DASV: Digital American Standard Version

DASV: Job 1

¹ There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and turned away from evil.

² He had seven sons and three daughters.

³ He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a large number of servants. He was the greatest of all the people of the east.

⁴ His sons would take turns holding a feast at their houses and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

⁵ When the days of their feasting were completed, Job would send and sanctify them. He would get up early in the morning, offer a burnt offering for each one of them. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts." This was Job's regular habit.

⁶ Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, that Satan also came with them.

⁷ The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

⁸ The LORD asked Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil."

⁹ Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for no reason?"

¹⁰ Have you not made a hedge around him, his house, and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land.

¹¹ But reach out your hand now, and strike all that he has, and he will curse you to your face."

¹² The LORD said to Satan, "All right, everything he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on Job himself." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

¹³ One day, when Job's sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their oldest brother,

¹⁴ a messenger came to Job, and announced, "The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were feeding beside them;

¹⁵ and the Sabeans attacked and carried them away. They have struck down the servants with the edge of the sword and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you."

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and announced, "The fire from God has fallen from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I am the only one who escaped to tell you."

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and announced, "The Chaldeans made three raiding parties, and made a raid on the camels and made off with them, and have struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you."

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and announced, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of the oldest brother;

¹⁹ a great wind swept in from the desert, it struck the four corners of the house, and it collapsed on the young men, and they are dead; and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you."

²⁰ Then Job got up, and tore his robe, shaved his head and fell down on the ground and worshipped.

²¹ He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

²² In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

DASV: Job 2

¹ One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came with them to present himself before the LORD.

² The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."

³ The LORD asked Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. He still holds onto his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason."

⁴ Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin, a man will give all he has to save his own life.

⁵ But reach out your hand now, and strike his flesh and bones, and he will curse you to your face."

⁶ Then the LORD said to Satan, "All right, he is in your hand, only spare his life."

⁷ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with horrible boils from the sole of his foot to top of his head.

⁸ He used a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he sat among the ashes.

⁹ Then his wife advised him, "Do you still hold onto your integrity? Curse God and die."

¹⁰ But he replied, "You are speaking like one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good at the hand of God and not bad?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

¹¹ Now when Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard of all this trouble that had come on him, they each came from their homes and met together to come in order to comfort and sympathize with him.

¹² When they saw him in the distance, they did not recognize him. They wept aloud, tore their robes and sprinkled dust into the air on their heads.

¹³ After that they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one said a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was severe.

DASV: Job 3

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth.

² Job said:

³ "Let the day perish on which I was born,

and the night it was said, "A boy has been conceived."

⁴ Let that day be turned to darkness,

let God above not seek for it,

nor let the light shine on it.

⁵ Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own.

Let a dark cloud settle over it;

let blackness of the day terrify it.

⁶ As for that night, let thick darkness seize upon it.

Let it not be counted among the days of the year.

Let it not come into the number of the months.

⁷ Let that night be childless.

Let no joyful sound ring out in it.

⁸ Let those who curse days, curse that day,

those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹ Let its stars of dawn be dark.

Let it wait for daybreak, but find none,

nor let it see the beams of the morning light,

¹⁰ because it did not shut the doors of my mother's womb,

or hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ Why did I not die at birth?

Why did I not expire as I came from my mother's womb?

¹² Why did the knees receive me?

Why were there breasts that I should nurse?

¹³ For now I would be lying down and quiet;

I would have slept and been at rest

¹⁴ with kings and advisors of the earth,

who built places for themselves that are now in ruins,

¹⁵ or with princes who had gold,

who filled their palaces with silver.

¹⁶ Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,

as infants who never have seen the light?

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from causing trouble;

and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸ There the prisoners are at ease together,

they no longer hear the voice of the taskmaster.

¹⁹ The small and the great are there,

and the slave is free from his master.

²⁰ Why is light given to him who is in misery,

and life to those bitter in soul,

²¹ who long for death, but it does not come,

and search for it more than for hidden treasures;

²² who rejoice full of happiness,

and are glad, when they can find the grave?

²³ Why is light given to one whose way is hidden,

and whom God has hedged in with trouble?

²⁴ For my sighing comes instead of my food,

and my groanings are poured out like water.

²⁵ For the thing I feared has come on me,

and that which I was afraid of has overcome me.

²⁶ I have no peace and quiet,

I have no rest, only trouble has overtaken me."

DASV: Job 4

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

² "If one ventures a word with you, will you be grieved?

But who can keep from speaking?

³ Look, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the hands of the weak.

⁴ Your words have supported the one who was falling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

⁵ But now it comes to you, and you are depressed,

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

⁶ Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

⁷ Ponder this: who ever perished, being innocent?

Or where were the upright ever cut off?

⁸ It's just like what I have seen,

those who plow iniquity,

and sow trouble,

reap the same.

⁹ By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

¹⁰ The roaring of the lion,

and the growling of the fierce lion,

and the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹ The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the lioness' cubs are scattered.

¹² Now a word secretly came to me,

and my ear picked up a whisper of it.

¹³ In troubled thoughts from dreams in the night,

when men fall into deep sleep,

¹⁴ fear and trembling came upon me,

which made all my bones shake.

¹⁵ Then a spirit drifted past my face,

making the hair of my flesh stand up.

¹⁶ It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance,

its phantom like form was before my eyes,

I heard a whispering voice:

¹⁷ 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God?

Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

¹⁸ If he puts no trust in his servants,

and if he charges even his angels with error,

¹⁹ how much more those who dwell in houses of clay,

whose foundation is in the dust,

who are crushed as easily as a moth!

²⁰ Between morning and evening they are destroyed,

they perish forever without anyone even being aware it.

²¹ Is not their tent-cord pulled up?

They die, even then without wisdom.'

DASV: Job 5

¹ Call now. Is there anyone who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

² For anger kills the foolish,

and jealousy slays the simple.

³ I have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.

⁴ His children are far from safety,

they are crushed in court at the gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

⁵ The hungry eat up his harvest,

and they take it even from the thorns,

and the thirsty pant for their wealth.

⁶ For affliction does not just grow from the dust,

nor does trouble sprout out of the ground;

⁷ but man is born for trouble,

as surely as sparks fly upward.

⁸ If I were you, I would seek God,

and would present my case to God.

⁹ He does great and unsearchable things,

marvelous things without number.

¹⁰ He gives rain on the earth,

and sends water on the fields.

¹¹ He sets on high those who are lowly,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

¹² He frustrates the schemes of the crafty,

so that their hands cannot accomplish their plans.

¹³ He traps the shrewd in their own craftiness,

and the schemes of the cunning are brought to a quick demise.

¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,

and grope at noonday as if it were night.

¹⁵ But he rescues the needy from the sword of their mouth,

even the poor from the hand of the mighty.

¹⁶ So the poor have hope,

and injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ Blessed is the one whom God corrects,

therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

¹⁸ For while he wounds,
he also bandages up;

He cuts to pieces,

but his hands also heal.

¹⁹ He will rescue you from six disasters,

yes, even in seven no evil will touch you.

²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword.

²¹ You will be hid from the scourge of the tongue,

and you will not be afraid of violence when it comes.

²² You will laugh at destruction and famine,

and you will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

²³ For you will have an agreement with the stones of the field,

and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

²⁴ You will know that your tent is safe.

You will inspect your sheepfold,

and there will be nothing missing.

²⁵ You will realize that your descendants will be many,

and your offspring like the grass of the earth.

²⁶ You will come to your grave in a full age,

like stacks of grain harvested in its season.

²⁷ We have checked it out, and this is true,

listen to it and apply it to yourself."

DASV: Job 6

¹ Then Job answered,

² "O that my agony could be weighed,

and all my misfortune put on the scales!

³ It would be heavier than the sand of the sea,

this is why my words have been so rash.

⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty have stuck in me,

my spirit drinks their poison.

The terrors of God are aligned against me.

⁵ Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass?

Or does the ox bellow when it has fodder?

⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

⁷ My appetite refuses to touch them,

they are like repulsive food to me.

⁸ O that I might have my request,

and that God would grant what I long for:

⁹ that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

¹⁰ This would be my comfort,

then I would rejoice even in continual pain,

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait?

What is my end, that I should prolong my life?

¹² Is my strength like the strength of stones?

Or is my flesh made of bronze?

¹³ Am I not powerless to help myself,

and any success driven from me?

¹⁴ He who withholds kindness from his friend,

forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

¹⁵ My brothers have been as unreliable as a seasonal stream,

as torrential brooks that flow away.

¹⁶ They are black because of ice,

and surging with melting snow.

¹⁷ When it warms up, they vanish,

when it becomes hot,
they disappear from their place.

¹⁸ The caravans turn aside from their ways,

they go up into the wasteland and perish.

¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for streams,

the travelers of Sheba search for them.

²⁰ They were ashamed because they had hoped,

they came there, but were disappointed.

²¹ For now you have proven to be of no help,

you see my calamity and are afraid.

²² Did I ever say, 'Give me something?'

Or, 'Offer me a bribe from your wealth?'

²³ Or, 'Deliver me from the enemy's hand?'

Or, 'Ransom me from the hand of the oppressors?'

²⁴ Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand where I have gone wrong.

²⁵ How painful are honest words!

But what does your reproof really prove?

²⁶ Do you think you can reprove with mere words,

and treat the words of one despairing as wind?

²⁷ Yes, you would cast lots to sell an orphan,

and even auction off your friend.

²⁸ But now have the decency to look at me,

for I will not lie to your face.

²⁹ Please turn, let there be no injustice,

turn back for my righteousness is at stake.

³⁰ Is there any injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern evil?

DASV: Job 7

¹ Is it not a difficult struggle for humanity on earth?

Are not his days like the days of a hired worker?

² Like a slave who earnestly longs for the shadow,

and like a hired worker who looks for his wages;

³ so I am assigned to months of futility,

and nights of misery are appointed to me.

