1 And lyoḇ answered and said,
2 “Listen closely to my word, and let this be your comfort.
3 Bear with me and let me speak, and after I have spoken, keep mocking.
4 As for me, is my complaint against man? And why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled, then put your hand on your mouth.
6 And when I consider it I am frightened, and my body shudders.
7 Why do the wicked live, become old, and become mighty in power?
8 Their seed is established with them before their face, and their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their houses are peace without fear, neither is the rod of Eloah upon them.
10 Their bull breeds and does not fail, their cow calves without miscarriage.
11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13 They spend their days in goodness, and in a moment go down to the grave.
14 And they say to Ĕl, ‘Turn aside from us, for we have no desire to know Your Ways.
15 Who is Ĕl Shaddai, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’
16 See, is their good not in their own hand? The counsel of the wicked has been far from me.
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out, and calamity comes upon them, sorrows He allots in His displeasure?
18 They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that a storm steals away.
19 Eloah stores up one’s wickedness for his children. Let Him repay him, so that he knows it.
20 Let his eyes see his destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of Ĕl Shaddai.
21 For what is his delight in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off?
22 Does anyone teach Ĕl knowledge, since He judges those that are exalted?
23 One dies in his perfect strength, completely at ease and satisfied;
24 His pails are filled with milk, and his bones are juicy with marrow.
25 Another one dies in the bitterness of his being, and never eats with pleasure.
26 Together they lie down in the dust, and worms cover them.
27 Look, I know your thoughts, and the plots with which you would wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble one? And where is the tent, the dwelling place of the wicked?’
29 Have you not asked those passing by the way? And do you not know their signs?
30 That the wicked is kept for the day of calamity? They are brought to the day of wrath.
31 Who declares his way to his face? And who repays him for what he has done?
32 As for him, he is brought to the grave, and a watch is kept over the tomb.
33 The clods of the wadi shall be sweet to him, and all men follow him, innumerable are those before him.
34 How then do you comfort me in vain, seeing that perverseness remains in your answers?”