 約:1.(jb)   [約伯傳]   Job     [共 42 章]   [思高聖經]
  
 約:1.1      [約伯的身世和財富]  從前在胡茲地方，有一個人名叫約伯，為人十全十美，生性正直，敬畏天主，遠離邪惡。
 約:1.2      他生了七個兒子，三個女兒。
 約:1.3      家畜有七千隻羊，三千駱駝，五百對牛，五百母驢，且有很多僕人。此人是當時東方人民中最偉大的人物。
 約:1.4      他的每個兒子，按日輪流在家中設宴，且派人邀請他們的三個姊妹來一同宴飲。
 約:1.5      及至宴飲的日子輪流一週，約伯總是派人召集他們來聖潔他們，清早起來照子女的數目，獻上全燔祭品說：「恐怕我的兒子犯了罪，心中詛咒了天主。」約伯常常如此行事。
 約:1.6      [撒殫的嫉妒]  有一天，天主的眾子都來侍立在上主面前，撒殫也夾在他們當中。
 約:1.7      上主問撒殫說：「你從那裏來﹖」撒殫回答上主說：「我走遍了世界，周遊了各地回來。」
 約:1.8      上主對撒殫說：「你曾留心注意到我的僕人約伯沒有﹖因為世上沒有一個像他那樣十全十美，生性正直，敬畏天主，遠避邪惡的人。」
 約:1.9      撒殫回答上主說：「約伯那裏是無緣無故敬畏天主的呢﹖
 約:1.10     你不是四面保護他、他的家庭和他所有的一切麼﹖並且凡是他親手做的，你都祝福了；你使他的牲畜在地上繁殖增多。
 約:1.11     但是你若伸手打擊他所有的一切，他必定當面詛咒你。」
 約:1.12     上主對撒殫說：「看，他所有的一切，都隨你處理，只是不要伸手加害他的身體。」撒殫遂離開天主走了。
 約:1.13     [初步試探]  有一天，他的兒子同他的女兒，正在長兄家裏歡宴飲酒的時候，
 約:1.14     有個帶信的人跑來向約伯說：「牛正在耕田，母驢在一旁吃草的時候，
 約:1.15     舍巴人突然闖來將牲口搶了去，用刀將那些僕人殺了，只有我一人逃脫，來向你報告。」
 約:1.16     這人還在報告時，另一個人跑來說：「天主的火由天降下，將羊群和僕人都燒死了，只有我一人逃脫，來向你報告。」
 約:1.17     這人還在報告時，另一個人跑來說：「加色丁人分成三隊闖入駱駝群，將駱駝搶走了，用刀將僕人殺了，只有我一人逃脫，來向你報告。」
 約:1.18     這人還在報告時，另一個人跑來說：「你的兒女正在長兄家宴飲的時候，
 約:1.19     忽然從曠野那邊吹來一陣颶風，颳倒了房屋的四角，壓死了你的孩子，只有我一人幸免，來向你報告。」
 約:1.20     約伯就起來，撕裂了自己的外氅，剃去頭髮，俯伏在地叩拜，
 約:1.21     說「我赤身脫離母胎，也要赤身歸去；上主賜的，上主收回。願上主的名受到讚美! 」
 約:1.22     就這一切事而論，約伯並沒有犯罪，也沒有說抱怨天主的話。
  
 約:2.1      [進一步的試探]  又有一天，天主的眾子都前來侍立在上主面前，撒殫也夾在他們當中，侍立在上主面前。
 約:2.2      上主向撒殫說：「你從那裏來﹖」撒殫回答上主說：「我走遍了世界，周遊了各地回來。」
 約:2.3      上主對撒殫說：「你曾留心注意到我的僕人約伯嗎﹖世上沒有一個像他那樣十全十美，生性正直，敬畏天主，遠避邪惡的人。你雖然激動我加害他，無端叫他傾家蕩產，但他依然保持自己的完善。」
 約:2.4      撒殫回答上主說：「那只不過是以皮換皮罷了! 人都肯捨棄所有，去保全自己的性命。
 約:2.5      但是，你若伸手打擊他的骨和肉，他必定當面詛咒你。」
 約:2.6      上主向撒殫說：「看，任你處置他，但要保留他的性命。」
 約:2.7      撒殫從上主那裏出來，就使約伯從足踵到頭頂都長了毒瘡。
 約:2.8      約伯坐在灰土堆中，用瓦片刮身。
 約:2.9      他的妻子向他說：「你還保持你的完善嗎﹖你倒不如詛咒天主，死了算了! 」
 約:2.10     約伯向她說：「你說話，真像一個糊塗女人! 難道我們只由天主那裏接受恩惠，而不接受災禍嗎﹖」就這一切事而論，約伯沒有犯失言的過錯。
 約:2.11     [三友人來慰問]  約伯的三位朋友，特曼人厄里法次、叔亞人彼耳達得、納阿瑪人左法爾，聽說他遭遇了災禍，就各從本地起程，來到一起，去慰問他、勸勉他，
 約:2.12     他們從遠處舉目一望，已認不得他，就放聲大哭，撕破了自己的外衣，把灰揚起，落在自己頭上。
 約:2.13     他們於是同他在灰土中，坐了七天七夜，因見他受苦太大，沒有人敢向他說一句話。
  
 約:3.1      [約伯詛咒自己的生日]  此後約伯開口詛咒自己的生日。
 約:3.2      約伯開始說：
 約:3.3      願我誕生的那日消逝，願報告「懷了男胎」的那夜滅亡。
 約:3.4      願那日成為黑暗，願天主從上面不再尋覓它，再沒有光燭照它。
 約:3.5.     願黑暗和陰影玷污它，濃雲遮蓋它，白晝失光的晦暗驚嚇它。
 約:3.6      願那夜常為黑暗所制，不讓它列入年歲中，不讓它算在月分裏。
 約:3.7      願那夜孤寂煢獨，毫無歡呼之聲
 約:3.8      願那詛咒白日者，有術召喚海怪者，前來詛咒那夜。
 約:3.9      願晨星昏暗，期待光明而光明不至，也不見晨光熹微，
 約:3.10     因為它沒有關閉我母胎之門，遮住我眼前的愁苦。
 約:3.11     切願早死安息我為何一出母胎沒有立即死去﹖為何我一離母腹沒有斷氣﹖
 約:3.12     為何兩膝接住我﹖為何兩乳哺養我﹖
 約:3.13     不然現今我早已臥下安睡了，早已永眠獲得安息了，
 約:3.14     與那些為自己建陵墓的國王和百官，
 約:3.15     與那些金銀滿堂的王侯同眠；
 約:3.16     或者像隱沒的流產兒，像未見光明的嬰孩；
 約:3.17     在那裏惡人停止作亂，在那裏勞悴者得享安寧；
 約:3.18     囚徒相安無事，再不聞督工的呼叱聲，
 約:3.19     在那裏大小平等，奴隸脫離主人。
 約:3.20     [厭惡生活]  為何賜不幸者以光明，賜心中憂苦者以生命﹖
 約:3.21     這些人渴望死，而死不至；尋求死亡勝於寶藏，
 約:3.22     見到墳墓，感覺歡樂，且喜樂達於極點!
 約:3.23     人的道路，既如此渺茫，天主為何賜給他生命，又把他包圍﹖
 約:3.24     歎習成了我的食物，不停哀嘆有如流水。
 約:3.25     我所畏懼的，偏偏臨於我身；我所害怕的，卻迎面而來。
 約:3.26     我沒有安寧，也沒有平靜，得不到休息，而只有煩惱。
  
           第一場辯論（4-14）
  
 約:4.1      [責約伯沮喪]  特曼人厄里法次開始說：
 約:4.2      人若和你講話，你能忍受嗎﹖但誰又能忍住不說﹖
 約:4.3      看，你曾勸戒過許多人，堅固過軟弱無能的人；
 約:4.4      你的話扶起了跌倒的人，堅固了膝弱無力的人；
 約:4.5      但是現今災禍一臨於你，你就萎靡不振；一接觸你，你就沮喪失意。
 約:4.6      你敬畏天主之情，豈不是你的依靠﹖你完善的行為，豈不是你的希望﹖
 約:4.7      請想：那有無辜者喪亡﹖那有正直者消逝﹖
 約:4.8      照我所見：那播種邪惡的，必收邪惡；散佈毒害的，必收毒害。
 約:4.9      天主一噓氣，他們即滅亡；一發怒氣，他們即消失。
 約:4.10     獅吼豹嗥完全止息，幼獅的牙齒也被打碎；
 約:4.11     壯獅因缺獵物而滅絕，牝獅幼子各自東西離散。
 約:4.12     [所見的異象]  我竊聽到一句話，我耳聽見細語聲。
 約:4.13     當人沉睡時，夜夢多幻象；
 約:4.14     我恐怖戰慄，全身骨頭發抖。
 約:4.15     寒風掠過我面，使我毛髮悚然。
 約:4.16     他停立不動，但我不能辨其形狀；我面前出現形影，我聽見細微的聲音：
 約:4.17     人豈能在天主前自以為義﹖在造他者前，自以為潔﹖
 約:4.18     看，他的僕役，他還不信；他的使者，他還歸罪，
 約:4.19     何況那以泥屋為居所，以塵土為基礎的人!他們為人踐踏，有如蠹蟲；
 約:4.20     晨昏間即化為齏粉，永遠消亡而無人一顧。
 約:4.21     幕索如已自斷，他們豈不是因缺少智慧而死亡﹖
  
 約:5.1      [糊塗人的結果]  任你呼求，看有誰答應你﹖諸聖者中，看你轉向那一位﹖
 約:5.2      的確，憂憤殺死愚人，怒火使痴者喪生。
 約:5.3      我知道：愚人一根深蒂固，他的居所即被詛咒；
 約:5.4      他的子女，無人支援，在城門前被踐踏，無人救護。
 約:5.5      他們收穫的，飢餓者來吃；且將剩餘的，搶去儲存；他們的財富，為口渴者喝盡。
 約:5.6      因為災禍不是由土中而來，憂患不是生自地中；
 約:5.7      而是人自尋苦惱，如雛鷹自會飛翔。
 約:5.8      [歸向天主]  如果是我，我必投奔天主，向天主陳訴我的案情。
 約:5.9      他所作的大事，高深莫測；他所行的奇事，不可勝數：
 約:5.10     他使雨落在地上，引水滋潤郊田；
 約:5.11     使卑微的人高昇，使受苦的人獲得救助；
 約:5.12     粉碎狡猾人的計謀，使他們的作為一無所成；
 約:5.13     以智者的計謀捕捉智者，使奸猾人的策畫即時成空；
 約:5.14     他們白日遇到黑暗，正午摸索如在夜間；
 約:5.15     他搭救被剝削者脫離人口，挽救窮人擺脫強暴的手。
 約:5.16     如此，貧苦的人獲得希望，邪惡將閉口無言。
 約:5.17     [惟天主賜幸福]  的確，天主所懲戒的人是有福的：全能者的訓戒，你不可忽視。
 約:5.18     因為他打傷了，而又包紮傷口；他擊碎了，而又親手治療。
 約:5.19     你六次遭難，他次次拯救；到第七次，災難不會臨於你。
 約:5.20     饑饉中，他必救你不死；戰爭中，必使你得免刀劍。
 約:5.21     唇槍舌劍，你必能躲藏；大難來臨，你不必張惶；
 約:5.22     對大難和饑荒，你可置之一笑；對地上的野獸，也不用驚惶。
 約:5.23     你將與田野的頑石立約，曠野的猛獸必與你和好。
 約:5.24     你將見到你的帳幕平安無恙，察看羊欄時，一無所失。
 約:5.25     你將確知子孫繁昌，你的苗裔猶如田野青草。
 約:5.26     你必高年纔葬於墓，好像麥梱準時收藏。
 約:5.27     看，這是我們所觀察的真理，你若細聽，自會獲益良多。
  
 約:6.1      [約伯自述痛苦的慘狀]  約伯回答說：
 約:6.2      恨不得有人衡量衡量我的痛苦，把我所受的災禍一起放在天秤上!
 約:6.3      它們重過海岸的沙粒，難怪我出言冒失。
 約:6.4      因為全能者的箭射中了我，我的心靈喝盡它們的毒汁，天主的恐嚇列陣攻擊我。
 約:6.5      野驢有青草，難道還嘶叫﹖牛對著草料，難道還吼鳴﹖
 約:6.6      淡而無鹽的食物，豈能下咽﹖蛋白能有什麼滋味﹖
 約:6.7      這使我厭惡的食物，我實不願沾唇。
 約:6.8      惟願我的祈求實現，願天主滿全我的希望!
 約:6.9      願天主擊毀我，鬆手使我消滅!
 約:6.10     這樣，我仍有安慰，在悽慘的痛苦中，仍然喜悅，因為我沒有違犯聖者的教訓。
 約:6.11     我有什麼力量使我期待，有什麼結局使我拖延生命﹖
 約:6.12     我的力量豈有巖石之堅﹖我的肉身豈是銅製的﹖
 約:6.13     在我內還能找到什麼作援助﹖任何扶助豈不都遠離了我﹖
 約:6.14     [友人亦不可靠]  誰不憐憫自己的友人，就是放棄了敬畏天主之心。
 約:6.15     我的兄弟們詭詐有如溪水，有如水過即乾的河床。
 約:6.16     溪水因結冰而混濁，積雪掩蓋在其上；
 約:6.17     季節一溫暖，溪水即竭，天氣一炎熱，河床即乾。
 約:6.18     商隊離開大道，走入荒野，因而喪命。
 約:6.19     特瑪的商隊觀望，舍巴的客旅期待，
 約:6.20     但他們的希望落了空，他們不管到了那裏，必狼狽不堪。
 約:6.21     現今你們待我也是一樣：看見了我，就驚惶失措。
 約:6.22     難道我說過：「請送我禮物! 把你們的財產送我一分﹖
 約:6.23     救我擺脫仇人的權勢，贖我脫離殘暴者的掌握﹖」
 約:6.24     請教訓我! 我必靜聽。我有什麼錯，請指示我!
 約:6.25     正義的言詞是多麼甘美! 但你們的責斥是指摘什麼﹖
 約:6.26     你們豈能只在言詞上吹毛求疵﹖以絕望者的話當耳邊風﹖
 約:6.27     你們只想對孤兒擲骰下注，以你們的朋友作商品。
 約:6.28     現今請你們注視我，在你們注視之下，我決不說謊。
 約:6.29     請你們再想一下，不要不公；請你們三思，我的正義仍然存在!
 約:6.30     我的唇舌上豈有不義﹖我的口腔難道不辨邪正﹖
  
 約:7.1      [人生多愁苦]  人生在世，豈不像服兵役﹖人的歲月，豈不像傭工的時日﹖
 約:7.2      有如奴工切望陰涼，傭工期待工資：
 約:7.3      這樣，我也只有承受失意的歲月，為我注定的苦痛長夜。
 約:7.4      我臥下時說：「幾時天亮﹖」我起來時又說：「黑夜何時到﹖」我整夜輾轉反側，直到天亮。
 約:7.5      我的肉身以蛆蟲與泥皮為衣，我的皮膚破裂流膿。
 約:7.6      我的日月速於織梭，也因無希望而中斷。
 約:7.7      請你記住：我的生命無非像一口氣，我的眼再也見不到幸福。
 約:7.8      注目於我的，再也見不到我；你的眼看我時、我已不在了。
 約:7.9      他去了，好像雲消霧散；下到陰府的，再也不得上來，
 約:7.10     不再回家，本鄉也不認識他。
 約:7.11     為此，我不能再閉口不言，我要吐露我心靈的憂愁，陳述我靈魂的苦楚。
 約:7.12     [自訴命苦]  我豈是海洋或海怪﹖你竟派遣警衛把守我。
 約:7.13     我若想：「我的床榻會寬慰我，我的臥舖會減輕我的痛苦。」
 約:7.14     你就以噩夢擾亂我，以異像驚嚇我。
 約:7.15     我的心靈寧願窒息，寧死不願受此苦痛。
 約:7.16     我已筋疲力盡，活不下去。任憑我去罷! 因為我的日月僅是一口氣。
 約:7.17     人算什麼，你竟如此顯揚他，將他置諸心頭，
 約:7.18     天天早晨看護他，時刻不斷考察他﹖
 約:7.19     你到何時纔不注視我，而讓我輕鬆咽一下唾沫﹖
 約:7.20     監察人者啊! 我犯罪與你何干﹖為何叫我當你的箭靶，使我成為你的重擔﹖
 約:7.21     為何你不肯容忍我的過錯，寬赦我的罪惡﹖不久我將臥在塵土中，任你尋找我，我已不在了。
  
 約:8.1      [天主至義有罪必罰]  叔亞人彼耳達得發言說：
 約:8.2      這些話你要講到幾時﹖你口中的話像狂風要到何時﹖
 約:8.3      天主豈能違背公道﹖全能者豈能屈枉正義﹖
 約:8.4      若你的子女得罪了他，他必將他們交於罪過的權勢下。
 約:8.5      你若急切尋覓天主，哀求全能者；
 約:8.6      你若純潔正直，他必親來守護你，恢復你正義的居所。
 約:8.7      你起初雖然微小，今後必要興隆強大。
 約:8.8      [前人的教訓]  請你查問上一代，細想祖先的經驗；
 約:8.9      因為我們由昨日纔有，本來一無所知；我們在世上的日月，好似影子。
 約:8.10     他們必訓誡你，指教你，向你說出內心的話：
 約:8.11     蒲草不在池沼內，怎能長大﹖蘆葦沒有水，怎會長起﹖
 約:8.12     在茁壯中，尚未砍下，已先百草而枯萎。
 約:8.13     凡忘記天主的，他的末路也是這樣：惡人的希望必化為泡影。
 約:8.14     他的依靠好似游絲，他的憑藉有如蛛網。
 約:8.15     他倚恃自己的家，但它卻站立不住；他要依附自己的住所，住所卻不能久存。
 約:8.16     它在日光下而青蔥，枝蔓爬滿了園囿，
 約:8.17     根盤據在石堆上，纏繞在石屋上。
 約:8.18     若有人從原處把它拔除，那地必否認說：「我未曾見過它。」
 約:8.19     看，它要腐爛在路上，必從地上生出另一棵。
 約:8.20     天主決不棄捨完善的人，也決不支持惡人的勢力。
 約:8.21     你的口角必再洋溢著喜悅，你的唇邊必再充滿歡笑。
 約:8.22     憎恨你的必蒙受羞辱，惡人的帳幕必化為烏有。
  
 約:9.1      [天主是全能的]  約伯答覆說：
 約:9.2      我確實知道事情是這樣，但人怎能同天主講理﹖
 約:9.3      人若願意同天主辯論，千個問題中，誰也回答不出一個。
 約:9.4      雖心中明智，力量強大，但誰能對抗天主，而保平安﹖
 約:9.5      他可移山，山卻不知；他一發怒，山即翻轉；
 約:9.6      他振搖大地，使之脫離原處，地柱隨之搖撼震動；
 約:9.7      他一下令，太陽即不昇起，星辰即封閉不動；
 約:9.8      惟有他展開天空，步行海波之上；
 約:9.9      他創造了北斗和參宿，昂星及南極星辰；
 約:9.10     他所作的大事，不可勝數。
 約:9.11     他由我身旁經過，我卻沒有看見；他走過去，我仍沒有發覺。
 約:9.12     他若搶奪，誰能阻擋﹖誰能問他說：「你作什麼﹖」
 約:9.13     天主一憤怒，決不收回。為虎作倀的，必屈伏在他以下。
 約:9.14     [誰能反抗天主]  如此我怎敢回答，我怎敢措辭與他抗辯﹖
 約:9.15     縱然有理，也不敢回答，唯有哀求我的判官開恩。
 約:9.16     我向他呼求，縱然他答應我，我仍不相信他會聽我的呼聲。
 約:9.17     他為了一根頭髮而折磨我，無故增加我的創傷；
 約:9.18     致使我不能喘一口氣，使我飽嘗苦辛。
 約:9.19     論力量，他強而有力；論審判，誰能將他傳來﹖
 約:9.20     我雖自以為正義，他的口卻判定我有罪；我雖自覺無辜，他卻證明我有偏差。
 約:9.21     我是無辜的，我已不顧及我的生命，我已厭惡生活下去。
 約:9.22     [善人為何遭難]  因此我說：都是一樣。善人惡人，他一概滅絕。
 約:9.23     若天災突然降下使人猝死，他便嘲笑無罪者的絕望。
 約:9.24     大地落在惡人的手裏，蒙蔽判官臉面的，不是他，是誰呢﹖
 約:9.25     我的日月過去比跑信的還快；疾走而過，無福樂可享。
 約:9.26     急急駛過，似蘆葦船，如驟降攫食的鷹。
 約:9.27     我若決意忘掉我的哀怨，改變愁容，表示愉快；
 約:9.28     但一想到我的痛苦，我就恐怖。我知道你決不以我為無辜。
 約:9.29     我若是有罪，又何苦白費心血﹖
 約:9.30     我即便用雪洗我身，用鹹水洗我手，
 約:9.31     你卻把我浸在泥坑內，甚至我的衣服都憎惡我。
 約:9.32     因為他不像我是個人，使我能答覆他，或讓我們同去聽審。
 約:9.33     在我們中間沒有仲裁，可按手在我們兩造之間。
 約:9.34     但願他的棍杖遠離我，他的威嚴不要恐嚇我，
 約:9.35     我好能講話而不害怕；但是如今我並非如此。
  
 約:10.1     [天主為何要人受苦]  我實在厭惡我的生活，我要任意苦訴我的怨情，傾吐我心中的酸苦。
 約:10.2     我要對天主說：不要定我的罪! 請告訴我：你為何與我作對﹖
 約:10.3     你對親手所造的，加以虐待和厭棄，卻顯揚惡人的計劃，為你豈有好處﹖
 約:10.4     你豈有肉眼，或者也像人一樣觀看嗎﹖
 約:10.5     你的日月豈像人的日月﹖你的年歲豈像人的年歲﹖
 約:10.6     你竟考查我的邪惡，追究我的罪過。
 約:10.7     其實你知道我並沒有罪過，也知道無人能拯救我脫離你的掌握。
 約:10.8     你親手形成了我，創造了我；此後你又轉念想消滅我。
 約:10.9     求你記憶：你造我時就像摶泥，難道還使我歸於泥土﹖
 約:10.10    你不是將我像奶倒出，使我凝結像一塊奶餅﹖
 約:10.11    用皮和肉作我的衣服，用骨和筋把我全身聯絡起來﹖
 約:10.12    是你將我生命的恩惠賜給了我，細心照顧維持了我的氣息。
 約:10.13    [吃苦不如夭折]  這些事早已藏在你心中，我知道你久有此意：
 約:10.14    你監視我，看我是否犯罪；如果我有罪；你決不放過。
 約:10.15    我若有罪，我就有禍了! 我若有義，也不敢抬頭，因為我已備嘗凌辱，吃盡苦頭。
 約:10.16    我若抬頭，你就像獅子追捕我，向我表現你的奇能，
 約:10.17    重新襲擊我，加倍對我洩怒。
 約:10.18    你為何叫我出離母胎﹖不如我那時斷氣，無人見我，
 約:10.19    就好像從未有過我一樣，一出母胎即被送入墳墓。
 約:10.20    我生存的日月不是很少嗎﹖你且放開我罷!
 約:10.21    趁我去而不返，未到冥暗死影之地，
 約:10.22    即光明也是黑暗之地以前，讓我自在一下罷!
  
