ^6:21For now you are nothing.
      You see a terror, and are afraid.

 ^6:22Did I say, 'Give to me?'
      Or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'

 ^6:23Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?'
      Or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'

 ^6:24"Teach me, and I will hold my shalom;
      Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.

 ^6:25How forcible are words of uprightness!
      But your reproof, what does it reprove?

 ^6:26Do you intend to reprove words,
      Seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?

 ^6:27Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless,
      And make merchandise of your friend.

 ^6:28Now therefore be pleased to look at me,
      For surely I shall not lie to your face.

 ^6:29Please return. Let there be no injustice;
      Yes, return again, my cause is righteous.

 ^6:30Is there injustice on my tongue?
      Can't my taste discern mischievous things?

 ^7:1"Isn't a man forced to labor on earth?
      Aren't his days like the days of a hired hand?

 ^7:2As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow,
      As a hireling who looks for his wages,

 ^7:3So am I made to possess months of misery,
      Wearisome nights are appointed to me.

 ^7:4When I lie down, I say,
      'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?'
      I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.

 ^7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust.
      My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.

 ^7:6My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle,
      And are spent without hope.

 ^7:7Oh remember that my life is a breath.
      My eye shall no more see good.

 ^7:8The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more.
      Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.

 ^7:9As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away,
      So he who goes down to She'ol shall come up no more.

 ^7:10He shall return no more to his house,
      Neither shall his place know him any more.

 ^7:11"Therefore I will not keep silent.
      I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.
      I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

 ^7:12Am I a sea, or a sea-monster,
      That you put a guard over me?

 ^7:13When I say, 'My bed shall comfort me,
      My couch shall ease my complaint;'

 ^7:14Then you scar me with dreams,
      And terrify me through visions:

 ^7:15So that my soul chooses strangling,
      Death rather than my bones.

 ^7:16I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever.
      Leave me alone; for my days are but a breath.

 ^7:17What is man, that you should magnify him,
      That you should set your mind on him,

 ^7:18That you should visit him every morning,
      And test him every moment?

 ^7:19How long will you not look away from me,
      Nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

 ^7:20If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men?
      Why have you set me as a mark for you,
      So that I am a burden to myself?

 ^7:21Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity?
      For now shall I lie down in the dust.
      You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be."

^8:1Then Bildad the Shuchite answered,

 ^8:2"How long will you speak these things?
      Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

 ^8:3Does G-d pervert justice?
      Or does Shaddai pervert righteousness?

 ^8:4If your children have sinned against him,
      He has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience;

 ^8:5If you want to seek G-d diligently,
      Make your supplication to Shaddai.

 ^8:6If you were pure and upright,
      Surely now he would awaken for you,

 And make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
      ^8:7Though your beginning was small,

 Yet your latter end would greatly increase.
      

 ^8:8"Please inquire of past generations,
      Find out about the learning of their fathers.

 ^8:9(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
      Because our days on earth are a shadow.)

 ^8:10Shall they not teach you, tell you,
      And utter words out of their heart?

 ^8:11"Can the papyrus grow up without mire?
      Can the rushes grow without water?

 ^8:12While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down,
      It withers before any other reed.

 ^8:13So are the paths of all who forget G-d.
      The hope of the G-dless man shall perish,

 ^8:14Whose confidence shall break apart,
      Whose trust is a spider's web.

 ^8:15He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand.
      He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.

 ^8:16He is green before the sun,
      His shoots go forth over his garden.

 ^8:17His roots are wrapped around the rock pile,
      He sees the place of stones.

 ^8:18If he is destroyed from his place,
      Then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.'

 ^8:19Behold, this is the joy of his way:
      Out of the earth shall others spring.

 ^8:20"Behold, G-d will not cast away a blameless man,
      Neither will he uphold the evil-doers.

 ^8:21He will still fill your mouth with laughter,
      Your lips with shouting.

 ^8:22Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame.
      The tent of the wicked shall be no more."

^9:1Then Iyov answered,

 ^9:2"Truly I know that it is so,
      But how can man be just with G-d?

 ^9:3If he is pleased to contend with him,
      He can't answer him one time in a thousand.

 ^9:4God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength:
      Who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?