⁴ When I lie down, I ask, 'When will I get up?'

but the night creeps on while I constantly toss and turn until dawn.

⁵ My flesh is clothed with maggots and dirt;

my skin breaks open and festers.

⁶ My days pass faster than a weaver's shuttle,

and come to an end without hope.

⁷ Remember that my life is a mere breath,

my eyes will never again see good.

⁸ The eye of one who sees me will see me no more;

your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone.

⁹ Just as the cloud dissipates and vanishes,

so the one who goes down to the grave will never come back.

¹⁰ He will no longer return to his house,

nor does his place know him anymore.

¹¹ Therefore I will not restrain my mouth,

I will speak from the anguish of my spirit,

I will complain from the bitterness of my soul.

¹² Am I a sea, or a sea monster,

that you put a guard over me?

¹³ When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,

my couch will ease my complaint,'

¹⁴ Then you frighten me with dreams,

and terrify me with visions,

¹⁵ so that I would choose to be strangled,

and death rather than live with these bones of mine.

¹⁶ I hate my life, I do not want to live forever,

leave me alone, for my days are a mere breath.

¹⁷ What is a human being that you make so much of him,

and that you pay such close attention to him?

¹⁸ You visit him every morning,

and test him every moment?

¹⁹ How long, will you not please look away from me,

or leave me alone long enough for me to swallow my spit?

²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men?

Why have you made me your target?

Have I become a burden to you?

²¹ Why do you not pardon my transgression,

and remove my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust;

then you will diligently search for me,

but I will be gone."

DASV: Job 8

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,

² "How much longer will you go on speaking these things?

How long will the words of your mouth be like a howling wind?

³ Does God pervert justice?

Does the Almighty pervert what is right?

⁴ If your children have sinned against him,

he delivered them over to the consequences of their sin.

⁵ If you would seek God,

and make your appeal to the Almighty;

⁶ if you were pure and upright,

surely now he would rouse himself for you,

and would restore your rightful home.

⁷ Though your beginning was small,

yet your latter days will be very great.

⁸ Inquire of previous generations,

and consider what their fathers have searched out.

⁹ For we were born only yesterday,

and know nothing,

because our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.

¹⁰ Will they not teach and tell you?

Will they not utter words from their deep understanding?

¹¹ Can papyrus flourish where there is no marsh?

Can reeds grow where there is no water?

¹² While it is beginning to flower and not ready for cutting,

it withers faster than any other plant.

¹³ Such are the paths of all who forget God,

the hope of the godless perishes.

¹⁴ Their confidence will break as easily as a thread,

whose trust is as insecure as a spider's web.

¹⁵ He leans on its house, but it does not hold up,

he grabs hold of it, but it will not endure.

¹⁶ He is like a lush plant facing the sun,

his shoots sprout over his garden.

¹⁷ Its roots are penetrated down through the stone pile,

it takes hold among the rocks.

¹⁸ If it is uprooted out of its place,

that place will disown it, saying, 'I have never seen you.'

¹⁹ Look, it rots by the side of its path,

then out of the earth others spring up.

²⁰ God will not reject a blameless person,

or lend a supporting hand to evildoers.

²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with joyful shouts.

²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

and the tent of the wicked will be no more."

DASV: Job 9

¹ Then Job answered,

² "Obviously I know that this is so.

But how can a person be just before God?

³ If someone wanted to contend with him,

he could not answer him once in a thousand times.

⁴ He is wise in heart and mighty in strength,

who has resisted him and succeeded?

⁵ He moves mountains and they do not know it,

when he overturns them in his anger.

⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place,

and its pillars tremble.

⁷ He commands the sun and it does not rise,

and he seals up the stars.

⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens,

and treads on the wave crests of the sea.

⁹ He makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades,

and the southern constellations.

¹⁰ He does great things beyond finding out,

yes, marvelous things without number.

¹¹ He passes by me, but I cannot see him,

he moves on, but I cannot perceive him.

¹² If he snatches away, who can stop him?

Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'

¹³ God will not restrain his anger,

the helpers of the sea monster Rahab bow beneath him.

¹⁴ How then can I answer him?

how can I choose my words to argue with him?

¹⁵ Even though I am righteous, I could not answer him,

I could only plead to my judge for mercy.

¹⁶ If I could summon him and he would answer me,

I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.

¹⁷ For he crushes me with a tempest,

and multiplies my wounds for no reason.

¹⁸ He will not let me catch my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹ If it is a question of strength, he is the strong one!

If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?

²⁰ Though I am right, my own mouth would condemn me.

Though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

²¹ I am blameless.

It does not matter to me.

I despise my life.

²² It is all the same.

Therefore I say,

'He destroys the blameless and the wicked.'

²³ If disaster results in sudden death,

he mocks the calamity of the innocent.

²⁴ The earth has been given into the hand of the wicked,

yet he covers the faces blinding its judges.

If it is not he, then who is it?

²⁵ Now my days are swifter than a runner,

they flee away without seeing any good.

²⁶ They glide by like papyrus boats,

as the eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷ If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer.'

²⁸ I am afraid of all my sorrows,

I know you will not hold me innocent.

²⁹ I will be condemned.

Why then do I weary myself in vain?

³⁰ If I wash myself with soap,

and make my hands clean with lye,

³¹ yet you will plunge me into a slimy pit,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

³² For he is not a human being like I am,
that I might answer him,

that we could go to court against each other.

³³ There is no mediator between us,

who might lay his hand on both of us,

³⁴ who might take his rod away from me,

so that his terror would not frighten me.

³⁵ Then I would speak and not fear him,

but I am not able to do it by myself.

DASV: Job 10

¹ I loathe my life;

I will give unrestrained expression to my complaint.

I will speak from the bitterness of my soul.

² I will say to God,

Do not condemn me.

Tell me what charges you are bringing against me.

³ Does it seem good to you to oppress?

Should you despise the work of your hands,

while looking with favor on the schemes of the wicked?

⁴ Do you have eyes of flesh?

Or do you see like human beings see?

⁵ Are your days like the days of a mortal,

or your years like the years of a human,

⁶ that you should search for my iniquity,

and seek for my sin,

⁷ even though you know that I am not guilty,

and there is no one who can deliver out of your hand?

⁸ Your hands have formed and made me,

but now you totally destroy me.

⁹ Remember that you have made me like clay,

and will you turn me back to dust again?

¹⁰ Have you not poured me out like milk,

and curdled me like cheese?

¹¹ You have clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

¹² You have granted me life and steadfast love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³ Yet these things you have hid in your heart;

I know that this was your purpose.

¹⁴ If I sin, then you will watch me,

and you will not acquit me of my guilt.

¹⁵ If I am wicked, woe to me.

But if I am righteous, yet I still cannot lift up my head.

I am filled with shame,

and gaze upon my misery.

¹⁶ If my head were held high,

you would hunt me like a lion,

and again unleash your incredible power against me.

¹⁷ You bring your witnesses against me,

and escalate your anger against me,

and bring fresh troops against me.

¹⁸ Why then did you bring me out of the womb?

I wish I had died before any eye had seen me.

¹⁹ If only I had never existed;

carried right from the womb to the grave.

²⁰ Are not the days of my life few?

Stop it then, and leave me alone,

that I may find a little comfort,

²¹ before I go, never to return,

to the land of darkness and shadowy gloom;

²² the land of absolute darkness,

like shadowy gloom and chaos,

and where even the light is like darkness."

DASV: Job 11

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

² "Should not this profusion of words be answered?

Should one so full of talk be vindicated?

³ Should your empty babble reduce others to silence?

When you mock, should no one make you ashamed?

⁴ For you claim, 'My teaching is pure,

I am clean in God’s eyes.'

⁵ But if only God would speak,

and open his lips against you,

⁶ and reveal to you the enigmas of wisdom!

For true understanding has two sides.

Know therefore that God has already forgiven some of your sin.

⁷ Can you by searching figure out the mysteries of God?

Can you discover the limit of the Almighty?

⁸ It is higher than heaven, what can you do?

It is deeper than Sheol, what do you know?

⁹ Its measure is longer than the earth,

and wider than the sea.

¹⁰ If he passes by, and imprisons,

then summons a court, who can stop him?

¹¹ For he knows how deceptive humans are.

When he sees injustice, will he not consider it?

¹² But a stupid person will gain understanding,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human.

¹³ If you would set your heart right,

stretch out your hands toward him.

¹⁴ If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and do not let injustice stay in your tents.

¹⁵ Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish,

you will be secure and will not fear.

¹⁶ For you will forget your misery,

you will remember it as waters that have flowed by.

¹⁷ Your life will be brighter than the noonday;

though there is darkness, it will break like the dawn.

¹⁸ You will be confident, because there is hope;

you will be protected and lie down in safety.

¹⁹ You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;

many will seek your favor.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

the way of escape will elude them,

and their only hope is to breathe their last."

DASV: Job 12

¹ Then Job answered,

² "No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

³ But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know these things?

⁴ I am a laughing-stock to my friends,

I, who called on God and he answered,

a just and blameless person, am a laughing-stock.

⁵ To those at ease there is contempt for misfortune;

it is ready for them whose feet slip.

⁶ But the tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure;

who bring their god in their hand.

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

the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.

⁸ Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

⁹ Who among all these does not realize

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every living thing,

and the breath of every human being?

¹¹ Does not the ear test words,

just as the tongue tastes its food?

¹² Wisdom is found among aged,

and understanding comes with length of days.

¹³ With God are wisdom and might;

to him belong counsel and understanding.

¹⁴ If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;

if he locks someone up, there is no release.

¹⁵ If he withholds the waters, they dry up;

if he releases them, they inundate the earth.

¹⁶ With him is strength and wisdom,

both the deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped,

and makes judges into fools.

