Why, like God, do you persecute me,
Not content with destroying my body?

Oh, that my words were now written,
That they were inscribed in a book,
That with an iron pen and with lead
In rock they were graven forever!

For I know that my Defender lives,
That at last he shall stand upon earth;
And after this skin is destroyed,

Freed from my flesh, I shall see him,

Whom I shall behold for myself;

My own eyes shall see, and no stranger's.

373. ZOPHAR: THE TRIUMPH OF THE WICKED IS BRIEF

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:

Not so do my thoughts make answer;

For this reason I hasten to speak.
Must I hear your insulting reproof?
With senseless bluster you answer me.

Know you not this from of old,
Since man was placed on the earth:
That the joy of the wicked is short,

The mirth of the godless but momentary?
The eye which beheld him shall see him no more,
And never again shall his place behold him.
The heavens shall bring to light his guilt,
And the earth shall rise in protest against him.
Such is the wicked man's portion from God,
The divine retribution for all his iniquity.

374. JOB: THE GRIM FACTS OF LIFE BELIE THE TRADITIONAL EXPLANATION OF SUFFERING

Then Job answered:

Listen attentively to my speech,
And let this be your consolation:
Bear with me now while I speak,
And when I have spoken, mock on.

Is it of man I complain?

And why should I not be impatient?
Why do the wicked live on,

Grow old, and attain great power?
Their children are settled about them,
And their offspring before their eyes.
Their households are safe from fear,
No rod of God falls upon them.

They send out their young like a flock,
And their children dance for joy;
They sing to the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

Yet they say to God, 'Depart from us;
We have no desire to know thy ways.
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What advantage have we, if we pray to him?'
Behold! Their fortune is in their own hands.
Little does God heed the counsel of sinners.
How oft is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How oft does calamity fall upon them?

One dies with his strength unimpaired,
Wholly at ease and prosperous;

His pails are full of milk,

In his bones the marrow is moist.
But another dies embittered,

With never a taste of prosperity.
In the dust they lie down together,
And the worm covers them both.

Have you not asked those who travel?
And do you not know their proofs,
That the wicked is kept from disaster,
Is saved in the day of wrath?
Who declares his acts to his face,
Or repays him for what he has done?

And yet he is borne to the grave,
And watch is kept over his tomb.
Sweet to him are the clods of the valley;
After him all men follow,

As innumerable have before!

Why do you give me vain comfort,
And make answers bereft of all truth?

THE THIRD CYCLE OF SPEECHES

375. ELIPHaz: SufferinG IS CLEAR EVIDENCE OF CRIME

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

Can a man be of service to God?

For a wise man serves only himself.

Is the Almighty pleased by your righteousness?
Does your blameless life bring him profit?

For your piety would he reprove you,

Or prefer a charge against you?

Is not your wickedness great?
Is there no end to your crimes?

For you take pledges wrongly from kinsmen,
And strip from the naked their clothing.
You have given no drink to the weary,
And withheld your food from the hungry.
The land is for him who is strong;
The man specially favored possesses it.
Widows you have sent away empty,
And broken the arms of the fatherless.
Therefore snares encircle you,
And sudden fear confounds you;
Your light has gone out in darkness,
And the flood of waters engulfs you.

Yet you say, 'What does God know about it,
Can he judge aright through the darkness?
Clouds envelop him, he sees not,

And he walks on the vault of heaven.'

Will you keep to the way of old,

Which wicked men have trodden?

If you turn humbly to the Almighty,
And banish sin far from your tent,
You shall then find delight in the Lord,
And shall lift up your face to God.
What you decree shall stand,

And light shall shine on your ways;

For he humbles him who speaks proudly,

But saves the man who is modest.

376. JOB: IF MAN COULD FIND GOD, HIS PROBLEMS WOULD BE SOLVED

Then Job answered:

Even now my complaint must be bitter;
My affliction exceeds my groaning.
Oh, that I knew where to find him,
That I might go straight to his throne!
I would lay my cause before him,
Filling my mouth with arguments.

I would know the reply he would make,
And understand what he would say.
Would he use his great power against me?
No, he at least would give heed.

There the upright might reason with him;
And my case should be settled forever.

I go forward, but he is not there,
And backward, but cannot perceive him;
On the left I seek, but in vain,

On the right, but I do not see him.

For he knows the way that I take;

I should come forth as gold, should he test me.
My feet have held to his steps,

His way have I kept without swerving,
And obeyed his every command.

I have treasured his words in my heart,
But when he decides who can turn him?
And what he desires, he does.