 約:11.1     [左法爾斥責約伯]  納阿瑪人左法爾發言說：
 約:11.2     難道喋喋不休，就不需要答覆﹖難道多嘴多舌的人，就證明有理﹖
 約:11.3     你的空談，豈能叫人緘默﹖你如此謾罵，難道無人使你羞愧﹖
 約:11.4     你說過：「我的品行是純潔的，我在你眼中是清白的。」
 約:11.5     但願天主講話，開口答覆你!
 約:11.6     將智慧的秘密，－即那難以理解的事－啟示給你，那麼你便知道，天主還忽略了你的一些罪過。
 約:11.7     [明察人罪]  你豈能探究天主的奧秘，或洞悉全能者的完美﹖
 約:11.8     完美高於諸天，你能作什麼﹖深於陰府，你能知道什麼﹖
 約:11.9     其量長過大地，闊於海洋。
 約:11.10    天主若經過，誰能扣留他﹖他若下了逮捕令，誰能阻擋他﹖
 約:11.11    他洞悉人的虛偽，明察人的罪行，且無不注意。
 約:11.12    如此，愚蠢者纔可獲得智慧，野性驢駒纔能變為馴良。
 約:11.13    [勸約伯悔改]  你若居心正直，向他伸開你的雙手；
 約:11.14    你若將手中的罪惡除掉，不容不義留在你的帳幕內；
 約:11.15    那麼你定能仰首無愧，一定站立穩定，一無所懼；
 約:11.16    你必能忘卻痛苦，縱然想起，也必似水流去；
 約:11.17    你的壽命如日中之光華，縱有陰暗，仍如晨曦。
 約:11.18    因有希望，你纔感覺安全；因有保護，你纔坦然躺臥；
 約:11.19    你躺臥，無人敢來擾亂你，反而有多人來奉承你。
 約:11.20    然而惡人的眼必要昏花，他們安身之所必全毀壞，他們的希望只在吐出最後的一口氣。
  
 約:12.1     [嘲笑友人]  約伯回答說：
 約:12.2     的確，只有你們是有知識的子民；那麼，你們一死，智慧也與你們一同喪亡!
 約:12.3     其實，我和你們有同樣的心理，我並不亞於你們! 誰不知道這些事﹖
 約:12.4     我這呼籲天主而蒙應允的人，卻被他的友人所嘲笑，無辜的義人卻成了笑柄。
 約:12.5     幸運的人心想：遭難的人應受蔑視，失足的人應再予以打擊。
 約:12.6     但是，強盜的帳幕竟能安全，觸怒天主的人，以勢力為神的人卻享平安。
 約:12.7     請你詢問走獸，牠們也會開導你；詢問天上的飛鳥，牠們也會告訴你；
 約:12.8     地上的爬蟲也會教訓你，海中的魚族也會給你說明。
 約:12.9     牠們中有誰不知道：是天主的手創造了這一切﹖
 約:12.10    因為一切活物的生魂，一切血肉之人的靈魂，都握在他手中。
 約:12.11    耳朵不是為明辨言語，口腔不是為辨嘗食物嗎﹖
 約:12.12    白髮老人是有智慧的，年紀大者是有見識的；
 約:12.13    但智慧和能力同在天主內，智慧與見識是天主所有。
 約:12.14    他若拆毀，人不能再建；他若拘禁，人不得開釋。
 約:12.15    他若制水，水便乾涸；他若放水，水便沖毀大地。
 約:12.16    力量與才能，為他所有；受騙者與騙人者，都屬於他。
 約:12.17    他使謀士糊塗，使判官愚蠢；
 約:12.18    他解除君王所繫的玉帶，將繩索捆在他們的腰間；
 約:12.19    他使司祭赤足而行，推倒掌握大權者；
 約:12.20    奪去忠貞者的辯才，剝去年老者的理智：
 約:12.21    使貴人備受侮辱，使勇士的腰帶鬆弛；
 約:12.22    使隱秘的事由暗處彰顯，使黑暗進入光明；
 約:12.23    使邦國興起而又滅亡，使民族強大而又消散；
 約:12.24    剝去國君的理智，使他們漂泊於無路的荒野中，
 約:12.25    在無光的黑暗中摸索，踉蹌猶如醉漢。
  
 約:13.1     [虛偽的熱誠]  的確，這一切我親眼見過，我親耳聽過，是我熟悉的事。
 約:13.2     你們所知道的，我也知道，我並不亞於你們。
 約:13.3     但是，我願同全能者交談，願與天主辯論，
 約:13.4     因為你們都是謊言的捏造者，全是無用的醫生。
 約:13.5     恨不得你們閉口不言! 這樣纔算聰明。
 約:13.6     請你們聽我的怨訴，留意我口中的辯論!
 約:13.7     你們想以詭詐來為天主辯護，以謊言來為他說理﹖
 約:13.8     難道你們想偏袒天主，有意為他辯護嗎﹖
 約:13.9     他揭穿了你們，難道為你們有益﹖難道你們能欺騙他如人之欺騙人﹖
 約:13.10    你們若假意偏袒，他必嚴厲斥責你們。
 約:13.11    他的尊嚴能不使你們恐怖﹖他的威嚇能不落在你們身上﹖
 約:13.12    你們的古諺都是些腐朽之談，你們的答辯都是些泥製的盾牌。
 約:13.13    [仍表白無罪]  你們且住口，讓我來發言：不要管我有什麼遭遇。
 約:13.14    我已將我的肉放在我的牙齒中，已將我的性命放在我手中；
 約:13.15    即使他殺我，我仍希望在他面前表白我的行為。
 約:13.16    這樣對我還有救，因為惡人不敢到他面前。
 約:13.17    你們要細聽我的話，側耳靜聽我的解釋。
 約:13.18    我今呈上我的案件，確知我自己有理。
 約:13.19    誰若與我爭辯，我就住口，情願死去。
 約:13.20    [約伯質問天主]  惟有二事，你切莫向我作，我就不迴避你：
 約:13.21    請將你的手由我身上撤回，莫讓你的威嚴恐嚇我。
 約:13.22    那時你若召喚，我必回答；或者我說，你回答我。
 約:13.23    我的邪惡罪過，究有多少﹖讓我認識我的過犯和罪過。
 約:13.24    你為何遮掩你的面容，將我視作你的仇人﹖
 約:13.25    難道你要喝走被風吹落的樹葉，要追逐已枯乾的碎湝﹖
 約:13.26    你寫下了我受苦的判詞，使我承當我青年時的罪過。
 約:13.27    你把我的腳縛在木樁上，窺察我的一切行動，又為我的腳步劃定界限。
 約:13.28    我的生命已如腐爛的朽木，已如蛀蝕的衣服。
  
 約:14.1     [人的可憐]  婦女所生的人，壽命不長，且飽嘗煩惱。
 約:14.2     他生出像花，瞬息凋謝；急馳如影，不得停留。
 約:14.3     這樣的人，豈配你睜眼注視一下﹖或傳他到你面前聽審﹖
 約:14.4     誰能使潔淨出於不潔﹖沒有一人!
 約:14.5     他的時日既已注定，他的歲數既由你掌管，他決不能越過你定下的期限：
 約:14.6     請你別看他，讓他安息，好像傭工度過自己的日期。
 約:14.7     [苦中求慰]  若是一棵樹被砍伐了，仍有希望生出新芽，嫩枝叢出不窮。
 約:14.8     它的根雖老於地下，枝幹縱枯死地上，
 約:14.9     但一有水氣，立即生芽，好似幼苗發出枝葉。
 約:14.10    但是人一死，立即僵臥；人一斷氣，他究竟在何處﹖
 約:14.11    海水能乾涸，江河能枯竭；
 約:14.12    同樣，人一僵臥，即不能起立，直到天不存在，仍不能醒起，仍不能由永眠中起來。
 約:14.13    唯願你將我藏於陰府，將我隱藏，直到挽回你的憤怒；願你給我定一期限，好記念我。
 約:14.14    人若死了，豈能再生﹖我在整個從軍之日，要堅持到底，直到換班的時期到來。
 約:14.15    你若呼喚我，我必回答你：你對你手所造的，必有一種懷念。
 約:14.16    你現今既數了我的腳步，不必再監察我的罪過。
 約:14.17    請把我的罪過封閉在囊中，滌淨我的一切過犯。
 約:14.18    但是，山能崩裂離析，盤石能由原處挪移，
 約:14.19    流水能穿過石頭，驟雨能沖出泥沙：你也照樣消滅了人的希望。
 約:14.20    你時常攻擊他，使他消逝；改變他的容貌，遣他離去。
 約:14.21    此後，他的兒子受尊榮與否，他也不知；他們受輕賤與否，他也不覺。
 約:14.22    他只覺自己肉身的痛苦，他的心靈只為自己悲哀。
  
           第二場辯論（15-21）
  
 約:15.1     [約伯非智者]  特曼人厄里法次又發言說：
 約:15.2     智者豈能以虛言作答﹖豈能以東風果腹﹖
 約:15.3     豈能以無益的廢話，無濟於事的言詞來辯護﹖
 約:15.4     不但如此，而且你還廢除了敬畏天主之情，斷絕了在他面前的默禱。
 約:15.5     其實，是你的罪惡教導你說話，叫你的口舌詭辯。
 約:15.6     定你罪的，是你的口而不是我，是你的口唇作證控告你。
 約:15.7     你豈是第一個出生的人﹖在山嶽未有之前，你豈已誕生﹖
 約:15.8     難道你聽見了天主的秘旨，把持著智慧﹖
 約:15.9     有什麼事，只有你知，而我們不知；只有你明瞭，而我們不明瞭﹖
 約:15.10    我們之中也有白頭老人，年紀比你父親還大。
 約:15.11    天主的安慰，和向你說的溫和的話，你以為還太少嗎﹖
 約:15.12    你為何讓你的感情控制著你﹖你的眼為何冒火，
 約:15.13    竟向天主發怒，開口說出這樣的話﹖
 約:15.14    人算什麼而敢自稱潔淨，婦女所生的敢自稱正直﹖
 約:15.15    他連自己的聖者，還不信賴；在他眼中，連蒼天也不純潔，
 約:15.16    何況一個墮落可憎，飲惡如水的人。
 約:15.17    [惡人應受罰]  我要告訴你，你且聽我說；我要說明我的經驗，
 約:15.18    即賢哲所傳授，和祖先未曾隱瞞的事：──
 約:15.19    這地方原只賜給了他們，尚無一個外方人從他們中間經過。──
 約:15.20    惡人一生飽受苦惱，壽數已給暴君限定；
 約:15.2     恐怖之聲常在他耳中，平靜時匪徒也來侵擾。
 約:15.22    他不相信還能脫離黑暗，只等待遭受刀劍之害，
 約:15.23    注定作為鷹鳥的食物，自知大難業已臨頭。
 約:15.24    黑暗的日子使他恐怖，困苦艱難跟隨著他，好像準備廝殺的君王。
 約:15.25    因為他曾伸手反抗過天主，向全能者傲慢逞強過；
 約:15.26    以伸直的頸項，以堅厚的盾背攻擊過天主。
 約:15.27    他的臉蓋滿了脂油，他的腰積滿了肥肉。
 約:15.28    他住在荒涼的城內，住在無人居留，行將化為廢墟的屋中。
 約:15.29    他不能富有，所有的財富也不能久存，也決不能向地下生根。
 約:15.30    他脫離不了黑暗，火燄要灼乾他的嫩芽，暴風要吹去他的花朵。
 約:15.31    別依恃枝椏已長大，應知這都是空虛；
 約:15.32    未到時日，已經凋謝，枝葉再不發綠。
 約:15.33    有如葡萄未熟即被打下，橄欖開花即被搖落，
 約:15.34    因為惡人的家室必要絕嗣，火要燒盡受賄者的帳幕。
 約:15.35    他們所懷的是邪惡，所生的是罪孽；心胸懷念的，無非是欺詐。
  
 約:16.1     [拒受口頭安慰]  約伯回答說：
 約:16.2     像這樣的話，我聽了許多；你們的安慰反使人煩惱。
 約:16.3     這些風涼話何時了﹖或者有什麼事迫你非說不可﹖
 約:16.4     若是你們處在我的境遇中，我也會說像你們所說的話，也會花言巧語譏笑你們，向你們搖頭。
 約:16.5     我也會以口舌寬慰你們，搖唇鼓舌來減輕你們的痛苦。
 約:16.6     [災禍為天主所許]  我若講話，痛苦並不停止；我若閉口不言，難道痛苦就離開我﹖
 約:16.7     現今天主的確叫我厭倦，使我每個親人都遠離了我；
 約:16.8     使我憔悴，以指證我；使我消瘦，當面非難我。
 約:16.9     他在憤怒中撕裂我，窘迫我，向我咬牙切齒；我仇人鋒利的眼睛常盯著我。
 約:16.10    他們張開大口想吞噬我，責罵著打我的面頰，一起擁上前來攻擊我。
 約:16.11    天主將我交於不義之人，將我丟在惡人手中。
 約:16.12    我原來安寧，他卻折磨我，抓住我的脖子，粉碎我，又拿我當作他的箭靶。
 約:16.13    他的箭矢四面射擊我，射穿我的腰，毫不留情，使我的膽傾流於地。
 約:16.14    他將我撕裂粉碎，有如武士向我跑來。
 約:16.15    我縫麻衣包裹我的皮膚，使我額角插入塵土。
 約:16.16    我的臉因哭泣發紅，我睫眉間滿是暗影；
 約:16.17    我的手雖沒有行過殘暴的事，而我的祈禱，又往往純正。
 約:16.18    [天上的中保]  地啊! 不要掩蓋我的血。願我的呼聲無休息的餘地!
 約:16.19    看啊! 連現今在天上有我的見證，在高處有我的中保。
 約:16.20    我的哀號上徹於天，在天主前我的雙目流淚不止。
 約:16.21    惟願人與天主之間有一中人，猶如人與人之間一樣!
 約:16.22    因為我的年數將盡，快要走上那條一去不返的路途。
  
 約:17.1     [重述哀怨]  我的氣息已斷，壽命已盡，而且墳墓已為我做好。
 約:17.2     我豈不是成了笑罵的對象﹖我的眼睛豈不是在酸苦中過夜﹖
 約:17.3     求你將我的抵押放在你那裏! 誰還敢與我擊掌作保﹖
 約:17.4     因為你蒙蔽了他們的心，不叫他們明白，他們纔不敢舉起手來。
 約:17.5     人請自己的朋友分享所有，但自己的子女卻餓的眼目昏花。
 約:17.6     我成了人民取笑的資料，人人在我臉上可吐唾沫。
 約:17.7     我的眼睛因愁悶而昏花，我的肢體消失有如蔭影。
 約:17.8     正直人因此而驚異，無罪者憤起攻擊惡人。
 約:17.9     義人堅持自己的道，手淨的人倍增勇氣。
 約:17.10    你們眾人，請你們再回來，但在你們中我找不到一個智者。
 約:17.11    [希望降入陰府]  我的時日已過去，我志所謀，我心所愛，都已落空。
 約:17.12    他們將黑夜變為白天，使光明靠近黑暗；
 約:17.13    若是我還有希望，即以陰府為我的家；在憂暗之處，舖設我的床榻。
 約:17.14    我對墓穴說：你作我父! 對蛆蟲說：你作我母，我妹!
 約:17.15    我的希望究在何處﹖我的幸福，有誰注意﹖
 約:17.16    這一切只有和我一同降入陰府，一同安息在灰塵中。
  
 約:18.1     [責斥約伯]  叔亞人彼耳達得發言說：
 約:18.2     2.你到何時纔停止講話﹖你且留心，也讓我們說幾句話。
 約:18.3     你為何以我們為走獸，視我們為畜牲﹖
 約:18.4     因了你的憤怒，你必粉身碎骨! 為了你，難道大地要被遺棄，盤石要轉離原處﹖
 約:18.5     [惡人應受禍患] 惡人的光必要熄滅，他的火炎必不發亮。
 約:18.6     他帳幕內的光必變暗淡，懸在上面的燈必要熄滅。
 約:18.7     他強健的腳步要躊躇不前，他的計謀必使自己顛仆。
 約:18.8     因為他的腳要走入羅網，徘徊於陷阱之上。
 約:18.9     圈套要纏住他的腳跟，攀籠要拘禁他。
 約:18.10    絆住他的繩索埋藏在地下，捉他的陷阱暗設在途中。
 約:18.11    恐怖由四周來恐嚇他，在他腳後緊緊跟蹤他。
 約:18.12    饑餓常陪伴著他，災禍不離他身旁。
 約:18.13    疾病腐蝕他的皮膚，死亡的長子耗盡他的肢體。
 約:18.14    他必由所仰仗的帳幕中被拖出，被引到可怕的君王面前。
 約:18.15    魑魅要住在他的帳幕中，硫磺散步在他的居所之上。
 約:18.16    他下面的根要枯乾，他上面的枝葉要凋謝。
 約:18.17    他的紀念必由地上消滅，他的名字必不傳於街市。
 約:18.18    他將由光明被驅入黑暗，他將從世上被趕走。
 約:18.19    他在本族中無子無孫，在他寄居之地沒有留下一人。
 約:18.20    他的末日，西方人都為之驚訝，東方人都為之恐怖。
 約:18.21    的確，這就是惡人的結局，這就是不認識天主者的境遇。
  
 約:19.1     [約伯仍稱無事受難]  約伯回答說：
 約:19.2     你們叫我的心悲傷，說話苦惱我，要到何時﹖
 約:19.3     你們侮辱我，已有十次之多，苛待我卻不知羞愧。
 約:19.4     我若實在錯了，錯自由我承當。
 約:19.5     如果你們真要對我自誇，證明我的醜惡，
 約:19.6     你們應當知道：是天主虐待了我，是他用自己的羅網圍困了我。
 約:19.7     我若高呼說：「殘暴，」但得不到答覆；我大聲呼冤，卻沒有正義。
 約:19.8     他攔住我的去路，使我不得過去，使黑暗籠罩著我的去路。
 約:19.9     他奪去了我的光榮，摘下了我頭上的冠冕；
 約:19.10    他四面打擊我，使我逝去；拔除我的希望，猶如拔樹。
 約:19.11    他對我怒火如焚，拿我當作他的仇敵。
 約:19.12    他的軍隊一齊開來，修好道路攻擊我，圍著我的帳幕紮營。
 約:19.13    [為眾人所棄]  他使我的弟兄離棄我，使我的知己疏遠我。
 約:19.14    鄰人和相識者都不見了，寄居我家的人都忘了我。
 約:19.15    我的婢女拿我當作外人，視我如一陌生人。
 約:19.16    我呼喚僕人，他不回答；我必須親口央求他。
 約:19.17    我的氣味使妻子憎厭，我的同胞視我作臭物。
 約:19.18    連孩子們也輕慢我，我一起來，他們就凌辱我。
 約:19.19    我的知交密友都憎惡我，我所愛的人也對我變了臉。
 約:19.20    我的骨頭緊貼著皮，我很徼幸還保留牙床。
 約:19.21    我的朋友，你們可憐可憐我罷! 因為天主的手打傷了我。
 約:19.22    你們為何如同天主一樣逼迫我，吃了我的肉還不知足呢﹖
 約:19.23    [偉大的期望] 惟願我的話都記錄下來，都刻在銅板上；
 約:19.24    用鐵鑿刻在鉛版上，永遠鑿在磐石上。
 約:19.25    我確實知道為我伸冤者還活著，我的辯護人要在地上起立。
 約:19.26    我的皮膚雖由我身上脫落，但我仍要看見天主；
 約:19.27    要看見他站在我這一方，我親眼要看見他，並非外人；我的五內因熱望而耗盡。
 約:19.28    如果你們說：「我們怎能難為他﹖怎能在他身上尋到這事的根由﹖」
 約:19.29    你們應當害怕刀劍，因為報復罪惡者是刀劍；如此你們知道終有一個審判者。
  
 約:20.1     [惡人的惡運]  納阿瑪人左法爾答覆說：
 約:20.2     因我的思潮起伏，叫我答覆，為此我內心十分急躁。
 約:20.3     斥責辱罵我的話，我已聽到，我的理智催迫我答覆。
 約:20.4     你豈不知道，自古以來，自從世上有人以來，
 約:20.5     惡人的歡欣決不久長，無神者的喜樂瞬息即逝﹖
 約:20.6     他的驕傲雖高頂蒼天，他的頭雖插入青雲，
 約:20.7     但他必像幻像，永歸無有；見過他的人必說：「他那裏去了﹖」
 約:20.8     他又像夢境消散，無蹟可尋；又像夜夢，消失無蹤。
 約:20.9     見過他的眼，再也見不到他；他的住所，再也不認識他。
 約:20.10    他的兒子要賠償窮人的損害，他要親手把財物交還。
 約:20.11    他的骨骸雖富有魄力，但要同他一起埋於塵埃。
 約:20.12    邪惡在他口中雖覺甘甜，藏在他的舌下，
 約:20.13    他雖愛惜不捨，久久含在口中；
 約:20.14    但那食物在他腹中要起變化，在他五內要變成蛇的毒汁。
 約:20.15    他併吞的財富，必要吐出，天主必使之由他腹中嘔出。
 約:20.16    他原吸入了蛇的毒汁，毒蛇的舌頭必將他殺死。
 約:20.17    他不得觀賞油流如溪，也看不到那流蜜流奶的小河。
 約:20.18    他勞力之所得，應該退還，不得吞下；賺來的財富，不得享用。
 約:20.19    因為它壓搾了窮人，使他們無依；強佔了人家的房屋，不得再建。
 約:20.20    因為他口腹之慾總不知足，他所喜愛之物，也救不了他。
 約:20.21    沒有什麼能逃脫他的吞噬，他的幸福決不久長。
 約:20.22    他財產富足時，卻不免拮据，各種的困苦齊集他身。
 約:20.23    當他肚腹飽滿時，天主的怒火突然降到，箭如雨點射在他身上。
 約:20.24    他逃避過鐵器，銅矢必將他射穿。
 約:20.25    一箭由他的脊背穿透，光亮的箭矢由他的膽囊穿出，死亡的恐怖已落在他身上。
 約:20.26    層層黑暗留作他的寶藏，非人燃起的火要焚燒他，吞盡留在他帳幕的人。
 約:20.27    天要彰顯他的罪惡，地也起來攻擊他。
 約:20.28    洪水沖走他的住宅，在天主義怒之日要全被沖去。
 約:20.29    這是惡人由天主所應得的一份，是天主為他所注定的產業。
  
 約:21.1     [約伯反駁友人] 約伯回答說：
 約:21.2     你們且聽一聽我的話! 這也算是你們給我的安慰。
 約:21.3     請讓我發言，我說完後，任你們笑罵。
 約:21.4     我豈是抱怨人﹖我失了忍耐，難道沒有理由﹖
 約:21.5     你們注意聽我，必要吃驚，且要用手堵住口。
 約:21.6     甚至我一回想，我就恐怖，全身戰慄。
 約:21.7     [惡人安享幸福]  惡人為何享受高壽而勢力強大﹖
 約:21.8     他們在世時，子孫昌盛，親眼看見子子孫孫。
 約:21.9     他們的住宅平安，無所畏懼，天主的棍杖也不加在他們身上。
 約:21.10    他們的公牛交尾，無不成功；母牛產子，決無流產。
 約:21.11    他們使孩子跑出像羊群，子女跳躍如麋鹿。
 約:21.12    他們伴著手鼓與豎琴歌唱，隨著笛聲歡呼。
 約:21.13    他們幸福地度過天年，平安地降入陰府。
 約:21.14    但他們曾向天主說：「離開我們 ! 我們不願知道你的道路。
 約:21.15    全能者是誰，竟叫我們事奉他﹖我們祈求他有什麼好處﹖」
 約:21.16    看啊! 他們的幸福，豈不在他們掌握中﹖惡人的思想豈不離他很遠﹖
 約:21.17    惡人的燈有多少次熄滅過﹖災禍有多少次降在他們身上﹖天主何嘗因忿怒而消滅他們﹖
 約:21.18    使他們好像被風吹的碎湝﹖好像被暴風捲去的糠秕﹖
 約:21.19    難道天主要向他的兒子討罪債﹖其實應向他本人報復，叫他覺悟!
 約:21.20    叫他親眼看見自己的毀滅，親自飲下全能者的義怒之杯。
 約:21.21    他既逝去，他本人的歲月已絕，他的家庭對他還有什麼相干﹖
 約:21.22    [上智安排高深莫測]  天主既審判天上者，人豈能教給他什麼智識﹖
 約:21.23    有人到死一無所缺，享盡了平安幸福。
 約:21.24    他的腰部充滿脂肪，他的骨髓潤澤豐盈；
 約:21.25    但有人卻至死心靈酸苦，一生毫無福樂；
 約:21.26    他們卻一同埋於塵土，為蛆蟲所掩蓋。
 約:21.27    [惡人得厚葬]  我確知你們的思想，以及對我所籌劃的陰謀。
 約:21.28    你們要問：「霸王的家在那裏﹖惡人住的帳幕在何處﹖」
 約:21.29    你們怎麼不問過路的人﹖難道你們不承認他們的證據﹖
 約:21.30    「惡人在毀滅之日不受害，在憤怒之日會得救。」
 約:21.31    他的動作，誰敢當面指摘﹖他的行為，誰能報復﹖
 約:21.32    他最後被抬入墳墓，且親自守護自己的墓地。
 約:21.33    谷中的土壤，他感覺甘美；眾人都跟他而去，但在他前面的人，更不可勝數。
 約:21.34    你們為何說空話來安慰我﹖你們的答話顯然只是欺詐!
  