¹⁸ He loosens the robe belts of kings,

and binds a loincloth around their waist.

¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped,

and overthrows the mighty.

²⁰ He removes the speech of the trusted advisers,

and takes away the discretion of the elders.

²¹ He pours contempt on princes,

and loosens the belt of the strong.

²² He discloses deep things out of the darkness,

and brings the dark shadow to light.

²³ He builds nations up, then destroys them.

He enlarges nations, then leads them away captive.

²⁴ He takes away understanding from the leaders of the earth,

and causes them to wander in a pathless wilderness.

²⁵ They grope in the dark without light,

and he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

DASV: Job 13

¹ Look, my eye has seen all this,

my ear has heard and understood it.

² What you know, I also know,

I am not inferior to you.

³ But I want to speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to argue my case with God.

⁴ As for you, you smear me with lies;

you are all worthless physicians.

⁵ If only you would be totally silent,

that would be your wisdom.

⁶ Listen now to my reasoning,

and pay attention to the pleadings of my lips.

⁷ Will you speak falsely for God,

and speak deceitfully for him?

⁸ Will you show partiality favoring him?

Will you argue the case for God?

⁹ Will it turn out well when he examines you?

Can you deceive him as one would deceive a human being?

¹⁰ Surely he would rebuke you,

if you show partiality in secret.

¹¹ Will not his majesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall on you?

¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,

your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³ Be quiet, let me speak;

then let come on me what may.

¹⁴ Why would I put my flesh in my teeth,

and take my life in my own hands?

¹⁵ Even if he kills me;

yet I will hope in him.

Nevertheless I defend my ways to his face.

¹⁶ This also will be my salvation,

for a godless man would not come before him.

¹⁷ Listen carefully to my speech,

and let my declaration be in your ears.

¹⁸ Look now, I have prepared my case;

I know that I am right.

¹⁹ Who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and expire.

²⁰ Only grant me two things,

then I will not hide myself from your face:

²¹ withdraw your hand far from me;

and do not let your terror frighten me.

²² Then call and I will answer;

let me speak, then you answer me.

²³ How many are my iniquities and sins?

Make me realize my transgression and my sin.

²⁴ Why do you hide your face,

and count me as your enemy?

²⁵ Will you terrify a windblown leaf?

Will you chase dry chaff?

²⁶ For you write bitter things against me,

and make me inherit the sins of my youth.

²⁷ You put my feet in the stocks,

and scrutinize all my paths;

you brand the soles of my feet.

²⁸ So I waste away like something rotten,

like a moth-eaten garment.

DASV: Job 14

¹ Man, born of a woman,
lives only a few days,

all of which are full of trouble.

² He sprouts like a flower, then withers;

and passes like a shadow that does not last.

³ Do you fix your eyes on such a one,

and bring me into judgment before you?

⁴ Who can bring something clean out of the unclean?

No one!

⁵ Since his days are determined,

the number of his months is known to you,

and you have prescribed his limits that he cannot pass.

⁶ So look away from him and leave him alone,

until he finishes his day like a laborer.

⁷ For there is hope for a tree,

if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its tender shoots will not stop growing.

⁸ Though its root grows old in the ground,

and its stump dies in the dust;

⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud,

and put forth branches like a new plant.

¹⁰ But man dies and is laid low.

a human expires and where is he?

¹¹ As water evaporates from the sea,

and a river drains and dries up;

¹² so man lies down and does not rise again.

Until the heavens are no more,

they will not awake,

or be roused out of their sleep.

¹³ Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,

that you would conceal me,

until your wrath has passed,

that you would appoint a set time for me,

and then remember me!

¹⁴ If a man dies, will he live again?

All the days of my struggle I will wait,

until my renewal comes.

¹⁵ You would call, and I would answer you.

You would long for the work of your hands.

¹⁶ Surely now you number my steps,

but then you would not watch for my sin.

¹⁷ My offenses would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover up my sin.

¹⁸ But as the mountain falls and crumbles away,

and as the rock is removed from its place;

¹⁹ as waters erode the stones,

and floods wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy human hope.

²⁰ You overpower forever, and he passes away;

you alter his face, and send him away.

²¹ If his sons come to honor,

he does not know about it;

and if they are brought low,

he does not perceive it.

²² He feels only the pain of his own flesh,

and mourns only for himself."

DASV: Job 15

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied,

² "Should a wise man answer with such blustery knowledge,

and bloat his belly with the east wind?

³ Should he argue with unprofitable talk,

or with words that have no worth in them?

⁴ Are you doing away with the fear of God,

and hindering devotion before God.

⁵ For your sin informs your mouth,

and you choose the tongue of the cunning.

⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

your own lips testify against you.

⁷ Are you the first person ever born?

Or were you brought forth before the hills?

⁸ Have you listened in on the secret counsel of God?

Do you limit wisdom to yourself?

⁹ What do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand, that we do not?

¹⁰ Both the gray-headed and the aged are on our side,

those much older than your father.

¹¹ Are the consolations of God too small for you,

even the word that is gentle toward you?

¹² Why does your heart carry you away?

Why do your eyes flash,

¹³ when you turn your spirit against God,

and let such words come out of your mouth?

¹⁴ What is man, that he should be pure?

Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

¹⁵ He puts no trust in his holy ones;

even the heavens are not pure in his sight,

¹⁶ how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,

one who drinks down evil like water.

¹⁷ I will show you, listen to me;

what I have seen I will declare,

¹⁸ what the wise have declared,

and not concealed from their forefathers,

¹⁹ to whom alone the land was given,

when no foreigner passed among them.

²⁰ The wicked contorts with pain all his days,

through the number of years that were stored up for the ruthless.

²¹ A sound of terrors fill his ears;

while in prosperity, the destroyer will attack him.

²² He does not believe that he will ever return from darkness,

and he is destined for the sword.

²³ He wanders around for bread, begging, 'Where is it?'

He knows that the day of darkness is already at hand.

²⁴ Distress and anguish terrify him;

they prevail against him, like a king ready to attack,

²⁵ because he stretches out his fist against God,

and acts arrogantly against the Almighty.

²⁶ He runs at him defiantly,

with a thick, strong shield;

²⁷ because he has covered his face with fat,

and his waist bulges with fat,

²⁸ he dwelt in desolate cities,

in houses no one inhabits,

which are ready to become ruins.

²⁹ He will not be rich, and his wealth will not last,

nor will his possessions spread over the earth.

³⁰ He will not escape from darkness.

The flame will dry up his branches,

and he will be blown away by the breath of God's mouth.

³¹ Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself;

for emptiness will be his reward.

³² It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not flourish.

³³ He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,

and will cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren,

and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

³⁵ They conceive trouble,
and bring forth evil,

and their heart prepares deceit."

DASV: Job 16

¹ Then Job answered,

² "I have heard many such things,

all of you are such miserable comforters.

³ Will windy words ever end?

Or what bothers you that you keep arguing?

⁴ I also could speak like you do,

if you were in my place.

I could heap up words against you,

and shake my head at you.

⁵ But I would strengthen you with my mouth,

and comfort from my lips would ease your pain.

⁶ Yet when I speak, my pain is not relieved,

and if I quit speaking, does the anguish leave me?

⁷ But now, O God, you have worn me down,

you have devastated my whole family.

⁸ You have shriveled me up,

which itself is a witness against me,

and my emaciated flesh rises up against me,

it testifies against my face.

⁹ God has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me;

he has gnashed his teeth at me;

my enemy locks his eyes on me.

¹⁰ They have ridiculed me with their mouth;

they have slapped me on the cheek in contempt,

they have gathered themselves together against me.

¹¹ God delivers me over to the ungodly,

and throws me into the hands of the wicked.

¹² I was at peace, but he has shattered me;

he has grabbed me by the neck,

and dashed me to pieces.

He has set me up as his target.

¹³ His archers surround me;

he slits open my kidneys, without mercy;

he pours out my gall on the ground.

¹⁴ He smashes me again and again;

he charges at me like a warrior.

¹⁵ I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,

and have buried my horn in the dust.

¹⁶ My face is red from weeping,

and dark shadows are on my eyelids;

¹⁷ although there is no violence in my hands,

and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ O earth, do not cover my blood,

and let my cry find no place of rest.

¹⁹ Even now, my witness is in heaven,

and my advocate is on high.

²⁰ My friends mock me,

as my eye pours out tears to God.

²¹ O that someone would argue the case of a man with God,

as a person pleads for his friend!

²² For when just a few years have passed,

I will go the way from which I will never return.

DASV: Job 17

¹ My spirit is broken,

my days are snuffed out,

the grave is ready for me.

² Surely there are mockers with me,

and my eye is fixed on their hostility.

³ Give now a pledge for me with yourself.

Who is there that will put up security for me?

⁴ Since you have closed their heart to understanding,

therefore do not let them extol themselves.

⁵ Whoever turns his friends in for personal gain,

the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶ But he has made me a byword among the people;

they spit in my face.

⁷ My eye has grown dim from sorrow,

and my entire shape is but a shadow.

⁸ The upright are appalled at this,

the innocent will stir himself up against the godless.

⁹ Yet the righteous stays the course,

he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

¹⁰ But as for you all, come back here;

I cannot find a single wise man among you.

¹¹ My days are past,
my plans are ripped up,

even the desires of my heart.

¹² They allege that night is day

they claim that the light is near the darkness.

¹³ If I look for Sheol as my house,

if I make my bed in the darkness,

¹⁴ if I have said to the Pit, 'You are my father;'

to the worm, 'You are my mother and my sister,'

¹⁵ where then is my hope?

As for my hope, who can see it?

¹⁶ Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?

Will we descend together into the dust?"

DASV: Job 18

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

² "How long until you stop the speeches?

Think clearly, after that we will talk.

³ Why are we counted as cattle?

Why are we stupid in your sight?

