Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1 Then Eliphaz the Themanite responded by saying:

2 Can man be compared with God, even if he were perfect in knowledge?

3 What advantage is it to God, if you were just? Or what do you provide for him, if your way should be immaculate?

4 Will he reprove you and take you to judgment for being afraid,

5 and not because of your many evil deeds and your infinite unfairness?

6 For you have taken away the collateral of your brothers without cause, and stripped them naked of their clothing.

7 You have not given water to the weary; you have taken bread away from the hungry.

8 By the strength of your arm, you took possession of the land, and you retain it by being the strongest.

9 You have sent widows away empty, and you have crushed the shoulders of orphans.

10 Because of this, you are surrounded by traps, and unexpected fears will disturb you.

11 And did you think that you would not see darkness and that you were not to be overwhelmed by the on-rush of overflowing waters?

12 Have you not considered that God is higher than the heavens and is lifted above the height of the stars?

13 And you say: “Well, what does God know?” and, “He judges, as if through a fog,”

14 and, “The clouds are his hiding-place,” and, “He does not examine us closely,” and, “He makes his rounds at the limits of the heavens.”

15 Do you not want to tend the path of the ages, which wicked men have spurned?

16 These were taken away before their time, and a flood overthrew their foundation.

17 They said to God, “Withdraw from us,” and they treated the Almighty as if he could do nothing,

18 though he had filled their houses with good things. May their way of thinking be far from me.

19 The just will see and will rejoice, and the innocent will mock them.

20 Has not their haughtiness been cut down, and has not fire devoured the remnants of them?

21 So, repose yourself with him and be at peace, and, in this way, you will have the best fruits.

22 Accept the law from his mouth, and place his words in your heart.

23 If you will return to the Almighty, you will be rebuilt, and you will put sinfulness far from your tabernacle.

24 He will give you stone in place of dirt, and torrents of gold in place of stone.

25 And the Almighty will be against your enemies, and silver will be gathered together for you.

26 Then will you flock together in delight over the Almighty, and you will lift up your face to God.

27 You will plead with him, and he will listen to you, and you will pay your vows.

28 You will decide on something, and it will come to you, and the light will shine in your ways.

29 For he who had been humbled, will be in glory; and he who will lower his eyes, will be the one saved.

30 The innocent will be saved, and he will be saved with purity in his hands.

1 Then Job answered by saying:

2 Now again my conversation is in bitterness, and the force of my scourging weighs more heavily on me because of my mourning.

3 Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and that I may approach even to his throne?

4 I would place judgment before his eye, and my mouth would fill with criticism,

5 so that I may know the words that he will answer me and understand what he will say to me.

6 I do not want him to contend with me with much strength, nor to overwhelm me with the bulk of his greatness.

7 Let him show fairness in response to me, and let my judgment reach to victory.

8 If I go to the east, he does not appear; if I go to the west, I will not understand him.

9 If I turn to the left, what can I do? I will not take hold of him. If I turn myself to the right, I will not see him.

10 Truly, he knows my way and has tested me like gold that passes through fire.

11 My feet have been following his footsteps; I have kept to his way and have not strayed from it.

12 I have not withdrawn from the commands of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have hidden in my sinews.

13 For he is alone, and no one is able to disturb his intention; and whatever his spirit wills, that he accomplishes.

14 And when he fulfills his will in me, many other similar ones will also be present with him.

15 And, for this reason, I have been troubled at his presence, and, when I consider him, I am approached by fear.

16 God has weakened my heart, and the Almighty has confused me.

17 Yet I have not perished because of the threatening darkness, nor has gloom covered my face.

1 The times are not hidden from the Almighty; even those who know him, do not know his days.

2 Some have crossed the boundaries, plundered the flocks, and given them pasture.

3 They have driven away the donkey of orphans, and have taken the cow from the widow as collateral.

4 They have undermined the way of the poor, and have pressed together the meek of the earth.

5 Others, like wild asses in the desert, go forth to their work; by watching for prey, they obtain bread for their children.

6 They reap a field that is not their own, and they harvest a vineyard that they have taken by force.

7 They send men away naked, having taken the clothing of those who have no covering in the cold;

8 these are wet with the mountain rain, and, having no covering, they embrace the rocks.

9 They have used violence to deprive orphans, and they have robbed the poor common people.

10 From the naked and those who do not have enough clothing, and from the hungry, they have taken away sheaves of grain.

11 They take their midday rest among the stockpiles of those who, though they have trodden the winepresses, suffer thirst.

12 In the cities, they caused the men to groan and the spirit of the wounded to cry out, and so God does not allow this to go unpunished.

