Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God?

with kings and counselors of the earth who built for themselves places now desolate,

There the prisoners relax together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

I have refused to touch such things; they are like loathsome food to me.

They are dark because of ice; snow is piled up over them.

How painful are honest words! But what does your reproof prove?

Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

“My days are swifter than a runner, they speed by without seeing happiness.

that you must search out my iniquity, and inquire about my sin,

Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?

You gave me life and favor, and your intervention watched over my spirit.

But if only God would speak, if only he would open his lips against you,

“As for you, if you prove faithful, and if you stretch out your hands toward him,

“Without a doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.

He leads counselors away stripped and makes judges into fools.

Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him?

Would not his splendor terrify you and the fear he inspires fall on you?

Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!

As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up,

Your own mouth condemns you, not I; your own lips testify against you.