           第三場辯論（22-28）
  
 約:22.1     [指正約伯有罪受罰] 特曼人厄里法次接著說：
 約:22.2     人為天主能有什麼益處﹖明智人只能於一己有益。
 約:22.3     縱然你公正，對全能者有什麼好處﹖縱然你品行齊全，對天主有什麼利益﹖
 約:22.4     他豈能因你敬畏之心而責斥你，拉你來聽審﹖
 約:22.5     豈不是因為你罪惡多端，罪過無窮﹖
 約:22.6     因為你無理地強取了你兄弟的抵押，剝去了人的衣服，使之赤裸；
 約:22.7     口渴的人，你沒有給他水喝；饑餓的人，你沒有給他飯吃；
 約:22.8     讓強有力的人佔有土地，讓尊貴體面的人住在其中；
 約:22.9     卻使寡婦空手而歸，折斷孤兒的手臂；
 約:22.10    因此羅網要四面圍困你，恐嚇突降，使你驚惶。
 約:22.11    光明變成黑暗，使你毫無所見；洪水漫漫，將你淹沒。
 約:22.12    天主豈不是居於高天﹖看，最高的星辰何其高遠﹖
 約:22.13    你曾說過：「天主知道什麼﹖他豈能透過黑雲施行審判﹖
 約:22.14    雲彩遮蔽著他，使他看不到什麼，而他只在天邊周圍遊行。」
 約:22.15    你豈要固守惡人所蹈的故轍﹖
 約:22.16    尚未到時，他們已被攫去，大水沖去了他們的基礎。
 約:22.17    他們曾向天主說：「離開我們!全能者能為我們作什麼﹖」
 約:22.18    他原來是以福利充滿了他們的家，可是惡人的思想離他很遠。
 約:22.19    義人見了就歡樂，無罪者也譏笑他們說：
 約:22.20    「的確，他們的財富已被消滅，他門所剩餘的皆被火焚毀。」
 約:22.21    [勸約伯悔改]  請你與他親善和好，藉此你的幸福必得恢復。
 約:22.22    請你領受他口中的教訓，將他的話存在心中。
 約:22.23    如果你歸向全能者，你必興起；你若使邪惡離開你的帳幕，
 約:22.24    視金子如塵埃，視敖非爾金如溪石，
 約:22.25    全能者必作為你的精金，作為你的銀堆。
 約:22.26    那時你必以全能者為喜樂，向天主仰起你的頭來。
 約:22.27    那時你祈求他，他必應允你；你可向他還你的誓願。
 約:22.28    你決定的事，事必成就；光明要照耀你的道路，
 約:22.29    因為他壓伏驕傲的人，拯救低首下心的人。
 約:22.30    他必解救無罪的人；你若手中清廉，你必獲救。
  
 約:23.1     [約伯尋覓天主不獲]  約伯回答說：
 約:23.2     直到今天，我還是痛苦的哀訴，他沉重的手掌，使我不得不呻吟。
 約:23.3     惟願我知道怎樣能尋到天主，能達到他的寶座前，
 約:23.4     好將我的案情向他陳訴，因為我口中滿了證詞!
 約:23.5     唯願我知道他答覆我的話，明瞭他向我說什麼!
 約:23.6     他豈能靠強力同我爭辯﹖決不，他必留神聽我。
 約:23.7     如此，他會分辨出同他爭論的是個正直人，也許我可永久不再受裁判!
 約:23.8     可是我往東行，他不在那裏；我往西行，也找不到他；
 約:23.9     往北找，也看不見他；往南去，也見不到他。
 約:23.10    他洞悉我所有的行動。他若試驗我，我必如純金出現。
 約:23.11    我的腳緊隨著他的足跡，謹守他的道，總沒有偏離。
 約:23.12    他所發的命令，我總沒有違背；他口中的訓言，我常保存在心中。
 約:23.13    但他所決定的，誰能變更﹖他所樂意的，必要實行。
 約:23.14    他為我注定的，必要完成；類似的事，還有很多。
 約:23.15    因此，為了他，我很驚慌，一想起來就害怕。
 約:23.16    天主使我的心沮喪，全能者使我恐怖。
 約:23.17    因為我雖面臨黑暗，幽暗雖遮蓋我的面，我仍不喪氣。
  
 約:24.1     [惡人的強橫與善人的不幸]  全能者為何不劃定一個期限呢﹖忠於他的人為何看不到他的日子﹖
 約:24.2     惡人挪移地界，搶去羊群自去牧放；
 約:24.3     趕走孤兒的驢，拿去寡婦的牛作抵押；
 約:24.4     迫使窮人離開正路，使境內的貧民隱藏不露。
 約:24.5     看啊 ! 他們像曠野的野驢，出來尋覓食物；他們縱使到晚操作，卻找不到養子女的食物。
 約:24.6     夜間遂到田間去收割，到惡人的葡萄園中去摘取。
 約:24.7     赤身過宿，無衣蔽體；嚴寒之時，沒有舖蓋。
 約:24.8     在山中為暴雨淋透，因無處避身，而臥於磐石下。
 約:24.9     另有些人將孤兒從母懷中搶去，剝去窮人的衣服作抵押，
 約:24.10    致使他們無衣赤身行走，枵腹擔荷麥捆；
 約:24.11    在石槽中搾油、踐踏，反受口渴之苦。
 約:24.12    臨死者的呻吟，聲聞城外；負傷者呼求救援，天主卻不理會他們的哀求。
 約:24.13    另有些人反抗光明，不認識光明的道路，更不走光明的途徑。
 約:24.14    兇手黎明即起，去殺害困苦和貧窮的人，夜間去作盜賊。
 約:24.15    姦夫的眼盼望黃昏，他心裏說：「沒有眼可看見我! 」就將自己的臉遮蔽起來。
 約:24.16    竊賊夜間挖穿屋牆，白日將自己關起，不願看見光明，
 約:24.17    因為早晨對這班人有如死影，他們已熟悉了黑暗的恐怖。
 約:24.18    他們輕如水萍，隨波逐流，地上的家業已被詛咒，榨酒者不再走入他們的葡萄園。
 約:24.19    亢旱酷暑怎樣溶盡雪水，陰府也怎樣將罪犯吸去。
 約:24.20    懷孕他的要忘掉他，蛆蟲要腐蝕他，人不再記念他，邪惡如樹一般被人砍倒。
 約:24.21    他欺壓了不生育的石女，沒有善待寡婦。
 約:24.22    然而天主將以威力擄獲強者，他必興起，使他們不能保存生命。
 約:24.23    雖暫時讓他們平安休息，但他的眼正監視著他們的行徑。
 約:24.24    他們居於高位，不久即不見了；他們必喪亡，有如鹹草；必被剪去，猶如麥穗。
 約:24.25    是否如此﹖誰能證明我說謊，誰能以我的話為荒誕﹖
  
 約:25.1     [讚揚天主的德能]  叔亞人彼耳達得發言說：
 約:25.2     權能和威嚴為他所有，他在高天締造和平。
 約:25.3     他的隊伍，豈可勝數﹖他的光明升起，誰不蒙受照耀﹖
 約:25.4     人在天主面前，怎能自以為義﹖婦人所生的，怎能自稱潔淨﹖
 約:25.5     在他眼中，月亮都不明亮，星辰也不皎潔，
 約:25.6     何況像蟲的人，像蛆的人子!
  
 約:26.1     [約伯對朋友不滿]  約伯回答說：
 約:26.2     無能為力的人，你怎樣援助了他﹖無力的手臂，你怎樣支持了他﹖
 約:26.3     你給無知的人出過什麼主義，表現了你豐富的智慧﹖
 約:26.4     你說這些話是指教誰﹖從你心裏發出的是什麼精神﹖
 約:26.5     [讚美天主的威能]  幽魂在地下打顫，海底與居於海底的，驚恐不已。
 約:26.6     陰府在他前面顯露，死域也沒有遮掩。
 約:26.7     他將北極伸張到太虛，將大地懸於虛無之上。
 約:26.8     他將水包裹在濃雲中，托水的雲彩卻不破裂。
 約:26.9     他遮蔽了滿月的面貌，使雲彩散佈其上。
 約:26.10    在水面上劃了一圓圈，當作光明與黑暗的分界。
 約:26.11    支天的柱子震動，因他的呵叱而戰慄。
 約:26.12    他以威力使海洋動盪，以明智擊傷了海怪。
 約:26.13    他一噓氣，天氣清朗；他親手戮穿了飛龍。
 約:26.14    看啊 ! 這只是他行動的一端，我們所聽到的語句，何其細微! 他轟轟烈烈的作為，有誰能明瞭﹖
  
 約:27.1     [堅貞到死]  約伯繼續他的言論說：
 約:27.2     我指著那剝奪我權利的天主起誓，指著使我心靈苦痛的全能者起誓：
 約:27.3     幾時我還有氣息，我鼻中尚有天主賦予的生氣，
 約:27.4     我的口唇決不說謊言，我的舌頭決不講虛話。
 約:27.5     若叫我說你們有理，那決辨不到；到我斷氣，我決不放棄我的純正。
 約:27.6     我堅持我的正義，決不罷休；對於已往的生活，我問心無愧。
 約:27.7     惟願恨我的人，遭惡人的命運；起來攻擊我的人，遭罪犯的處分。
 約:27.8     惡人呼籲時，有何期待﹖當他向天主舉起靈魂時，有何希望﹖
 約:27.9     災難臨到他身上時，天主豈能聽他的呼求﹖
 約:27.10    他豈是以全能者為喜樂，時時祈求天主﹖
 約:27.11    我要將天主的作為教導你們；對全能者的意旨，我決不隱瞞。
 約:27.12    其實，這一切你們都熟悉，但為何還這樣空談﹖
 約:27.13    納阿瑪人左法爾就說：這是天主給惡人定的命運，是強暴者由全能者所承受的產業：
 約:27.14    他的子女雖眾多，都必死於刀下；他的後代子孫，不得飽食。
 約:27.15    剩餘的人，為瘟疫所葬送；他們的遺孀，不舉喪哀弔。
 約:27.16    他們雖積蓄銀子，多如塵沙；備製衣服，多如土堆；
 約:27.17    他們固然預備，但義人來穿，無辜者要分取他們的金銀。
 約:27.18    他們建造的房屋有如蛛網，又如守望者搭的茅舍。
 約:27.19    他們睡眠時，雖稱富足，但睜開眼時，已一無所有。
 約:27.20    白天有恐怖侵襲，黑夜有颶風將他們颳去。
 約:27.21    東風將他們吹去，把他們捲走，離其居地。
 約:27.22    他們成了眾人毫不憐憫的箭靶，他們沒法逃避恐嚇的手。
 約:27.23    人人都對之鼓掌稱慶，由各方向之嘲笑辱罵。
  
 約:28.1     [人不知智慧之所在]  銀有出產之地，金有冶煉之所。
 約:28.2     鐵由土中掘出，銅自石中鎔煉。
 約:28.3     人給黑暗制定了界限，探討幽暗陰晦的堅石，挖至地層深處。
 約:28.4     在無人居住之處開鑿礦穴，上面過路的人，也想不到他們遠離人間，身懸半空，搖擺不定。
 約:28.5     地上出產食糧，地下有火翻騰。
 約:28.6     那裏的石頭盡是碧玉，塵沙盡是金沙。
 約:28.7     礦中的幽徑，猛禽不知，鷹眼未見。
 約:28.8     野獸未踐踏，猛獸未經過。
 約:28.9     人伸手擊打燧石，山基為之震撼動搖。
 約:28.10    在巖石中間開鑿隧道，所有珍寶盡入眼簾。
 約:28.11    探察江河之源流，使寶藏顯露於外。
 約:28.12    但是智慧在那裏尋覓，那裏是明智之所在﹖
 約:28.13    [惟天主知智慧之所在]  智慧的道路，人不認識，在眾生界尋不到她。
 約:28.14    深淵說：「她不在我這裏。」海洋說：「她不與我同域。」
 約:28.15    她非精金所能購買，也不能稱量銀子作她的代價。
 約:28.16    敖非爾金不能與她較量，寶石和碧玉也不能與她相比。
 約:28.17    黃金與琉璃不能與她同列，純金的器皿也不能與她交換。
 約:28.18    珊瑚與水晶都不足論，取得智慧勝過取得珍珠。
 約:28.19    雇士的黃玉不足與她相比，純金也不能與她較量。
 約:28.20    究竟智慧由何處而來，那裏是明智之所在﹖
 約:28.21    眾生的眼目未曾見過，天空的飛鳥也未發現。「
 約:28.22    毀滅」與「死亡」都說：「我們只風聞過她的聲望。」
 約:28.23    惟獨天主認識她的道路，惟有他知道她的處所。
 約:28.24    因為惟有他觀察地極，俯視天下的一切。
 約:28.25    當他劃定風的重量，規定水的定量，
 約:28.26    釐定下雨的季節，規定雷電的路線時，
 約:28.27    他已見了她，講述了她，立定了她，考察了她。
 約:28.28    然後對人說：「看，敬畏上主，就是智慧；遠離邪惡，就是明智。」
  
           約伯最後的辯論（29-31）
  
 約:29.1     [以往的幸福]  約伯繼續他的言論說：
 約:29.2     誰能賜我似以前的歲月，像以往天主護守我的時日呢﹖
 約:29.3     那時他的燈，光照在我頭上，藉他的光明，我走過黑暗。
 約:29.4     惟願我如壯年之時，那時天主護佑我的帳幕；
 約:29.5     全能者與我相偕，我的子女環繞著我；
 約:29.6     那時我以奶油洗腳，崖石流油成河。
 約:29.7     當我走出城門，在市井設我座位之時，
 約:29.8     少年人看見我都迴避，老年人都起身站立；
 約:29.9     王侯停止講話，用手堵住自己的口；
 約:29.10    首領不敢出聲，舌頭緊貼上顎。
 約:29.11    凡有耳聽見我的，必稱我有福；凡有眼看見我的，都必稱讚我。
 約:29.12    因為我援助了呼救的窮人，和無依無靠的孤兒。
 約:29.13    那受喪亡之痛的人稱謝我，我使寡婦的心歡樂。
 約:29.14    我披上正義，正義就如我衣；我的公正，猶如我的長袍和冠冕。
 約:29.15    我作了盲人的眼，跛者的腳。
 約:29.16    我成了窮人之父，我調查過素不相識者的案件。
 約:29.17    我打碎惡人的燎牙，由他牙齒中奪出了獵物。
 約:29.18    我心想：我必壽終正寢，我的壽數必如塵沙。
 約:29.19    我的根蔓延到水邊，夜間甘露落在我的枝葉上。
 約:29.20    我的榮耀不斷更新，我手中的弓日新月異。
 約:29.21    聽我講話的人，屏息等待，靜聽我的指教。
 約:29.22    我講話之後，無人再敢講話，我的話像水珠滴在他們身上。
 約:29.23    他們期待我如望甘霖，張著大口如渴盼春雨。
 約:29.24    我向他們微笑，他們不敢相信；我和善的面容，他們必不放過。
 約:29.25    我為他們選擇了道路，身居前導，一如立在軍中的君王；我引他們到那裏，他們就去。
  
 約:30.1     [現今的處境]  但現今年紀小於我的人，都嘲笑我；這些人的父親，我都不屑於列在守我羊群的狗中。
 約:30.2     他們的精力已經喪失，他們手臂的力量，對我還有何用﹖
 約:30.3     他們因貧乏和饑饉而消瘦，咀嚼曠野裏的草根，以及荒山野嶺所生的荊棘。
 約:30.4     他們由叢莽中採取鹹菜，以杜松根做自己的食物。
 約:30.5     人將他們由人群中逐出，在他們後面喊叫有如追賊；
 約:30.6     他們只得避居於深谷，住在山洞和岩穴中；
 約:30.7     在荊棘叢中哀歎，在葛藤下蝟縮。
 約:30.8     這些人都是流氓的後代，都是無名氏之子孫，由本國驅逐境外的。
 約:30.9     但現今我竟成了他們的歌謠，做了他們的話柄。
 約:30.10    他們因憎惡我而遠離我，竟任意向我臉上吐唾沫。
 約:30.11    他們解開了韁繩以攻擊我，在我面前除掉了轡頭。
 約:30.12    下流之輩在我右邊起來，向我投擲石頭，築成一條使我喪亡的路。
 約:30.13    他們破壞了我的道路，使我跌仆，卻沒有人阻止他們。
 約:30.14    他們由寬大的缺口進入，輾轉於廢墟之中。
 約:30.15    恐怖臨於我身，我的尊榮如被風吹散，我的救恩如浮雲逝去。
 約:30.16    [內心的痛苦]  現今我的心神已頹廢，憂患的日子不放鬆我。
 約:30.17    夜間痛苦刺透我骨，我的脈絡都不得安息。
 約:30.18    天主以大力抓住我的衣服，握緊我長衣的領口，
 約:30.19    將我投入泥中，使我變成灰土。
 約:30.20    天主啊! 我向你呼號，你不回答我；我立起來，你也不理睬我。
 約:30.21    你對我變成了暴君，用你有力的手迫害我。
 約:30.22    你將我提起，乘風而去，使我在狂風中飄搖不定。
 約:30.23    我知道你要導我於死亡，到眾生聚集的家鄉。
 約:30.24    若窮人遇到不幸向我求救，我豈不伸手去援助他﹖
 約:30.25    他人遭難，我豈沒有流淚﹖人窮乏，我的心豈沒有憐憫﹖
 約:30.26    我希望幸福，來的卻是災禍；我期待光明，黑暗反而來臨。
 約:30.27    我內心煩惱不安，痛苦的日子常臨於我。
 約:30.28    我憂悶而行，無人安慰我，我要在集會中起立喊冤。
 約:30.29    我成了豺狼的兄弟，成了駝鳥的伴侶。
 約:30.30    我的皮膚變黑，我的骨頭因熱灼焦，
 約:30.31    我的琴瑟奏出哀調，我的簫笛發出哭聲。
  
