Job Defends His Integrity

131 " Behold , my eye has seen all this, My ear has heard and understood it. 2 " What you know I also know ; I am not inferior to you. 3 "But I would speak to the Almighty , And I desire to argue with God . 4 "But you smear with lies ; You are all worthless physicians . 5 "O that you would be completely silent , And that it would become your wisdom ! 6 "Please hear my argument And listen to the contentions of my lips . 7 "Will you speak what is unjust for God , And speak what is deceitful for Him? 8 "Will you show partiality e for Him? Will you contend for God ? 9 "Will it be well when He examines you? Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man ? 10 "He will surely reprove you If you secretly show partiality e . 11 "Will not His majesty terrify you, And the dread of Him fall on you? 12 "Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes , Your defenses are defenses of clay .

13 " Be silent before me so that I may speak ; Then let come on me what may. 14 "Why e should I take my flesh in my teeth And put my life in my hands ? 15 " Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before e Him. 16 "This also will be my salvation , For a godless man may not come before His presence . 17 "Listen carefully to my speech , And let my declaration fill your ears . 18 "Behold now , I have prepared my case ; I know that I will be vindicated . 19 " Who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die . 20 "Only two things do not do to me, Then I will not hide from Your face : 21 Remove Your hand from me, And let not the dread of You terrify me. 22 "Then call , and I will answer ; Or let me speak , then reply to me.

23 " How many are my iniquities and sins ? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin . 24 "Why do You hide Your face And consider me Your enemy ? 25 "Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble ? Or will You pursue the dry chaff ? 26 "For You write bitter things against me And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth . 27 "You put my feet in the stocks And watch all my paths ; You set a limit for the soles of my feet , 28 While I am decaying like a rotten thing , Like a garment that is moth-eaten e .

Job Bewails His Birth

31 Afterward e Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said e , 3 " Let the day perish on which I was to be born , And the night which said , 'A boy is conceived .' 4 "May that day be darkness ; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it. 5 "Let darkness and black gloom claim it; Let a cloud settle on it; Let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6 "As for that night , let darkness seize it; Let it not rejoice among the days of the year ; Let it not come into the number of the months . 7 "Behold , let that night be barren ; Let no joyful shout enter it. 8 "Let those curse it who curse the day , Who are prepared to rouse Leviathan . 9 "Let the stars of its twilight be darkened ; Let it wait for light but have none , And let it not see the breaking dawn ; 10 Because it did not shut the opening of my mother's womb , Or hide trouble from my eyes .

11 " Why did I not die at birth , Come forth from the womb and expire ? 12 "Why did the knees receive me, And why the breasts , that I should suck ? 13 "For now I would have lain down and been quiet ; I would have slept then , I would have been at rest , 14 With kings and with counselors of the earth , Who rebuilt ruins for themselves; 15 Or with princes who had gold , Who were filling their houses with silver . 16 "Or like a miscarriage which is discarded , I would not be, As infants that never saw light . 17 "There the wicked cease from raging , And there the weary are at rest . 18 "The prisoners are at ease together ; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster . 19 "The small and the great are there , And the slave is free from his master .

20 "Why is light given to him who suffers , And life to the bitter of soul , 21 Who long for death , but there is none , And dig for it more than for hidden treasures , 22 Who rejoice greatly , And exult when they find the grave ? 23 "Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden , And whom God has hedged in? 24 "For my groaning comes at the sight of my food , And my cries pour out like water . 25 "For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread befalls me. 26 "I am not at ease , nor am I quiet , And I am not at rest , but turmoil comes ."