约伯回答说，
Then Job answered and said,

你们真是有智慧的子民哪，你们死亡，智慧也就灭没了。
Surely then you are the people, / And wisdom will die with you.

但我也有聪明，与你们一样；我并非不及你们。你们所说这样的事，谁不知道呢？
I also have understanding as you do; / I am not inferior to you. / And who does not know things like these?

我这呼求神、蒙祂应允的人，竟成了朋友所讥笑的；公义完全的人，竟成了人所讥笑的。
I have become a laughingstock to my friends, / I, who have called out to God and He answers me. / The righteous man, the perfect man, is a laughingstock.

安逸的人心里藐视灾祸；这灾祸常常等待滑脚的人。
There is contempt for calamity in the thought of him who is at ease: / It is prepared for those whose foot slips.

强盗的帐棚兴旺，惹神发怒的人稳固，这些人将自己的能力当作神。
The tents of robbers prosper, / And those who provoke God have security, / Those who carry their god in their own might.

你且问走兽，走兽必指教你；又问空中的飞鸟，飞鸟必告诉你；
But ask now of the beasts, and they will teach you; / And of the birds of heaven, and they will tell you.

或与地说话，地必指教你；海中的鱼，也必向你说明。
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; / And the fish of the sea will declare to you.

在这一切之中，谁不知道这是耶和华的手作成的呢？
Who among all these does not know / That the hand of Jehovah has done this,

凡活物的生命，和一切血肉之人的气息，都在祂手中。
In whose hand is the life of every living thing / And the breath of all flesh of man?

耳朵岂不试验言语，正如上膛品尝食物么？
Does not the ear try words / Even as the palate tastes food for itself?

你们说，年老的有智慧，寿高的有辨识。
In aged men, you say, there is wisdom, / And in length of days there is understanding.

其实智慧和能力乃在于神；谋略和辨识都属于祂。
But with Him are wisdom and might; / Counsel and understanding are His.

看哪，祂拆毁的，就不能再建造；祂将人禁闭，便不得开释。
Indeed, He breaks down, and it cannot be rebuilt; / He shuts a man up, and the door cannot be opened.

祂把水留住，水便枯干；祂发出水来，水就翻地。
Indeed, He withholds the waters, and they dry up; / And He sends them forth, and they overturn the earth.

在祂有能力和智慧；被欺骗的与欺骗人的，都属于祂。
With Him are strength and effectual wisdom; / The deceived and the deceiver are His.

祂把谋士剥衣掳去，又使审判官变成愚人。
He leads counselors away stripped, / And He makes fools of judges.

祂放松君王的绑，又用带子捆他们的腰。
He loosens the fetters of kings / And binds their loins with a belt.

祂把祭司剥衣掳去，又使有权势的人倾败。
He leads priests away stripped, / And He overturns dignitaries.

祂废去忠信人的讲论，又夺去老年人的谋略。
He removes the utterance of the trusty / And takes away the counsel of the elders.

祂使贵胄蒙羞被辱，又放松壮士的腰带。
He pours contempt upon the princes / And loosens the belt of the strong.

祂将深奥的事从黑暗中显露出来，使死荫显为光明。
He uncovers the depths out of darkness / And brings to light the shadow of death.

祂使邦国兴旺，又将其毁灭；祂使邦国开广，又将其掳去。
He makes nations great and destroys them; / He expands nations and leads them off.

祂将地上民中首领的聪明夺去，使他们在荒废无路之地飘流。
He removes the understanding of the heads of the people of the earth / And causes them to wander in a pathless waste.

他们无光，在黑暗中摸索；祂使他们东倒西歪，像醉酒的人一样。
They grope in darkness, and there is no light; / And He causes them to stagger like a drunken man.