 約:31.1     [約伯的純潔]  我同我的眼立了約，決不注視處女。
 約:31.2     天主由上所注定的一分是什麼﹖全能者由高處所給的產業是什麼﹖
 約:31.3     豈不是為惡人注定了喪亡，為作孽的人注定了災殃﹖
 約:31.4     他豈不監視我的行徑，計算我的腳步﹖
 約:31.5     我若與虛偽同行，我的腳若趨向詭詐，
 約:31.6     願天主以公正的天平秤量我，他必知道我的純正。
 約:31.7     我的腳步如果離開了正道，我的心如果隨從了眼目之所見，我的手若持有不潔，
 約:31.8     那麼，我種的，情願讓別人來吃；我栽的，情願讓別人拔出。
 約:31.9     我的心如果為婦女所迷，我如果曾在鄰人門口等候婦女，
 約:31.10    就讓我的妻子給人推磨，讓別人與她同寢。
 約:31.11    因為這是淫行，是應受嚴刑的罪惡；
 約:31.12    是一種焚燒至毀滅的火，燒盡我全部產業的火。
 約:31.13    [仁義]  當我的僕婢與我爭執時，我若輕視他們的權利，
 約:31.14    天主起來時，我可怎麼辦呢﹖他若追問，我可怎樣回答﹖
 約:31.15    在母胎造成我的，不是也造了他們﹖在母胎形成我們的，不是只有他一個﹖
 約:31.16    我何時曾拒絕了窮苦人的渴望，我何時曾使寡婦的眼目頹喪﹖
 約:31.17    我何時獨自吃食物，而沒有與孤兒共享﹖
 約:31.18    因為天主自我幼年，就像父親教養了我；自我出了母胎，就引導了我。
 約:31.19    如果我見了無衣蔽體的乞丐，無遮蓋的窮人，
 約:31.20    如果他的心沒有向我道謝，沒有以我的羊毛獲得溫暖，
 約:31.21    如果我在城門口見有支持我者，就舉手攻擊無罪者，
 約:31.22    那麼，讓我的肩由胛骨脫落，我的胳膊由肘處折斷!
 約:31.23    因為天主的懲罰使我驚駭，因他的威嚴，我站立不住。
 約:31.24    [無私]  我何嘗以黃金為依靠，對純金說過：「你是我的靠山﹖」
 約:31.25    我何嘗因財產豐富，手賺的多而喜樂過﹖
 約:31.26    我何時見太陽照耀，月亮皎潔徐行，
 約:31.27    我的心遂暗中受到迷惑，我的口遂親手送吻﹖
 約:31.28    這也是應受嚴罰的罪過，因為我背棄了至高的天主。
 約:31.29    我何時慶幸恨我者遭殃，見他遭遇不幸而得意﹖
 約:31.30    其實，我沒有容我的口犯罪，詛咒過他的性命。
 約:31.31    我帳幕內的人是否有人說過：「某人沒有吃飽主人給的肉﹖」
 約:31.32    外方人沒有睡在露天地裏，我的門常為旅客敞開。
 約:31.33    我豈像凡人一樣，掩飾過我的過犯，把邪惡隱藏在胸中﹖
 約:31.34    我豈怕群眾的吵鬧﹖親族的謾罵豈能嚇住我，使我不敢作聲，杜門不出﹖
 約:31.35    [自信無罪]  惟願天主俯聽我，這是我最後的要求：願全能者答覆我! 我的對方所寫的狀詞，
 約:31.36    我要把它背在我肩上，編成我的冠冕。
 約:31.37    我將像王侯一樣走向他面前，向他一一陳述我的行為。－－約伯的話至此為止。
 約:31.38    我的田地若控告我，犁溝若一同哀訴，
 約:31.39    我若吃田中的產物而不付代價，或叫地主心靈悲傷，
 約:31.40    願此地不再長小麥而長荊棘，不長大麥而長惡草。
  
 約:32.1     [厄里烏發言的原因]  因為約伯自以為義，那三個友人就不再回答他。
 約:32.2     那時，有個布次蘭族的人，他是巴辣革耳的兒子厄里烏，為了約伯在天主前自以為義人，便大為憤怒；
 約:32.3     同時也對約伯的三個友人大為震怒，因為他們找不到適當的答覆，又以天主為不公。
 約:32.4     厄里烏先等他們同約伯講完話，因為他們都比他年老。
 約:32.5     他一見他們三人無話可說：遂大為憤怒。
 約:32.6     於是布次人巴辣革耳的兒子厄里烏發言說：我年齡小，你們年紀大，故此我退縮畏懼，不敢在你們前表示我的見解。
 約:32.7     我心想：「老人應先發言，年高者應教人智慧。」
 約:32.8     但人本來都具有靈性，全能者的氣息賦與人聰明；
 約:32.9     並不是年高者就有智慧，老年人就通曉正義。
 約:32.10    故此我請你們且聽我說，我也要表示我的見解。
 約:32.11    直到如今，我等待你們講話，靜聽你們的理論，等待你們尋出適當的言詞；
 約:32.12    但現今我已明白看出了，你們中沒一個能駁倒約伯，能回答他的話的。
 約:32.13    你們不要說：「我們尋到了智慧! 只有天主可說服他，人卻不能。」
 約:32.14    我決不那樣辯論，也決不以你們說的話答覆他。
 約:32.15    [厄里烏自言自語]  他們已心亂，不能再回答，且已窮於辭令。
 約:32.16    他們已不再講話了，他們已停止，不再答話了，我還等什麼﹖
 約:32.17    現在我要開始講我的一段話，表示出我的見解。
 約:32.18    因為我覺著充滿了要說的話，內心催迫著我。
 約:32.19    看啊! 我內心像尋覓出口的新酒，要將新酒囊爆裂。
 約:32.20    我一說出，必覺輕鬆，我定要開口發言。
 約:32.21    我決不顧情面，也決不奉承人。
 約:32.22    因為我不會奉承，不然，造我者必立即將我消滅。
  
 約:33.1     [指摘約伯]  約伯，請你且聽我的話，側耳靜聽我說的一切。
 約:33.2     請看，我已開口，舌頭已在口腔內發言。
 約:33.3     我的話是出於正直的心，我的唇舌要清楚說明真理。
 約:33.4     天主的神造了我，全能者的氣息使我生活。
 約:33.5     你如果能夠，就回答我，請準備好，來對抗我。
 約:33.6     看，我與你在天主前都是一樣，我也是用泥土造成的。
 約:33.7     所以我的威嚇不會使你恐怖，我的手也不會重壓在你身上。
 約:33.8     你所說的，我已耳聞，聽到了你所說的話：「
 約:33.9     我本純潔無罪，清白無瑕。
 約:33.10    但天主卻在我身上找錯，視我為他的對頭；
 約:33.11    他把我的腳縛在木樁上，窺察我的一切行動。」
 約:33.12    [天主教訓人的方法]  我答覆你說：你這話說的不對，因為天主遠超世人。
 約:33.13    他既不答覆你說的一切話，你為何還同他爭辯﹖
 約:33.14    原來天主用一種方法向人講話，人若不理會，他再用另一種方法：
 約:33.15    天主有時藉夢和夜間的異像，當人躺在床上沉睡的時候，
 約:33.16    開啟人的聽覺，用異像驚嚇他，
 約:33.17    使人脫離惡念，使人剷除驕傲，
 約:33.18    阻攔他陷於陰府，救他的性命脫離溝壑。
 約:33.19    天主也有時懲罰人在床上受痛苦，使他的骨頭不斷的刺痛，
 約:33.20    以致他討厭食物，他的心厭惡美味。
 約:33.21    他身上的肉已消逝不見，他枯瘦的骨頭，已開始外露。
 約:33.22    他的靈魂已臨近墓穴，他的生命已接近死亡之所。
 約:33.23    一千天使中，若有一個在他身傍，作他的代言人，提醒他應行的義務，
 約:33.24    且憐憫那人，為他轉求說：「求你拯救他，以免陷於陰府，因為我已找到了贖金。」
 約:33.25    他的肉身比少年人的肉身必更健美，他的青春歲月又恢復了。
 約:33.26    他祈求天主，必獲得悅納。他必歡樂得見天主的儀容，天主也必恢復他的正義。
 約:33.27    那時，他將在人前重述所經歷的事說：「我犯了罪，顛倒了是非，但他沒有照我的罪罰我。
 約:33.28    他救了我生命免入陰府，使我重見光明。」
 約:33.29    這就是天主接二連三為人所做的事，
 約:33.30    挽救他脫離陰府，重見生命之光。
 約:33.31    約伯啊! 請留神傾聽，靜靜地聽我說話!
 約:33.32    你若有話說，請即回覆我，你儘管說，因為我願聽你的理。
 約:33.33    若沒有話，且聽我說，靜聽我要教給你的智慧。
  
 約:34.1     [辯駁約伯的話]  厄里烏接著說：
 約:34.2     你們有智慧的人，請聽我言；你們明白人，請側耳聽我。
 約:34.3     原來耳朵是為辨別言語，有如口腔是為辨嘗食物。
 約:34.4     讓我們來檢討一下誰為正義，讓我們看看何者為善。
 約:34.5     約伯說過：「我是無罪的，但我的理，卻為天主奪去。
 約:34.6     我雖無罪無辜，卻成了說謊者；我雖未行不義，卻受了不可醫治的創傷。」
 約:34.7     那有一人像約伯，肆口漫罵如飲水﹖
 約:34.8     他豈不是與作惡的人結夥，同壞人交結來往﹖
 約:34.9     他豈不是說過：「盡心悅樂天主，為人能有什麼好處﹖」
 約:34.10    [天主是正義的]  為此，你們心地明白的人，請聽我說，天主決不行惡，全能者決無不義!
 約:34.11    他必照人的行為報答他，按他的品行對待他。
 約:34.12    天主絕對不能作惡，全能者絕對不能顛倒是非。
 約:34.13    誰委派他掌管大地，誰任命他治理普世﹖
 約:34.14    他若將自己的神魂收回，將氣息復歸於自己，
 約:34.15    所有血肉的人必都消滅，世人都要歸於塵土。
 約:34.16    若你聰明，請聽這事，側耳傾聽我的話。
 約:34.17    憎恨正義的，豈能掌權﹖而你竟敢定那至公義者的罪﹖
 約:34.18    他能稱君王為歹徒，能稱官吏為壞人。
 約:34.19    他對權貴不顧情面，亦不重富輕貧，因為都是他一手造成的
 約:34.20    [天主的懲罰]  他們猝然在半夜死去，貴族能立即氣絕逝世；他剷除權貴者，無須人手。
 約:34.21    因為他的眼監視人的動作，觀察他的行徑。
 約:34.22    沒有黑暗，也沒有陰影，可將作惡的人掩蔽。
 約:34.23    天主不必給人指定時間，為使人到他前去受審。
 約:34.24    他粉碎權勢者，無須審察，即刻能派定別人代替他們。
 約:34.25    他原知道他們的行為，一夜之間將他們推翻消滅。
 約:34.26    在眾目昭彰之下，鞭打他們有如罪犯。
 約:34.27    因為他們遠離了他，不重視他一切的道，
 約:34.28    致使窮人的哀號上達於他，使他聽到了受苦者的哀求。
 約:34.29    他若安息，誰敢騷擾﹖他若掩面，誰敢窺視﹖他對國對人都予以監視，
 約:34.30    使凡欺壓人民的，不得為王。
 約:34.31    如果惡人向天主說：「我受了欺騙，以後不再作惡。
 約:34.32    我所看不透的，求你指教我；我若以前作了孽，不敢再做了。」
 約:34.33    他施行報應，豈應隨你的心意﹖或者你能拒絕不受嗎﹖決定的是你，而不是我! 你若知道，儘管說罷!
 約:34.34    但是心地聰明，具有智慧，且聽我說話的人，必要對我說：「
 約:34.35    約伯所講的話毫無知識，他的話全不明智。」
 約:34.36    為此，約伯還要受徹底的究察，因為他的答覆好似出自惡人之口，
 約:34.37    因為他在罪上又加反叛，當著我們磨拳擦掌，講出許多相反天主的話。
  
 約:35.1     [天主並非不管人事]  厄里烏又接著說：
 約:35.2     你說過：「我在天主前是正義的。」你想這話合理嗎﹖
 約:35.3     你還說過：「這與你何干﹖我若犯罪，我對你做了什麼﹖」
 約:35.4     我今答覆你，以及和你在一起的友人。
 約:35.5     請你仰視上天，且要靜觀，細看高於你的蒼天。
 約:35.6     你若犯罪，為他有什麼害處﹖你若作惡多端，又能加害他什麼﹖
 約:35.7     如果你為人正義，為他又有何益﹖或者他由你手中獲得什麼﹖
 約:35.8     你的惡行只能加害與你類似的人，你的正義也只能有益於世人。
 約:35.9     人因受暴虐過甚，必要哀號；因受強權的壓迫，必要呼籲。
 約:35.10    但是沒有人說：「那造成我們，使人夜間歡唱，
 約:35.11    使我們比地上的走獸更聰明，使我們比天上的飛鳥更有智慧的天主在那裏﹖」
 約:35.12    他們雖呼喊，天主卻不答應，這是因為惡人傲慢的原故。
 約:35.13    他們空喊亂叫，天主決不俯聽，全能者決不垂視。
 約:35.14    何況你說過：「你看不見他；但你的案件已放在他面前，你應等待他!」
 約:35.15    你還說過：「他沒有發怒施罰，似乎不很理會罪過。」
 約:35.16    的確，約伯開口盡說空話；由於無知，說了許多妄言。
  
 約:36.1     [戒惡向善]  厄里烏又接著說：
 約:36.2     你且等一會，容我教導你，因為為天主，我還有些話要說。
 約:36.3     我要將我所知的傳到遠方，將正義歸於我的造主。
 約:36.4     的確，我的話正確無偽，知識全備的人同你一起。
 約:36.5     的確，天主寬宏大量，決不藐視任何人，並且有廣大的同情心。
 約:36.6     他決不容許惡人生存，但給窮苦人伸冤；
 約:36.7     他也不剝奪義人的權利。他使君王永久坐在寶座上，但是他們卻驕矜自大；
 約:36.8     故此，當他們一旦被鎖鍊束縛，被痛苦的繩索所繫，
 約:36.9     天主就向他們指明他們的惡行，和他們所誇耀的過犯，
 約:36.10    開啟他們的耳朵，以聽訓戒，囑咐他們離開邪惡。
 約:36.11    如果他們服從順命，便能幸福地度過歲月，能安樂地享受天年。
 約:36.12    如果不服從，必被射死，於不知不覺中逝去。
 約:36.13    心術敗壞的人，憤怒填胸，縱被囚禁，仍不呼求救助；
 約:36.14    他們必早年夭折，喪命如男倡。
 約:36.15    所以天主藉痛苦拯救受難的人，以患難開啟他們的耳鼓。
 約:36.16    [天主欲救約伯]  他也要救你擺脫災難，領你到廣闊自由之地，在你桌上常擺滿肥饌美味；
 約:36.17    無如你判斷與惡人完全一樣，那麼懲罰和判案必集於你身。
 約:36.18    小心! 不要讓忿怒引你肆口謾罵，也不要為重罰讓你離棄正道。
 約:36.19    你的哀號和你所有的力量，豈能使你擺脫患難﹖
 約:36.20    不要希望黑夜，那是人民由本地被劫去的時候。
 約:36.21    小心! 別傾向不義，因為這正是你遭難的真正原因。
 約:36.22    [天主的威能]  天主的能力確實偉大，那有像他那樣的主宰﹖
 約:36.23    誰能規定他的道路，誰敢說：你行的不對﹖
 約:36.24    你應記住要讚頌他的工程，這是人們應歌詠的。
 約:36.25    人人都能觀賞，都能從遠處仰望：
 約:36.26    天主何其偉大，我們不能理解! 他的歲數，無法考究。
 約:36.27    他汲取水滴，使水氣化為雨露，
 約:36.28    雨即從雲中傾盆而降，沛然落在眾人身上。
 約:36.29    但誰能明瞭雲彩怎樣散布，天幕中怎樣發出隆隆之聲﹖
 約:36.30    他將雲霧展開，遮蓋了群山山頂。
 約:36.31    他藉此養育萬民，賜給他們豐富的食糧。
 約:36.32    他掌中握著電光，對準目標發射出去。
 約:36.33    雷霆報告他的來臨，他的怒火將要懲罰邪惡。
  
 約:37.1     [自然界顯示天主的威能]  為此我心戰慄，跳離它的原位。
 約:37.2     你們且細聽天主的怒吼聲，聽那從他口中發出的巨響。
 約:37.3     他令閃電炫耀天下，使之照射地極；
 約:37.4     接著是雷聲隆隆，那是天主威嚴之聲；他的巨聲一響，沒有什麼能夠阻止。
 約:37.5     天主每以巨響施行奇事，做出我們莫測的事。
 約:37.6     他命令雪說：「落在大地上! 」對暴雨說：「傾盆而降! 」
 約:37.7     人人都停止活動，為叫人知道，這是他的作為。
 約:37.8     野獸逃回洞穴，臥於自己的窩中。
 約:37.9     暴風來自南極密宮，嚴寒出自極北之地。
 約:37.10    天主噓氣成冰，使大水凝成一片。
 約:37.11    他使雲霧滿涵濕氣，使閃光穿過烏雲。
 約:37.12    雷電照他的指示旋轉，全照他的命令實行於地面，
 約:37.13    或為懲戒大地，或為施行恩惠。
 約:37.14    [勸約伯服從天意]  約伯啊! 你且側耳細聽這事，立著沉思天主的奇事!
 約:37.15    你豈能知道天主怎樣發命，怎樣使雲中電光閃爍﹖
 約:37.16    雲怎樣浮動，全知者的奇妙化工，你豈能明白﹖
 約:37.17    當南風吹起，大地鎮靜時，你的衣服豈不是發暖﹖
 約:37.18    你豈能同他展開蒼天，使它堅固如鑄成的銅鏡﹖
 約:37.19    我們昏愚，不能講話，請教訓我們怎樣答覆他。
 約:37.20    我說話時，能給他講述些什麼新事﹖世人說話後，豈算是告訴他一項新聞﹖
 約:37.21    人現今看不見陽光照耀天空，除非等到風過天晴。
 約:37.22    金光來自北方，天主的左右有威嚴可怕的異光。
 約:37.23    全能者是我們不可接近的，他的能力和正義，高超絕倫；他公義正道，決不欺壓。
 約:37.24    所以人應敬畏他；但那心中自以為聰慧的，他卻不眷顧。
 約:37.25    第一篇 上主的訓言（38-40 5）
  
 約:38.1     [上主發言]  上主由旋風中向約伯發言說：
 約:38.2     用無知的話，使我的計劃模糊不明的是誰﹖
 約:38.3     你要像勇士束好你的腰，我要問你，請指教我!
 約:38.4     [受造物顯天主的智慧]  我奠定大地的基礎時，你在那裏﹖你若聰明，儘管說罷!
 約:38.5     你知道是誰制定了地的度量，是誰在地上拉了準繩﹖
 約:38.6     地的基礎置在何處，是誰立了地的角石﹖
 約:38.7     當時星辰一起歌詠，天主的眾子同聲歡呼!
 約:38.8     海水洶湧如出母胎時，是誰用門將海關閉﹖
 約:38.9     是我用雲彩作海的衣裳，用濃霧作海的襁褓。
 約:38.10    是我給海劃定了界限，設立了門和閂，
 約:38.11    並下令說：「你到此為止，不得越過；你的狂潮到此為止。」
 約:38.12    你有生之日，何嘗給晨光出過命令，又何嘗使曙光知道它之所在﹖
 約:38.13    何嘗使光握緊大地四角，將惡人從那裏抖出去﹖
 約:38.14    曙光改變大地，如在膠泥上蓋印；使萬物出現，如著錦衣；
 約:38.15    撤去惡人的光明，折斷高舉的手。
 約:38.16    你曾否到過海的源流，走過深淵的底處﹖
 約:38.17    死亡的門給你開啟過嗎﹖你見過死影之門嗎﹖
 約:38.18    你知道大地的廣闊嗎﹖你若知道，請你說罷!
 約:38.19    [自然現象顯天主的智慧]  赴光明之所的路是那一條，黑暗的住處在那裏﹖
 約:38.20    你知道如何引導黑暗到自己的境地，領黑暗回到自己居所的道路上嗎﹖
 約:38.21    你總該知道，因為你那時已誕生了，而你的年歲已很高。
 約:38.22    你到過雪庫，見過雹倉嗎﹖
 約:38.23    那是我為降災之時，為戰爭之日所存放的。
 約:38.24    雲霧由那條路散開，東風由那條路吹往大地﹖
 約:38.25    誰為暴雨啟開閘門，誰為雷電指示道路，
 約:38.26    好使雨落在無人之境，降在無人的荒野，
 約:38.27    為潤澤荒野乾旱之地，好使原野中的綠草生長﹖
 約:38.28    雨有父親嗎﹖誰生了露珠﹖
 約:38.29    冰出自誰的胎﹖天上的霜是誰生的﹖
 約:38.30    水怎樣凝結如石﹖深淵的表面怎樣固結﹖
 約:38.31    你豈能栓住昂宿的紐結，解開參星的繩索﹖
 約:38.32    你豈能使晨星按時升出，引導北斗和它的星群﹖
 約:38.33    你豈知道天體的定律，立定天律以管治大地﹖
 約:38.34    你豈能使你的聲音上達雲霄，使雨水沛然降在你處﹖
 約:38.35    你能否一發令，閃電就發出，且向你說：「我們在這裏﹖」
 約:38.36    誰將聰明給與鸛鳥，將智慧賦與雄雞﹖
 約:38.37    誰能憑智力數清雲彩，能傾倒天上的水囊﹖
 約:38.38    當土壤堅固，泥塊凝結之時，
 約:38.39    你是否能為牝獅獵取食物，滿足幼獅的食慾﹖
 約:38.40    [禽獸顯天主的智慧]  當獅子伏於洞穴，臥於叢林埋伏的時候，
 約:38.41    當雛鴉無食，往還飛翔，向天主哀鳴的時候，誰能為烏鴉備食﹖
  
 約:39.1     [野羊野鹿]  你豈知道巖穴中野羊的產期，洞悉牝鹿何時生產﹖
 約:39.2     你豈能計算牠們懷孕的月分，預知牠們生產的日期﹖
 約:39.3     牠們伏下產子之後，產痛立即過去。
 約:39.4     幼雛健壯，在原野中長大；牠們一去，即不再返回。
 約:39.5     [野驢野牛]  誰使野驢任意遊蕩，誰解去悍驢的韁繩﹖
 約:39.6     原來是我叫牠以原野為家，以鹽地為居所。
 約:39.7     牠恥笑城市的吵鬧，聽不到趕牲者的呵叱。
 約:39.8     牠以群山峻嶺作自己的牧場，尋覓各種青草為食。
 約:39.9     野牛豈肯為你服役，豈肯在你槽邊過宿﹖
 約:39.10    你豈 能以繩索繫住牠的頸項，叫牠隨你耕田﹖
 約:39.11    你豈能依靠牠的大力，任憑牠去作你的工作﹖
 約:39.12    你豈能靠牠將麥捆運回，聚集在你的禾場上﹖
 約:39.13    [鴕鳥] 駝鳥的翅翼鼓舞，牠的翼翎和羽毛豈表示慈愛﹖
 約:39.14    他將卵留在地上，讓沙土去溫暖；
 約:39.15    牠不想人腳能踏碎，野獸能踐壞。
 約:39.16    牠苛待雛鳥，若非己出，雖徒受苦痛，也毫不關心。
 約:39.17    因為天主沒有賜牠這本能，也沒有把良知賜給牠。
 約:39.18    但當牠振翼飛翔，卻要訕笑駿馬和騎師。
 約:39.19    [馬]  馬的力量，是你所賜﹖牠頸上的長騣，是你所披﹖
 約:39.20    你豈能使牠跳躍如蚱蜢﹖牠雄壯的長嘶，實在使人膽寒。
 約:39.21    牠在谷中歡躍奔馳，勇往直前，衝鋒迎敵。
 約:39.22    牠嗤笑膽怯，一無所懼；交鋒之時，決不退縮。
 約:39.23    牠背上的箭袋震震作響，還有閃爍發光的矛與槍。
 約:39.24    牠一聞號角，即不肯停蹄，急躁狂怒，不斷啃地。
 約:39.25    每次號角一鳴，牠必發出嘶聲，由遠處已聞到戰爭的氣息，將領的號令和士卒的喊聲。
 約:39.26    [鷹]  鷹展翅振翼南飛，豈是由於你的智慧﹖
 約:39.27    兀鷹騰空，營巢峭壁，豈是出於你的命令﹖
 約:39.28    牠在山崖居住過宿，在峭峰上有牠的保障；
 約:39.29    由那裏窺伺獵物，牠的眼力可達遠處。
 約:39.30    牠的幼雛也都吮血。那裏有屍體，牠也在那裏。
  