⁴ You tear yourself up in your anger,

should the earth be abandoned for your sake?

Or the rock be removed out of its place?

⁵ Surely, the light of the wicked will be put out,

and the flame of his fire will not shine.

⁶ The light in his tent will be dark,

and his lamp above him will be put out.

⁷ Then his strong steps will be shortened,

and his own advice will bring him down.

⁸ For his feet send him into a net,

and he walks on into its mesh.

⁹ A trap grabs him by the heel,

and a snare snags him.

¹⁰ A noose is hidden on the ground for him,

and a trap for him on the path.

¹¹ Terrors frighten him on every side,

and pursue his every step.

¹² Trouble is hungry for him,

and calamity is ready for his stumbling.

¹³ It devours parts of his skin,

the firstborn of death devours his limbs.

¹⁴ He is torn from his tent in which he trusted,

he is brought to the king of terrors.

¹⁵ Fire dwells in his tent,

sulfur is scattered on his dwelling.

¹⁶ Below, his roots will be dried up,

above, his branches wither.

¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth,

he will have no reputation in the land.

¹⁸ He is driven from light into darkness,

and chased out of the world.

¹⁹ He will not have offspring or descendants among his people,

nor any survivor where he used to live.

²⁰ The people of the west are astonished at his fate,

those from the east are seized by horror.

²¹ Surely such are the dwellings of the evil,

such is the place of him who does not know God."

DASV: Job 19

¹ Then Job answered,

² "How long will you torment me,

and crush me with words?

³ These ten times you have insulted me.

You are not ashamed to attack me.

⁴ Even if I have erred,

my error should remain only my concern.

⁵ If indeed you exalt yourselves against me,

and use my humiliation as an argument against me,

⁶ know now that it is God who has wronged me,

and has closed his net around me.

⁷ Though I cry out, 'Violence,' no one answers,

I cry for help, but there is no justice.

⁸ He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,

and has put darkness over my paths.

⁹ He has stripped me of my honor,

and has taken the crown from my head.

¹⁰ He has torn me down on every side, and I am gone;

and he has uprooted my hope like a tree.

¹¹ He has also kindled his anger against me,

and has counted me as one of his enemies.

¹² His troops have advanced together,

and have built up a siege ramp against me,

and have encamped surrounding my tent.

¹³ He has remove my brothers far from me,

and my acquaintances are absolutely estranged from me.

¹⁴ My relatives have failed me,

and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵ The guests in my house and my maids consider me a stranger;

I have become an alien in their eyes.

¹⁶ I call to my servant, but he does not respond,

though I plead to him with my mouth.

¹⁷ My breath is repulsive to my wife,

and I am offensive to my own brothers.

¹⁸ Even young children despise me,

when I get up, they speak against me.

¹⁹ All my closest friends abhor me,

and those whom I loved have turned against me.

²⁰ My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,

and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

²¹ Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, my friends;

for the hand of God has struck me.

²² Why do you persecute me like God does?

Will you never be satisfied with my flesh?

²³ O that my words were written down!

O that they were inscribed on a scroll!

²⁴ O that with an iron pen and lead

they would be engraved in a rock forever!

²⁵ But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

and that he will stand upon the earth in the end.

²⁶ Even after my skin has been destroyed,

yet in my flesh I will see God.

²⁷ I myself will see him with my own eyes, and not another.

My heart is overwhelmed by the thought.

²⁸ If you say, 'How will we persecute him!'

and 'The root of the problem is his own fault.'

²⁹ You should fear the sword yourselves,

for wrath brings the punishments of the sword,

that you may realize there is a judgment."

DASV: Job 20

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,

² "Therefore my troubled thoughts cause me to answer,

because of the agitation that is within me.

³ I have heard the scolding that insults me,

but then my understanding prompts me to answer.

⁴ Do you not know this from of old,

since people were placed on earth,

⁵ that the triumph of the wicked is short,

and the joy of the godless lasts only a moment?

⁶ Even though his arrogance reaches up to the heavens,

and his head touches the clouds;

⁷ yet he will perish forever, like his own excrement.

Those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'

⁸ He will fly away like a dream, and not be found,

he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

⁹ The eye that saw him will see him no more,

nor will his place see any more of him.

¹⁰ His children will have to make reparations to the poor,

and his own hands must return his wealth.

¹¹ His bones were full of youthful vigor,

but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.

¹² Though evil is sweet in his mouth,

and he hides it under his tongue,

¹³ though he hangs onto it,

refusing to let it go,

and keeps it in his mouth;

¹⁴ yet his food turns sour in his stomach,

it becomes the venom of snakes within him.

¹⁵ He has swallowed down riches,

and he will vomit them up again;

God will make him throw them up out his belly.

¹⁶ He will suck the poison of snakes,

the viper's fangs will slay him.

¹⁷ He will no longer look on the rivers,

the flowing streams of honey and butter.

¹⁸ He will have to repay the results of his labor,

and will not swallow it down;

the wealth he has acquired,

he will not be able to enjoy.

¹⁹ For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor;

he has seized a house, he did not build.

²⁰ Because he was never satisfied,

he will not let anything he delights in go.

²¹ There was nothing left that he has not consumed;

therefore his prosperity will not last.

²² In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress.

The hand of everyone who is in suffering will come upon him.

²³ When he is about to fill his belly,

God will send his fierce wrath on him,

and will rain his blows down on him.

²⁴ When he tries to flee from the iron weapon,

a bronze arrow will pierce him through.

²⁵ When he pulls it out and it comes out of his body,

the glistening point comes out of his liver,

terrors come on him.

²⁶ Complete darkness is laid up for his treasures,

an unfanned fire will devour him.

It will consume everything left in his tent.

²⁷ The heavens will reveal his iniquity,

and the earth will rise up against him.

²⁸ A flood will carry off the possessions of his house;

torrents will rip it away in the day of God's wrath.

²⁹ This is the fate of the wicked from God,

and the heritage appointed to him by God."

DASV: Job 21

¹ Then Job answered,

² "Listen carefully to my words;

and let this be your comfort to me.

³ Bear with me, and I also will speak,

and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴ As for me, is my complaint with humans?

Why should I not be impatient?

⁵ Look at me and be appalled,

put your hand over your mouth.

⁶ When I think about it, I am troubled,

and trembling takes hold of my flesh.

⁷ Why do the wicked live,

become old and grow powerful?

⁸ Their children are established in their sight,

their offspring before their eyes.

⁹ Their houses are safe, without fear,

and the rod of God is not on them.

¹⁰ Their bull breeds without fail,

their cow calves, and never miscarries.

¹¹ They send out their little ones like a flock,

and their children dance.

¹² They sing accompanied by the tambourine and harp.

They rejoice to the sound of the flute.

¹³ They spend their days in prosperity,

then go down to the grave in peace.

¹⁴ They say to God, 'Leave us alone.

For we do not desire to know your ways.

¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

What benefit is there if we should pray to him?'

¹⁶ But their prosperity is not of their own making,

the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁷ Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?

How often does disaster come on them?

How often does God distribute pain to them in his anger?

¹⁸ How often are they like straw blown by the wind,

like chaff that the storm carries away?

¹⁹ You claim, 'God stores up a person's punishment for his children.'

Rather, let him recompense it to the person himself,

that he may experience it himself.

²⁰ Let his own eyes see his destruction,

let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

²¹ For will he care about his house after his death,

when the number of his months is cut off?

²² Can anyone dare to teach God knowledge,

seeing he judges those who are on high?

²³ One person dies in the prime of his strength,

being totally secure and at ease,

²⁴ his body is well nourished,

and the marrow of his bones is moist.

²⁵ Another dies in bitterness of soul,

never having tasted of good.

²⁶ They both lie down in the dust,

and the worm covers both of them.

²⁷ Look, I know what you are thinking,

the schemes by which you would harm me.

²⁸ For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince?

Where is the tent in which the wicked dwelt?'

²⁹ Have you not questioned those who are on the road?

Do you not accept their testimony,

³⁰ that the evil one is spared from the day of disaster,

they are delivered from the day of wrath?

³¹ Who denounces his behavior to his face?

Who will repay him for what he has done?

³² Yet he will be carried to the grave,

men will keep watch over their tomb.

³³ The clods of the valley will be sweet to him,

all people will follow the procession after him,

as those before him will be innumerable.

³⁴ How then will you comfort me with such futility?

Is there nothing left in your answers but falsehood?"

DASV: Job 22

¹ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered,

² "Can a human be of benefit to God?

Can even one who is wise be of use to him.

³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that you are righteous?

Is it gain to him, that you make your ways blameless?

⁴ Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you,

and brings judgment against you?

⁵ Is not your wickedness great?

Are not your iniquities endless?

⁶ For you must have exacted pledges from your brothers for no reason,

or stripped the naked of their clothing.

⁷ You must have not given water to the weary to drink,

or have withheld bread from the hungry.

⁸ Even though you were a mighty man, possessing land,

and an honorable man living on it.

⁹ You must have sent widows away empty,

or crushed the arms of the fatherless.

¹⁰ Therefore snares surround you,

and sudden fear terrifies you.

¹¹ That is why you cannot see in the darkness,

and why flood waters cover you.

¹² Is not God in the heights of heaven?

See how high the lofty stars are!

¹³ Yet you claim, 'What does God know?

Can he judge through the thick darkness?

¹⁴ Thick clouds are his veil, so that he does not see;

while he walks on the vault of heaven.'

¹⁵ Will you keep the old path

that wicked men have trod?

¹⁶ Who were snatched away before their time,

whose foundation was swept away by a flood,

¹⁷ Who said to God, 'Leave us alone."

And, 'What can the Almighty really do to us?'

¹⁸ Yet he has filled their houses with good things,

but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹ The righteous see their destruction and are glad;

the innocent laugh at them saying,

²⁰ 'Surely our enemies are cut off,

and what was left of them was consumed by fire.'

