Does not man have a term of hard service on earth?
And are his days not like the days of a hired hand?

Like a servant who longs for the shade,
And like a hired hand who waits for his pay,

So I am made to inherit months of vanity,
And nights of trouble are appointed to me.

If I lie down, I say,
When will I arise? But the evening is long,
And I am full of tossings until the dawn.

My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt clods;
My skin crusts and then oozes again.

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle
And are spent  ¹without hope.

Remember that my life is a breath;
My eye will not see good again.

The eye of him who sees me will not look on me;
Your eyes will be on me, but I will not be.

The cloud is consumed and goes away:
Likewise he who goes down into Sheol does not come up.

He returns no more to his house,
Nor does his place know him anymore.

For my part, I also will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the distress of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Am I the sea, or a sea serpent,
That You must set a watch over me?

When I say, My bed will comfort me,
My couch will bear up my complaint;

Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions,

So that my soul would choose strangulation
And death rather than my bones.

I  ¹loathe life; I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a mere breath.

What is mortal man that You magnify him,
And that You consider him,

And that You visit him every morning,
You try him every moment?

How long before You look away from me,
Before You abandon me until I swallow my spittle?

If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O Watcher of man?
Why have You made me Your target so that I have become a burden to You?

And why do You not forgive my transgression
And take away my iniquity?
For now I may lie down in the dust;
And You will seek me out, and I will not be.

Then Bildad the Shuhite  ¹answered and said,

How long will you speak these things?
And how long will the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind?

Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?

If your children have sinned against Him,
He has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

If you seek earnestly after God
And make supplication unto the Almighty,

If you are pure and upright,
Then surely He will rouse Himself for you
And restore well-being to your righteous habitation.

And though your beginning was small,
Your end will be very great.

For inquire now of the former generation,
And attend to what their fathers have sought out.

For we are of yesterday and know nothing,
Because our days upon the earth are a shadow.

Will they not teach you and talk to you
And utter forth words from their heart?

Can papyrus shoot up without marsh?
Can reeds grow without water?

While it is still in its greenness and not cut down,
It withers before all other grasses.

So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the profane perishes,

Whose confidence is cut off,
And whose trust is a spider's web.

He leans upon his house, but it will not stand;
He holds fast to it, but it will not endure.

He is full of sap before the sun,
And his shoots go forth over his garden.

His roots are entwined around a stone heap;
He looks upon a place of stones.

If  ¹one destroys him from his place,
Then it denies him, saying, I have not seen you.

Indeed, that is the joy of his way;
And others spring forth out of the dust.

Indeed, God will not reject a perfect man,
Nor will He support evildoers.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
And your lips with shouting.

Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
And the tent of the wicked will be no more.

Then Job answered and said,

I do indeed know that it is so.
But how can a man be righteous before God?

If he is pleased to contend with Him,
He cannot answer Him one thing in a thousand.

He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —
Who has ever resisted Him and come through whole? —

He who  ¹removes mountains, and they do not know it,
When He overturns them in His anger;

Who shakes the earth from its place,
And its pillars shake;

Who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
And seals up the stars;

Who alone stretched forth the heavens
And trod upon the heights of the sea;

Who made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;

Who does great things that cannot be searched,
Indeed, wonderful deeds that cannot be numbered.

Indeed, He passes by me, but I do not see Him;
And He goes by, but I do not perceive Him.

Indeed, He snatches away; who can stop Him?
Who can say to Him, What are You doing?

God does not turn back His anger;
Under Him  ¹Rahab's helpers stoop.

How then can I answer Him
And choose my words properly with Him?

I, though righteous, could not answer Him;
I could only plead for mercy before my  ¹Judge.

If I called out and He answered me,
I do not believe that He would hearken to my voice.

For He crushes me with a whirlwind
And multiplies my wounds without cause.

He does not permit me to catch my breath,
But fills me with bitterness.

If we speak of strength, indeed, He is mighty!
Or if of judgment, Who, says He, can appoint Me a time?

Though I am righteous, my mouth would condemn me;
Though I am perfect,  ¹it would prove me perverse.

I am perfect; I do not regard my soul;
I despise my life.

It is all one; therefore I say,
He destroys the perfect and the wicked.

If some scourge suddenly kills,
He derides the  ¹despair of the innocent.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges.
If not He, then who is it?

And my days are swifter than a running messenger;
They flee away, they do not see good;

They go by like reed boats,
Like an eagle swooping on the prey.

If I say, I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad countenance and look cheerful;

I fear all my pains:
I know that You will not hold me innocent.

I will be accounted wicked;
Why then do I labor in vain?

If I wash myself with  ¹soap
And cleanse my hands with lye,

Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own garments will abhor me.

For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him,
That we should enter into litigation together.

There is no referee between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both.

Let Him take His rod away from me,
And let not the dread of Him terrify me;

Then I would speak and not be afraid;
For I am not such.