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A noose is hidden in the ground, and a trap lies in his path.

He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.

His troops advance together; they construct a ramp against me and encamp around my tent.

My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.

My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.

I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,

I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!

…then you should fear the sword yourselves, because wrath brings punishment by the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.”

I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.

I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.

He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

He will suck the poison of cobras; the fangs of a viper will kill him.

Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.

Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?

They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,

Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?

“Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?

…while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

…while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

…it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast; the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.

The womb forgets them; the worm feeds on them; they are remembered no more. So injustice is broken like a tree.

He gives them a sense of security, but His eyes are on their ways.

They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.

If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

…how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

…how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.

The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.

The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.

Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night.

Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night.

“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

…when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,

…when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,

I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.

And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.

Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.

I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.

For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon; it would root out my entire harvest.

If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,

…though from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—

…if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,

…if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,

…so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.

I would give account of all my steps; I would approach Him like a prince.)—

But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.

Behold, my belly is like unvented wine; it is about to burst like a new wineskin.

Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?

In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,

In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,

…to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,

A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,

Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,

Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,

Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,

…then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s; he returns to the days of his youth.

Behold, all these things God does to a man, two or even three times,

For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should delight in God.’

For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.

For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.

For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.

For God need not examine a man further or have him approach for judgment.

If only Job were tried to the utmost for answering like a wicked man.

Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man.

Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man.

“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf.

Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.

Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and broad place, to a table full of richness.

Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large bribe lead you astray.

Behold, God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him?

Then there comes a roaring sound; He thunders with His majestic voice. He does not restrain the lightning when His voice resounds.

For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’

…can you, like Him, spread out the skies, as strong as a mirror of bronze?

Should He be told that I want to speak? Would a man ask to be swallowed up?

Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform Me.

Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?