1 Then Job {Iyov: patient sufferer} answered and said {vayomar: speech introduction}.
2 Listen attentively {shamoa': intensive hearing} to my speech, and let this be your consolation {tankhumoteichem: solace}.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak {adabber: deliberate speech}; and after I have spoken, you may mock {tal’ig: deride openly}.
4 Is my complaint directed to man {adam: human being}, and if so, why should my spirit {ruchi: emotional strength} not be short?
5 Turn to me and be appalled {hashammu: struck with horror}; put your hand over your mouth {peh: organ of speech}.
6 And if I remember, I am dismayed {nivhalti: inward panic}, and trembling seizes my flesh {be-sari: bodily being}.
7 Why do the wicked {resha’im: morally wrong ones} live on, grow old, and also become mighty in strength {khayil: power and influence}?
8 Their seed stands firm before them {lifneihem: presence among them} and with them, and their offspring are before their eyes {le’eineihem: continual vision}.
9 Their houses are at peace {shalom: wholeness and well-being} from fear, and the rod of God {Eloah, Chastening Sovereign} is not upon them.
10 His bull breeds {ibbar: agricultural insemination} and does not fail; his cow calves {tefallet: forceful birthing} and does not miscarry.
11 They send forth their children like a flock {katson: gathered sheep}, and their little ones dance {yerakkedun: leap for joy}.
12 They make music with the timbrel {ketof: frame drum} and the lyre, and they rejoice to the sound of the pipe {ugav: reed flute}.
13 They spend their days in prosperity {batov: material well-being}, and in a moment they go down to Sheol {sheol: realm of the dead}.
14 Yet they say to God {El: Supreme Arbiter}, “Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge {daat: profound insight} of Your ways.”
15 What is the Almighty {Shaddai, Supreme Power} that we should serve Him? And what benefit {no'il: practical gain} do we have that we should entreat Him?
16 Behold, their prosperity {tuvam: communal abundance} is not in their own hand; the counsel {atsat: strategic guidance} of the wicked is far from me.
17 How often is the lamp of the wicked {resha`im: moral rebels} extinguished, and does their calamity come upon them? He {Elohim, Dispenser of Justice} allots pains in His wrath.
18 They will be like straw before the wind {ruach: unstoppable force}, and like chaff that the whirlwind {suphah: powerful storm} carries away.
19 God {Eloah, Sovereign Arbiter} stores up his iniquity for his sons; let Him repay it to him so that he may know {yeda: experience directly}.
20 Let his own eyes see his calamity {kido: devastating blow}, and let him drink from the wrath of the Almighty {Shaddai, Supreme Power}.
21 For what is his desire {chef’tso: personal delight} in his house after him, when the number of his months has been cut off {chutsatsu: abruptly severed}?
22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God {El, Omniscient Judge}, when He judges even the exalted {ramim: elevated ones}?
23 One dies in full strength, wholly sound {tummo: complete well-being}, completely at ease {shal'anan: secure rest} and tranquil.
24 His pails {atinav: containers of plenty} are filled with milk, and the marrow {moakh: inner essence} of his bones is moistened.
25 Yet another dies with a bitter soul {nephesh: life essence}, and has not tasted {akhal: experienced fully} any good.
26 Together they lie down upon the dust {afar: mortal remains}, and worm {rimmah: decay agent} covers them.
27 Behold, I have known your thoughts {machshevoteykhem: inner deliberations} and the schemes {umezimot: calculated plots} against me that you devise to wrong me.
28 For you say, “Where is the house{beit-nadiv: elite estate} of the nobleman? And where is the tent, the dwellings{mishkenot: settled quarters} of the wicked?”
29 Have you not asked those who pass along the road {derekh: common route}, and do you not recognize their signs {ototam: identifying marks}?
30 For the evil {ra: morally corrupt} is spared for a day of disaster; they are led to a day of wrath {avarot: blazing anger}.
31 Who will declare{yagid: make known publicly} his way{darko: course of conduct} to his face, and what he has done—who will repay him?
32 Yet he will be brought {yuval: passive conveyance} to the graves, and a watch is kept over the mound {gadish: burial heap}.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to him; after him every person {kol-adam: whole assembly} will follow {yimshokh: draw behind}, and before him there is no number.
34 And how can you comfort me with emptiness {havel: futility}? And your answers remain only deceit {ma'al: treachery}.