1  “I have made a covenant with my ^beyes;

how then could I gaze at a virgin?

2  What would be ^cmy portion from God above

and ^cmy heritage from the Almighty on high?

3  Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

4  ^dDoes not he see my ways

and ^enumber all my steps?

5  “If I have walked with falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

6  (Let me be ^fweighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!)

7  if my step has turned aside from the way

and ^gmy heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any ^hspot has stuck to my hands,

8  then let me ⁱsow, and another eat,

and let what grows for me¹ be rooted out.

9  “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have ^jlain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife ^kgrind for another,

and let others ^lbow down on her.

11  For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity ^mto be punished by the judges;

12  for that would be a fire ⁿthat consumes as far as Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13  “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me,

14  what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he ^omakes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15  Did ^pnot he who made me in the womb make him?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16  “If I have ^qwithheld anything that the poor desired,

or have ^rcaused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18  (for from my youth the fatherless² grew up with me as with a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow³),

19  if I have seen anyone ^sperish for ^tlack of clothing,

or the needy without ^tcovering,

20  if his body has not ^ublessed me,⁴

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand against ^vthe fatherless,

because I saw my help in ^wthe gate,

22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23  For I was ^xin terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his ^xmajesty.

24  ^y“If I have made gold my ^ztrust

or called ^afine gold my confidence,

25  if I have ^brejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because ^cmy hand had found much,

26  ^dif I have looked at the sun⁵ when it shone,

or ^ethe moon moving in splendor,

27  and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28  this also would be ^fan iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  “If I have ^grejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

30  (^hI have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a curse),

31  if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been filled with his ⁱmeat?’

32  (^jthe sojourner has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveler),

33  if I ^khave concealed my transgressions ^las others do⁶

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34  because I stood in great fear of ^mthe multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

35  Oh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty ⁿanswer me!)

Oh, that I had ^othe indictment written by my adversary!

36  Surely I would carry it on my ^pshoulder;

I would ^qbind it on me as ^ra crown;

37  I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

38  “If my land has cried out against me

and its furrows have wept together,

39  ^sif I have eaten its yield without payment

and made its owners ^tbreathe their last,

40  let ^uthorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.”

“I am young in years,

and you are ^zaged;

therefore I was timid and afraid

to declare my opinion to you.

7  I said, ‘Let days speak,

and many years teach wisdom.’

8  But it is ^athe spirit in man,

^bthe breath of the Almighty, that makes him ^cunderstand.

9  ^dIt is not the old⁷ who are wise,

nor the aged who understand what is right.

10  Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;

let me also declare my opinion.’

11  “Behold, I waited for your words,

I listened for your wise sayings,

while you searched out what to say.

12  I gave you my attention,

and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job

or who answered his words.

13  Beware ^elest you say, ‘We have found wisdom;

God may vanquish him, not a man.’

14  He has not directed his words against me,

and I will not answer him with your speeches.

15  “They are dismayed; they answer no more;

they have not a word to say.

16  And shall I wait, because they do not speak,

because they stand there, and answer no more?

17  I also will answer with my share;

I also will declare my opinion.

18  For I am full of words;

the spirit within me constrains me.

19  Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent;

like new ^fwineskins ready to burst.

20  ^gI must speak, that I may find ^hrelief;

I must open my lips and answer.

21  I will not ⁱshow partiality to any man

or use flattery toward any person.

22  For I do not know how to flatter,

else my Maker would soon take me away.

1  “But now, hear my speech, O Job,

and listen to all my words.

2  Behold, I ^jopen my mouth;

the tongue in my mouth speaks.

3  My words declare the uprightness of my heart,

and what my lips know they speak sincerely.

4  ^kThe Spirit of God has made me,

and ^lthe breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5  ^mAnswer me, if you can;

ⁿset your words in order before me; take your stand.

6  Behold, I am toward God as you are;

I too was pinched off from a piece of ^oclay.

7  Behold, no ^pfear of me need terrify you;

my ^qpressure will not be heavy upon you.

8  “Surely you have spoken in my ears,

and I have heard the sound of your words.