 ^9:5Who removes the mountains, and they don't know it,
      When he overturns them in his anger

 ^9:6Who shakes the earth out of its place;
      The pillars of it tremble;

 ^9:7Who commands the sun, and it doesn't rise,
      And seals up the stars;

 ^9:8Who alone stretches out the heavens,
      Treads on the waves of the sea;

 ^9:9Who makes Ayish, Kesil, and the Kima,
      And the chambers of the south;

 ^9:10Who does great things past finding out,
      Yes, marvelous things without number.

 ^9:11Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him.
      He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.

 ^9:12Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him?
      Who will ask him, 'What are you doing?'

 ^9:13"God will not withdraw his anger;
      The helpers of Rachav stoop under him.

 ^9:14How much less shall I answer him,
      Choose my words to argue with him?

 ^9:15Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer.
      I would make supplication to my judge.

 ^9:16If I had called, and he had answered me,
      Yet would I not believe that he listened to my voice.

 ^9:17For he breaks me with a tempest,
      Multiplies my wounds without cause.

 ^9:18He will not allow me to take my breath,
      But fills me with bitterness.

 ^9:19If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty!
      If of justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will summon me?'

 ^9:20Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me.
      Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse.

 ^9:21I am blameless. I don't regard myself.
      I despise my life.

 ^9:22"It is all the same. Therefore I say,
      He destroys the blameless and the wicked.

 ^9:23If the scourge kills suddenly,
      He will mock at the trial of the innocent.

 ^9:24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
      He covers the faces of the judges of it.
      If not he, then who is it?

 ^9:25"Now my days are swifter than a runner.
      They flee away, they see no good,

 ^9:26They have passed away as the swift ships,
      As the eagle that swoops on the prey.

 ^9:27If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,
      I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;'

 ^9:28I am afraid of all my sorrows,
      I know that you will not hold me innocent.

 ^9:29I shall be condemned;
      Why then do I labor in vain?

 ^9:30If I wash myself with snow,
      And cleanse my hands with lye,

 ^9:31Yet you will plunge me in the ditch.
      My own clothes shall abhor me.

 ^9:32For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,
      That we should come together in judgment.

 ^9:33There is no umpire between us,
      That might lay his hand on us both.

 ^9:34Let him take his rod away from me,
      Let his terror not make me afraid:

 ^9:35Then I would speak, and not fear him,
      For I am not so in myself.

 ^10:1"My soul is weary of my life;
      I will give free course to my complaint.
      I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

 ^10:2I will tell G-d, 'Do not condemn me,
      Show me why you contend with me.

 ^10:3Is it good to you that you should oppress,
      That you should despise the work of your hands,
      And smile on the counsel of the wicked?

 ^10:4Do you have eyes of flesh?
      Or do you see as man sees?

 ^10:5Are your days as the days of mortals,
      Or your years as man's years,

 ^10:6That you inquire after my iniquity,
      And search after my sin?

 ^10:7Although you know that I am not wicked,
      There is no one who can deliver out of your hand.

 ^10:8'Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether;
      Yet you destroy me.

 ^10:9Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay.
      Will you bring me into dust again?

 ^10:10Haven't you poured me out like milk,
      And curdled me like cheese?

 ^10:11You have clothed me with skin and flesh,
      And knit me together with bones and sinews.

 ^10:12You have granted me life and loving kindness.
      Your visitation has preserved my spirit.

 ^10:13Yet you hid these things in your heart.
      I know that this is with you:

 ^10:14If I sin, then you mark me.
      You will not acquit me from my iniquity.

 ^10:15If I am wicked, woe to me.
      If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head,
      Being filled with disgrace,
      And conscious of my affliction.

 ^10:16If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion.
      Again you show yourself powerful to me.

 ^10:17You renew your witnesses against me,
      And increase your indignation on me.
      Changes and warfare are with me.

 ^10:18"'Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb?
      I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.

 ^10:19I should have been as though I had not been.
      I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

 ^10:20Aren't my days few? Cease then,
      Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,

 ^10:21Before I go where I shall not return from,
      To the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;

 ^10:22The land dark as midnight,
      Of the shadow of death, without any order,
      Where the light is as midnight.'"

^11:1Then Tzofar, the Na`amatite, answered,

 ^11:2"Shouldn't the multitude of words be answered?
      Should a man full of talk be justified?

 ^11:3Should your boastings make men hold their shalom?
      When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?

 ^11:4For you say, 'My doctrine is pure,
      I am clean in your eyes.'

