My soul loathes my own life;
I will let my complaint have free course in me;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

I will say to God, Do not account me wicked;
Make known to me why You contend with me.

Does it seem good to You to oppress,
To despise the toil of Your hands
And shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees?

Are Your days like the days of a man,
Or Your years like the days of a mighty man,

That You would seek out my iniquity
And search for my sin,

Even though You know that I am not wicked
And that there is none who can deliver out of Your hand?

Your hands have shaped me and made me altogether,
Yet You destroy me.

Remember now that You have made me like clay;
And will You return me to the dust?

Have You not poured me out like milk
And curdled me like cheese?

You have clothed me with skin and flesh
And woven me together with bones and sinews.

You have granted me life and lovingkindness,
And Your visitation has preserved my spirit.

But You have  ¹hidden these things in Your heart;
I know that this is with You:

If I sin, You mark me,
And You do not acquit me of my iniquity;

If I am wicked, woe unto me;
If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head,
Being filled with dishonor and looking on my affliction.

And if  ¹my head should be lifted up, You would hunt me down like a lion,
And You would again demonstrate wonders on me.

You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger against me;
Attacking waves and a host are against me.

And why have You brought me out of the womb?
I should have died that no eye had seen me;

I should have been as though I had not been;
I should have been carried from birth to the grave.

Are not my days few? Cease then,
And let me alone, that I may be somewhat  ¹revived,

Before I go, and never return,
To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,

The land of gloom like deep darkness,
The shadow of death without order,
Which shines like deep darkness.

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

Should a multitude of words not be answered?
And should a man of much talk be justified?

Shall your empty talk silence men?
And will you mock, and there be none to shame you?

For you say, My doctrine is pure,
And I am clean in Your eyes.

But, oh, that God would speak
And open His lips to you,

And that He would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
For there are two sides to sound reason.
Know then that God has forgotten some of your iniquity.

Can you find out the  ¹depths of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

It is the height of heaven — what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol — what can you know?

Its measure is longer than that of the earth
And broader than the sea.

If He passes by and imprisons
And summons an assembly, who can stop Him?

For He knows men of falsehood,
And He sees iniquity without considering it.

But an  ¹empty-headed man acquires intelligence
When the  ¹foal of a wild ass is born as a man.

If you would set your heart right
And stretch your hands out to Him —

If there is iniquity in your hand, put it far away,
And do not let wrong dwell in your tents —

Then indeed you would lift up your face without blemish,
And you would be steadfast and would not be afraid.

For you will forget your misery;
You will remember it as waters that have passed away.

And your time here will rise more brightly than the noonday;
Dark though it may be, it will be like the morning.

And you will be secure, for there is hope;
And you will search about and lie down in security.

Indeed you will lie down, and there will be none to terrify you;
And many will entreat your favor.

But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And fleeing will be lost to them,
And their hope will be to breathe out their life.

Then Job answered and said,

Surely then you are the people,
And wisdom will die with you.

I also have understanding as you do;
I am not inferior to you.
And who does not know things like these?

I have become a laughingstock to  ¹my friends,
I, who have called out to God and He answers  ²me.
The righteous man, the perfect man, is a laughingstock.

There is contempt for calamity in the thought of him who is at ease:
It is prepared for those whose foot slips.

The tents of robbers prosper,
And those who provoke God have security,
Those who carry their god in their own  ¹might.

But ask now of the beasts, and they will teach you;
And of the birds of heaven, and they will tell you.

Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
And the fish of the sea will declare to you.

Who among all these does not know
That the hand of Jehovah has done this,

In whose hand is the  ¹life of every living thing
And the breath of all flesh of man?

Does not the ear try words
Even as the palate tastes food for itself?

In aged men, you say, there is wisdom,
And in length of days there is understanding.

But with Him are wisdom and might;
Counsel and understanding are His.

Indeed, He breaks down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He shuts a man up, and the door cannot be opened.

Indeed, He withholds the waters, and they dry up;
And He sends them forth, and they overturn the earth.

With Him are strength and effectual wisdom;
The deceived and the deceiver are His.

He leads counselors away stripped,
And He makes fools of judges.

He loosens the fetters of kings
And binds their loins with a belt.

He leads priests away stripped,
And He overturns dignitaries.

He removes the utterance of the trusty
And takes away the counsel of the elders.

He pours contempt upon the princes
And loosens the belt of the strong.

He uncovers the depths out of darkness
And brings to light the shadow of death.

He makes nations great and destroys them;
He expands nations and leads them off.

He removes the understanding of the heads of the people of the earth
And causes them to wander in a pathless waste.

They grope in darkness, and there is no light;
And He causes them to stagger like a drunken man.