Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

You have taken notice, for you always see one who inflicts pain and suffering. The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; you deliver the fatherless.

Because of all my enemies, people disdain me; my neighbors are appalled by my suffering – those who know me are horrified by my condition; those who see me in the street run away from me.

For innumerable dangers surround me. My sins overtake me so I am unable to see; they outnumber the hairs of my head so my strength fails me.

When someone comes to visit, he pretends to be friendly; he thinks of ways to defame me, and when he leaves he slanders me.

We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, in the city of our God. God makes it permanently secure. (Selah)

God looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God.

Look to the right and see! No one cares about me. I have nowhere to run; no one is concerned about my life.

All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.

Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time.

I thought to myself, “Come now, I will try self-indulgent pleasure to see if it is worthwhile.” But I found that it also is futile.

Next, I decided to consider wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king has already done?

There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.

I also thought to myself, “It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.

But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.

I considered all the living who walk on earth, as well as the successor who would arise in his place.

When someone’s prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes?

if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!

During the days of my fleeting life I have seen both of these things: Sometimes a righteous person dies prematurely in spite of his righteousness, and sometimes a wicked person lives long in spite of his evil deeds.