Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

“May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’

Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?

The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.

Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.

He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

“Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.

“But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind:

“If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?

“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!

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

Are God’s consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you?

For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit.”

Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?

If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone.

total darkness lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.