9  You say, ‘I am ^rpure, without ^stransgression;

I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.

10  Behold, he finds occasions against me,

he ^tcounts me as his enemy,

11  he ^uputs my feet in the stocks

and ^vwatches all my paths.’

12  “Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you,

for God is greater than man.

13  Why do you ^wcontend against him,

saying, ‘He ^xwill answer none of man’s⁸ words’?⁹

14  For God ^yspeaks in one way,

^zand in two, though man ^adoes not perceive it.

15  In ^ba dream, in ^ca vision of ^dthe night,

when ^cdeep sleep falls on men,

while they slumber on their beds,

16  then he ^eopens the ears of men

and terrifies¹⁰ them with warnings,

17  that he may turn man aside from his ^fdeed

and conceal pride from a man;

18  he keeps back his soul from the pit,

his life from ^gperishing by the sword.

19  “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed

and with continual strife in his ^hbones,

20  so that his ⁱlife loathes bread,

and his appetite ^jthe choicest food.

21  His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,

and his bones that were not seen ^kstick out.

22  His soul draws near ^lthe pit,

and his life to ^mthose who bring death.

23  If there be for him ⁿan angel,

^oa mediator, ^pone of the thousand,

to declare to man what is ^qright for him,

24  and he is merciful to him, and says,

‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;

I have found ^ra ransom;

25  let his flesh ^sbecome fresh with youth;

let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;

26  then man^{11 t}prays to God, and he accepts him;

he ^usees his face with a shout of joy,

and he ^vrestores to man his righteousness.

27  He sings before men and says:

‘I ^wsinned and perverted what was right,

and it was not repaid to me.

28  He has redeemed my ^xsoul from going down ^yinto the pit,

and my life shall ^zlook upon the light.’

29  “Behold, God does all these things,

twice, ^athree times, with a man,

30  to bring back his soul from the pit,

that he may be lighted with ^bthe light of life.

31  Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

32  If you have any words, ^canswer me;

^dspeak, for I desire to justify you.

33  If not, ^elisten to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

1  O God, why do you ^scast us off forever?

Why does your anger ^tsmoke against ^uthe sheep of your pasture?

2  ^vRemember your congregation, which you have ^wpurchased of old,

which you have ^xredeemed to be ^ythe tribe of your heritage!

Remember Mount Zion, ^zwhere you have dwelt.

3  Direct your steps to ^athe perpetual ruins;

the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

4  Your foes have ^broared in the midst of your meeting place;

^cthey set up their ^down signs for ^esigns.

5  They were like those who swing ^faxes

in a forest of trees.²

6  And all its ^gcarved wood

they broke down with hatchets and hammers.

7  They ^hset your sanctuary on fire;

they ⁱprofaned ^jthe dwelling place of your name,

bringing it down to the ground.

8  They ^ksaid to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;

they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

9  We do not see our ^lsigns;

^mthere is no longer any prophet,

and there is none among us who knows how long.

10  How long, O God, ⁿis the foe to scoff?

Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

11  Why ^odo you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the fold of your garment³ and destroy them!

12  Yet ^pGod my King is from of old,

working salvation in the midst of the earth.

13  You ^qdivided the sea by your might;

you ^rbroke the heads of ^sthe sea monsters⁴ on the waters.

14  You crushed the heads of ^tLeviathan;

you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

15  You ^usplit open springs and brooks;

you ^vdried up ever-flowing streams.

16  Yours is the day, yours also the night;

you have established ^wthe heavenly lights and the sun.

17  You have ^xfixed all the boundaries of the earth;

you have made ^ysummer and winter.

18  ^zRemember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,

and ^aa foolish people reviles your name.

19  Do not deliver the soul of your ^bdove to the wild beasts;

^cdo not forget the life of your poor forever.

20  Have regard for ^dthe covenant,

for ^ethe dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

21  Let not ^fthe downtrodden ^gturn back in shame;

let ^hthe poor and needy praise your name.

22  Arise, O God, ⁱdefend your cause;

^jremember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

23  Do not forget the clamor of your foes,

^kthe uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!