 約:40.1     [第一篇結論]  上主又接著問約伯說：
 約:40.2     好辯之士，豈能同全能者辯論﹖非難天主的，請答覆這一切!
 約:40.3     約伯回答上主說：「
 約:40.4     看，我這麼卑賤，我能回答什麼﹖只好用手掩口。
 約:40.5     我說過一次，再不敢重複；我再說一次：我不敢再說什麼! 」
  
           第二篇 上主的訓言（40:6-42:6）
  
 約:40.6     [天主的全能]  上主由旋風中回答約伯說：
 約:40.7     你要像勇士束好腰，我要問你，請指教我。
 約:40.8     你豈能推翻我的評斷，歸罪於我，而自以為有理﹖
 約:40.9     你的手臂豈能同天主的相比﹖你的聲音，那能像雷鳴﹖
 約:40.1     請你以尊貴和高雅作你的點綴，以光華美麗作你的衣裳；
 約:40.1     發洩你的烈怒，貶抑一切高傲的人；
 約:40.1     視察一切傲慢的人，且加以制服，推翻惡人所處的地位；
 約:40.1     將他們一同埋在土中，把他們都關在黑暗中!
 約:40.1     如果你能這樣作，我也要稱讚你，因為你的右手救護了你。
 約:40.15    [論河馬]  且看河馬，牠同你都是我造成的，牠像牛一樣吃草。
 約:40.16    牠的精力全在腰部，牠的力量是在腹部的肌肉；
 約:40.17    牠挺起尾巴好像香柏，大腿上的筋聯結在一起；
 約:40.18    牠的脊骨好似銅管，牠的骨骸有如鐵杠。
 約:40.19    牠是天主的傑作，造牠者賜給了牠利刃。
 約:40.20    群山供給牠食物，百獸在那裏同牠遊戲。
 約:40.21    牠臥在蓮葉之下，躺在蘆葦和沼澤深處；
 約:40.22    蓮葉的蔭影遮蔽著牠，溪邊的楊柳掩護著牠。
 約:40.23    河水漲溢之時，牠毫不戰慄；約但河漲到牠口邊，牠仍安寧。
 約:40.24    誰能在牠目前捕捉牠，或以木橛穿透牠的鼻孔﹖
 約:40.25    [論鱷魚]  你豈能以魚鉤鉤上鱷魚﹖以繩索縛住牠的舌頭﹖
 約:40.26    你豈能以鼻圈穿過牠的鼻子，以鉤子刺透牠的腮骨﹖
 約:40.27    牠豈能再三向你哀求，向你說甜言蜜語﹖
 約:40.28    牠豈能同你訂立盟約，使自己常作你的奴隸﹖
 約:40.29    你豈能玩弄牠像玩弄小鳥，將牠縛著作你女兒的玩物﹖
 約:40.30    結夥的漁人不是想在牠身上謀利，將牠售與商人﹖
 約:40.31    你豈能以長矛穿透牠的皮，以魚叉刺透牠的頭顱﹖
 約:40.32    將你的掌撫在牠身上罷! 若你想到惡鬥，決不敢再撫。
  
 約:41.1     看，人的希望落了空，並且一見牠就嚇壞了。
 約:41.2     沒有一個勇敢的人敢觸犯牠，有誰還敢站立在牠前面呢﹖
 約:41.3     誰攻擊牠，而能安全無恙﹖普天之下沒有一人!
 約:41.4     論牠的四體百肢，我不能緘默；論牠的力量，我要說：沒有可與牠相比的。
 約:41.5     誰能揭開牠的外衣，誰能穿透牠雙層的鱗甲﹖
 約:41.6     誰敢啟開牠的口﹖牠四周的牙齒，令人戰慄。
 約:41.7     牠的脊背有如盾甲，好像為石印所密封。
 約:41.8     鱗甲片片相連，氣也透不進去：
 約:41.9     互相聯結，黏在一起不可分離。
 約:41.10    牠的噴嚏發出白光，眼睛像旭日閃動。
 約:41.11    火把從牠口中噴出，火花四射。
 約:41.12    煙從牠鼻孔冒出，宛如燃燒沸騰的鍋鑪。
 約:41.13    牠的氣息可點燃煤炭，火燄由牠口中射出。
 約:41.14    牠的力量集中在牠的頸上，在牠面前，沒有不恐怖的。
 約:41.15    牠的肌肉互相連結，緊貼牠身，堅不可動。
 約:41.16    牠的心堅如石塊，堅硬有如磨磐。
 約:41.17    牠一起立，壯士戰慄，驚慌失措。
 約:41.18    人若想捕捉牠，刀、槍、箭、戟都是徒然。
 約:41.19    牠視鐵如草芥，視銅若朽木。
 約:41.20    弓矢不能使牠遁逃；機石打在牠身上好似碎湝。
 約:41.21    牠視棍棒像麥湝，對射來的箭矢冷笑。
 約:41.22    牠腹下似尖瓦，牠行過之地，有如打禾機碾過。
 約:41.23    牠使深淵沸騰有如沸鼎，使海洋沸騰有如油鍋。
 約:41.24    牠游過之路發出銀光，令人以為海洋飄揚白髮。
 約:41.25    世上沒有可與牠相比的，牠一無所懼。
 約:41.26    牠卑視所有的巨獸，牠在猛獸中稱王。
  
 約:42.1     [約伯認錯]  約伯回答上主說：
 約:42.2     我知道你事事都能，你所有的計劃，沒有不實現的。
 約:42.3     是我以無智的話，使你的計劃模糊不明；是我說了無知的話，說了那些超越我智力的話。
 約:42.4     請你聽我發言；我求你指教我。
 約:42.5     以前我只聽見了有關你的事，現今我親眼見了你。
 約:42.6     為此，我收回我所說過的話，坐在灰塵中懺悔。
 約:42.7     上主對約伯說完這些話，就對特曼人厄里法次說：「我應向你和你的兩個友人發怒，因為你們講論我，不如我僕約伯講論的正確。
 約:42.8     現在你們要牽七頭公牛，和七隻公羊到我僕約伯那裏，叫他為你們奉獻全燔祭，也叫他為你們祈禱，因為我要看他的情面，不懲罰你們的糊塗，因為你們講論我，不如我僕約伯講的正確。」
 約:42.9     於是，特曼人厄里法次、叔亞人彼耳達得、納阿瑪人左法爾依照上主所吩咐的作了；上主就看了約伯的情面，饒恕了他們。
 約:42.10    約伯為他的朋友祈禱之後，上主就恢復了約伯原有的狀況，還照約伯以前所有的，加倍地賜給了他。
 約:42.11    約伯的兄弟和姊妹，並以前相識的人都來看望他，在他家中同他一起用飯；對於上主降於他的一切災禍，都向他表示同情，安慰他；每人還贈給他一枚金幣和一個金戒指。
 約:42.12    上主賜給約伯以後的福分，遠勝過以前所有的；他擁有一萬四千隻羊，六千匹駱駝，一千對牛，一千頭母驢。
 約:42.13    他又生了七個兒子和三個女兒。
 約:42.14    他給長女起名叫耶米瑪，次女叫刻漆雅，三女叫刻楞哈普客。
 約:42.15    那地方的女子沒有比約伯的女兒更美麗的；她們的父親也使她們和兄弟們一樣承受家產。
 約:42.16    以後，約伯又活了一百四十歲，見了他的兒子、孫子，直到第四代。
 約:42.17    約伯壽高年老，已享天年，遂與世長辭。         　[約伯傳完篇]
  
 jb1.      [Job]     42 chapters     [約伯傳]  [英文版]

 jb:1.1     In the land of Uz there was a blameless and upright man named Job, who feared God and avoided evil.
 jb:1.2     Seven sons and three daughters were born to him;
 jb:1.3     and he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a great number of work animals, so that he was greater than any of the men of the East.
 jb:1.4     His sons used to take turns giving feasts, sending invitations to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
 jb:1.5     And when each feast had run its course, Job would send for them and sanctify them, rising early and offering holocausts for every one of them. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and blasphemed God in their hearts." This Job did habitually.
 jb:1.6     One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them.
 jb:1.7     And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it."
 jb:1.8     And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?"
 jb:1.9     But Satan answered the LORD and said, "Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
 jb:1.10    Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land.
 jb:1.11    But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
 jb:1.12    And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand upon his person." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
 jb:1.13    And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
 jb:1.14    a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the asses grazing beside them,
 jb:1.15    and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
 jb:1.16    While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
 jb:1.17    While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
 jb:1.18    While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother,
 jb:1.19    when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you."
 jb:1.20    Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground,
 jb:1.21    and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!"
 jb:1.22    In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.
  
 jb:2.1     Once again the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
 jb:2.2     And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" And Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it."
 jb:2.3     And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, faultless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil? He still holds fast to his innocence although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause."
 jb:2.4     And Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has will he give for his life.
 jb:2.5     But now put forth your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
 jb:2.6     And the LORD said to Satan, "He is in your power; only spare his life."
 jb:2.7     So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and smote Job with severe boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
 jb:2.8     And he took a potsherd to scrape himself, as he sat among the ashes.
 jb:2.9     Then his wife said to him, "Are you still holding to your innocence? Curse God and die."
 jb:2.10    But he said to her, "Are even you going to speak as senseless women do? We accept good things from God; and should we not accept evil?" Through all this, Job said nothing sinful.
 jb:2.11    Now when three of Job's friends heard of all the misfortune that had come upon him, they set out each one from his own place: Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuh, and Zophar from Naamath. They met and journeyed together to give him sympathy and comfort.
 jb:2.12    But when, at a distance, they lifted up their eyes and did not recognize him, they began to weep aloud; they tore their cloaks and threw dust upon their heads.
 jb:2.13    Then they sat down upon the ground with him seven days and seven nights, but none of them spoke a word to him; for they saw how great was his suffering.
  
 jb:3.1     After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
 jb:3.2     Job spoke out and said:
 jb:3.3     Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, "The child is a boy!"
 jb:3.4     May that day be darkness: let not God above call for it, nor light shine upon it!
 jb:3.5     May darkness and gloom claim it, clouds settle upon it, the blackness of night affright it!
 jb:3.6     May obscurity seize that day; let it not occur among the days of the year, nor enter into the count of the months!
 jb:3.7     May that night be barren; let no joyful outcry greet it!
 jb:3.8     Let them curse it who curse the sea, the appointed disturbers of Leviathan!
 jb:3.9     May the stars of its twilight be darkened; may it look for daylight, but have none, nor gaze on the eyes of the dawn,
 jb:3.10    Because it kept not shut the doors of the womb to shield my eyes from trouble!
 jb:3.11    Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?
 jb:3.12    Wherefore did the knees receive me? or why did I suck at the breasts?
 jb:3.13    For then I should have lain down and been tranquil; had I slept, I should then have been at rest
 jb:3.14    With kings and counselors of the earth who built where now there are ruins
 jb:3.15    Or with princes who had gold and filled their houses with silver.
 jb:3.16    Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth, like babes that have never seen the light?
 jb:3.17    There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.
 jb:3.18    There the captives are at ease together, and hear not the voice of the slave driver.
 jb:3.19    Small and great are there the same, and the servant is free from his master.
 jb:3.20    Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter in spirit?
 jb:3.21    They wait for death and it comes not; they search for it rather than for hidden treasures,
 jb:3.22    Rejoice in it exultingly, and are glad when they reach the grave:
 jb:3.23    Men whose path is hidden from them, and whom God has hemmed in!
 jb:3.24    For sighing comes more readily to me than food, and my groans well forth like water.
 jb:3.25    For what I fear overtakes me, and what I shrink from comes upon me.
 jb:3.26    I have no peace nor ease; I have no rest, for trouble comes!
  
 jb:4.1     Then spoke Eliphaz the Temanite, who said:
 jb:4.2     If someone attempts a word with you, will you mind? For how can anyone refrain from speaking?
 jb:4.3     Behold, you have instructed many, and have made firm their feeble hands.
 jb:4.4     Your words have upheld the stumbler; you have strengthened his faltering knees.
 jb:4.5     But now that it comes to you, you are impatient; when it touches yourself, you are dismayed.
 jb:4.6     Is not your piety a source of confidence, and your integrity of life your hope?
 jb:4.7     Reflect now, what innocent person perishes? Since when are the upright destroyed?
 jb:4.8     As I see it, those who plow for mischief and sow trouble, reap the same.
 jb:4.9     By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his wrath they are consumed.
 jb:4.10    Though the lion roars, though the king of beasts cries out, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken;
 jb:4.11    The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
 jb:4.12    For a word was stealthily brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it.
 jb:4.13    In my thoughts during visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
 jb:4.14    Fear came upon me, and shuddering, that terrified me to the bones.
 jb:4.15    Then a spirit passed before me, and the hair of my flesh stood up.
 jb:4.16    It paused, but its likeness I could not discern; a figure was before my eyes, and I heard a still voice:
 jb:4.17    "Can a man be righteous as against God? Can a mortal be blameless against his Maker?
 jb:4.18    Lo, he puts no trust in his servants, and with his angels he can find fault.
 jb:4.19    How much more with those that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed more easily than the moth!
 jb:4.20    Morning or evening they may be shattered; with no heed paid to it, they perish forever.
 jb:4.21    The pegs of their tent are plucked up; they die without knowing wisdom."
  
 jb:5.1     Call now! Will anyone respond to you? To which of the holy ones will you appeal?
 jb:5.2     Nay, impatience kills the fool and indignation slays the simpleton.
 jb:5.3     I have seen a fool spreading his roots, but his household suddenly decayed.
 jb:5.4     His children shall be far from safety; they shall be crushed at the gate without a rescuer.
 jb:5.5     What they have reaped the hungry shall eat up; (or God shall take it away by blight;) and the thirsty shall swallow their substance.
 jb:5.6     For mischief comes not out of the earth, nor does trouble spring out of the ground;
 jb:5.7     But man himself begets mischief, as sparks fly upward.
 jb:5.8     In your place, I would appeal to God, and to God I would state my plea.
 jb:5.9
 jb:5.10    He gives rain upon the earth and sends water upon the fields;
 jb:5.11    He sets up on high the lowly, and those who mourn he exalts to safety.
 jb:5.12    He frustrates the plans of the cunning, so that their hands achieve no success;
 jb:5.13    He catches the wise in their own ruses, and the designs of the crafty are routed.
 jb:5.14    They meet with darkness in the daytime, and at noonday they grope as though it were night.
 jb:5.15    But the poor from the edge of the sword and from the hand of the mighty, he saves.
 jb:5.16    Thus the unfortunate have hope, and iniquity closes her mouth.
 jb:5.17    Happy is the man whom God reproves! The Almighty's chastening do not reject.
 jb:5.18    For he wounds, but he binds up; he smites, but his hands give healing.
 jb:5.19    Out of six troubles he will deliver you, and at the seventh no evil shall touch you.
 jb:5.20    In famine he will deliver you from death, and in war from the threat of the sword;
 jb:5.21    From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden, and shall not fear approaching ruin.
 jb:5.22    At destruction and want you shall laugh; the beasts of the earth you need not dread.
 jb:5.23    You shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild beasts shall be at peace with you.
 jb:5.24    And you shall know that your tent is secure; taking stock of your household, you shall miss nothing.
 jb:5.25    You shall know that your descendants are many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.
 jb:5.26    You shall approach the grave in full vigor, as a shock of grain comes in at its season.
 jb:5.27    Lo, this we have searched out; so it is! This we have heard, and you should know.
  
 jb:6.1     Then Job answered and said:
 jb:6.2     Ah, could my anguish but be measured and my calamity laid with it in the scales,
 jb:6.3     They would now outweigh the sands of the sea! Because of this I speak without restraint.
 jb:6.4     For the arrows of the Almighty pierce me, and my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
 jb:6.5     Does the wild ass bray when he has grass? Does the ox low over his fodder?
 jb:6.6     Can a thing insipid be eaten without salt? Is there flavor in the white of an egg?
 jb:6.7     I refuse to touch them; they are loathsome food to me.
 jb:6.8     Oh, that I might have my request, and that God would grant what I long for:
 jb:6.9     Even that God would decide to crush me, that he would put forth his hand and cut me off!
 jb:6.10    Then I should still have consolation and could exult through unremitting pain, because I have not transgressed the commands of the Holy One.
 jb:6.11    What strength have I that I should endure, and what is my limit that I should be patient?
 jb:6.12    Have I the strength of stones, or is my flesh of bronze?
 jb:6.13    Have I no helper, and has advice deserted me?
 jb:6.14    A friend owes kindness to one in despair, though he have forsaken the fear of the Almighty.
 jb:6.15    My brethren are undependable as a brook, as watercourses that run dry in the wadies;
 jb:6.16    Though they may be black with ice, and with snow heaped upon them,
 jb:6.17    Yet once they flow, they cease to be; in the heat, they disappear from their place.
 jb:6.18    Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go into the desert and perish.
 jb:6.19    The caravans of Tema search, the companies of Sheba have hopes;
 jb:6.20    They are disappointed, though they were confident; they come there and are frustrated.
 jb:6.21    It is thus that you have now become for me; you see a terrifying thing and are afraid.
 jb:6.22    Have I asked you to give me anything, to offer a gift for me from your possessions,
 jb:6.23    Or to deliver me from the enemy, or to redeem me from oppressors?
 jb:6.24    Teach me, and I will be silent; prove to me wherein I have erred.
 jb:6.25    How agreeable are honest words; yet how unconvincing is your argument!
 jb:6.26    Do you consider your words as proof, but the sayings of a desperate man as wind?
 jb:6.27    You would even cast lots for the orphan, and would barter away your friend!
 jb:6.28    Come, now, give me your attention; surely I will not lie to your face.
 jb:6.29    Think it over; let there be no injustice. Think it over; I still am right.
 jb:6.30    Is there insincerity on my tongue, or cannot my taste discern falsehood?
  
 jb:7.1     Is not man's life on earth a drudgery? Are not his days those of a hireling?
 jb:7.2     He is a slave who longs for the shade, a hireling who waits for his wages.
 jb:7.3     So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been told off for me.
 jb:7.4     If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?" then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
 jb:7.5     My flesh is clothed with worms and scabs; my skin cracks and festers;
 jb:7.6     My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle; they come to an end without hope.
 jb:7.7     Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.
 jb:7.8     The eye that now sees me shall no more behold me; as you look at me, I shall be gone.
 jb:7.9     As a cloud dissolves and vanishes, so he who goes down to the nether world shall come up no more.
 jb:7.10    He shall not again return to his house; his place shall know him no more.
 jb:7.11    My own utterance I will not restrain; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
 jb:7.12    Am I the sea, or a monster of the deep, that you place a watch over me? Why have you set me up as an object of attack; or why should I be a target for you?
 jb:7.13    When I say, "My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,"
 jb:7.14    Then you affright me with dreams and with visions terrify me,
 jb:7.15    So that I should prefer choking and death rather than my pains.
 jb:7.16    I waste away: I cannot live forever; let me alone, for my days are but a breath.
 jb:7.17    What is man, that you make much of him, or pay him any heed?
 jb:7.18    You observe him with each new day and try him at every moment!
 jb:7.19    How long will it be before you look away from me, and let me alone long enough to swallow my spittle?
 jb:7.20    Though I have sinned, what can I do to you, O watcher of men?
 jb:7.21    Why do you not pardon my offense, or take away my guilt? For soon I shall lie down in the dust; and should you seek me I shall then be gone.
  
 jb:8.1     Bildad the Shuhite spoke out and said:
 jb:8.2     How long will you utter such things? The words from your mouth are like a mighty wind!
 jb:8.3     Does God pervert judgment, and does the Almighty distort justice?
 jb:8.4     If your children have sinned against him and he has left them in the grip of their guilt,
 jb:8.5     Still, if you yourself have recourse to God and make supplication to the Almighty,
 jb:8.6     Should you be blameless and upright, surely now he will awake for you and restore your rightful domain;
 jb:8.7     Your former state will be of little moment, for in time to come you will flourish indeed.
 jb:8.8     If you inquire of the former generations, and give heed to the experience of the fathers
 jb:8.9     (As we are but of yesterday and have no knowledge, because our days on earth are but a shadow),
 jb:8.10    Will they not teach you and tell you and utter their words of understanding?
 jb:8.11    Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the reed grass flourish without water?
 jb:8.12    While it is yet green and uncut, it withers quicker than any grass.
 jb:8.13    So is the end of everyone who forgets God, and so shall the hope of the godless man perish.
 jb:8.14    His confidence is but a gossamer thread and his trust is a spider's web.
 jb:8.15    He shall rely upon his family, but it shall not last; he shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.
 jb:8.16    He is full of sap before sunrise, and beyond his garden his shoots go forth;
 jb:8.17    About a heap of stones are his roots entwined; among the rocks he takes hold.
 jb:8.18    Yet if one tears him from his place, it will disown him: "I have never seen you!"
 jb:8.19    There he lies rotting beside the road, and out of the soil another sprouts.
 jb:8.20    Behold, God will not cast away the upright; neither will he take the hand of the wicked.
 jb:8.21    Once more will he fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with rejoicing.
 jb:8.22    They that hate you shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked shall be no more.
  