 ^11:5But oh that G-d would speak,
      And open his lips against you,

 ^11:6That he would show you the secrets of wisdom!
      For true wisdom has two sides.
      Know therefore that G-d exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.

 ^11:7"Can you fathom the mystery of G-d?
      Or can you probe the limits of Shaddai?

 ^11:8They are high as heaven. What can you do?
      Deeper than She'ol: what can you know?

 ^11:9The measure of it is longer than the earth,
      And broader than the sea.

 ^11:10If he passes by, or confines,
      Or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?

 ^11:11For he knows false men.
      He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn't consider it.

 ^11:12But vain man can become wise
      If a man can be born as a wild donkey's colt.

 ^11:13"If you set your heart aright,
      Stretch out your hands toward him.

 ^11:14If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
      Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tents.

 ^11:15Surely then shall you lift up your face without spot;
      Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:

 ^11:16For you shall forget your misery;
      You shall remember it as waters that are passed away,

 ^11:17Life shall be clearer than the noonday;
      Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning.

 ^11:18You shall be secure, because there is hope;
      Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety.

 ^11:19Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid;
      Yes, many shall court your favor.

 ^11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail,
      They shall have no way to flee;
      Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit."

^12:1Then Iyov answered,

 ^12:2"No doubt, but you are the people,
      And wisdom shall die with you.

 ^12:3But I have understanding as well as you;
      I am not inferior to you:
      Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?

 ^12:4I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor,
      I, who called on G-d, and he answered.
      The just, the blameless man is a joke.

 ^12:5In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune,
      It is ready for them whose foot slips.

 ^12:6The tents of robbers prosper,
      Those who provoke G-d are secure;
      Who carry their G-d in their hands.

 ^12:7"But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you;
      The birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.

 ^12:8Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you;
      The fish of the sea shall declare to you.

 ^12:9Who doesn't know that in all these,
      The hand of the LORD has done this,

 ^12:10In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
      The breath of all mankind?

 ^12:11Doesn't the ear try words,
      Even as the palate tastes its food?

 ^12:12With aged men is wisdom,
      In length of days understanding.

 ^12:13"With G-d is wisdom and might.
      He has counsel and understanding.

 ^12:14Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again;
      He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

 ^12:15Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up;
      Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.

 ^12:16With him is strength and wisdom;
      The deceived and the deceiver are his.

 ^12:17He leads counselors away stripped.
      He makes judges fools.

 ^12:18He loosens the bond of kings,
      He binds their loins with a belt.

 ^12:19He leads kohanim away stripped,
      And overthrows the mighty.

 ^12:20He removes the speech of those who are trusted,
      And takes away the understanding of the elders.

 ^12:21He pours contempt on princes,
      And loosens the belt of the strong.

 ^12:22He uncovers deep things out of darkness,
      And brings out to light the shadow of death.

 ^12:23He increases the nations, and he destroys them.
      He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.

 ^12:24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth,
      And causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

 ^12:25They grope in the dark without light.
      He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

 ^13:1"Behold, my eye has seen all this,
      My ear has heard and understood it.

 ^13:2What you know, I know also.
      I am not inferior to you.

 ^13:3"Surely I would speak to Shaddai.
      I desire to reason with G-d.

 ^13:4But you are forgers of lies.
      You are all physicians of no value.

 ^13:5Oh that you would be completely silent!
      Then you would be wise.

 ^13:6Hear now my reasoning.
      Listen to the pleadings of my lips.

 ^13:7Will you speak unrighteously for God,
      And talk deceitfully for him?

 ^13:8Will you show partiality to him?
      Will you contend for G-d?

 ^13:9Is it good that he should search you out?
      Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him?

 ^13:10He will surely reprove you
      If you secretly show partiality.

 ^13:11Shall not his majesty make you afraid,
      And his dread fall on you?

 ^13:12Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes,
      Your defenses are defenses of clay.

 ^13:13"Be silent, leave me alone, that I may speak.
      Let come on me what will.

 ^13:14Why should I take my flesh in my teeth,
      And put my life in my hand?

 ^13:15Behold, he will kill me; I have no hope.
      Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.

 ^13:16This also shall be my salvation,
      That a G-dless man shall not come before him.

 ^13:17Hear diligently my speech.
      Let my declaration be in your ears.

 ^13:18See now, I have set my cause in order.
      I know that I am righteous.

