6Would He contend with me in His great power?

No, He would certainly take note of me.

7Then an upright man could reason with Him,

and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

8If I go east, He is not there,

and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

9When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him;

when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.

10Yet He knows the way I have taken;

when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

11My feet have followed in His tracks;

I have kept His way without turning aside.

12I have not departed from the command of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth

more than my daily bread.

13But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him?

He does what He desires.

14For He carries out His decree against me,

and He has many such plans.

15Therefore I am terrified in His presence;

when I consider this, I fear Him.

16God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me.

17Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,

by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Job: Judgment for the Wicked

1“Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?

Why may those who know Him never see His days?

2Men move boundary stones;

they pasture stolen flocks.

3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless

and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

4They push the needy off the road

and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,

the poor go to work foraging for food;

the wasteland is food for their children.

6They gather fodder in the fields

and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

7Without clothing, they spend the night naked;

they have no covering against the cold.

8Drenched by mountain rains,

they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.

9The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;

the nursing child of the poor is seized for a debt.

10Without clothing, they wander about naked.

They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.

11They crush olives within their walls;

they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

12From the city, men groan,

and the souls of the wounded cry out,

yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

13Then there are those who rebel against the light,

not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.

14When daylight is gone, the murderer rises

to kill the poor and needy;

in the night he is like a thief.

15The eye of the adulterer watches for twilight.

Thinking, ‘No eye will see me,’ he covers his face.

16In the dark they dig through houses;

by day they shut themselves in,

never to experience the light.

17For to them, deep darkness is their morning;

surely they are friends with the terrors of darkness!

18They are but foam on the surface of the water;

their portion of the land is cursed,

so that no one turns toward their vineyards.

19As drought and heat consume the melting snow,

so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

20The womb forgets them;

the worm feeds on them;

they are remembered no more.

So injustice is like a broken tree.

21They prey on the barren and childless,

and show no kindness to the widow.

22Yet by His power, God drags away the mighty;

though rising up, they have no assurance of life.

23He gives them a sense of security,

but His eyes are on their ways.

24They are exalted for a moment,

then they are gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

they are cut off like heads of grain.

25If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar

and reduce my words to nothing?”

2“Dominion and awe belong to God;

He establishes harmony in the heights of heaven.

3Can His troops be numbered?

On whom does His light not rise?

4How then can a man be just before God?

How can one born of woman be pure?

5If even the moon does not shine,

and the stars are not pure in His sight,

6how much less man, who is but a maggot,

and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

2“How you have helped the powerless

and saved the arm that is feeble!

3How you have counseled the unwise

and provided fully sound insight!

4To whom have you uttered these words?

And whose spirit spoke through you?

5The dead tremble—

those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.

6Sheol is naked before God,

and Abaddon has no covering.

7He stretches out the north over empty space;

He hangs the earth upon nothing.

8He wraps up the waters in His clouds,

yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.

9He covers the face of the full moon,

spreading over it His cloud.

10He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness.

11The foundations of heaven quake,

astounded at His rebuke.

12By His power He stirred the sea;

by His understanding He shattered Rahab.

13By His breath the skies were cleared;

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

14Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways;

how faint is the whisper we hear of Him!

Who then can understand

the thunder of His power?”

2“As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice—

the Almighty, who has embittered my soul—

3as long as my breath is still within me

and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

4my lips will not speak wickedness,

and my tongue will not utter deceit.

5I will never say that you are right;

I will maintain my integrity until I die.

6I will cling to my righteousness and never let go.

As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

The Wicked Man’s Portion

7May my enemy be like the wicked

and my opponent like the unjust.

8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off,

when God takes away his life?

9Will God hear his cry

when distress comes upon him?

10Will he delight in the Almighty?

Will he call upon God at all times?

11I will instruct you in the power of God.

I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty.

12Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves.

Why then do you keep up this empty talk?