 jb:9.1     Then Job answered and said:
 jb:9.2     I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God?
 jb:9.3     Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
 jb:9.4     God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed?
 jb:9.5     He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger.
 jb:9.6     He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble.
 jb:9.7     He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars.
 jb:9.8     He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea.
 jb:9.9     He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
 jb:9.10    He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning.
 jb:9.11    Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
 jb:9.12    Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?"
 jb:9.13    He is God and he does not relent; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
 jb:9.14    How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him!
 jb:9.15    Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me.
 jb:9.16    If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words;
 jb:9.17    With a tempest he might overwhelm me, and multiply my wounds without cause;
 jb:9.18    He need not suffer me to draw breath, but might fill me with bitter griefs.
 jb:9.19    If it be a question of strength, he is mighty; and if of judgment, who will call him to account?
 jb:9.20    Though I were right, my own mouth might condemn me; were I innocent, he might put me in the wrong.
 jb:9.21    Though I am innocent, I myself cannot know it; I despise my life.
 jb:9.22    It is all one! therefore I say: Both the innocent and the wicked he destroys.
 jb:9.23    When the scourge slays suddenly, he laughs at the despair of the innocent.
 jb:9.24    The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he, who then is it?
 jb:9.25    My days are swifter than a runner, they flee away; they see no happiness;
 jb:9.26    They shoot by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping upon its prey.
 jb:9.27    If I say: I will forget my complaining, I will lay aside my sadness and be of good cheer,
 jb:9.28    Then I am in dread of all my pains; I know that you will not hold me innocent.
 jb:9.29    If I must be accounted guilty, why then should I strive in vain?
 jb:9.30    If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
 jb:9.31    Yet you would plunge me in the ditch, so that my garments would abhor me.
 jb:9.32    For he is not a man like myself, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.
 jb:9.33    Would that there were an arbiter between us, who could lay his hand upon us both
 jb:9.34    and withdraw his rod from me. Would that his terrors did not frighten me;
 jb:9.35    that I might speak without being afraid of him. Since this is not the case with me,
  
 jb:10.1     I loathe my life. I will give myself up to complaint; I will speak from the bitterness of my soul.
 jb:10.2     I will say to God: Do not put me in the wrong! Let me know why you oppose me.
 jb:10.3     Is it a pleasure for you to oppress, to spurn the work of your hands, and smile on the plan of the wicked?
 jb:10.4     Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees?
 jb:10.5     Are your days as the days of a mortal, and are your years as a man's lifetime,
 jb:10.6     That you seek for guilt in me and search after my sins,
 jb:10.7     Even though you know that I am not wicked, and that none can deliver me out of your hand?
 jb:10.8     Your hands have formed me and fashioned me; will you then turn and destroy me?
 jb:10.9     Oh, remember that you fashioned me from clay! Will you then bring me down to dust again?
 jb:10.10    Did you not pour me out as milk, and thicken me like cheese?
 jb:10.11    With skin and flesh you clothed me, with bones and sinews knit me together.
 jb:10.12    Grace and favor you granted me, and your providence has preserved my spirit.
 jb:10.13    Yet these things you have hidden in your heart; I know that they are your purpose:
 jb:10.14    If I should sin, you would keep a watch against me, and from my guilt you would not absolve me.
 jb:10.15    If I should be wicked, alas for me! if righteous, I dare not hold up my head, filled with ignominy and sodden with affliction!
 jb:10.16    Should it lift up, you hunt me like a lion: repeatedly you show your wondrous power against me,
 jb:10.17    You renew your attack upon me and multiply your harassment of me; in waves your troops come against me.
 jb:10.18    Why then did you bring me forth from the womb? I should have died and no eye have seen me.
 jb:10.19    I should be as though I had never lived; I should have been taken from the womb to the grave.
 jb:10.20    Are not the days of my life few? Let me alone, that I may recover a little
 jb:10.21    Before I go whence I shall not return, to the land of darkness and of gloom,
 jb:10.22    The black, disordered land where darkness is the only light.
  
 jb:11.1     And Zophar the Naamathite spoke out and said:
 jb:11.2     Should not the man of many words be answered, or must the garrulous man necessarily be right?
 jb:11.3     Shall your babblings keep men silent, and shall you deride and no one give rebuke?
 jb:11.4     Shall you say: "My teaching is pure, and I am clean in your sight"?
 jb:11.5     But oh, that God would speak, and open his lips against you,
 jb:11.6     And tell you that the secrets of wisdom are twice as effective: So you might learn that God will make you answer for your guilt.
 jb:11.7     Can you penetrate the designs of God? Dare you vie with the perfection of the Almighty?
 jb:11.8     It is higher than the heavens; what can you do? It is deeper than the nether world; what can you know?
 jb:11.9     It is longer than the earth in measure, and broader than the sea.
 jb:11.10    If he seize and imprison or call to judgment, who then can say him nay?
 jb:11.11    For he knows the worthlessness of men and sees iniquity; will he then ignore it?
 jb:11.12    Will empty man then gain understanding, and the wild jackass be made docile?
 jb:11.13    If you set your heart aright and stretch out your hands toward him,
 jb:11.14    If you remove all iniquity from your conduct, and let not injustice dwell in your tent,
 jb:11.15    Surely then you may lift up your face in innocence; you may stand firm and unafraid.
 jb:11.16    For then you shall forget your misery, or recall it like waters that have ebbed away.
 jb:11.17    Then your life shall be brighter than the noonday; its gloom shall become as the morning,
 jb:11.18    And you shall be secure, because there is hope; you shall look round you and lie down in safety,
 jb:11.19    and you shall take your rest with none to disturb. Many shall entreat your favor,
 jb:11.20    but the wicked, looking on, shall be consumed with envy. Escape shall be cut off from them, they shall wait to expire.
  
 jj:12.1    Then Job replied and said:
 jj:12.2    No doubt you are the intelligent folk, and with you wisdom shall die!
 jj:12.3    But I have intelligence as well as you; for who does not know such things as these?
 jj:12.4    I have become the sport of my neighbors: "The one whom God answers when he calls upon him, The just, the perfect man," is a laughing-stock;
 jj:12.5    The undisturbed esteem my downfall a disgrace such as awaits unsteady feet;
 jj:12.6    Yet the tents of robbers are prosperous, and those who provoke God are secure.
 jj:12.7    But now ask the beasts to teach you, and the birds of the air to tell you;
 jj:12.8    Or the reptiles on earth to instruct you, and the fish of the sea to inform you.
 jj:12.9    Which of all these does not know that the hand of God has done this?
 jj:12.10   In his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the life breath of all mankind.
 jj:12.11   Does not the ear judge words as the mouth tastes food?
 jj:12.12   So with old age is wisdom, and with length of days understanding.
 jj:12.13   With him are wisdom and might; his are counsel and understanding.
 jj:12.14   If he breaks a thing down, there is no rebuilding; if he imprisons a man, there is no release.
 jj:12.15   He holds back the waters and there is drought; he sends them forth and they overwhelm the land.
 jj:12.16   With him are strength and prudence; the misled and the misleaders are his.
 jj:12.17   He sends counselors away barefoot, and of judges he makes fools.
 jj:12.18   He loosens the bonds imposed by kings and leaves but a waistcloth to bind the king's own loins.
 jj:12.19   and lets their never-failing waters flow away.
 jj:12.20   He silences the trusted adviser, and takes discretion from the aged.
 jj:12.21   He breaks down the barriers of the streams
 jj:12.22   The recesses of the darkness he discloses, and brings the gloom forth to the light.
 jj:12.23   He makes nations great and he destroys them; he spreads peoples abroad and he abandons them.
 jj:12.24   He takes understanding from the leaders of the land,
 jj:12.25   till they grope in the darkness without light; he makes them stagger like drunken men.
  
 jb:13.1    Lo, all this my eye has seen; my ear has heard and perceived it.
 jb:13.2    What you know, I also know; I fall not short of you.
 jb:13.3    But I would speak with the Almighty; I wish to reason with God.
 jb:13.4    You are glossing over falsehoods and offering vain remedies, every one of you!
 jb:13.5    Oh, that you would be altogether silent! This for you would be wisdom.
 jb:13.6    Hear now the rebuke I shall utter and listen to the reproof from my lips.
 jb:13.7    Is it for God that you speak falsehood? Is it for him that you utter deceit?
 jb:13.8    Is it for him that you show partiality? Do you play advocate on behalf of God?
 jb:13.9    Will it be well when he shall search you out? Would you impose on him as one does on men?
 jb:13.10   He will openly rebuke you if even in secret you show partiality.
 jb:13.11   Surely will his majesty affright you and the dread of him fall upon you.
 jb:13.12   Your reminders are ashy maxims, your fabrications are mounds of clay.
 jb:13.13   Be silent, let me alone! that I may speak and give vent to my feelings.
 jb:13.14   I will carry my flesh between my teeth, and take my life in my hand.
 jb:13.15   Slay me though he might, I will wait for him; I will defend my conduct before him.
 jb:13.16   And this shall be my salvation, that no impious man can come into his presence.
 jb:13.17   Pay careful heed to my speech, and give my statement a hearing.
 jb:13.18   Behold, I have prepared my case, I know that I am in the right.
 jb:13.19   If anyone can make a case against me, then I shall be silent and die.
 jb:13.20   These things only do not use against me, then from your presence I need not hide:
 jb:13.21   Withdraw your hand far from me, and let not the terror of you frighten me.
 jb:13.22   Then call me, and I will respond; or let me speak first, and answer me.
 jb:13.23   What are my faults and my sins? My misdeeds and my sins make known to me!
 jb:13.24   Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?
 jb:13.25   Will you harass a wind-driven leaf, or pursue a withered straw?
 jb:13.26   For you draw up bitter indictments against me, and punish in me the faults of my youth.
 jb:13.27   You put my feet in the stocks; you watch all my paths and trace out all my footsteps.
 jb:13.28   Though he wears out like a leather bottle, like a garment that the moth has consumed?
  
 jb:24.1   Why are not times set by the Almighty, and why do his friends not see his days?
 jb:24.2   The wicked remove landmarks; they steal away herds and pasture them.
 jb:24.3   The asses of orphans they drive away; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
 jb:24.4   They force the needy off the road; all the poor of the land are driven into hiding.
 jb:24.5   Like wild asses in the desert, these go forth to their task of seeking food; The steppe provides food for the young among them;
 jb:24.6   they harvest at night in the untilled land.
 jb:24.7   They pass the night naked, without clothing, for they have no covering against the cold;
 jb:24.8   They are drenched with the rain of the mountains, and for want of shelter they cling to the rock.
 jb:24.9   [lack]
 jb:24.10   and famished are those who carry the sheaves.
 jb:24.11   Between the rows they press out the oil; they glean in the the vineyard of the wicked. They tread the wine presses, yet suffer thirst,
 jb:24.12   From the dust the dying groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out (yet God does not treat it as unseemly).
 jb:24.13   There are those who are rebels against the light; they know not its ways; they abide not in its paths.
 jb:24.14   When there is no light the murderer rises, to kill the poor and needy.
 jb:24.15   The eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight; he says, "No eye will see me." In the night the thief roams about, and he puts a mask over his face;
 jb:24.16   in the dark he breaks into houses. By day they shut themselves in; none of them know the light,
 jb:24.17   for daylight they regard as darkness.
 jb:24.18   Their portion in the land is accursed,
 jb:24.19   [lack]
 jb:24.20   and wickedness is splintered like wood.
 jb:24.21   [lack]
 jb:24.22   To him who rises without assurance of his life
 jb:24.23   he gives safety and support. He sustains the mighty by his strength, and his eyes are on their ways.
 jb:24.24   They are exalted for a while, and then they are gone; they are laid low and, like all others, are gathered up; like ears of grain they shrivel.
 jb:24.25   If this be not so, who will confute me, and reduce my argument to nought?
  
 jb:15.1    Then Eliphaz the Temanite spoke and said:
 jb:15.2    Should a wise man answer with airy opinions, or puff himself up with wind?
 jb:15.3    Should he argue in speech which does not avail, and in words which are to no profit?
 jb:15.4    You in fact do away with piety, and you lessen devotion toward God,
 jb:15.5    Because your wickedness instructs your mouth, and you choose to speak like the crafty.
 jb:15.6    Your own mouth condemns you, not I; you own lips refute you.
 jb:15.7    Are you indeed the first-born of mankind, or were you brought forth before the hills?
 jb:15.8    Are you privy to the counsels of God, and do you restrict wisdom to yourself?
 jb:15.9    What do you know that we do not know? What intelligence have you which we have not?
 jb:15.10   There are gray-haired old men among us more advanced in years than your father.
 jb:15.11   Are the consolations of God not enough for you, and speech that deals gently with you?
 jb:15.12   Why do your notions carry you away, and why do your eyes blink,
 jb:15.13   So that you turn your anger against God and let such words escape your mouth!
 jb:15.14   What is a man that he should be blameless, one born of woman that he should be righteous?
 jb:15.15   If in his holy ones God places no confidence, and if the heavens are not clean in his sight,
 jb:15.16   How much less so is the abominable, the corrupt: man, who drinks in iniquity like water!
 jb:15.17   I will show you, if you listen to me; what I have seen I will tell--
 jb:15.18   What wise men relate and have not contradicted since the days of their fathers,
 jb:15.19   To whom alone the land was given, when no foreigner moved among them.
 jb:15.20   The wicked man is in torment all his days, and limited years are in store for the tyrant;
 jb:15.21   The sound of terrors is in his ears; when all is prosperous, the spoiler comes upon him.
 jb:15.22   He despairs of escaping the darkness, and looks ever for the sword;
 jb:15.23   A wanderer, food for the vultures, he knows that his destruction is imminent.
 jb:15.24   By day the darkness fills him with dread; distress and anguish overpower him.
 jb:15.25   Because he has stretched out his hand against God and bade defiance to the Almighty,
 jb:15.26   One shall rush sternly upon him with the stout bosses of his shield, like a king prepared for the charge.
 jb:15.27   Because he has blinded himself with his crassness, padding his loins with fat,
 jb:15.28   He shall dwell in ruinous cities, in houses that are deserted, That are crumbling into clay
 jb:15.29   with no shadow to lengthen over the ground. He shall not be rich, and his possessions shall not endure;
 jb:15.30   A flame shall wither him up in his early growth, and with the wind his blossoms shall disappear.
 jb:15.31   for vain shall be his bartering.
 jb:15.32   His stalk shall wither before its time, and his branches shall be green no more.
 jb:15.33   He shall be like a vine that sheds its grapes unripened, and like an olive tree casting off its bloom.
 jb:15.34   For the breed of the impious shall be sterile, and fire shall consume the tents of extortioners.
 jb:15.35   They conceive malice and bring forth emptiness; they give birth to failure.
  
 jb:16.1    Then Job answered and said:
 jb:16.2    I have heard this sort of thing many times. Wearisome comforters are you all!
 jb:16.3    Is there no end to windy words? Or what sickness have you that you speak on?
 jb:16.4    I also could talk as you do, were you in my place. I could declaim over you, or wag my head at you;
 jb:16.5    I could strengthen you with talk, or shake my head with silent lips.
 jb:16.6    If I speak, this pain I have will not be checked; if I leave off, it will not depart from me.
 jb:16.7    But now that I am exhausted and stunned, all my company has closed in on me.
 jb:16.8    As a witness there rises up my traducer, speaking openly against me;
 jb:16.9    I am the prey his wrath assails, he gnashes his teeth against me. My enemies lord it over me;
 jb:16.10   their mouths are agape to bite me. They smite me on the cheek insultingly; they are all enlisted against me.
 jb:16.11   God has given me over to the impious; into the clutches of the wicked he has cast me.
 jb:16.12   I was in peace, but he dislodged me; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. He has set me up for a target;
 jb:16.13   his arrows strike me from all directions, He pierces my sides without mercy, he pours out my gall upon the ground.
 jb:16.14   He pierces me with thrust upon thrust; he attacks me like a warrior.
 jb:16.15   I have fastened sackcloth over my skin, and have laid my brow in the dust.
 jb:16.16   My face is inflamed with weeping and there is darkness over my eyes,
 jb:16.17   Although my hands are free from violence, and my prayer is sincere.
 jb:16.18   O earth, cover not my blood, nor let my outcry come to rest!
 jb:16.19   Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my spokesman is on high.
 jb:16.20   My friends it is who wrong me; before God my eyes drop tears,
 jb:16.21   That he may do justice for a mortal in his presence and decide between a man and his neighbor.
 jb:16.22   For my years are numbered now, and I am on a journey from which I shall not return.
  
 jb:17.1    My spirit is broken, my lamp of life extinguished; my burial is at hand.
 jb:17.2    I am indeed mocked, and, as their provocation mounts, my eyes grow dim.
 jb:17.3    Grant me one to offer you a pledge on my behalf: who is there that will give surety for me?
 jb:17.4    You darken their minds to knowledge; therefore they do not understand.
 jb:17.5    My lot is described as evil,
 jb:17.6    and I am made a byword of the people; their object lesson I have become.
 jb:17.7    My eye has grown blind with anguish, and all my frame is shrunken to a shadow.
 jb:17.8    Upright men are astonished at this, and the innocent aroused against the wicked.
 jb:17.9    Yet the righteous shall hold to his way, and he who has clean hands increase in strength.
 jb:17.10   But turn now, and come on again; for I shall not find a wise man among you!
 jb:17.11   My days are passed away, my plans are at an end, the cherished purposes of my heart.
 jb:17.12   Such men change the night into day; where there is darkness they talk of approaching light.
 jb:17.13   If I look for the nether world as my dwelling, if I spread my couch in the darkness,
 jb:17.14   If I must call corruption "my father," and the maggot "my mother" and "my sister,"
 jb:17.15   Where then is my hope, and my prosperity, who shall see?
 jb:17.16   Will they descend with me into the nether world? Shall we go down together into the dust?
  
 jb:18.1    Then Bildad the Shuhite replied and said:
 jb:18.2    When will you put an end to words? Reflect, and then we can have discussion.
 jb:18.3    Why are we accounted like the beasts, their equals in your sight?
 jb:18.4    You who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be neglected on your account (or the rock be moved out of its place)?
 jb:18.5    Truly, the light of the wicked is extinguished; no flame brightens his hearth.
 jb:18.6    The light is darkened in his tent; in spite of him, his lamp goes out.
 jb:18.7    His vigorous steps are hemmed in, and his own counsel casts him down.
 jb:18.8    For he rushes headlong into a net, and he wanders into a pitfall.
 jb:18.9    A trap seizes him by the heel, and a snare lays hold of him.
 jb:18.10   A noose for him is hid on the ground, and the toils for him on the way.
 jb:18.11   On every side terrors affright him; they harry him at each step.
 jb:18.12   Disaster is ready at his side,
 jb:18.13   the first-born of death consumes his limbs.
 jb:18.14   Fiery destruction lodges in his tent, and marches him off to the king of terrors. He is plucked from the security of his tent;
 jb:18.15   over his abode brimstone is scattered.
 jb:18.16   Below, his roots dry up, and above, his branches wither.
 jb:18.17   His memory perishes from the land, and he has no name on the earth.
 jb:18.18   He is driven from light into darkness, and banished out of the world.
 jb:18.19   He has neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any survior where once he dwelt.
 jb:18.20   They who come after shall be appalled at his fate; they who went before are struck with horror.
 jb:18.21   So is it then with the dwelling of the impious man, and such is the place of him who knows not God!
  
 jb:19.1    Then Job answered and said:
 jb:19.2    How long will you vex my soul, grind me down with words?
 jb:19.3    These ten times you have reviled me, have assailed me without shame!
 jb:19.4    Be it indeed that I am at fault and that my fault remains with me,
 jb:19.5    Even so, if you would vaunt yourselves against me and cast up to me any reproach,
 jb:19.6    Know then that God has dealt unfairly with me, and compassed me round with his net.
 jb:19.7    If I cry out "Injustice!" I am not heard. I cry for help, but there is no redress.
 jb:19.8    He has barred my way and I cannot pass; he has veiled my path in darkness;
 jb:19.9    He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the diadem from my brow.
 jb:19.10   He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; my hope he has uprooted like a tree.
 jb:19.11   His wrath he has kindled against me; he counts me among his enemies.
 jb:19.12   His troops advance as one man; they build up their road to attack me, and they encamp around my tent.
 jb:19.13   My brethren have withdrawn from me, and my friends are wholly estranged.
 jb:19.14   My kinsfolk and companions neglect me, and my guests have forgotten me.
 jb:19.15   Even my handmaids treat me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
 jb:19.16   I call my servant, but he gives no answer, though in my speech I plead with him.
 jb:19.17   My breath is abhorred by my wife; I am loathsome to the men of my family.
 jb:19.18   The young children, too, despise me; when I appear, they speak against me.
 jb:19.19   All my intimate friends hold me in horror; those whom I loved have turned against me!
 jb:19.20   My bones cleave to my skin, and I have escaped with my flesh between my teeth.
 jb:19.21   Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me!
 jb:19.22   Why do you hound me as though you were divine, and insatiably prey upon me?
 jb:19.23   Oh, would that my words were written down! Would that they were inscribed in a record:
 jb:19.24   That with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever!
 jb:19.25   But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
 jb:19.26   And from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing.
 jb:19.27   Whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him,
 jb:19.28   But you who say, "How shall we persecute him, seeing that the root of the matter is found in him?"
 jb:19.29   Be afraid of the sword for yourselves, for these crimes deserve the sword; that you may know that there is a judgment.
  
 jb:20.1    Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke and said:
 jb:20.2    and because of this I am disturbed. So now my thoughts provide me with an answer, and from my understanding a spirit gives me a reply.
 jb:20.3    A rebuke which puts me to shame I hear,
 jb:20.4    Do you not know this from olden time, since man was placed upon the earth,
 jb:20.5    That the triumph of the wicked is short and the joy of the impious but for a moment?
 jb:20.6    Though his pride mount up to the heavens and his head reach to the clouds,
 jb:20.7    Yet he perishes forever like the fuel of his fire, and the onlookers say, "Where is he?"
 jb:20.8    Like a dream he takes flight and is not found again; he fades away like a vision of the night.
 jb:20.9    The eye which saw him does so no more; nor shall his dwelling again behold him.
 jb:20.10   and his hands shall yield up his riches.
 jb:20.11   Though his frame is full of youthful vigor, this shall lie with him in the dust.
 jb:20.12   Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it under his tongue,
 jb:20.13   Though he retains it and will not let it go but keeps it still within his mouth,
 jb:20.14   Yet in his stomach the food shall turn; it shall be venom of asps inside him.
 jb:20.15   The riches he swallowed he shall disgorge; God shall compel his belly to disown them.
 jb:20.16   The poison of asps he shall drink in; the viper's fangs shall slay him.
 jb:20.17   He shall see no streams of oil, no torrents of honey or milk.
 jb:20.18   Restoring his gains, he shall not enjoy them; though his wealth increases, he shall not rejoice.
 jb:20.19   Because he has oppressed the poor, and stolen a patrimony he had not built up,
 jb:20.20   Though he has known no quiet in his greed, his treasures shall not save him.
 jb:20.21   Therefore his prosperity shall not endure,
 jb:20.22   When he abounds to overflowing, he shall be brought into straits, and nought shall be left of his goods.
 jb:20.23   God shall send against him the fury of his wrath and rain down his missiles of war upon him.
 jb:20.24   Should he escape the iron weapon, the bow of bronze shall pierce him through;
 jb:20.25   The dart shall come out of his back; terrors shall fall upon him.
 jb:20.26   Complete darkness is in store for him; the fire which shall consume him needs not to be fanned.
 jb:20.27   The heavens shall reveal his guilt, and the earth shall rise up against him.
 jb:20.28   The flood shall sweep away his house with the waters that run off in the day of God's anger.
 jb:20.29   This is the portion of a wicked man, and the heritage appointed him by God.
  
