| 1 | Then Job responded by saying: |
| 2 | I beseech you to hear my words and to do penance. |
| 3 | Permit me, and I will speak, and afterwards, if you see fit, you can laugh at my words. |
| 4 | Is my dispute against man, so that I would have no reason to be discouraged? |
| 5 | Listen to me and be astonished, and place a finger over your mouth. |
| 6 | As for me, when I think it over, I am afraid, and trembling convulses my body. |
| 7 | Why then do the impious live, having been lifted up and strengthened with riches? |
| 8 | They see their offspring continue before them: a commotion of close relatives and of children's children in their sight. |
| 9 | Their houses have been secure and peaceable, and there is no staff of God over them. |
| 10 | Their cattle have conceived and have not miscarried; their cow has given birth and is not deprived of her newborn. |
| 11 | Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children jump around playfully. |
| 12 | They take up the timbrel and the lyre, and they rejoice at the sound of the organ. |
| 13 | Their days are prolonged in wealth, yet, in an instant, they descend into hell. |
| 14 | Who has said to God, "Depart from us, for we do not want the knowledge of your ways. |
| 15 | Who is the Almighty that we should serve him? And how is it helpful to us if we pray to him?" |
| 16 | It is true that their good things are not in their power. May the counsel of the impious be far from me! |
| 17 | How often will the lamp of the wicked be extinguished, and a deluge overtake them, and how often will he distribute the afflictions of his wrath? |
| 18 | They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ashes that the whirlwind scatters. |
| 19 | God will preserve the grief of the father for his sons, and, when he repays, then he will understand. |
| 20 | His eyes will see his own destruction, and he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty. |
| 21 | For what does he care what happens to his house after him, or if the number of its months are reduced by half? |
| 22 | Can anyone teach holy knowledge to God, who judges the exalted? |
| 23 | This one dies strong and healthy, rich and happy. |
| 24 | His gut is full of fat and his bones are moistened with marrow. |
| 25 | In truth, another dies in bitterness of soul, without any resources. |
| 26 | And yet they will sleep together in the dust, and worms will cover them. |
| 27 | Surely, I know your thoughts and your sinful judgments against me. |
| 28 | For you say, "Where is the house of the ruler, and where are the tabernacles of the impious?" |
| 29 | Ask any passerby whom you wish, and you will realize that he understands these same things: |
| 30 | that the evil-doer is reserved for the day of destruction, and he will be led to the day of wrath. |
| 31 | Who will reprove his way to his face, and who will repay him for what he has done? |
| 32 | He will be led to the tomb, and he will remain awake in the chaos of the dead. |
| 33 | He has been found acceptable to the banks of the River of Lamentation, and he will draw any man towards him, and there are countless before him. |
| 34 | Therefore, how long will you console me in vain, when your answer is shown to be repugnant to truth? |