²¹ Yield to God, and be at peace,

this is how good will come to you.

²² Accept instruction from his mouth,

and store up his words in your heart.

²³ If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up,

if you remove injustice far from your tents.

²⁴ If you throw your gold to the dust,

and gold of Ophir to the stones of the streams,

²⁵ then the Almighty will be your gold,

and be your precious silver.

²⁶ Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,

and lift up your face to God.

²⁷ You will pray to him, and he will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows.

²⁸ You will decide on something, and it will happen for you;

and light will shine on your ways.

²⁹ When they are cast down, you will say, 'Lift up;'

then he will rescue the downcast.

³⁰ He will deliver even one who is not innocent,

he will be delivered because of the cleanness of your hands."

DASV: Job 23

¹ Then Job answered,

² "Even today my complaint is bitter,

his hand is heavy despite my groaning.

³ If I only knew where I might find him!

Then I might come to his place of dwelling!

⁴ I would present my case before him,

and fill my mouth with arguments.

⁵ I would anticipate the words he would use to answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

⁶ Would he contend with me with his great power?

No, he himself would pay attention to me.

⁷ There the upright would reason with him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

⁸ I go east, but he is not there,

and west, but I cannot discover him;

⁹ on the north, when he works, I cannot gaze on him,

when he turns to the south, I cannot see him.

¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take,

when he has tested me,

I will come forth like gold.

¹¹ My foot has stayed close to his steps,

his way I have kept, and not turned aside.

¹² I have not departed from the command of his lips,

I have treasured the words of his mouth

more than my daily food.

¹³ But once he makes his mind up,
who can get him to change?

and whatever he desires,

that's exactly what he does.

¹⁴ For he performs whatever he has prescribed against me,

and many such things are with him.

¹⁵ That is why I am terrified at his presence,

when I think about it, I am afraid of him.

¹⁶ For God has made my heart faint,

the Almighty has terrified me.

¹⁷ Yet I have not been silenced by the darkness,

nor by the thick darkness that covers my face.

DASV: Job 24

¹ Why are judgment times not set up by the Almighty?

Why do they who know him never see these days?

² Some remove the boundary markers.

They steal and pasture flocks.

³ They drive away the orphan's donkey.

They take the widow's ox as security on a loan.

⁴ They push the needy off the path.

The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

⁵ Like wild donkeys in the desert they go out to their toil,

scavenging for food for their young in the wilderness.

⁶ They reap in a field not their own,

and they glean the vineyard of the wicked.

⁷ All night they lie naked without clothing,

and have no covering from the cold.

⁸ They are soaked with the mountain showers,

and huddle by a rock because of the lack of shelter.

⁹ There are those who pluck the orphan baby from the breast,

and take the infant of the poor for security on a loan.

¹⁰ So they go about naked, without clothing,

though they carry sheaves,

they themselves go hungry.

¹¹ They make oil between the terrace walls.

They tread the winepresses,

while they suffer thirst.

¹² From the city the dying groan,

and the wounded cry out,

yet God charges no one with wrong.

¹³ These are those who rebel against the light;

they do not know its ways,

nor stay on its paths.

¹⁴ The murderer rises before daybreak;

he kills the poor and needy;

and in the night he is like a thief.

¹⁵ The eye also of the adulterer waits for twilight,

Saying, 'No eye will see me.'

and he disguises his face.

¹⁶ In the dark they break into houses.

They shut themselves up in the day.

They do not know the light.

¹⁷ For the deep darkness is like the morning to all of them;

for they are friends with the terrors of the deep darkness.

¹⁸ They are like foam swiftly disappearing from the surface of the water.

Their portion is cursed in the earth.

so that no one enters the vineyards.

¹⁹ Just as the drought and heat consumes the snow waters,

so the grave consumes those who have sinned.

²⁰ The womb will forget him.

The worm will feed sweetly on him.

He will not be remembered anymore;

and unrighteousness will be broken like a tree.

²¹ He devours the childless woman,

and does no good to the widow.

²² But God drags off the mighty by his power,

He arises high but has no assurance of life.

²³ God allows them security, and they rest in it;

but his eyes are on their ways.

²⁴ They are exalted only for a little while, and are gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like everyone else,

and are cut off like the heads of grain.

²⁵ If this is not so, who could prove I am lying,

and make my speech worthless?"

DASV: Job 25

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

² "Dominion and awesomeness belong to God;

he makes peace on his high places.

³ Can anyone number his armies?

Or on whom does his light not rise?

⁴ How then can a human be righteous before God?

Or how can one born of a woman be clean?

⁵ Even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure in his sight,

⁶ how much less man, who is a maggot,

and the son of man, who is a worm!"

DASV: Job 26

¹ Then Job answered,

² "How you have helped one who is powerless!

How you have saved the arm that has no strength!

³ How you have counseled one who has no wisdom!

What brilliant insight you have offered!

⁴ With whose help have you declared these sayings?

Whose inspiration breathed out from you?

⁵ They who are deceased tremble,

those beneath the waters and its inhabitants.

⁶ The underworld is naked before God,

and the place of destruction has no covering.

⁷ He stretches out the northern skies over empty space,

and hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸ He binds up the waters in his thick cloud,

and the clouds do not burst open under them.

⁹ He conceals the face of the full moon,

and spreads his clouds over it.

¹⁰ He has drawn the horizon on the face of the waters,

at the boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹ The pillars of the heavens tremble

and are astonished at his rebuke.

¹² He stills the sea by his power,

and by his understanding he strikes down Rahab.

¹³ By his breath the heavens are cleared,

his hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.

¹⁴ These are but the outskirts of his ways.

How faint a whisper do we hear of him!

But the thunder of his power who can understand?"

DASV: Job 27

¹ Job continued his wisdom saying,

² "As God lives, who has taken away my rights,

and the Almighty, who has soured my soul,

³ for while my breath is still in me,

and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

⁴ my lips will not speak evil,

nor will my tongue utter deceit.

⁵ I will never admit that all of you are right,

until I die I will never abandon my integrity.

⁶ I hold fast to my righteousness, and will never let it go,

my heart will not condemn me for as long as I live.

⁷ Let my enemy be like the wicked,

and let my adversary be like the unrighteous.

⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off,

when God takes away his life?

⁹ Will God hear his cry,

when trouble comes on him?

¹⁰ Will he delight himself in the Almighty?

Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of God,

what is happening with the Almighty,
I will not conceal.

¹² But you yourselves have seen it,

why then do you continue all this meaningless blather?

¹³ This is the portion of the wicked man with God,

and the inheritance the oppressors will receive from the Almighty:

¹⁴ If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;

and his offspring will not have enough food to eat.

¹⁵ Those who survive it, the plague will bury,

and his widows will not grieve.

¹⁶ Though he heap up silver like the dust,

and pile up clothes like mounds of clay;

¹⁷ He may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸ He builds his house fragile like the moth's,

and like a booth made by the watchman.

¹⁹ He lies down rich, but he will do so no more;

he opens his eyes, and it is gone.

²⁰ Terrors overwhelm him like waters;

a whirlwind carries him away in the night.

²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he departs;

it hurls him out of his place.

²² For it will sweep down on him, with no mercy,

he attempts to flee out of its power.

²³ It will clap its hands at him in mockery,

and will hiss at him from its place.

DASV: Job 28

¹ Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place where they refine gold.

² Iron is taken out of the earth,

and copper is smelted from stone.

³ Man puts an end to darkness,

and searches out, to the farthest regions for ore in deep darkness.

⁴ He sinks a shaft far from where men inhabit;

they are forgotten by travelers;

far from others they dangle back and forth.

⁵ As for the earth, out of it comes bread;

but underneath, it is turned up as by fire.

⁶ Its stones are the place of sapphires,

and its dust contains gold.

⁷ No bird of prey knows that path,

nor has the falcon's eye ever seen it.

⁸ The proud beasts have not walked there,

nor has the fierce lion passed by there.

⁹ He puts forth his hand to work on the flinty rock;

he overturns the mountains by their base.

¹⁰ He cuts out tunnels through the rocks;

and his eye sees every precious thing.

¹¹ He has searched the sources of streams;

and the hidden things he brings out to the light.

¹² But where can wisdom be found?

Where is the place of understanding?

¹³ Humans do not know its value;

nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴ The deep says, 'It is not in me';

and the sea says, 'It is not with me.'

¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

¹⁶ It cannot be valued by the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx or sapphire.

¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,

nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸ No mention can be made of coral or crystal,

for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

¹⁹ The topaz of Ethiopia cannot not equal it,

nor can it be valued with pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?

Where is the place of understanding?

²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living,

and concealed from the birds of the air.

²² Destruction and Death say,

'We have heard a rumor about it with our ears.'

²³ God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth,

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵ He gave wind its pressure,

and measured out how much rain should fall.

²⁶ He made the law for the rain,

and made a path for the thunderbolt.

²⁷ Then he saw wisdom, and assessed it;

he established it, and carefully scrutinized it.

²⁸ Then he said to humans,

'The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.'"

DASV: Job 29

¹ Job continued his wisdom saying,

² "O how I wish it were as in the months now passed,

in the days when God watched over me,

³ when his lamp shined upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness;

⁴ in the days when I was in my prime,

when the friendship of God was upon my tent;

⁵ when the Almighty was still with me,

and my children were gathered around me;

⁶ when my steps were bathed with butter,

and the rock poured out streams of olive oil for me.

⁷ When I went out to the city gate,

when I took my seat in the town square,

⁸ the young would see me and step aside,

and the aged would respectfully rise and stand;

⁹ the princes would stop talking,

and lay their hand over their mouths;

¹⁰ the voices of the nobles were hushed,

and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹ For when an ear heard me, it blessed me;

and when the eye saw me, it approved of me,

¹² because I delivered the poor that cried out,

the orphan too, who had no one to help.