 jb:21.1    Then Job said in reply:
 jb:21.2    At least listen to my words, and let that be the consolation you offer.
 jb:21.3    Bear with me while I speak; and after I have spoken, you can mock!
 jb:21.4    Is my complaint toward man? And why should I not be impatient?
 jb:21.5    Look at me and be astonished, put your hands over your mouths.
 jb:21.6    When I think of it, I am dismayed, and horror takes hold on my flesh.
 jb:21.7    Why do the wicked survive, grow old, become mighty in power?
 jb:21.8    Their progeny is secure in their sight; they see before them their kinsfolk and their offspring.
 jb:21.9    Their homes are safe and without fear, nor is the scourge of God upon them.
 jb:21.10   Their bulls gender without fail; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
 jb:21.11   These folk have infants numerous as lambs, and their children dance.
 jb:21.12   They sing to the timbrel and harp, and make merry to the sound of the flute.
 jb:21.13   They live out their days in prosperity, and tranquilly go down to the nether world.
 jb:21.14   Yet they say to God, "Depart from us, for we have no wish to learn your ways!
 jb:21.15   What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what gain shall we have if we pray to him?"
 jb:21.16   If their happiness is not in their own hands and if the counsel of the wicked is repulsive to God,
 jb:21.17   How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does destruction come upon them, the portion he allots in his anger?
 jb:21.18   Let them be like straw before the wind, and like chaff which the storm snatches away!
 jb:21.19   May God not store up the man's misery for his children; let him requite the man himself so that he feels it,
 jb:21.20   Let his own eyes see the calamity, and the wrath of the Almighty let him drink!
 jb:21.21   For what interest has he in his family after him, when the number of his months is finished?
 jb:21.22   Can anyone teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those on high?
 jb:21.23   One dies in his full vigor, wholly at ease and content;
 jb:21.24   His figure is full and nourished, and his bones are rich in marrow.
 jb:21.25   Another dies in bitterness of soul, having never tasted happiness.
 jb:21.26   Alike they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them both.
 jb:21.27   Behold, I know your thoughts, and the arguments you rehearse against me.
 jb:21.28   For you say, "Where is the house of the magnate, and where the dwelling place of the wicked?"
 jb:21.29   Have you not asked the wayfarers and do you not recognize their monuments?
 jb:21.30   Nay, the evil man is spared calamity when it comes;
 jb:21.31   Who will charge him with his conduct to his face, and for what he has done who will repay him?
 jb:21.32   and on the day he is carried to the grave
 jb:21.33   Sweet to him are the clods of the valley, and over him the funeral mound keeps watch, While all the line of mankind follows him, and the countless others who have gone before.
 jb:21.34   How then can you offer me vain comfort, while in your answers perfidy remains?
  
 jb:22.1    Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:
 jb:22.2    Can a man be profitable to God? Though to himself a wise man be profitable!
 jb:22.3    Is it of advantage to the Almighty if you are just? Or is it a gain to him if you make your ways perfect?
 jb:22.4    Is it because of your piety that he reproves you-- that he enters with you into judgment?
 jb:22.5    Is not your wickedness manifold? Are not your iniquities endless?
 jb:22.6    You have unjustly kept your kinsmen's goods in pawn, left them stripped naked of their clothing.
 jb:22.7    To the thirsty you have given no water to drink, and from the hungry you have withheld bread;
 jb:22.8    As if the land belonged to the man of might, and only the privileged were to dwell in it.
 jb:22.9    You have sent widows away empty-handed, and the resources of orphans you have destroyed.
 jb:22.10   Therefore snares are round about you, and a sudden terror causes you dismay,
 jb:22.11   Or darkness, in which you cannot see; a deluge of waters covers you.
 jb:22.12   Does not God, in the heights of the heavens, behold the stars, high though they are?
 jb:22.13   Yet you say, "What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
 jb:22.14   Clouds hide him so that he cannot see; he walks upon the vault of the heavens!"
 jb:22.15   Do you indeed keep to the ancient way trodden by worthless men,
 jb:22.16   Who were snatched away before their time; whose foundations a flood swept away?
 jb:22.17   These men said to God, "Depart from us!" and, "What can the Almighty do to us?"
 jb:22.18   (Yet he had filled their houses with good things! But far be from me the mind of the impious!)
 jb:22.19   The just look on and are gladdened, and the innocent deride them:
 jb:22.20   "Truly these have been destroyed where they stood, and such as were left, fire has consumed!"
 jb:22.21   Come to terms with him to be at peace. In this shall good come to you:
 jb:22.22   Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
 jb:22.23   If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; if you put iniquity far from your tent,
 jb:22.24   And treat raw gold like dust, and the fine gold of Ophir as pebbles from the brook,
 jb:22.25   Then the Almighty himself shall be your gold and your sparkling silver.
 jb:22.26   For then you shall delight in the Almighty and you shall lift up your face toward God.
 jb:22.27   You shall entreat him and he will hear you, and your vows you shall fulfill.
 jb:22.28   When you make a decision, it shall succeed for you, and upon your ways the light shall shine.
 jb:22.29   For he brings down the pride of the haughty, but the man of humble mien he saves.
 jb:22.30   God delivers him who is innocent; you shall be delivered through cleanness of hands.
  
 jb:23.1    Again Job answered and said:
 jb:23.2    Though I know my complaint is bitter, his hand is heavy upon me in my groanings.
 jb:23.3    Oh, that today I might find him, that I might come to his judgment seat!
 jb:23.4    I would set out my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments;
 jb:23.5    I would learn the words with which he would answer, and understand what he would reply to me.
 jb:23.6    Even should he contend against me with his great power, yet, would that he himself might heed me!
 jb:23.7    There the upright man might reason with him, and I should once and for all preserve my rights.
 jb:23.8    But if I go to the east, he is not there; or to the west, I cannot perceive him;
 jb:23.9    Where the north enfolds him, I behold him not; by the south he is veiled, and I see him not.
 jb:23.10   Yet he knows my way; if he proved me, I should come forth as gold.
 jb:23.11   My foot has always walked in his steps; his way I have kept and have not turned aside.
 jb:23.12   From the commands of his lips I have not departed; the words of his mouth I have treasured in my heart.
 jb:23.13   But he had decided, and who can say him nay? What he desires, that he does.
 jb:23.14   For he will carry out what is appointed for me; and many such things may yet be in his mind.
 jb:23.15   Therefore am I dismayed before him; when I take thought, I fear him.
 jb:23.16   Indeed God has made my courage fail; the Almighty has put me in dismay.
 jb:23.17   Yes, would that I had vanished in darkness, and that thick gloom were before me to conceal me.
  
 jb:24.1    Why are not times set by the Almighty, and why do his friends not see his days?
 jb:24.2    The wicked remove landmarks; they steal away herds and pasture them.
 jb:24.3    The asses of orphans they drive away; they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
 jb:24.4    They force the needy off the road; all the poor of the land are driven into hiding.
 jb:24.5    Like wild asses in the desert, these go forth to their task of seeking food; The steppe provides food for the young among them;
 jb:24.6    they harvest at night in the untilled land.
 jb:24.7    They pass the night naked, without clothing, for they have no covering against the cold;
 jb:24.8    They are drenched with the rain of the mountains, and for want of shelter they cling to the rock.
 jb:24.9    and famished are those who carry the sheaves.
 jb:24.10   Between the rows they press out the oil; they glean in the the vineyard of the wicked. They tread the wine presses, yet suffer thirst,
 jb:24.11   From the dust the dying groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out (yet God does not treat it as unseemly).
 jb:24.12   There are those who are rebels against the light; they know not its ways; they abide not in its paths.
 jb:24.13   When there is no light the murderer rises, to kill the poor and needy.
 jb:24.14   The eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight; he says, "No eye will see me." In the night the thief roams about, and he puts a mask over his face;
 jb:24.15   in the dark he breaks into houses. By day they shut themselves in; none of them know the light,
 jb:24.16   for daylight they regard as darkness.
 jb:24.17   Their portion in the land is accursed,
 jb:24.18   and wickedness is splintered like wood.
 jb:24.19   To him who rises without assurance of his life
 jb:24.20   he gives safety and support. He sustains the mighty by his strength, and his eyes are on their ways.
 jb:24.21   They are exalted for a while, and then they are gone; they are laid low and, like all others, are gathered up; like ears of grain they shrivel.
 jb:24.22   If this be not so, who will confute me, and reduce my argument to nought?
  
 jb:25.1    Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
 jb:25.2    Dominion and awesomeness are his who brings about harmony in his heavens.
 jb:25.3    Is there any numbering of his troops? Yet to which of them does not his light extend?
 jb:25.4    How can a man be just in God's sight, or how can any woman's child be innocent?
 jb:25.5    Behold, even the moon is not bright and the stars are not clear in his sight.
 jb:25.6    How much less man, who is but a maggot, the son of man, who is only a worm?
  
 jb:26.1    Then Job spoke again and said:
 jb:26.2    What help you give to the powerless, what strength to the feeble arm!
 jb:26.3    How you counsel, as though he had no wisdom; how profuse is the advice you offer!
 jb:26.4    With whose help have you uttered those words, and whose is the breath that comes forth from you?
 jb:26.5    The shades beneath writhe in terror, the waters, and their inhabitants.
 jb:26.6    Naked before him is the nether world, and Abaddon has no covering.
 jb:26.7    He stretches out the North over empty space, and suspends the earth over nothing at all;
 jb:26.8    He binds up the waters in his clouds, yet the cloud is not rent by their weight;
 jb:26.9    He holds back the appearance of the full moon by spreading his clouds before it.
 jb:26.10   He has marked out a circle on the surface of the deep as the boundary of light and darkness.
 jb:26.11   The pillars of the heavens tremble and are stunned at his thunderous rebuke;
 jb:26.12   By his power he stirs up the sea, and by his might he crushes Rahab;
 jb:26.13   With his angry breath he scatters the waters, and he hurls the lightning against them relentlessly; His hand pierces the fugitive dragon as from his hand it strives to flee.
 jb:26.14   Lo, these are but the outlines of his ways, and how faint is the word we hear!
  
 jb:27.1    [same as below]
 jb:27.2    As God lives, who withholds my deserts, the Almighty, who has made bitter my soul,
 jb:27.3    So long as I still have life in me and the breath of God is in my nostrils,
 jb:27.4    My lips shall not speak falsehood, nor my tongue utter deceit!
 jb:27.5    Far be it from me to account you right; till I die I will not renounce my innocence.
 jb:27.6    My justice I maintain and I will not relinquish it; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
 jb:27.7    Let my enemy be as the wicked and my adversary as the unjust!
 jb:27.8    For what can the impious man expect when he is cut off, when God requires his life?
 jb:27.9    Will God then attend to his cry when calamity comes upon him?
 jb:27.10   Will he then delight in the Almighty and call upon him constantly?
 jb:27.11   I will teach you the manner of God's dealings, and the way of the Almighty I will not conceal.
 jb:27.12   Behold, you yourselves have all seen it; why then do you spend yourselves in idle words!
 jb:27.13   This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the inheritance an oppressor receives from the Almighty:
 jb:27.14   Though his children be many, the sword is their destiny. His offspring shall not be filled with bread.
 jb:27.15   His survivors, when they die, shall have no burial, and their widows shall not be mourned.
 jb:27.16   Though he heap up silver like dust and store away mounds of clothing,
 jb:27.17   What he has stored the just man shall wear, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
 jb:27.18   He builds his house as of cobwebs, or like a booth put up by the vine-keeper.
 jb:27.19   He lies down a rich man, one last time; he opens his eyes and nothing remains to him.
 jb:27.20   Terrors rush upon him by day; at night the tempest carries him off.
 jb:27.21   The storm wind seizes him and he disappears; it sweeps him out of his place.
 jb:27.22   It will blow down on them without pity while they try their best to escape.
 jb:27.23   The wind howls at them as they run, frightening them with destructive power.
  
 jb:28.1    There is indeed a mine for silver, and a place for gold which men refine.
 jb:28.2    Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is melted out of stone.
 jb:28.3    He has set a boundary for the darkness; to the farthest confines he penetrates.
 jb:28.5    The earth, though out of it comes forth bread, is in fiery upheaval underneath.
 jb:28.6    Its stones are the source of sapphires, and there is gold in its dust.
 jb:28.7    The path to it no bird of prey knows, nor has the hawk's eye seen that path.
 jb:28.8    The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the lion gone that way.
 jb:28.9    He sets his hand to the flinty rock, and overturns the mountains at their foundations.
 jb:28.10    He splits channels in the rocks; his eyes behold all that is precious.
 jb:28.11   He probes the wellsprings of the streams, and brings hidden things to light.
 jb:28.12   But whence can wisdom be obtained, and where is the place of understanding?
 jb:28.13   Man knows nothing to equal it, nor is it to be had in the land of the living.
 jb:28.14   The abyss declares, "It is not in me"; and the sea says, "I have it not."
 jb:28.15   Solid gold cannot purchase it, nor can its price be paid with silver.
 jb:28.16   It cannot be bought with gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire.
 jb:28.17   Gold or crystal cannot equal it, nor can golden vessels reach its worth.
 jb:28.18   Neither coral nor jasper should be thought of; it surpasses pearls and
 jb:28.19   Arabian topaz.
 jb:28.20   Whence, then, comes wisdom, and where is the place of understanding?
 jb:28.21   It is hid from the eyes of any beast; from the birds of the air it is concealed.
 jb:28.22   Abaddon and Death say, "Only by rumor have we heard of it."
 jb:28.23   God knows the way to it; it is he who is familiar with its place.
 jb:28.24   For he beholds the ends of the earth and sees all that is under the heavens.
 jb:28.25   He has weighed out the wind, and fixed the scope of the waters;
 jb:28.26   When he made rules for the rain and a path for the thunderbolts,
 jb:28.27   Then he saw wisdom and appraised it, gave it its setting, knew it through and through.
 jb:28.28   And to man he said: Behold, the fear of the LORD is wisdom; and avoiding evil is understanding.
  
 jb:29.1    Job took up his theme anew and said;
 jb:29.2    Oh, that I were as in the months past! as in the days when God watched over me,
 jb:29.3    While he kept his lamp shining above my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;
 jb:29.4    As I was in my flourishing days, when God sheltered my tent;
 jb:29.5    When the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were round about me;
 jb:29.6    When my footsteps were bathed in milk, and the rock flowed with streams of oil;
 jb:29.7    When I went forth to the gate of the city and set up my seat in the square-
 jb:29.8    Then the young men saw me and withdrew, while the elders rose up and stood;
 jb:29.9    The chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
 jb:29.10   The voice of the princes was silenced, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
 jb:29.11   Whoever heard of me blessed me; those who saw me commended me.
 jb:29.12   For I rescued the poor who cried out for help, the orphans, and the unassisted;
 jb:29.13   The blessing of those in extremity came upon me, and the heart of the widow I made joyful.
 jb:29.14   I wore my honesty like a garment; justice was my robe and my turban.
 jb:29.15   I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame was I;
 jb:29.16   I was a father to the needy; the rights of the stranger I studied,
 jb:29.17   And I broke the jaws of the wicked man; from his teeth I forced the prey.
 jb:29.18   Then I said: "In my own nest I shall grow old; I shall multiply years like the phoenix.
 jb:29.19   My root is spread out to the waters; the dew rests by night on my branches.
 jb:29.20   My glory is fresh within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand!"
 jb:29.21   For me they listened and waited; they were silent for my counsel.
 jb:29.22   Once I spoke, they said no more, but received my pronouncement drop by drop.
 jb:29.23   They waited for me as for the rain; they drank in my words like the spring rains.
 jb:29.24   When I smiled on them they were reassured;
 jb:29.25   mourners took comfort from my cheerful glance. I chose out their way and presided; I took a king's place in the armed forces.
  
 jb:30.1    But now they hold me in derision who are younger in years than I; Whose fathers I should have disdained to rank with the dogs of my flock.
 jb:30.2    Such strength as they had, to me meant nought; they were utterly destitute.
 jb:30.3    In want and hunger was their lot, they who fled to the parched wastelands:
 jb:30.4    They plucked saltwort and shrubs; the roots of the broom plant were their food.
 jb:30.5    They were banished from among men, with an outcry like that against a thief--
 jb:30.6    To dwell on the slopes of the wadies, in caves of sand and stone;
 jb:30.7    Among the bushes they raised their raucous cry; under the nettles they huddled together.
 jb:30.8    Irresponsible, nameless men, they were driven out of the land.
 jb:30.9    Yet now they sing of me in mockery; I am become a byword among them.
 jb:30.10   They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, they do not hesitate to spit in my face!
 jb:30.11   Indeed, they have loosed their bonds; they lord it over me, and have thrown off restraint in my presence.
 jb:30.12   To subvert my paths they rise up; they build their approaches for my ruin.
 jb:30.13   To destroy me, they attack with none to stay them;
 jb:30.14   as through a wide breach they advance. Amid the uproar they come on in waves;
 jb:30.15   over me rolls the terror. My dignity is borne off on the wind, and my welfare vanishes like a cloud.
 jb:30.16   My soul ebbs away from me;
 jb:30.17   My frame takes no rest by night; my inward parts seethe and will not be stilled.
 jb:30.18   One with great power lays hold of my clothing; by the collar of my tunic he seizes me:
 jb:30.19   He has cast me into the mire; I am leveled with the dust and ashes.
 jb:30.20   I cry to you, but you do not answer me; you stand off and look at me,
 jb:30.21   Then you turn upon me without mercy and with your strong hand you buffet me.
 jb:30.22   You raise me up and drive me before the wind; I am tossed about by the tempest.
 jb:30.23   Indeed I know you will turn me back in death to the destined place of everyone alive.
 jb:30.24   Yet should not a hand be held out to help a wretched man in his calamity?
 jb:30.25   Or have I not wept for the hardships of others; was not my soul grieved for the destitute?
 jb:30.26   Yet when I looked for good, then evil came; when I expected light, then came darkness.
 jb:30.27   days of affliction have overtaken me.
 jb:30.28   I go about in gloom, without the sun; I rise up in public to voice my grief.
 jb:30.29   I have become the brother of jackals, companion to the ostrich.
 jb:30.30   My blackened skin falls away from me; the heat scorches my very frame.
 jb:30.31   My harp is turned to mourning, and my reed pipe to sounds of weeping.
  
 jb:31.1    If I have made an agreement with my eyes and entertained any thoughts against a maiden;
 jb:31.2    But what is man's lot from God above, his inheritance from the Almighty on high?
 jb:31.3    Is it not calamity for the unrighteous, and woe for evildoers?
 jb:31.4    Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?
 jb:31.5    If I have walked in falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;
 jb:31.6    Let God weigh me in the scales of justice; thus will he know my innocence!
 jb:31.7    If my steps have turned out of the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, or any stain clings to my hands,
 jb:31.8    Then may I sow, but another eat of it, or may my planting be rooted up!
 jb:31.9    If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door;
 jb:31.10   Then may my wife grind for another, and may others cohabit with her!
 jb:31.11   For that would be heinous, a crime to be condemned;
 jb:31.12   A fire that should burn down to the abyss till it consumed all my possessions to the roots.
 jb:31.13   Had I refused justice to my manservant or to my maid, when they had a claim against me,
 jb:31.14   What then should I do when God rose up; what could I answer when he demanded an account?
 jb:31.15   Did not he who made me in the womb make him? Did not the same One fashion us before our birth?
 jb:31.16   If I have denied anything to the poor, or allowed the eyes of the widow to languish
 jb:31.17   While I ate my portion alone, with no share in it for the fatherless,
 jb:31.18   Though like a father God has reared me from my youth, guiding me even from my mother's womb--
 jb:31.19   If I have seen a wanderer without clothing, or a poor man without covering,
 jb:31.20   Whose limbs have not blessed me when warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
 jb:31.21   If I have raised my hand against the innocent because I saw that I had supporters at the gate--
 jb:31.22   Then may my arm fall from the shoulder, my forearm be broken at the elbow!
 jb:31.23   For the dread of God will be upon me, and his majesty will overpower me.
 jb:31.24   Had I put my trust in gold or called fine gold my security;
 jb:31.25   Or had I rejoiced that my wealth was great, or that my hand had acquired abundance--
 jb:31.26   Had I looked upon the sun as it shone, or the moon in the splendor of its progress,
 jb:31.27   And had my heart been secretly enticed to waft them a kiss with my hand;
 jb:31.28   This too would be a crime for condemnation, for I should have denied God above.
 jb:31.29   Had I rejoiced at the destruction of my enemy or exulted when evil fell upon him,
 jb:31.30   Even though I had not suffered my mouth to sin by uttering a curse against his life--
 jb:31.31   Had not the men of my tent exclaimed, "Who has not been fed with his meat!"
 jb:31.32   Because no stranger lodged in the street, but I opened my door to wayfarers--
 jb:31.33   Had I, out of human weakness, hidden my sins and buried my guilt in my bosom
 jb:31.34   Because I feared the noisy multitude and the scorn of the tribes terrified me- then I should have remained silent, and not come out of doors!
 jb:31.35   Oh, that I had one to hear my case, and that my accuser would write out his indictment!
 jb:31.36   Surely, I should wear it on my shoulder or put it on me like a diadem;
 jb:31.37   Of all my steps I should give him an account; like a prince I should present myself before him. This is my final plea; let the Almighty answer me! The words of Job are ended.
 jb:31.38   If my land has cried out against me till its very furrows complained;
 jb:31.39   If I have eaten its produce without payment and grieved the hearts of its tenants;
 jb:31.40   Then let the thistles grow instead of wheat and noxious weeds instead of barley!
  
 jb:32.1     Then the three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
 jb:32.2     But the anger of Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled. He was angry with Job for considering himself rather than God to be in the right.
 jb:32.3     He was angry also with the three friends because they had not found a good answer and had not condemned Job.
 jb:32.4     But since these men were older than he, Elihu bided his time before addressing Job.
 jb:32.5     When, however, Elihu saw that there was no reply in the mouths of the three men, his wrath was inflamed.
 jb:32.6     So Elihu, son of Barachel the Buzite, spoke out and said: I am young and you are very old; therefore I held back and was afraid to declare to you my knowledge.
 jb:32.7     Days should speak, I thought, and many years teach wisdom!
 jb:32.8     But it is a spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
 jb:32.9     It is not those of many days who are wise, nor the aged who understand the right.
 jb:32.10   Therefore I say, hearken to me; let me too set forth my knowledge!
 jb:32.11   Behold, I have waited for your discourses, and have given ear to your arguments.
 jb:32.12   Yes, I followed you attentively as you searched out what to say; And behold, there is none who has convicted Job, not one of you who could refute his statements.
 jb:32.13   Yet do not say, "We have met wisdom. God may vanquish him but not man!"
 jb:32.14   For had he addressed his words to me, I should not then have answered him as you have done.
 jb:32.15   They are dismayed, they make no more reply; words fail them.
 jb:32.16   Must I wait? Now that they speak no more, and have ceased to make reply,
 jb:32.17   I too will speak my part; I also will show my knowledge!
 jb:32.18   For I am full of matters to utter; the spirit within me compels me.
 jb:32.19   Like a new wineskin with wine under pressure, my bosom is ready to burst.
 jb:32.20   Let me speak and obtain relief; let me open my lips, and make reply.
 jb:32.21   I would not be partial to anyone, nor give flattering titles to any.
 jb:32.22   For I know nought of flattery; if I did, my Maker would soon take me away.
  
