7Braying among the bushes,
Huddling among the nettles,
8Scoundrels, nobodies,
Stricken from the earth.
9Now I am the butt of their gibes;
I have become a byword to them.
10They abhor me; they keep their distance from me;
They do not withhold spittle from my face.
11Because Godb has disarmedc and humbled me,
They have thrown off restraint in my presence.
12Mere striplings assail me at my right hand:
They put me to flight;
They build their roads for my ruin.
13They tear up my path;
They promote my fall,
Although it does them no good.
14They come as through a wide breach;
They roll in a-like raging billows.-a
15Terror tumbles upon me;
It sweeps away my honor like the wind;
My dignityd vanishes like a cloud.
16So now my life runs out;
Days of misery have taken hold of me.
17By night my bones feel gnawed;
My sinews never rest.
18a-With great effort I change clothing;
The neck of my tunic fits my waist.-a
19He regarded me as clay,
I have become like dust and ashes.
20I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I wait, but You do [not] consider me.
21You have become cruel to me;
With Your powerful hand You harass me.
22You lift me up and mount me on the wind;
You make my courage melt.
23I know You will bring me to death,
The house assigned for all the living.
24a-Surely He would not strike at a ruin
If, in calamity, one cried out to Him.-a
25Did I not weep for the unfortunate?
Did I not grieve for the needy?
26I looked forward to good fortune, but evil came;
I hoped for light, but darkness came.
27My bowels are in turmoil without respite;
Days of misery confront me.
28I walk about in sunless gloom;
I rise in the assembly and cry out.
29I have become a brother to jackals,
A companion to ostriches.
30My skin, blackened, is peeling off me;
My bones are charred by the heat.
31So my lyre is given over to mourning,
My pipe, to accompany weepers.
31
I have covenanted with my eyes
Not to gaze on a maiden.
2What fate is decreed by God above?
What lot, by Shaddai in the heights?
3Calamity is surely for the iniquitous;
Misfortune, for the worker of mischief.
4Surely He observes my ways,
Takes account of my every step.
5Have I walked with worthless men,
Or my feet hurried to deceit?
6Let Him weigh me on the scale of righteousness;
Let God ascertain my integrity.
7If my feet have strayed from their course,
My heart followed after my eyes,
And a stain sullied my hands,
8May I sow, but another reap,
May the growth of my field be uprooted!
9If my heart was ravished by the wife of my neighbor,
And I lay in wait at his door,
10May my wife grind for another,
May others kneel over her!
11For that would have been debauchery,
A criminal offense,
12A fire burning down to Abaddon,
Consuming the roots of all my increase.
13Did I ever brush aside the case of my servants, man or maid,
When they made a complaint against me?
14What then should I do when God arises;
When He calls me to account, what should I answer Him?
15Did not He who made me in my mother’s belly make him?
Did not One form us both in the womb?
16Did I deny the poor their needs,
Or let aa widow pine away,
17By eating my food alone,
The fatherless not eating of it also?
18Why, from my youth he grew up with me as though I were his father;
Since I left my mother’s womb I was herb guide.
19I never saw an unclad wretch,
A needy man without clothing,
20Whose loins did not bless me
As he warmed himself with the shearings of my sheep.
21If I raised my hand against the fatherless,
Looking to my supporters in the gate,
22May my arm drop off my shoulder;
My forearm break off c-at the elbow.-c
23For I am in dread of God-sent calamity;
I cannot bear His threat.
24Did I put my reliance on gold,
Or regard fine gold as my bulwark?
25Did I rejoice in my great wealth,
In having attained plenty?
26If ever I saw the light shining,
The moon on its course in full glory,
27And I secretly succumbed,
And my hand touched my mouth in a kiss,
28That, too, would have been a criminal offense,
For I would have denied God above.
29Did I rejoice over my enemy’s misfortune?
Did I thrill because evil befell him?
30I never let my mouthd sin
By wishing his death in a curse.
31(Indeed, the men of my clan said,
“We would consume his flesh insatiably!”)
32No sojourner spent the night in the open;
I opened my doors to the road.
33Did I hide my transgressions like Adam,
Bury my wrongdoing in my bosom,
34That I should [now] fear the great multitude,
And am shattered by the contempt of families,
So that I keep silent and do not step outdoors?
35O that I had someone to give me a hearing;
O that Shaddai would reply to my writ,
Or my accuser draw up a true bill!
36I would carry it on my shoulder;
Tie it around me for a wreath.
37I would give him an account of my steps,
Offer it as to a commander.