 ^13:19Who is he who will contend with me?
      For then would I hold my shalom and give up the spirit.

 ^13:20"Only don't do two things to me;
      Then I will not hide myself from your face:

 ^13:21Withdraw your hand far from me;
      And don't let your terror make me afraid.

 ^13:22Then call, and I will answer;
      Or let me speak, and you answer me.

 ^13:23How many are my iniquities and sins?
      Make me know my disobedience and my sin.

 ^13:24Why hide you your face,
      And hold me for your enemy?

 ^13:25Will you harass a driven leaf?
      Will you pursue the dry stubble?

 ^13:26For you write bitter things against me,
      And make me inherit the iniquities of my youth:

 ^13:27You also put my feet in the stocks,
      And mark all my paths.
      You set a bound to the soles of my feet:

 ^13:28Though I am decaying like a rotten thing,
      Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

 ^14:1"Man, who is born of a woman,
      Is of few days, and full of trouble.

 ^14:2He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down.
      He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.

 ^14:3Do you open your eyes on such a one,
      And bring me into judgment with you?

 ^14:4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
      Not one.
      ^14:5Seeing his days are determined,
      The number of his months is with you,
      And you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass;

 ^14:6Look away from him, that he may rest,
      Until he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

 ^14:7"For there is hope for a tree,
      If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
      That the tender branch of it will not cease.

 ^14:8Though the root of it grows old in the earth,
      And the stock of it dies in the ground;

 ^14:9Yet through the scent of water it will bud,
      And put forth boughs like a plant.

 ^14:10But man dies, and is laid low.
      Yes, man gives up the spirit, and where is he?

 ^14:11As the waters fail from the sea,
      And the river wastes and dries up,

 ^14:12So man lies down and doesn't rise;
      Until the heavens are no more, they shall not awake,
      Nor be roused out of their sleep.

 ^14:13"Oh that you would hide me in She'ol,
      That you would keep me secret, until your wrath is past,
      That you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

 ^14:14If a man dies, shall he live again?
      All the days of my warfare would I wait,
      Until my release should come.

 ^14:15You would call, and I would answer you.
      You would have a desire to the work of your hands.

 ^14:16But now you number my steps.
      Don't you watch over my sin?

 ^14:17My disobedience is sealed up in a bag.
      You fasten up my iniquity.

 ^14:18"But the mountain falling comes to nothing;
      The rock is removed out of its place;

 ^14:19The waters wear the stones;
      The torrents of it wash away the dust of the earth:
      So you destroy the hope of man.

 ^14:20You forever prevail against him, and he passes;
      You change his face, and send him away.

 ^14:21His sons come to honor, and he doesn't know it;
      They are brought low, but he doesn't perceive it of them.

 ^14:22But his flesh on him has pain;
      His soul within him mourns."

^15:1Then Elifaz the Temanite answered,

 ^15:2"Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge,
      And fill himself with the east wind?

 ^15:3Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
      Or with speeches with which he can do no good?

 ^15:4Yes, you do away with fear,
      And hinder devotion before G-d.

 ^15:5For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
      And you choose the language of the crafty.

 ^15:6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
      Yes, your own lips testify against you.

 ^15:7"Are you the first man who was born?
      Or were you brought forth before the hills?

 ^15:8Have you heard the secret counsel of G-d?
      Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

 ^15:9What do you know, that we don't know?
      What do you understand, which is not in us?

 ^15:10With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men,
      Much elder than your father.

 ^15:11Are the consolations of G-d too small for you,
      Even the word that is gentle toward you?

 ^15:12Why does your heart carry you away?
      Why do your eyes flash,

 ^15:13That you turn your spirit against G-d,
      And let such words go out of your mouth?

 ^15:14What is man, that he should be clean?
      He who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

 ^15:15Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones;
      Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight:

 ^15:16How much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
      A man who drinks iniquity like water!

 ^15:17"I will show you, listen to me;
      That which I have seen I will declare:

 ^15:18(Which wise men have told
      From their fathers, and have not hidden it;

 ^15:19To whom alone the land was given,
      And no stranger passed among them):

 ^15:20The wicked man travails with pain all his days,
      Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.

 ^15:21A sound of terrors is in his ears;
      In prosperity the destroyer shall come on him.

 ^15:22He doesn't believe that he shall return out of darkness,
      He is waited for by the sword.

