<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;But now, O Job, listen to my words,p> <p class="poetry">and hear<n id="1" /> everything I have to say!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Pay attention, Job &#8211; listen to me;p> <p class="poetry">be silent, and I will speak.p>

<p class="poetry">If not, you listen to me;p> <p class="poetry">be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;If you have<n id="1" /> understanding, listen to this,p> <p class="poetry">hear what I have to say.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">so that they caused<n id="1" /> the cry of the poorp> <p class="poetry">to come before him,p> <p class="poetry">so that he hears<n id="2" /> the cry of the needy.p>

<p class="poetry">Men of understanding say to me &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">any wise man listening to me says &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">Surely it is an empty cry<n id="1" /> &#8211; God does not hear it;p> <p class="poetry">the Almighty does not take notice of it.p>

<p class="poetry">If they obey and serve him,p> <p class="poetry">they live out their days in prosperityp> <p class="poetry">and their years in pleasantness.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">But if they refuse to listen,p> <p class="poetry">they pass over the river of death,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and expire without knowledge.p>

<p class="poetry">It scorns the tumult in the town;p> <p class="poetry">it does not hear the shouts of a driver.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">It stands still,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but I cannot recognize<n id="2" /> its appearance;p> <p class="poetry">an image is before my eyes,p> <p class="poetry">and I hear a murmuring voice:<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.p> <p class="poetry">Hear it,<n id="1" /> and apply it for your own<n id="2" /> good.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Far be it from<n id="2" /> God to do wickedness,p> <p class="poetry">from the Almighty to do evil.p>

<p class="poetry">After that a voice roars;p> <p class="poetry">he thunders with an exalted voice,p> <p class="poetry">and he does not hold back his lightning bolts<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when his voice is heard.p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">How faint is the whisper<n id="2" /> we hear of him!p> <p class="poetry">But who can understand the thunder of his power?&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;If only I had<n id="1" /> someone to hear me!p> <p class="poetry">Here is my signature &#8211; <n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">let the Almighty answer me!p> <p class="poetry">If only I had an indictment<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">that my accuser had written.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">When Job&#8217;s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country<n id="2" /> &#8211; Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.<n id="3" /> They met together<n id="4" /> to come to show sympathy<n id="5" /> for him and to console<n id="6" /> him.