 jb:33.1    Therefore, O Job, hear my discourse, and hearken to all my words.
 jb:33.2    Behold, now I open my mouth; my tongue and my voice form words.
 jb:33.3    I will state directly what is in my mind, my lips shall utter knowledge sincerely;
 jb:33.4    For the spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty keeps me alive.
 jb:33.5    If you are able, refute me; draw up your arguments and stand forth.
 jb:33.6    Behold I, like yourself, have been taken from the same clay by God.
 jb:33.7    Therefore no fear of me should dismay you, nor should my presence weigh heavily upon you.
 jb:33.8    But you have said in my hearing, as I listened to the sound of your words:
 jb:33.9    "I am clean and without transgression; I am innocent; there is no guilt in me.
 jb:33.10   Yet he invents pretexts against me and reckons me as his enemy.
 jb:33.11   He puts my feet in the stocks; he watches all my ways!"
 jb:33.12   In this you are not just, let me tell you; for God is greater than man.
 jb:33.13   Why, then, do you make complaint against him that he gives no account of his doings?
 jb:33.14   For God does speak, perhaps once, or even twice, though one perceive it not.
 jb:33.15   In a dream, in a vision of the night, (when deep sleep falls upon men) as they slumber in their beds,
 jb:33.16   It is then he opens the ears of men and as a warning to them, terrifies them;
 jb:33.17   By turning man from evil and keeping pride away from him,
 jb:33.18   He withholds his soul from the pit and his life from passing to the grave.
 jb:33.19   Or a man is chastened on his bed by pain and unceasing suffering within his frame,
 jb:33.20   So that to his appetite food becomes repulsive, and his senses reject the choicest nourishment.
 jb:33.21   His flesh is wasted so that it cannot be seen, and his bones, once invisible, appear;
 jb:33.22   His soul draws near to the pit, his life to the place of the dead.
 jb:33.23   If then there be for him an angel, one out of a thousand, a mediator, To show him what is right for him and bring the man back to justice,
 jb:33.24   He will take pity on him and say, "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found him a ransom."
 jb:33.25   Then his flesh shall become soft as a boy's; he shall be again as in the days of his youth.
 jb:33.26   He shall pray and God will favor him; he shall see God's face with rejoicing.
 jb:33.27   He shall sing before men and say, "I sinned and did wrong, yet he has not punished me accordingly.
 jb:33.28   He delivered my soul from passing to the pit, and I behold the light of life."
 jb:33.29   Lo, all these things God does, twice, or thrice, for a man,
 jb:33.30   Bringing back his soul from the pit to the light, in the land of the living.
 jb:33.31   Be attentive, O Job; listen to me! Be silent and I will speak.
 jb:33.32   If you have aught to say, then answer me. Speak out! I should like to see you justified.
 jb:33.33   If not, then do you listen to me; be silent while I teach you wisdom.
  
 jb:34.1   Then Elihu continued and said:
 jb:34.2   Hear, O wise men, my discourse, and you that have knowledge, hear me!
 jb:34.3   For the ear tests words, as the taste does food.
 jb:34.4   Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn between us what is good.
 jb:34.5   For Job has said, "I am innocent, but God has taken what is my due.
 jb:34.6   Notwithstanding my right I am set at nought; in my wound the arrow rankles, sinless though I am."
 jb:34.7   What man is like Job? He drinks in blasphemies like water,
 jb:34.8   Keeps company with evildoers and goes along with wicked men,
 jb:34.9   When he says, "It profits a man nought that he is pleasing to God."
 jb:34.10   Therefore, men of understanding, hearken to me: far be it from God to do wickedness; far from the Almighty to do wrong!
 jb:34.11   Rather, he requites men for their conduct, and brings home to a man his way of life.
 jb:34.12   Surely, God cannot act wickedly, the Almighty cannot violate justice.
 jb:34.13   Who gave him government over the earth, or who else set all the land in its place?
 jb:34.14   If he were to take back his spirit to himself, withdraw to himself his breath,
 jb:34.15   All flesh would perish together, and man would return to the dust.
 jb:34.16   Now, do you, O Job, hear this! Hearken to the words I speak!
 jb:34.17   Can an enemy of justice indeed be in control, or will you condemn the supreme Just One,
 jb:34.18   Who says to a king, "You are worthless!" and to nobles, "You are wicked!"
 jb:34.19   Who neither favors the person of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor? For they are all the work of his hands;
 jb:34.20   in a moment they die, even at midnight. He brings on nobles, and takes them away, removing the powerful without lifting a hand;
 jb:34.21   For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he beholds all his steps.
 jb:34.22   There is no darkness so dense that evildoers can hide in it.
 jb:34.23   For he forewarns no man of his time to come before God in judgment.
 jb:34.24   Without a trial he breaks the mighty, and sets others in their stead,
 jb:34.25   Therefore he discerns their works; he turns at night and crushes them.
 jb:34.26   He punishes sinners where all can see it.
 jb:34.27   Because they turned away from him and heeded none of his ways,
 jb:34.28   But caused the cries of the poor to reach him, so that he heard the plea of the afflicted.
 jb:34.29   If he remains tranquil, who then can condemn? If he hides his face, who then can behold him?
 jb:34.30   There will be nothing that nations could do to keep godless oppressors from riling them.
 jb:34.31   When anyone says to God, "I was misguided; I will offend no more.
 jb:34.32   Teach me wherein I have sinned; if I have done wrong, I will do so no more,"
 jb:34.33   Would you then say that God must punish, since you reject what he is doing? It is you who must choose, not I; speak, therefore, what you know.
 jb:34.34   Men of understanding will say to me, every wise man who hears my views:
 jb:34.35   "Job speaks without intelligence, and his words are without sense."
 jb:34.36   Let Job be tried to the limit, since his answers are those of the impious;
 jb:34.37   For he is adding rebellion to his sin by brushing off our arguments and addressing many words to God.
  
 jb:35.1    Then Elihu proceeded and said:
 jb:35.2    Do you think it right to say, "I am just rather than God?"
 jb:35.3    To say, "What does it profit me; what advantage have I more than if I had sinned?"
 jb:35.4    I have words for a reply to you and your three companions as well.
 jb:35.5    Look up to the skies and behold; regard the heavens high above you.
 jb:35.6    If you sin, what injury do you do to God? Even if your offenses are many, how do you hurt him?
 jb:35.7    If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?
 jb:35.8    Your wickedness can affect only a man like yourself; and your justice only a fellow human being.
 jb:35.9    In great oppression men cry out; they call for help because of the power of the mighty,
 jb:35.10   Saying, "Where is God, my Maker, who has given visions in the night,
 jb:35.11   Taught us rather than the beasts of the earth, and made us wise rather than the birds of the heavens?"
 jb:35.12   Though thus they cry out, he answers not against the pride of the wicked.
 jb:35.13   But it is idle to say God does not hear or that the Almighty does not take notice.
 jb:35.14   Even though you say that you see him not, the case is before him; with trembling should you wait upon him.
 jb:35.15   But now that you have done otherwise, God's anger punishes, nor does he show concern that a man will die.
 jb:35.16   Yet Job to no purpose opens his mouth, and without knowledge multiplies words.
  
 jb:36.1    Elihu proceeded further and said:
 jb:36.2    Wait yet a little and I will instruct you, for there are still words to be said on God's behalf.
 jb:36.3    I will bring my knowledge from afar, and to my Maker I will accord the right.
 jb:36.4    For indeed, my theme cannot fail me: the one perfect in knowledge I set before you.
 jb:36.5    Behold, God rejects the obstinate in heart; he preserves not the life of the wicked.
 jb:36.6    He withholds not the just man's rights, but grants vindication to the oppressed,
 jb:36.7    And with kings upon thrones he sets them, exalted forever.
 jb:36.8    Or if they are bound with fetters and held fast by bonds of affliction,
 jb:36.9    Then he makes known to them what they have done and their sins of boastful pride.
 jb:36.10   He opens their ears to correction and exhorts them to turn back from evil.
 jb:36.11   If they obey and serve him, they spend their days in prosperity, their years in happiness.
 jb:36.12   But if they obey not, they perish; they die for lack of knowledge.
 jb:36.13   The impious in heart lay up anger for themselves; they cry not for help when he enchains them;
 jb:36.14   Therefore they expire in youth, and perish among the reprobate.
 jb:36.15   But God teaches men throgh suffering and uses distress to open their eyes.
 jb:36.16   God brought you out of trouble, and let you enjoy security; your table was piled high with food.
 jb:36.17   But now you are being punished as you deserve.
 jb:36.18   Be careful not to let bribes deceive you, or riches lead you astray.
 jb:36.19   It will do you no good to cry out for help; all your strength can't help you now.
 jb:36.20   Don't wish for night to come, the time when nations will perish.
 jb:36.21   Take heed, turn not to evil; for you have preferred carousal to affliction.
 jb:36.22   Behold, God is sublime in his power. What teacher is there like him?
 jb:36.23   Who prescribes for him his conduct, or who can say, "You have done wrong"?
 jb:36.24   Remember, you should extol his work, which men have praised in song.
 jb:36.25   All men contemplate it; man beholds it from afar.
 jb:36.26   Lo, God is great beyond our knowledge; the number of his years is past searching out.
 jb:36.27   He holds in check the waterdrops that filter in rain through his mists,
 jb:36.28   Till the skies run with them and the showers rain down on mankind.
 jb:36.29   No knows how the clouds move or how the thunder roars through the sky, where God dwells.
 jb:36.30   Lo! he spreads the clouds in layers as the carpeting of his tent.
 jb:36.31   For by these he nourishes the nations, and gives them food in abundance.
 jb:36.32   In his hands he holds the lightning, and he commands it to strike the mark.
 jb:36.33   His thunder speaks for him and incites the fury of the storm.
  
 jb:37.1    At this my heart trembles and leaps out of its place,
 jb:37.2    To hear his angry voice as it rumbles forth from his mouth!
 jb:37.3    Everywhere under the heavens he sends it, with his lightning, to the ends of the earth.
 jb:37.4    Again his voice roars-- the majestic sound of his thunder.
 jb:37.5    He does great things beyond our knowing; wonders past our searching out.
 jb:37.6    For he says to the snow, "Fall to the earth"; likewise to his heavy, drenching rain.
 jb:37.7    He shuts up all mankind indoors;
 jb:37.8    the wild beasts take to cover and remain quietly in their dens.
 jb:37.9    Out of its chamber comes forth the tempest; from the north winds, the cold.
 jb:37.10   With his breath God brings the frost, and the broad waters become congealed.
 jb:37.11   With hail, also, the clouds are laden, as they scatter their flashes of light.
 jb:37.12   He it is who changes their rounds, according to his plans, in their task upon the surface of the earth,
 jb:37.13   whether for punishment or mercy, as he commands.
 jb:37.14   Hearken to this, O Job! Stand and consider the wondrous works of God!
 jb:37.15   Do you know how God lays his commands upon them, and makes the light shine forth from his clouds?
 jb:37.16   Do you know how the clouds are banked, the wondrous work of him who is perfect in knowledge?
 jb:37.17   You, whom the streams of water fail when a calm from the south comes over the land,
 jb:37.18   Do you spread out with him the firmament of the skies, hard as a brazen mirror?
 jb:37.19   Teach us then what we shall say to him; we cannot, for the darkness, make our plea.
 jb:37.20   Will he be told about it when I speak, or when a man says he is being destroyed?
 jb:37.21   Nay, rather, it is as the light which men see not while it is obscured among the clouds, till the wind comes by and sweeps the clouds away.
 jb:37.22   From the North the splendor comes, surrounding God's awesome majesty!
 jb:37.23   The Almighty! we cannot discover him, pre-eminent in power and judgment; his great justice owes no one an accounting.
 jb:37.24   Therefore men revere him, though none can see him, however wise their hearts.
  
 jb:38.1    Then the LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:
 jb:38.2    Who is this that obscures divine plans with words of ignorance?
 jb:38.3    Gird up your loins now, like a man; I will question you, and you tell me the answers!
 jb:38.4    Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
 jb:38.5    Who determined its size; do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it?
 jb:38.6    Into what were its pedestals sunk, and who laid the cornerstone,
 jb:38.7    While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
 jb:38.8    And who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb;
 jb:38.9    When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
 jb:38.10   When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door,
 jb:38.11   And said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!
 jb:38.12   Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place
 jb:38.13   For taking hold of the ends of the earth, till the wicked are shaken from its surface?
 jb:38.14   The earth is changed as is clay by the seal, and dyed as though it were a garment;
 jb:38.15   But from the wicked the light is withheld, and the arm of pride is shattered.
 jb:38.16   Have you entered into the sources of the sea, or walked about in the depths of the abyss?
 jb:38.17   Have the gates of death been shown to you, or have you seen the gates of darkness?
 jb:38.18   Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all:
 jb:38.19   Which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness,
 jb:38.20   That you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths?
 jb:38.21   You know, because you were born before them, and the number of your years is great!
 jb:38.22   Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, and seen the treasury of the hail
 jb:38.23   Which I have reserved for times of stress, for the days of war and of battle?
 jb:38.24   Which way to the parting of the winds, whence the east wind spreads over the earth?
 jb:38.25   Who has laid out a channel for the downpour and for the thunderstorm a path
 jb:38.26   To bring rain to no man's land, the unpeopled wilderness;
 jb:38.27   To enrich the waste and desolate ground till the desert blooms with verdure?
 jb:38.28   Has the rain a father; or who has begotten the drops of dew?
 jb:38.29   Out of whose womb comes the ice, and who gives the hoarfrost its birth in the skies,
 jb:38.30   When the waters lie covered as though with stone that holds captive the surface of the deep?
 jb:38.31   Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bonds of Orion?
 jb:38.32   Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or guide the Bear with its train?
 jb:38.33   Do you know the ordinances of the heavens; can you put into effect their plan on the earth?
 jb:38.34   Can you raise your voice among the clouds, or veil yourself in the waters of the storm?
 jb:38.35   Can you send forth the lightnings on their way, or will they say to you, "Here we are"?
 jb:38.36   Who puts wisdom in the heart, and gives the cock its understanding?
 jb:38.37   Who counts the clouds in his wisdom? Or who tilts the water jars of heaven
 jb:38.38   So that the dust of earth is fused into a mass and its clods made solid?
 jb:38.39   Do you hunt the prey for the lioness or appease the hunger of her cubs,
 jb:38.40   While they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in the thicket?
 jb:38.41   Who provides nourishment for the ravens when their young ones cry out to God, and they rove abroad without food?
  
 jb:39.1    Do you know about the birth of the mountain goats, watch for the birth pangs of the hinds,
 jb:39.2    Number the months that they must fulfill, and fix the time of their bringing forth?
 jb:39.3    They crouch down and bear their young; they deliver their progeny in the desert.
 jb:39.4    When their offspring thrive and grow, they leave and do not return.
 jb:39.5    Who has given the wild ass his freedom, and who has loosed him from bonds?
 jb:39.6    I have made the wilderness his home and the salt flats his dwelling.
 jb:39.7    He scoffs at the uproar of the city, and hears no shouts of a driver.
 jb:39.8    He ranges the mountains for pasture, and seeks out every patch of green.
 jb:39.9    Will the wild ox consent to serve you, and to pass the nights by your manger?
 jb:39.10   Will a rope bind him in the furrow, and will he harrow the valleys after you?
 jb:39.11   Will you trust him for his great strength and leave to him the fruits of your toil?
 jb:39.12   Can you rely on him to thresh out your grain and gather in the yield of your threshing floor?
 jb:39.13   The wings of the ostrich beat idly; her plumage is lacking in pinions.
 jb:39.14   When she leaves her eggs on the ground and deposits them in the sand,
 jb:39.15   Unmindful that a foot may crush them, that the wild beasts may trample them,
 jb:39.16   She cruelly disowns her young and ruthlessly makes nought of her brood;
 jb:39.17   For God has withheld wisdom from her and has given her no share in understanding.
 jb:39.18   Yet in her swiftness of foot she makes sport of the horse and his rider.
 jb:39.19   Do you give the horse his strength, and endow his neck with splendor?
 jb:39.20   Do you make the steed to quiver while his thunderous snorting spreads terror?
 jb:39.21   He jubilantly paws the plain and rushes in his might against the weapons.
 jb:39.22   He laughs at fear and cannot be deterred; he turns not back from the sword.
 jb:39.23   Around him rattles the quiver, flashes the spear and the javelin.
 jb:39.24   Frenzied and trembling he devours the ground; he holds not back at the sound of the trumpet,
 jb:39.25   but at each blast he cries, "Aha!" Even from afar he scents the battle, the roar of the chiefs and the shouting.
 jb:39.26   Is it by your discernment that the hawk soars, that he spreads his wings toward the south?
 jb:39.27   Does the eagle fly up at your command to build his nest aloft?
 jb:39.28   On the cliff he dwells and spends the night, on the spur of the cliff or the fortress.
 jb:39.29   From thence he watches for his prey; his eyes behold it afar off.
 jb:39.30   His young ones greedily drink blood; where the slain are, there is he.
  
 jb:40.1    The LORD then said to Job:
 jb:40.2    Will we have arguing with the Almighty by the critic? Let him who would correct God give answer!
 jb:40.3    Then Job answered the LORD and said:
 jb:40.4    Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you? I put my hand over my mouth.
 jb:40.5    Though I have spoken once, I will not do so again; though twice, I will do so no more.
 jb:40.6    Then the LORD addressed Job out of the storm and said:
 jb:40.7    Gird up your loins now, like a man. I will question you, and you tell me the answers!
 jb:40.8    Would you refuse to acknowledge my right? Would you condemn me that you may be justified?
 jb:40.9    Have you an arm like that of God, or can you thunder with a voice like his?
 jb:40.10   Adorn yourself with grandeur and majesty, and array yourself with glory and splendor.
 jb:40.11   Let loose the fury of your wrath;
 jb:40.12   tear down the wicked and shatter them. Bring down the haughty with a glance;
 jb:40.13   bury them in the dust together; in the hidden world imprison them.
 jb:40.14   Then will I too acknowledge that your own right hand can save you.
 jb:40.15   See, besides you I made Behemoth, that feeds on grass like an ox.
 jb:40.16   Behold the strength in his loins, and his vigor in the sinews of his belly.
 jb:40.17   He carries his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are like cables.
 jb:40.18   His bones are like tubes of bronze; his frame is like iron rods.
 jb:40.19   He came at the beginning of God's ways, and was made the taskmaster of his fellows;
 jb:40.20   For the produce of the mountains is brought to him, and of all wild animals he makes sport.
 jb:40.21   Under the lotus trees he lies, in coverts of the reedy swamp.
 jb:40.22   The lotus trees cover him with their shade; all about him are the poplars on the bank.
 jb:40.23   If the river grows violent, he is not disturbed; he is tranquil though the torrent surges about his mouth.
 jb:40.24   Who can capture him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a trap?
 jb:40.25   Can you lead about Leviathan with a hook, or curb his tongue with a bit?
 jb:40.26   Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce through his cheek with a gaff?
 jb:40.27   Will he then plead with you, time after time, or address you with tender words?
 jb:40.28   Will he make an agreement with you that you may have him as a slave forever?
 jb:40.29   Can you play with him, as with a bird? Can you put him in leash for your maidens?
 jb:40.30   Will the traders bargain for him? Will the merchants divide him up?
 jb:40.31   Can you fill his hide with barbs, or his head with fish spears?
 jb:40.32   Once you but lay a hand upon him, no need to recall any other conflict!
  
 jb:41.1    Whoever might vainly hope to do so need only see him to be overthrown.
 jb:41.2    Is he not relentless when aroused; who then dares stand before him?
 jb:41.3    Who has assailed him and come off safe-- Who under all the heavens?
 jb:41.4    I need hardly mention his limbs, his strength, and the fitness of his armor.
 jb:41.5    Who can strip off his outer garment, or penetrate his double corselet?
 jb:41.6    Who can force open the doors of his mouth, close to his terrible teeth?
 jb:41.7    Rows of scales are on his back, tightly sealed together;
 jb:41.8    They are fitted each so close to the next that no space intervenes;
 jb:41.9    So joined one to another that they hold fast and cannot be parted.
 jb:41.10   When he sneezes, light flashes forth; his eyes are like those of the dawn.
 jb:41.11   Out of his mouth go forth firebrands; sparks of fire leap forth.
 jb:41.12   From his nostrils issues steam, as from a seething pot or bowl.
 jb:41.13   His breath sets coals afire; a flame pours from his mouth.
 jb:41.14   Strength abides in his neck, and terror leaps before him.
 jb:41.15   His back is made of rows of shilds, fastened together and hard as stone.
 jb:41.16   His heart is hard as stone; his flesh, as the lower millstone.
 jb:41.17   When he rises up, the mighty are afraid; the waves of the sea fall back.
 jb:41.18   Should the sword reach him, it will not avail; nor will the spear, nor the dart, nor the javelin.
 jb:41.19   He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood.
 jb:41.20   The arrow will not put him to flight; slingstones used against him are but straws.
 jb:41.21   Clubs he esteems as splinters; he laughs at the crash of the spear.
 jb:41.22   His belly is sharp as pottery fragments; he spreads like a threshing sledge upon the mire.
 jb:41.23   He makes the depths boil like a pot; the sea he churns like perfume in a kettle.
 jb:41.24   Behind him he leaves a shining path; you would think the deep had the hoary head of age.
 jb:41.25   Upon the earth there is not his like, intrepid he was made.
 jb:41.26   All, however lofty, fear him; he is king over all proud beasts.
  
 jb:42.1    Then Job answered the LORD and said:
 jb:42.2    I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.
 jb:42.3    I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know.
 jb:42.5    I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you.
 jb:42.6    Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.
 jb:42.7    And it came to pass after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and with your two friends; for you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job.
 jb:42.8    Now, therefore, take seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up a holocaust for yourselves; and let my servant Job pray for you; for his prayer I will accept, not to punish you severely. For you have not spoken rightly concerning me, as has my servant Job."
 jb:42.9    Then Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, went and did as the LORD had commanded them. And the LORD accepted the intercession of Job.
 jb:42.1    Also, the LORD restored the prosperity of Job, after he had prayed for his friends; the LORD even gave to Job twice as much as he had before.
 jb:42.11   Then all his brethren and his sisters came to him, and all his former acquaintances, and they dined with him in his house. They condoled with him and comforted him for all the evil which the LORD had brought upon him; and each one gave him a piece of money and a gold ring.
 jb:42.12   Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.
 jb:42.13   And he had seven sons and three daughters,
 jb:42.14   of whom he called the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.
 jb:42.15   In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brethren.
 jb:42.16   After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren.
 jb:42.17   Then Job died, old and full of years. [end of Job]

