``My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.
``Surely mockers are with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.
``Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?
``For You have kept their heart from understanding, Therefore You will not exalt them.
``He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil, The eyes of his children also will languish.
``But He has made me a byword of the people, And I am one at whom men spit.
``My eye has also grown dim because of grief, And all my members are as a shadow.
``The upright will be appalled at this, And the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
``Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
``But come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you.
``My days are past, my plans are torn apart, Even the wishes of my heart.
``They make night into day, saying, `The light is near,' in the presence of darkness.
``If I look for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness;
If I call to the pit, `You are my father'; To the worm, `my mother and my sister';
Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope?
``Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?"
Then Bildad the Shuhite responded,
``How long will you hunt for words? Show understanding and then we can talk.
``Why are we regarded as beasts, As stupid in your eyes?
``O you who tear yourself in your anger-- For your sake is the earth to be abandoned, Or the rock to be moved from its place?
``Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out, And the flame of his fire gives no light.
``The light in his tent is darkened, And his lamp goes out above him.
``His vigorous stride is shortened, And his own scheme brings him down.
``For he is thrown into the net by his own feet, And he steps on the webbing.
``A snare seizes him by the heel, And a trap snaps shut on him.
``A noose for him is hidden in the ground, And a trap for him on the path.
``All around terrors frighten him, And harry him at every step.
``His strength is famished, And calamity is ready at his side.
``His skin is devoured by disease, The firstborn of death devours his limbs.
``He is torn from the security of his tent, And they march him before the king of terrors.
``There dwells in his tent nothing of his; Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.
``His roots are dried below, And his branch is cut off above.
``Memory of him perishes from the earth, And he has no name abroad.
``He is driven from light into darkness, And chased from the inhabited world.
``He has no offspring or posterity among his people, Nor any survivor where he sojourned.
``Those in the west are appalled at his fate, And those in the east are seized with horror.
``Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, And this is the place of him who does not know God."
Then Job responded,
``How long will you torment me And crush me with words?
``These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.
``Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.
``If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,
Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me.
``Behold, I cry, `Violence!' but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.
``He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.
``He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head.
``He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
``He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy.
``His troops come together, And build up their way against me And camp around my tent.
``He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
``My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
``Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.
``I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth.
``My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
``Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me.
``All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.
``My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
``Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.
``Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
``Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
``That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!
``As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
``Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!
``If you say, `How shall we persecute him?' And `What pretext for a case against him can we find?'
`` Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment."
Then Zophar the Naamathite answered,
``Therefore my disquieting thoughts make me respond, Even because of my inward agitation.
``I listened to the reproof which insults me, And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.
``Do you know this from of old, From the establishment of man on earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless momentary?
``Though his loftiness reaches the heavens, And his head touches the clouds,
He perishes forever like his refuse; Those who have seen him will say, `Where is he?'
``He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him; Even like a vision of the night he is chased away.
``The eye which saw him sees him no longer, And his place no longer beholds him.
``His sons favor the poor, And his hands give back his wealth.
``His bones are full of his youthful vigor, But it lies down with him in the dust.
``Though evil is sweet in his mouth And he hides it under his tongue,
Though he desires it and will not let it go, But holds it in his mouth,
Yet his food in his stomach is changed To the venom of cobras within him.
``He swallows riches, But will vomit them up; God will expel them from his belly.
``He sucks the poison of cobras; The viper's tongue slays him.
``He does not look at the streams, The rivers flowing with honey and curds.
``He returns what he has attained And cannot swallow it; As to the riches of his trading, He cannot even enjoy them.
``For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; He has seized a house which he has not built.
``Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.
``Nothing remains for him to devour, Therefore his prosperity does not endure.
``In the fullness of his plenty he will be cramped; The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
``When he fills his belly, God will send His fierce anger on him And will rain it on him while he is eating.
``He may flee from the iron weapon, But the bronze bow will pierce him.
``It is drawn forth and comes out of his back, Even the glittering point from his gall. Terrors come upon him,
Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures, And unfanned fire will devour him; It will consume the survivor in his tent.
``The heavens will reveal his iniquity, And the earth will rise up against him.
``The increase of his house will depart; His possessions will flow away in the day of His anger.
``This is the wicked man's portion from God, Even the heritage decreed to him by God."
Then Job answered,
``Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your way of consolation.
``Bear with me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may mock.
``As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
``Look at me, and be astonished, And put your hand over your mouth.
``Even when I remember, I am disturbed, And horror takes hold of my flesh.
``Why do the wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful?
``Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes,
Their houses are safe from fear, And the rod of God is not on them.
``His ox mates without fail; His cow calves and does not abort.
``They send forth their little ones like the flock, And their children skip about.
``They sing to the timbrel and harp And rejoice at the sound of the flute.
``They spend their days in prosperity, And suddenly they go down to Sheol.
``They say to God, `Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.
`Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we entreat Him?'
``Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
``How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, Or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in His anger?
``Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the storm carries away?
`` You say, `God stores away a man's iniquity for his sons.' Let God repay him so that he may know it.
``Let his own eyes see his decay, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
``For what does he care for his household after him, When the number of his months is cut off?
``Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high?
``One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied;
His sides are filled out with fat, And the marrow of his bones is moist,
While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good.
``Together they lie down in the dust, And worms cover them.
``Behold, I know your thoughts, And the plans by which you would wrong me.
``For you say, `Where is the house of the nobleman, And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?'
``Have you not asked wayfaring men, And do you not recognize their witness?
``For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; They will be led forth at the day of fury.
``Who will confront him with his actions, And who will repay him for what he has done?
``While he is carried to the grave, Men will keep watch over his tomb.
``The clods of the valley will gently cover him; Moreover, all men will follow after him, While countless ones go before him.
``How then will you vainly comfort me, For your answers remain full of falsehood?"