¹³ The one ready to perish, blessed me;

and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness, and it clothed me,

my justice was like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵ I was eyes for the blind,

and feet for the lame.

¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,

and I searched out the cause of the stranger.

¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the unrighteous,

and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

¹⁸ Then I said, 'I will die in my nest,

and I will multiply my days as the sand,

¹⁹ my root will reach to the waters,

and the dew will lie on my branches all night long;

²⁰ my glory will be fresh in me,

and my bow ever new in my hand'.

²¹ People listened to me,

and silently waited for my advice.

²² After my words, they did not talk back;

and my speech refreshingly dropped on them like dew.

²³ They waited for me as for the rain;

they opened their mouth as for the spring rain.

²⁴ I smiled on them, and they could hardly believe it;

and the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

²⁵ I chose their way for them, and sat as their chief,

I lived like a king surround by his army,

like one who comforts mourners.

DASV: Job 30

¹ But now those who are younger than I am mock me,

whose fathers I would have hated to put with my sheep dogs.

² What use is the strength of their hands to me?

Men whose strength is gone.

³ They are gaunt from want and hunger;

they gnaw the dry ground,

waste and desolate in the night.

⁴ They pluck herbs by the bushes in the salt marshes;

and the roots of the broom tree are their food.

⁵ They are driven out of the community;

people shout at them as they would a thief;

⁶ so that they have to live in dreadful valleys,

in holes in the ground and in the rocks.

⁷ Among the bushes they bray;

under the nettles they huddle together.

⁸ Sons of fools, children of base men;

they are driven out of the land by whips.

⁹ Now I am become their song of jest,

I am a byword to them.

¹⁰ They abhor me and keep their distance from me,

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹ For God has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me;

they have cast off all restraint in my presence.

¹² At my right hand the rabble rises;

they knock my feet out from under me,

and build siege ramps against me.

¹³ They break up my path,

they promote my calamity,

without anyone's assistance.

¹⁴ As through a wide breach they come,

amid the crash they roll on in.

¹⁵ Terrors are turned upon me;

my honor is blown away as by the wind,

and my welfare has passed away like a cloud.

¹⁶ And now my soul is poured out within me;

days of affliction have grabbed a hold of me.

¹⁷ At night my bones are racked with pain,

and the pains that gnaw at me never rest.

¹⁸ Forcefully God grabs my garment;

he binds me like the collar of my coat.

¹⁹ He has thrown me into the mud,

and I am become like dust and ashes.

²⁰ I cry out to you, but you do not answer me,

I stand up, and you simply gaze at me.

²¹ You cruelly turn on me;

with the might of your hand you persecute me.

²² You pick me up on the wind,

you cause me to ride on it;

and you toss me around in the storm.

²³ For I know that you will bring me to death,

and to the house appointed for all living.

²⁴ Surely even one who stretches out his hand against the needy,

in his calamity he cries for help.

²⁵ Did not I weep for those who were in trouble?

Was I not grieved by the needy?

²⁶ But when I expected good, then evil came;

and when I waited for light, darkness came.

²⁷ My heart is troubled and in endless turmoil;

days of affliction torment me.

²⁸ I go about darkened but not by the sun,

I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

²⁹ I am a brother to jackals,

and a companion to owls.

³⁰ My skin turns black, and falls off me,

and my bones burn with fever.

³¹ Therefore my harp has turned to a lament,

and my pipe to the sound of weeping.

DASV: Job 31

¹ I made a covenant with my eyes.

How then could I lustfully look at a virgin?

² For what is one's portion from God above,

and one's inheritance from the Almighty on high?

³ Is it not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

⁴ Does he not see my ways,

and count all my steps?

⁵ If I have walked in falsehood,

and my foot has hastened to deceit,

⁶ let him weigh me on a just scale,

that God may know that I am blameless.

⁷ If my step has strayed from the way,

and my heart walked after my eyes,

and if any spot has clung to my hands,

⁸ then let me sow, and another eat my crops;

let the produce of my field be uprooted.

⁹ If my heart has been seduced by a woman,

and I have stalked my neighbor's door;

¹⁰ then let my wife grind another man's grain,

and let others have sex with her.

¹¹ That would be a heinous crime,

it would be a sin punishable by the judges.

¹² For it is a fire that consumes down to Destruction,

and would uproot everything that is mine.

¹³ If I have refused justice for my male or female servants,

when they brought a complaint against me;

¹⁴ then what will I do when God rises to judge me?

When he intervenes, how will I answer him?

¹⁵ Did not he who made me in the womb also make him?

Did not this one fashion both of us in the womb?

¹⁶ If I have withheld anything the poor desired,

or have caused the hopeful eyes of the widow to fail,

¹⁷ or have stingily eaten my morsel alone,

or did not share it with orphans--

¹⁸ from my youth I raised the orphan like I was his father,

and from my mother's womb I have guided the widow.

¹⁹ If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

or the needy having no coat;

²⁰ if his loins have not blessed me,

and if he has not warmed himself with a fleece from my sheep;

²¹ if I have lifted up my hand against the orphan,

because I saw I had support in court at the gate,

²² then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and my arm be broken from its socket.

²³ For calamity from God was a terror to me,

and by reason of his majesty I could never do that.

²⁴ If I have put my confidence in gold,

and have said to the fine gold, 'You are my security,'

²⁵ if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

or because my hand had acquired much;

²⁶ if I have looked at the sun when it shone,

or the moon moving in its splendor,

²⁷ and my heart had been secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

²⁸ then this also would be iniquity to be punished by the judges;

for I would have been false to God above.

²⁹ If I have rejoiced at the destruction of one who hated me,

or celebrated when calamity overtook him,--

³⁰ I have never allowed by mouth to sin,

by asking for his life with a curse--

³¹ if those of my tent have not said,

'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?'--

³² But a sojourner has never lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveler--

³³ if, like others, I have covered my transgressions,

by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

³⁴ because I feared the crowd,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silent,

and would not outdoors --

³⁵ O that I had one to listen to my case!

Look, here is my signature,

let the Almighty answer me.

O that I had the indictment of my adversary written down!

³⁶ Surely I would display it proudly on my shoulder;

I would wear it like a crown.

³⁷ I would declare to him every one of my steps;

like a prince I would come before him.

³⁸ If my land cried out against me,

and its furrows wept together,

³⁹ if I have eaten its fruits without paying,

or caused its owners to lose their lives,

⁴⁰ then let thistles grow instead of wheat,

and weeds instead of barley."

The words of Job are ended.

DASV: Job 32

¹ So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

² Then Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram became furious with Job. He was angry because Job justified himself rather than God.

³ He was also upset with his three friends, because they were unable to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

⁴ Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he was.

⁵ But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, his anger was kindled.

⁶ So Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite answered,

"I am young in years, and you are aged;

that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you my opinion.

⁷ I said, 'Days should speak,

and many years ought to teach wisdom.'

⁸ But there is a spirit in man,

and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.

⁹ It is not those with great age who alone are wise,

nor only the aged who understand justice.

¹⁰ Therefore I say, 'Listen to me,

I also will tell you what I know.'

¹¹ Look, I waited for your words,

I listened for your rationale,

while you groped for what to say.

¹² I paid attention to you,

not one of you refuted Job,

or answered his words.

¹³ Do not tell me, 'We have found wisdom;
God will blow him away, not man.'

¹⁴ For he has not directed his words against me,

nor will I answer him with your speeches.

¹⁵ They are baffled with no answer;

they don’t have a word to say.

¹⁶ Must I continue to wait, since they are done speaking,

since they stand there with no answer?

¹⁷ I also will answer with a piece of my mind,

I also will declare my opinion.

¹⁸ For I am full of words;
the spirit within me compels me.

¹⁹ Look, my insides are like wine that has no vent;

like new wine-skins ready to burst.

²⁰ I will speak, so that I may find relief;

I will open my lips and answer.

²¹ I will not show partiality to anyone,

nor will I flatter anybody.

²² For I do not know how to give flattering titles;

else my Maker would soon take me away.

DASV: Job 33

¹ But now, Job, listen to my speech;

pay attention to all my words.

² Look, I have opened my mouth;

the tongue of my mouth has spoken.

³ My words come from the uprightness of my heart;

and that which my lips know they speak sincerely.

⁴ The Spirit of God has made me,

and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

⁵ Answer me, if you can;

arrange your arguments before me and take your stand.

⁶ Look, I am the same as you are before God,

I too am formed out of the clay.

⁷ So no fear of me should terrify you,

nor should pressure from me be heavy on you.

⁸ Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

and I have heard the sound of your word, saying

⁹ 'I am clean, without transgression;

I am innocent, there is no iniquity in me.

¹⁰ God finds occasions to go against me,

He counts me as his enemy.

¹¹ He puts my feet in the stocks,

He watches all my paths.'

¹² But I will answer you: in this you are not right,

for God is greater than man.

¹³ Why do you contend against him,

that he will not answer any of a man's words?

¹⁴ For God speaks once,

then twice, though no one realizes it.

¹⁵ In a dream, in a vision of the night,

when deep sleep falls on people,

while slumbering on their beds,

¹⁶ then he opens the ears of men,

and terrifies them with warnings,

¹⁷ that he may turn a person from his deeds,

and keep him from pride.

¹⁸ He keeps back his soul from the pit,

and his life from crossing over Death's River.

¹⁹ He is chastened with pain on his bed,

and with continual strife in his bones,

²⁰ so that his life detests bread,

and his appetite choice food.

²¹ His flesh wastes away from sight;

and his bones that were unseen, now stick out.

²² His soul draws near to the pit,

and his life to those who bring death.

²³ If there is an angel by his side,

one mediator among a thousand,

to declare to a person that he is right;

²⁴ then God will be gracious to him, and say,

'Rescue him from going down to the pit,

I have found a ransom.'

