Study Desk

"It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has terrified me,

"From the city people groan, And the souls of the wounded cry for help; Yet God does not pay attention to the offensiveness.

"How then can mankind be righteous with God? Or how can anyone who is born of woman be pure?

"As God lives, who has taken away my right, And the Almighty, who has embittered my soul,

For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils,

"For what is the hope of the godless when he makes an end of life, When God requires his life?

"Will God hear his cry When distress comes upon him?

"Or will he take pleasure in the Almighty? Will he call on God at all times?

"I will instruct you in the power of God; What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

"This is the portion of a wicked person from God, And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty:

"God understands its way, And He knows its place.

"Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God watched over me;

Just as I was in the days of my youth, When the protection of God was over my tent;

"And what is the portion of God from above, Or the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

Let Him weigh me with accurate scales, And let God know my integrity.

What then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, how am I to answer Him?

"For disaster from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.

That too would have been a guilty deed calling for judgment, For I would have denied God above.

But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned against Job; his anger burned because he justified himself before God.

"So do not say, 'We have found wisdom: God will defeat him, not man.'