 ^15:23He wanders abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?'
      He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

 ^15:24Distress and anguish make him afraid;
      They prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

 ^15:25Because he has stretched out his hand against G-d,
      And behaves himself proudly against Shaddai;

 ^15:26He runs at him with a stiff neck,
      With the thick shields of his bucklers;

 ^15:27Because he has covered his face with his fatness,
      And gathered fat on his loins.

 ^15:28He has lived in desolate cities,
      In houses which no one inhabited,
      Which were ready to become heaps.

 ^15:29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue,
      Neither shall their possessions be extended on the earth.

 ^15:30He shall not depart out of darkness;
      The flame shall dry up his branches,
      By the breath of G-d’s mouth shall he go away.

 ^15:31Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;
      For emptiness shall be his reward.

 ^15:32It shall be accomplished before his time.
      His branch shall not be green.

 ^15:33He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine,
      And shall cast off his flower as the olive tree.

 ^15:34For the company of the G-dless shall be barren,
      And fire shall consume the tents of bribery.

 ^15:35They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
      Their heart prepares deceit."

^16:1Then Iyov answered,

 ^16:2"I have heard many such things.
      Miserable comforters are you all!

 ^16:3Shall vain words have an end?
      Or what provokes you that you answer?

 ^16:4I also could speak as you do.
      If your soul were in my soul's place,
      I could join words together against you,
      And shake my head at you.

 ^16:5But I would strengthen you with my mouth.
      The solace of my lips would relieve you.

 ^16:6"Though I speak, my grief is not subsided.
      Though I forbear, what am I eased?

 ^16:7But now, G-d, you have surely worn me out.
      You have made desolate all my company.

 ^16:8You have shriveled me up. This is a witness against me.
      My leanness rises up against me,
      It testifies to my face.

 ^16:9He has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me;
      He has gnashed on me with his teeth:
      My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.

 ^16:10They have gaped on me with their mouth;
      They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully.
      They gather themselves together against me.

 ^16:11God delivers me to the ungodly,
      And casts me into the hands of the wicked.

 ^16:12I was at ease, and he broke me apart.
      Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces.
      He has also set me up for his target.

 ^16:13His archers surround me.
      He splits my kidneys apart, and does not spare.
      He pours out my gall on the ground.

 ^16:14He breaks me with breach on breach.
      He runs on me like a Rafa.

 ^16:15I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,
      And have thrust my horn in the dust.

 ^16:16My face is red with weeping.
      Deep darkness is on my eyelids.

 ^16:17Although there is no violence in my hands,
      And my prayer is pure.

 ^16:18"Earth, don't cover my blood,
      Let my cry have no place to rest.

 ^16:19Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven.
      He who vouches for me is on high.

 ^16:20My friends scoff at me.
      My eyes pour out tears to G-d,

 ^16:21That he would maintain the right of a man with G-d,
      Of a son of man with his neighbor!

 ^16:22For when a few years are come,
      I shall go the way from whence I shall not return.

 ^17:1"My spirit is consumed, my days are extinct,
      And the grave is ready for me.

 ^17:2Surely there are mockers with me,
      My eye dwells on their provocation.

 ^17:3"Now give a pledge, be collateral for me with yourself.
      Who is there who will strike hands with me?

 ^17:4For you have hidden their heart from understanding,
      Therefore shall you not exalt them.

 ^17:5He who denounces his friends for a prey,
      Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

 ^17:6"But he has made me a byword of the people.
      They spit in my face.

 ^17:7My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow.
      All my members are as a shadow.

 ^17:8Upright men shall be astonished at this.
      The innocent shall stir up himself against the G-dless.

 ^17:9Yet shall the righteous hold on his way.
      He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.

 ^17:10But as for you all, come on now again;
      I shall not find a wise man among you.

 ^17:11My days are past, my plans are broken off,
      As are the thoughts of my heart.

 ^17:12They change the night into day,
      Saying 'The light is near' in the presence of darkness.

 ^17:13If I look for She'ol as my house,
      If I have spread my couch in the darkness,

 ^17:14If I have said to corruption, 'You are my father;'
      To the worm, 'My mother,' and 'my sister;'

 ^17:15Where then is my hope?
      As for my hope, who shall see it?

 ^17:16Shall it go down with me to the gates of She'ol,
      Or descend together into the dust?"

