“O earth, do not cover my blood, nor let there be a secret place for my cry.

“If I go to the east, he is not there, and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

if the members of my household have never said, ‘If only there were someone who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’ –

where then is my hope? And my hope, who sees it?

a place whose stones are sapphires and which contains dust of gold;

so that his life loathes food, and his soul rejects appetizing fare.

He shatters the great without inquiry, and sets up others in their place.

“Does the wild donkey bray when it is near grass? Or does the ox low near its fodder?

“How much less, then, can I answer him and choose my words to argue with him!

Would it turn out well if he would examine you? Or as one deceives a man would you deceive him?

If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, the eyes of his children will fail.

If you say, ‘How we will pursue him, since the root of the trouble is found in him!’

Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.

Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and will lift up your face toward God.

I would know with what words he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me.

He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.

Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.

“Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! The number of his years is unsearchable.

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

“Indeed, I am completely unworthy – how could I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth to silence myself.