13 They have been rebellious against the light; they have not known his ways, nor have they returned by his paths.

14 The killer of men rises at first light; he executes the destitute and the poor, but, in truth, he is like a thief in the night.

15 The eye of the adulterer waits for darkness, saying, “No eye will see me,” and he covers his face.

16 He passes through houses in the nighttime, just as they had agreed among themselves in the daytime; and they are ignorant of the light.

17 If sunrise should suddenly appear, it is treated by them like the shadow of death; and they walk in darkness, as if in light.

18 He is nimble on the surface of water. His place on land is to be accursed. May he not walk by way of the vineyards.

19 May he cross from the snowy waters to excessive heat, and his sin, all the way to hell.

20 Let mercy forget him. His charm is worms. Let him not be remembered, but instead be broken like an unfruitful tree.

21 For he has fed on the barren, who does not bear fruit, and he has not done good to the widow.

22 He has pulled down the strong by his strength, and, when he stands up, he will not have trust in his life.

23 God has given him a place for repentance, and he abuses it with arrogance, but his eyes are upon his ways.

24 They are lifted up for a little while, but they will not continue, and they will be brought low, just like all things, and they will be taken away, and, like the tops of the ears of grain, they will be crushed.

25 But, if this is not so, who is able to prove to me that I have lied and to place my words before God?

1 Then Baldad the Suhite answered by saying:

2 Power and terror are with him that makes a pact with those in high places.

3 Is there any limit to the number of his soldiers or to the number of those over whom his light rises?

4 Is it right for man to compare himself to God, or to appear pure though he is born of woman?

5 Behold, even the moon is not radiant, and the stars are not pure, in his sight.

6 Is man much more than rottenness and the son of man much more than worms?

1 Then Job responded by saying:

2 Whose assistant are you? Is he weak-minded? And do you sustain the arm of him that is not strong?

3 To whom have you given advice? Perhaps it is to him that has no wisdom or prudence that you have revealed your many ideas.

4 Who is it that you wanted to teach? Was it not him that created the breath of life?

5 Behold, giant things groan under the waters, and they dwell with them.

6 The underworld is naked before him, and there is no covering for perdition.

7 He stretched out the North over emptiness, and he suspended the land over nothing.

8 He secures the waters in his clouds, so that they do not burst forth downward all at once.

9 He holds back the face of his throne, and he stretches his cloud over it.

10 He has set limits around the waters, until light and darkness shall reach their limit.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are frightened at his nod.

12 By his strength, the seas suddenly gather together, and his foresight has struck the arrogant.

13 His spirit has adorned the heavens, and his birthing hand has brought forth the winding serpent.

14 Behold, these things have been said about his ways in part, and, since we barely have heard a small drop of his word, who will be able to gaze upon the thunder of his greatness?

1 Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:

2 As God lives, who has taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who has led my soul to bitterness,

3 as long as my breath remains in me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not speak iniquity, nor will my tongue devise lies.

5 Far be it from me that I should judge you to be right, for, until I expire, I will not withdraw from my innocence.

6 I will not forsake my justification, which I have just begun to grasp, for my heart does not find blame for me in my whole life.

7 Let the impious be as my enemy, and the sinful, as my adversary.

8 For what hope is there for the hypocrite, if he greedily plunders and God does not free his soul?

9 Will God pay attention to his cry, when anguish overcomes him?

10 Or will he take delight in the Almighty and call upon God at all times?

11 I will teach you through the hand of God, what the Almighty holds, and I will not conceal it.

12 Behold, you know all this, and so why do you speak vain things without a reason?

13 This is the portion of the impious man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they will receive from the Almighty.

14 If his sons should happen to increase, they will be for the sword, and his grandsons will not be satisfied with bread.

15 Whatever will remain of him will be buried in the ruins, and his widows will not weep.

16 If he will amass silver as if it were dirt and fabricate garments as if they were clay,

17 then yes, he will gather, but the just will be clothed with it and the innocent will divide the silver.

18 He has built his house like a moth, and he has made a makeshift shelter like a sentry.

19 When he falls asleep, the rich man will leave him with nothing; he will open his eyes and find nothing.

20 Destitution will surround him like water; a storm will overwhelm him in the night.

21 A burning wind will pick him up and carry him away, and, like a whirlwind, it will rush him from his place.

22 And it will hurl over him and will not spare him; fleeing from its power, he will go into exile.

23 He will clasp his hands over himself, and he will hiss at himself, while considering his situation.

1 Silver has its fissures where it is first found, and gold has a place where it is melted.

2 Iron is taken from the earth, and ore, unbound by heat, is turned into brass.

3 He has established a time for darkness, and he has settled on an end for all things, as well as for the stone that is in the gloom and shadow of death.