38If my land cries out against me,
Its furrows weep together;
39If I have eaten its produce without payment,
And made its [rightful] owners despair,
40May nettles grow there instead of wheat;
Instead of barley, stinkweed!
The words of Job are at an end.
32 These three men ceased replying to Job, for he considered himself right. 2Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry—angry at Job because he thought himself right against God. 3He was angry as well at his three friends, because they found no reply, but merely condemned Job. 4Elihu waited out Job’s speech, for they were all older than he. 5But when Elihu saw that the three men had nothing to reply, he was angry.
6Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite said in reply:
I have but few years, while you are old;
Therefore I was too awestruck and fearful
To hold forth among you.
7I thought, “Let age speak;
Let advanced years declare wise things.”
8But truly it is the spirit in men,
The breath of Shaddai, that gives them understanding.
9It is not the aged who are wise,
The elders, who understand how to judge.
10Therefore I say, “Listen to me;
I too would hold forth.”
11Here I have waited out your speeches,
I have given ear to your insights,
While you probed the issues;
12But as I attended to you,
I saw that none of you could argue with Job,
Or offer replies to his statements.
13I fear you will say, “We have found the wise course;
God will defeat him, not man.”
14He did not set out his case against me,
Nor shall I use your reasons to reply to him.
15They have been broken and can no longer reply;
Words fail them.
16I have waited till they stopped speaking,
Till they ended and no longer replied.
17Now I also would have my say;
I too would like to hold forth,
18For I am full of words;
The wind in my belly presses me.
19My belly is like wine not yet opened,
Like jugs of new wine ready to burst.
20Let me speak, then, and get relief;
Let me open my lips and reply.
21I would not show regard for any man,
Or temper my speech for anyone’s sake;
22For I do not know how to temper my speech—
My Maker would soon carry me off!
33
But now, Job, listen to my words,
Give ear to all that I say.
2Now I open my lips;
My tongue forms words in my mouth.
3My words bespeak the uprightness of my heart;
My lips utter insight honestly.
4The spirit of God formed me;
The breath of Shaddai sustains me.
5If you can, answer me;
Argue against me, take your stand.
6You and I are the same before God;
I too was nipped from clay.
7You are not overwhelmed by fear of me;
My pressure does not weigh heavily on you.
8Indeed, you have stated in my hearing,
I heard the words spoken,
9“I am guiltless, free from transgression;
I am innocent, without iniquity.
10But He finds reasons to oppose me,
Considers me His enemy.
11He puts my feet in stocks,
Watches all my ways.”
12In this you are not right;
I will answer you: God is greater than any man.
13Why do you complain against Him
That He does not reply to any of man’s charges?
14For God speaks a-time and again-a
—Though man does not perceive it—
15In a dream, a night vision,
When deep sleep falls on men,
While they slumber on their beds.
16Then He opens men’s understanding,
And by disciplining them leaves His signature
17To turn man away from an action,
To suppress pride in man.
18He spares him from the Pit,
His person, from perishing by the sword.
19He is reproved by pains on his bed,
And the trembling in his bones is constant.
20He detests food;
Fine food [is repulsive] to him.
21His flesh wastes away till it cannot be seen,
And his bones are rubbed away till they are invisible.
22He comes close to the Pit,
His life [verges] on death.
23If he has a representative,
One advocate against a thousand
To declare the man’s uprightness,
24Then He has mercy on him and decrees,
“Redeem him from descending to the Pit,
For I have obtained his ransom;
25Let his flesh be healthierb than in his youth;
Let him return to his younger days.”
26He prays to God and is accepted by Him;
He enters His presence with shouts of joy,
For He requites a man for his righteousness.
27Hec declaresb to men,
“I have sinned; I have perverted what was right;
But I was not paid back for it.”
28He redeemed d-him from passing into the Pit;
He-d will enjoy the light.
29Truly, God does all these things
Two or three times to a man,
30To bring him back from the Pit,
That he may bask in the light of life.
31Pay heed, Job, and hear me;
Be still, and I will speak;
32If you have what to say, answer me;
Speak, for I am eager to vindicate you.
33But if not, you listen to me;
Be still, and I will teach you wisdom.
34
Elihu said in reply:
2Listen, O wise men, to my words;
You who have knowledge, give ear to me.
3For the ear tests arguments
As the palate tastes food.
4Let us decide for ourselves what is just;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
5For Job has said, “I am right;
God has deprived me of justice.
6I declare the judgment against me false;
My arrow-wound is deadly, though I am free from
transgression.”
7What