^18:1Then Bildad the Shuchite answered,

 ^18:2"How long will you hunt for words?
      Consider, and afterwards we will speak.

 ^18:3Why are we counted as animals,
      Which have become unclean in your sight?

 ^18:4You who tear yourself in your anger,
      Shall the earth be forsaken for you?
      Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?

 ^18:5"Yes, the light of the wicked shall be put out,
      The spark of his fire shall not shine.

 ^18:6The light shall be dark in his tent,
      His lamp above him shall be put out.

 ^18:7The steps of his strength shall be shortened,
      His own counsel shall cast him down.

 ^18:8For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
      And he wanders into its mesh.

 ^18:9A snare shall take him by the heel;
      A trap shall lay hold on him.

 ^18:10A noose is hidden for him in the ground,
      A trap for him in the way.

 ^18:11Terrors shall make him afraid on every side,
      And shall chase him at his heels.

 ^18:12His strength shall be famished,
      Calamity shall be ready at his side.

 ^18:13The members of his body shall be devoured,
      The firstborn of death shall devour his members.

 ^18:14He shall be rooted out of his tent where he trusts.
      He shall be brought to the king of terrors.

 ^18:15There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his.
      Sulfur shall be scattered on his habitation.

 ^18:16His roots shall be dried up beneath,
      Above shall his branch be cut off.

 ^18:17His memory shall perish from the earth.
      He shall have no name in the street.

 ^18:18He shall be driven from light into darkness,
      And chased out of the world.

 ^18:19He shall have neither son nor grandson among his people,
      Nor any remaining where he sojourned.

 ^18:20Those who come after shall be astonished at his day,
      As those who went before were frightened.

 ^18:21Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
      This is the place of him who doesn't know G-d."

^19:1Then Iyov answered,

 ^19:2"How long will you torment me,
      And crush me with words?

 ^19:3You have reproached me ten times.
      You aren't ashamed that you attack me.

 ^19:4If it is true that I have erred,
      My error remains with myself.

 ^19:5If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me,
      And plead against me my reproach;

 ^19:6Know now that G-d has subverted me,
      And has surrounded me with his net.

 ^19:7"Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:
      I cry for help, but there is no justice.

 ^19:8He has walled up my way so that I can't pass,
      And has set darkness in my paths.

 ^19:9He has stripped me of my glory,
      And taken the crown from my head.

 ^19:10He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone.
      My hope he has plucked up like a tree.

 ^19:11He has also kindled his wrath against me.
      He counts me among his adversaries.

 ^19:12His troops come on together,
      Build a siege ramp against me,
      And encamp around my tent.

 ^19:13"He has put my brothers far from me.
      My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

 ^19:14My relatives have gone away.
      My familiar friends have forgotten me.

 ^19:15Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger.
      I am an alien in their sight.

 ^19:16I call to my servant, and he gives me no answer;
      I beg him with my mouth.

 ^19:17My breath is offensive to my wife.
      I am loathsome to the children of my own mother.

 ^19:18Even young children despise me.
      If I arise, they speak against me.

 ^19:19All my familiar friends abhor me.
      They whom I loved have turned against me.

 ^19:20My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh.
      I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

 ^19:21"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends;
      For the hand of G-d has touched me.

 ^19:22Why do you persecute me as G-d,
      And are not satisfied with my flesh?

 ^19:23"Oh that my words were now written!
      Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

 ^19:24That with an iron pen and lead
      They were engraved in the rock forever!

 ^19:25But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives.
      In the end, he will stand upon the earth.

 ^19:26After my skin is destroyed,
      Then in my flesh shall I see G-d,

 ^19:27Whom I, even I, shall see on my side.
      My eyes shall see, and not as a stranger.

 "My heart is consumed within me.

 ^19:28If you say, 'How we will persecute him!'
      Because the root of the matter is found in me,

 ^19:29Be afraid of the sword,
      For wrath brings the punishments of the sword,
      That you may know there is a judgment."

^20:1Then Tzofar the Na`amatite answered,

 ^20:2"Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me,
      Even by reason of my haste that is in me.

 ^20:3I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame;
      The spirit of my understanding answers me.

 ^20:4Don't you know this from old time,
      Since man was placed on earth,

 ^20:5That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
      The joy of the G-dless but for a moment?

 ^20:6Though his height mount up to the heavens,
      And his head reach to the clouds,

 ^20:7Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung,
      Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?'

 ^20:8