4 The burning separates a pilgrim people from those who have been forgotten by the feet of the destitute man and from the unapproachable.

5 The land, where bread appeared in its place, has been destroyed by fire.

6 Its stones are embedded with sapphires, and its soil, with gold.

7 The bird does not know its path, nor has the eye of the vulture beheld it.

8 The sons of merchants have not walked there, nor has the lioness traveled through it.

9 He has stretched out his hand to the rocks; he has overturned the foundations of the mountains.

10 He has cut rivers through the rocks, and his eye has seen all precious things.

11 The depths of rivers he has also examined, and he has brought hidden things into the light.

12 But, in truth, where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding?

13 Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who live in sweetness.

14 The abyss declares, “It is not in me.” And the sea says, “It is not with me.”

15 The finest gold will not be paid for it, nor will silver be weighed in exchange for it.

16 It will not be compared with the dyed colors of India, nor with the very costly stone sardonyx, nor with the sapphire.

17 Neither gold nor crystal will be its equal; neither will vessels of gold be fitted for it.

18 The exalted and the eminent will not be remembered in comparison with it. Yet wisdom is drawn out of concealment.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia will not be equal to it, nor will it be compared to the purest dyes.

20 So then, where does wisdom begin, and where is the place of understanding?

21 It has been hidden from the eyes of all living things, just as the birds of the heavens escape notice.

22 Perdition and death have said, “With our ears, we have heard its fame.”

23 God understands its way, and he knows its location.

24 For he beholds the limits of the world, and he looks upon all things that are under heaven.

25 He created a counterweight for the winds, and he suspended the waters to measure them.

26 At that time, he gave a law to the rain and a path to the resounding storms.

27 Then he saw and explained it, and he made ready and examined it.

28 And he said to man, “Behold the fear of the Lord. Such is wisdom. And to withdraw from evil, this is understanding.”

1 Job also added to this, using figures of speech, and he said:

2 Who will grant to me that I might be as I was in former months, according to the days when God kept watch over me?

3 At that time, his lamp shined over my head, and by his light, I walked through the darkness.

4 I was then just as in the days of my youth, when God was privately in my tabernacle.

5 At that time, the Almighty was with me and my children surrounded me.

6 Then, I washed my feet with butter, and a boulder poured out rivers of oil for me.

7 When I went to the gate of the city, or to the main street, they prepared a chair for me.

8 The youths saw me and hid themselves, and the elders, rising up, remained standing.

9 The leaders stopped talking, and they placed a finder over their mouth.

10 The commanders subdued their voice, and their tongue adhered to their throat.

11 The ear that heard me, blessed me, and the eye that saw me, gave testimony for me.

12 This was because I had freed the poor, who cried out, and the orphan, who had no helper.

13 The blessing of him who would have been destroyed came upon me, and I consoled the heart of the widow.

14 I put on justice, and I clothed myself with my judgment, like a robe and a diadem.

15 I was an eye for the blind and a foot for the lame.

16 I was the father of the poor; and if I lacked knowledge about any case, I investigated very diligently.

17 I crushed the jaws of the impious, and I took away prey from his teeth.

18 And I said, “I will die in my little nest, and like a palm tree, I will multiply my days.

19 My root has been spread beside the waters, and the dew will remain with my harvest.

20 My glory will always be restored, and my bow will be restored to my hand.”

21 Those who heard me, expected vindication, and they listened closely in silence to my counsel.

22 To my words, they dared to add nothing, and my eloquence poured over them.

23 They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for belated rains.

24 If I had ever laughed at them, they would not have believed it, and the light of my face was not cast down towards the ground.

25 If I wished to go to them, I sat down first, and, though I sat like a king surrounded by an army, yet I was a comforter to whose who mourned.

1 But now, those younger in years scorn me, whose fathers I would not have seen fit to place with the dogs of my flock,

2 the strength of whose hands was nothing to me, and they were considered unworthy of life itself.

3 They were barren from poverty and hunger; they gnawed in solitude, layered with misfortune and misery.

4 And they chewed grass and the bark from trees, and the root of junipers was their food.

5 They took these things from the steep valleys, and when they discovered one of these things, they rushed to the others with a cry.

6 They lived in the parched desert and in caves underground or above the rocks.

7 They rejoiced among these kinds of things, and they considered it delightful to be under thorns.

8 These are the sons of foolish and base men, not even paying any attention to the land.

9 Now I become their song, and I have been made into their proverb.

10 They loathe me, and so they flee far from me, and they are not reluctant to spit in my face.

11 For he has opened his quiver and has afflicted me, and he has placed a bridle in my mouth.

12 Immediately, upon rising, my calamities rise up to the right. They have overturned my feet and have pressed me down along their way like waves.