²⁵ Then his flesh will be fresher than a child's;

he will return to the days of his youth.

²⁶ He will pray to God, and he will be favorable to him,

he will see God's face with joy,

and God will repay him for his righteousness.

²⁷ He will sing before men, and say,

'I have sinned, and perverted that which was right,

and it was not repaid to me.

²⁸ He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit,

and my life will see the light.'

²⁹ Indeed God does all these things,

twice, three times, with a person,

³⁰ to bring back his soul from the pit,

that he may see the light of the living.

³¹ Pay attention, Job, listen to me,

be silent, and I will speak.

³² If you have anything to say, answer me;

speak, for I want to justify you.

³³ If not, listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

DASV: Job 34

¹ Then Elihu continued,

² "Hear my words, you wise men,

and give ear to me, you who have knowledge.

³ For the ear tests words,

as the palate tastes food.

⁴ Let us choose what is right,

let us figure out together what is good.

⁵ For Job has said, 'I am innocent,

and God has taken away my right.

⁶ In spite of my being right, I am considered a liar;

my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.'

⁷ What man is like Job,

who drinks up scoffing like water?

⁸ Who travels in the company of evildoers,

and walks with wicked men.

⁹ For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing

that he should delight himself in God.'

¹⁰ Therefore listen to me, you who have understanding,

far be it from God, that he should do wickedness,

and the Almighty, that he should do wrong.

¹¹ For he will repay a person for their deeds,

and each one will find consequences resulting from their way.

¹² Surely, God will not act wickedly,

and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³ Who entrusted him with governance over the earth?

Who put him over whole world?

¹⁴ If he would set his heart on it,

if he would ever gather to himself his spirit and his breath;

¹⁵ all flesh would perish together,

and humans would turn back to dust.

¹⁶ If you have understanding, listen to this,

hear what I say.

¹⁷ Could one who hates justice really govern?

Will you condemn the One who is righteous and mighty?

¹⁸ Who says even to a king, 'You are worthless,'

and to nobles, 'You are wicked.'

¹⁹ He shows no favoritism to princes,

nor does he respect the rich more than the poor;

for they all are the work of his hands.

²⁰ In a moment they die, even at midnight;

the people are shaken and pass away,

and the mighty are taken away without a human hand.

²¹ For his eyes are on the ways of a man,

and he sees a person's each and every step.

²² There is no darkness or deep darkness,

where the evildoers can hide themselves.

²³ For he has no need to further consider anyone,

that one need come before God in judgment.

²⁴ He shatters the mighty without making an investigation,

and sets up others in their place.

²⁵ So he knows their works;

and he overturns them in the night and they are crushed.

²⁶ He strikes them for their wickedness

in full view of others,

²⁷ because they turned away from following him,

and had no respect for any of his ways.

²⁸ So they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,

and he hears the cry of the needy.

²⁹ But if he stays silent, who then can condemn him?

When he hides his face, who then can see him,

whether it is by a nation or an individual?

³⁰ He stops the godless man from reigning,

those who ensnare the people.

³¹ For has anyone said to God,

'I have endured punishment, but I will offend no more;

³² teach me what I cannot see;

if I have done evil, I will do it no more'?

³³ Will he repay you on your terms,
even when you have rejected this?

For you must choose, and not I,

therefore tell me what you know.

³⁴ Men of understanding say to me,

every wise man that hears me says,

³⁵ 'Job speaks without knowledge,

and his words are without wisdom.

³⁶ Job should be tested to the limit,

because of his answering like wicked men.

³⁷ For he adds rebellion to his sin;

he claps his hands dismissing us,

and multiplies his words against God.'"

DASV: Job 35

¹ Then Elihu answered,

² "Do you think it is right when you say,

'I am right before God'?

³ That you should say, 'How does it benefit me,

what profit do I get from not sinning?'

⁴ I will answer you,

and your friends with you.

⁵ Look up to the heavens and see;

and look at the skies, which are higher than you.

⁶ If you have sinned, how does that impact God?

If your transgressions are multiplied, what does that do to him?

⁷ If you are righteous, what do you give him?

What does he receive from your hand?

⁸ Your wickedness affects only someone like yourself;

and your righteousness, only other human beings.

⁹ Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out;

they cry for help because of the oppressing arm of the mighty.

¹⁰ But no one demands,

'Where is God my Maker,

who gives songs in the night,

¹¹ who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,

and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?'

¹² Then they cry out, but no one answers,

because of the pride of evil people.

¹³ Surely it is an empty accusation, 'God will not hear,

neither does the Almighty really care.'

¹⁴ How much less when you claim that you do not see him,

your case is before him, and you are waiting for him!

¹⁵ And you continue, 'he does not punish in his anger,

and does not deal with great transgression.'

¹⁶ This is how Job opens his mouth in absurdity,

he multiplies words without knowledge."

DASV: Job 36

¹ Elihu continued and said,

² "Be a little more patient with me, and I will show you,

for I have something further to say on God's behalf.

³ I will bring my knowledge from far away,

and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

⁴ For truly my words are not false,

one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵ God is mighty, and does not despise anyone,

he is mighty with resoluteness of heart.

⁶ He does not preserve the life of the wicked,

but gives justice to the afflicted.

⁷ He does not take his eyes off the righteous,

but he seats them on the throne with kings

and exalts them forever.

⁸ If they are bound in chains,

and caught in the cords of affliction;

⁹ then he exposes to them what they have done,

and their transgressions that they arrogantly committed.

¹⁰ He opens their ears to instruction,

and commands that they must turn from evil.

¹¹ If they listen and serve him,

they will spend their days in prosperity,

and their years in pleasantness.

¹² But if they refuse to listen,

they will perish by the sword,

and die without knowledge.

¹³ The godless in heart maintain anger,

they do not cry for help when he chains them.

¹⁴ They die in their youth,

and their life ends among the male shrine prostitutes.

¹⁵ He delivers the afflicted by means of their affliction,

and opens their ear by their suffering.

¹⁶ He has allured you away from distress into a wide open place,

where there are no restrictions;

and that which is set on your table is delicious food.

¹⁷ But you are obsessed about the judgment of the wicked,

while judgment and justice have taken hold of you.

¹⁸ Be careful you are not seduced by wealth,

or let the size of the bribe turn you aside.

¹⁹ Did your wealth keep you from distress,

even with all your mighty effort?

²⁰ Do not long for the night,

when people are cut off from their place.

²¹ Be careful, do not turn to evil,

for because of this you have been tested by affliction.

²² Look, God is exalted in his power,

who is a teacher like him?

²³ Who has prescribed his way for him?

Who can say to him, 'You have done wrong'?

²⁴ Remember to admire his work,

that which people sing praise about.

²⁵ Everyone has seen it;

humanity watches from far off.

²⁶ Certainly, God is great, and we do not know him,

the number of his years is unsearchable.

²⁷ For he draws up the drops of water,

which then distills into rain from its mist,

²⁸ which the skies pour down

and drop abundantly on humanity.

²⁹ Yes, can anyone understand the spreadings of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion?

³⁰ Look at how he scatters his lightning around him,

and he covers the depths of the sea.

³¹ For by these he judges the peoples;

he gives food in abundance.

³² He covers his hands with the lightning,

and orders it to strike its target.

³³ His thunder proclaims the approaching storm,

even the cattle concerning its coming.

DASV: Job 37

¹ At this my heart also trembles,

and leaps out of its place.

² Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice,

and the rumbling that goes out of his mouth.

³ He lets it loose under the entire heaven,

and his lightning flashes to the ends of the earth.

⁴ After it his voice roars;

he thunders with the voice of his majesty;

and does not restrain the lightning when his voice is heard.

⁵ God thunders marvelously with his voice;

he does great things that we cannot fathom.

⁶ For he says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth';

likewise to the rain shower,

the showers of his mighty rain.

⁷ He forces everyone's hand to stop working,

that all people whom he has made may know it.

⁸ Then the animals hide in their lairs,

and remain in their dens.

⁹ The storm blasts out of its chamber,

and cold from the penetrating winds.

¹⁰ By the breath of God ice is given;

and the expanse of waters frozen.

¹¹ He loads the thick cloud with moisture;

he scatters his lightning from clouds.

¹² The clouds swirl round and round at his direction,

to do whatever he commands them to

on the face of the entire inhabitable world.

¹³ He brings it on to punish people,
or to the benefit of his land,

or to display his steadfast love.

¹⁴ Listen to this, Job.

Stand still and consider the wonderful works of God.

¹⁵ Do you know how God directs them,

and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

¹⁶ Do you know how he balances the clouds,

the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge?

¹⁷ You whose garments are warm,

when there is a lull in the earth because of the south wind,

¹⁸ can you stretch out the sky with him,

which is as hard as a molten metal mirror?

¹⁹ Teach us what we should say to him;

for we cannot arrange our case because of darkness.

²⁰ Should he be told that I want to speak?

Or did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?

²¹ Now nobody can look at the sun, which is bright in the skies;

but the wind passes and clears the clouds away.

²² Out of the north comes golden splendor,

around God is brilliant majesty.

²³ We cannot discover the Almighty, he is great in power,

in justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

²⁴ That is why people fear him,

he is not impressed with any who are wise of heart."

DASV: Job 38

¹ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,

² "Who is this that darkens counsel,

with words without knowledge?

³ Gird up now your loins preparing for action like a man;

for I will question you, and you answer me.

⁴ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

⁵ Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!

Who stretched the measuring line across it?

⁶ Onto what were its foundations sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷ when the morning stars sang together,

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ Who shut up the sea with doors,

when it burst forth from the womb;

⁹ when I made clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

¹⁰ and prescribed its bounds,

and set its locks and doors,

¹¹ when I said, 'You may come this far, but no further;

and here shall your proud waves be stayed'?

