“But now, O Job, listen to my words, and hear everything I have to say!

Pay attention, Job – listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.

If not, you listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

“If you have understanding, listen to this, hear what I have to say.

so that they caused the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he hears the cry of the needy.

Men of understanding say to me – any wise man listening to me says –

Surely it is an empty cry – God does not hear it; the Almighty does not take notice of it.

If they obey and serve him, they live out their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness.

But if they refuse to listen, they pass over the river of death, and expire without knowledge.

It scorns the tumult in the town; it does not hear the shouts of a driver.

It stands still, but I cannot recognize its appearance; an image is before my eyes, and I hear a murmuring voice:

Look, we have investigated this, so it is true. Hear it, and apply it for your own good.”

“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, from the Almighty to do evil.

After that a voice roars; he thunders with an exalted voice, and he does not hold back his lightning bolts when his voice is heard.

Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! How faint is the whisper we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

“If only I had someone to hear me! Here is my signature – let the Almighty answer me! If only I had an indictment that my accuser had written.

When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to come to show sympathy for him and to console him.