13 They have diverted my journeys; they have waited to ambush me, and they have prevailed, and there was no one who might bring help.

14 They have rushed upon me, as when a wall is broken or a gate opened, and they have been pulled down into my miseries.

15 I have been reduced to nothing. You have taken away my desire like a wind, and my health has passed by like a cloud.

16 But now my soul withers within myself, and the days of affliction take hold of me.

17 At night, my bone is pierced with sorrows, and those who feed on me, do not sleep.

18 By the sheer number of them my clothing is worn away, and they have closed in on me like the collar of my coat.

19 I have been treated like dirt, and I have been turned into embers and ashes.

20 I cry to you, and you do not heed me. I stand up, and you do not look back at me.

21 You have changed me into hardness, and, with the hardness of your hand, you oppose me.

22 You have lifted me up, and, placing me as if on the wind, you have thrown me down powerfully.

23 I know that you will hand me over to death, where a home has been established for all the living.

24 Truly, then, you do not extend your hand in order to consume them, and if they fall down, you will save them.

25 Once, I wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor.

26 I expected good things, but evil things have come to me. I stood ready for light, yet darkness burst forth.

27 My insides have seethed, without any rest, for the days of affliction have prevented it.

28 I went forth mourning, without anger, and rising up, I cried out in confusion.

29 I was the brother of snakes, and the companion of ostriches.

30 My skin has become blackened over me, and my bones have dried up because of the heat.

31 My harp has been turned into mourning, and my pipes have been turned into a voice of weeping.

1 I reached an agreement with my eyes, that I would not so much as think about a virgin.

2 For what portion should God from above hold for me, and what inheritance should the Almighty from on high keep?

3 Is not destruction held for the wicked and repudiation kept for those who work injustice?

4 Does he not examine my ways and number all my steps?

5 If I have walked in vanity, or if my foot has hurried towards deceitfulness,

6 let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity.

7 If my steps have turned aside from the way, or if my heart has followed my eyes, or if a blemish has clung to my hands,

8 then may I sow, and let another consume, and let my offspring be eradicated.

9 If my heart has been deceived over a woman, or if I have waited in ambush at my friend’s door,

10 then let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lean over her.

11 For this is a crime and a very great injustice.

12 It is a fire devouring all the way to perdition, and it roots out all that springs forth.

13 If I have despised being subject to judgment with my servant or my maid, when they had any complaint against me,

14 then what will I do when God rises to judge, and, when he inquires, how will I respond to him?

15 Is not he who created me in the womb, also he who labored to make him? And did not one and the same form me in the womb?

16 If I have denied the poor what they wanted and have made the eyes of the widow wait;

17 if I have eaten my morsel of food alone, while orphans have not eaten from it;

18 (for from my infancy mercy grew with me, and it came out with me from my mother’s womb;)

19 if I have looked down on him who was perishing because he had no clothing and the poor without any covering,

20 if his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21 if I have lifted up my hand over an orphan, even when it might seem to me that I the advantage over him at the gate;

22 then may my shoulder fall from its joint, and may my arm, with all its bones, be broken.

23 For I have always feared God, like waves flowing over me, whose weight I was unable to bear.

24 If I have considered gold to be my strength, or if I have called purified gold ‘my Trust;’

25 if I have rejoiced over my great success, and over the many things my hand has obtained;

26 if I gazed upon the sun when it shined and the moon advancing brightly,

27 so that my heart rejoiced in secret and I kissed my hand with my mouth,

28 which is a very great iniquity and a denial against the most high God;

29 if I have been glad at the ruin of him who hated me and have exulted that evil found him,

30 for I have not been given my throat to sin by asking for a curse on his soul;

31 if the men around my tabernacle have not said: “He might give us some of his food, so that we will be filled,”

32 for the foreigner did not remain at the door, my door was open to the traveler;

33 if, as man does, I have hidden my sin and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom;

34 if I became frightened by an excessive crowd, and the disrespect of close relatives alarmed me, so that I would much rather have remained silent or have gone out the door;

35 then, would he grant me a hearing, so that the Almighty would listen to my desire, and he who judges would himself write a book,

36 which I would then carry on my shoulder and wrap around me like a crown?

37 With each of my steps, I would pronounce and offer it, as if to a prince.

38 So, if my land cries out against me, and if its furrows weep with it,

39 if I have used its fruits for nothing but money and have afflicted the souls of its tillers,

40 then, may thistles spring forth for me instead of grain, and thorns instead of barley. (This ended the words of Job.)