¹² Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

and caused the dawn to know its place,

¹³ that it might take hold of the ends of the earth,

and shake the wicked out of it?

¹⁴ It is molded like clay under a seal;

and its brilliant colors like a dyed garment.

¹⁵ Light is withheld from the wicked,

and their arm lifted for violence is broken.

¹⁶ Have you entered into the springs of the sea?

Have you walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁷ Have the gates of death been revealed to you?

Have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vastness of the earth?

Tell me, if you have any clue.

¹⁹ Which way is it to the place where light dwells?

and where is the abode of darkness,

²⁰ that you may take each to its boundaries,

and that you may discern the paths to its home?

²¹ Certainly you know, for you were born before them,

and the number of your days is so great!

²² Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,

or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³ that I have reserved for the time of trouble,

for the day of battle and war?

²⁴ What is the way to the place light is dispersed,

or the east wind scattered upon the earth?

²⁵ Who has dug out a channel for the flooding rains,

or the way for the thunderbolt;

²⁶ to cause it to rain on a land where no one is,

on the wilderness where there is no human being,

²⁷ to satisfy the waste and desolate ground,

and to cause the tender grass to spring up?

²⁸ Does the rain have a father?

Who has fathered the drops of dew?

²⁹ Out of whose womb did the ice come?

Who gives birth to the frost of heaven?

³⁰ The waters become as hard as rock,

and the face of the deep is frozen.

³¹ Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades,

or loose the cords of Orion?

³² Can you lead forth the constellations in their season,

or guide the Bear with her cubs?

³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?

Can you establish their dominion over the earth?

³⁴ Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

so that flood waters cover you?

³⁵ Can you send out lightning bolts,
so that they come and say to you, 'Here we are'?

³⁶ Who has put wisdom into the heart,

or given understanding to the mind?

³⁷ Who can number the clouds by wisdom,

or tilt over the waterskins of heaven,

³⁸ when the dust solidifies into a mass,

and the clumps of dirt stick together?

³⁹ Can you hunt the prey for the lioness,

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens,

or lie in wait in the thicket?

⁴¹ Who provides for the raven its prey,

when its young ones cry out to God,

and wander around for lack of food?

DASV: Job 39

¹ Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

Have you seen when the wild deer births her fawns?

² Can you number the months they carry their young to term?

Do you know the time when they give birth?

³ They crouch, they bring forth their young,

they deliver their offspring.

⁴ Their young ones grow strong,

they grow up in the open field;

they go out,

and do not return.

⁵ Who has freed the wild donkey?

Who unleashed the ropes of the wild donkey?

⁶ I have appointed the wilderness for its home,

and the salt land for his dwelling place?

⁷ It scorns the tumult of the town,

it does not hear the shouts of the driver.

⁸ It ranges the mountains as its pasture,

and searches for anything that is green.

⁹ Will the wild ox be willing to serve you?

Will it spend the night in your stall?

¹⁰ Can you bind the wild ox to the furrow with a rope?

Will it plow the valleys after you?

¹¹ Can you trust him because his strength is great?

Will you leave it to do your labor?

¹² Can you rely on it to bring home your grain,

and gather the grain to your threshing floor?

¹³ The wings of the ostrich flap with joy;

but its pinions and plumage is no comparison to the stork's.

¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs on the ground,

and warms them in the dust,

¹⁵ then forgets that a foot may crush them,

or that the wild beast may trample them.

¹⁶ She treats her young abusively, as if they were not hers,

though her labor is in vain, she does not care.

¹⁷ For God has deprived her of wisdom,

and did not grant her understanding.

¹⁸ But whenever she springs up to run,

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

¹⁹ Have you given the horse its might?

Have you clothed his neck with a flowing mane?

²⁰ Have you made it leap like a locust?

His majestic snorting is terrifying.

²¹ It paws in the valley, and rejoices in its strength.

It charges out to meet the weapons.

²² It laughs at fear, and is not dismayed;

nor does it turn back from the sword.

²³ The quiver rattles against it,

the flashing spear and javelin.

²⁴ It swallows the ground with fierceness and rage;

it cannot stand still when the trumpet blows.

²⁵ At the sound of the trumpet it snorts, 'Aha!'

It smells the battle in the distance,

the thunder of the captains and the battle cries.

²⁶ Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,

and spreads its wings toward the south?

²⁷ Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up,

and makes its nest on high?

²⁸ It lives on the cliff and lodges there,

and on the rocky crag is its stronghold.

²⁹ From there it spies out its prey,

its eyes see it from a distance.

³⁰ Its young ones consume blood,

and where the slain are, there it is."

DASV: Job 40

¹ Then the LORD answered Job,

² "Will a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

Let the one who accuses God give him an answer."

³ Then Job answered the LORD,

⁴ "Look, I am absolutely unworthy.

How can I answer you?

I lay my hand over my mouth.

⁵ Once have I spoken, and I will not answer;

twice, but I will proceed no further."

⁶ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind,

⁷ "Gird up now your loins preparing for action like a man;

for I will question you, and you answer me.

⁸ Will you even discredit my justice?

Will you condemn me so that you may be justified?

⁹ Do you have an arm as strong as God?

Can you thunder with a voice like his?

¹⁰ Dress yourself with majesty and dignity;

and clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

¹¹ Pour out your overflowing anger;

and look on every one who is proud, and bring him down.

¹² Look on every one who is proud, and humble him,

trample down the wicked where they stand.

¹³ Hide them in the dust together,

imprison them in the hidden world.

¹⁴ Then I also will acknowledge you,

that your own right hand can save you.

¹⁵ Look at Behemoth, which I made just as I made you.

It eats grass as an ox.

¹⁶ Look at how its strength is in its loins,

and its force is in the muscles of its belly.

¹⁷ It moves its tail like a cedar,

the sinews of its thighs are knit together.

¹⁸ Its bones are tubes of bronze;

its limbs are like bars of iron.

¹⁹ It is a prime example of the works of God,

only its Maker can approach it with his sword.

²⁰ For the mountains offer it food,

where all the wild animals of the field play.

²¹ It lies under the lotus trees,

hidden in the reeds and the swamp.

²² The lotus trees cover it with their shade;

the willows by the brook surround it.

²³ If a river turns turbulent, it is not alarmed;

it is confident, though the Jordan River surges against its mouth.

²⁴ Can any capture it when it is watching,

or pierce its nose after trapping it?

DASV: Job 41

¹ Can you pull up Leviathan with a fishhook,

or tie down its tongue with a cord?

² Can you put a rope in its nose,

or pierce its jaw with a hook?

³ Will it make pleas to you for mercy,

or will it speak soft words to you?

⁴ Will it make a covenant with you,

that you should accept it as your slave forever?

⁵ Will you play with him like a bird,

or will you put it on a leash for your girls?

⁶ Will the traders bargain for it?

Will they split it up among the merchants?

⁷ Can you fill its skin with harpoons,

or its head with fishing spears?

⁸ If you lay your hand on it,

you will remember the battle,

and never do it again.

⁹ Any hope of capturing it is bogus,

will not one attempting it be overwhelmed

even at the sight of it?

¹⁰ No one is so fierce that he dares to disturb it.

Who then is able to stand before me?

¹¹ Who has first given something to me,

that I am obligated to repay?

Everything under heaven is mine.

¹² I will not keep silent concerning his limbs,

or his mighty strength,

or his impressive frame.

¹³ Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who can pierce its double coat of armor?

¹⁴ Who can pry open the doors of its mouth?

All around its teeth is terror.

¹⁵ Its back is made of rows of shields,

sealed, tightly closed together.

¹⁶ Each one is so close to the other,

that no air can come between them.

¹⁷ They are joined to one another;

they stick together, so that they cannot be pried apart.

¹⁸ When it sneezes, it flashes forth light,

and its eyes are like the crack of dawn.

¹⁹ Flames go out of its mouth,

and sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰ Smoke is exhaled from its nostrils,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹ Its breath kindles coals,

and a flame comes out of its mouth.

²² Strength lodges in its neck,

and terror advances before it.

²³ The folds of its flesh are joined together,

they are firm on it and cannot be moved.

²⁴ His heart is as hard as a rock,

hard as a lower millstone.

²⁵ When it raises itself up, the mighty are terrified,

when it thrashes around, they withdraw.

²⁶ If one strikes it with the sword, it has no impact,

nor do the spear, dart or javelin.

²⁷ It considers iron like straw,

and bronze like rotten wood.

²⁸ The arrow cannot make him flee,

Slingstones bounce off like worthless chaff.

²⁹ Clubs are considered to be straw,

it laughs at the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰ Its undersides are like sharp potsherds,

it leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

³¹ It makes the deep to bubble like a boiling pot,

it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³² It makes a shining wake after him,

one would think the deep had white hair.

³³ There is nothing on earth like it,

a creature with no fear.

³⁴ It looks down on everything that is haughty,

it is king over all the proud.

DASV: Job 42

¹ Then Job answered the LORD,

² "I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

³ You asked, 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'

Therefore I have uttered matters that I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me of which I knew nothing.

⁴ You said, 'Listen, and I will speak;

I will question you,

and you will answer me.'

⁵ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear;

but now my eye sees you.

⁶ Therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes."

⁷ After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My anger burns against you, and against your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.

⁸ Now therefore, take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer that I not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."

⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did what the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

¹⁰ Then the LORD turned Job's fortunes when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

¹¹ Then all his brothers, sisters and all who had known him before came to him and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him concerning all the tragedy that the LORD had brought on him. Each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.

¹² So the LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the beginning. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

¹³ He also had seven sons and three daughters.

¹⁴ He called the name of the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third, Keren-happuch.

¹⁵ In all the land there were no women found so beautiful as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶ After this Job lived a 140 years; and saw his children, and his children's children, to four generations.
¹⁷ So Job died, old and full of days.