2  “How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a ^dgreat wind?

3  ^eDoes God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

4  If your ^fchildren have sinned against him,

he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

5  If you will seek God

and ^gplead with the Almighty for mercy,

6  if you are pure and upright,

surely then he will ^hrouse himself for you

and ⁱrestore your rightful habitation.

7  And though your beginning was small,

^jyour latter days will be very great.

8  “For ^kinquire, please, of bygone ages,

and consider what ^lthe fathers have searched out.

9  For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,

for our days on earth are ^ma shadow.

10  Will they not teach you and tell you

and utter words out of their understanding?

11  “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

12  While yet in flower and not cut down,

they ⁿwither before any other plant.

13  Such are the paths of all who ^oforget God;

^pthe hope of ^qthe godless shall perish.

14  His confidence is severed,

and his trust is ^ra spider’s web.¹

15  He leans against his ^shouse, but it does not stand;

he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

16  He is a lush plant before the sun,

and his ^tshoots spread over his garden.

17  His roots entwine the stone heap;

he looks upon a house of stones.

18  If he is destroyed from his ^uplace,

then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never ^vseen you.’

19  Behold, this is the joy of his way,

and out of ^wthe soil others will spring.

20  “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

nor take the hand of evildoers.

21  He will yet ^xfill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with shouting.

22  Those who hate you will be ^yclothed with shame,

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

2  “Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be ^zin the right before God?

3  If one wished to ^acontend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4  He is ^bwise in heart and mighty in strength

—who has ^chardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

5  he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

6  who ^dshakes the earth out of its place,

and ^eits pillars tremble;

7  who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

8  who alone ^fstretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

9  who ^gmade ^hthe Bear and ⁱOrion,

the Pleiades ^jand the chambers of the south;

10  who does ^kgreat things beyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

11  Behold, he passes by me, and I ^lsee him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

12  Behold, he snatches away; ^mwho can turn him back?

ⁿWho will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13  “God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of ^oRahab.

14  ^pHow then can I ^qanswer him,

choosing my words with him?

15  ^rThough I am in the right, I cannot answer him;

I must ^sappeal for mercy to my accuser.¹

16  If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

17  For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds ^twithout cause;

18  he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

19  If it is a contest of ^ustrength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, who can ^vsummon him?²

20  Though I am in the right, ^wmy own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21  I am ^xblameless; I regard not myself;

I ^yloathe my life.

22  It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He ^zdestroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23  When ^adisaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity³ of the innocent.

24  ^bThe earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he ^ccovers the faces of its judges—

^dif it is not he, who then is it?

25  “My ^edays are swifter than ^fa runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26  They go by like ^gskiffs of reed,

like ^han eagle swooping on the prey.

27  If I say, ⁱ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and ^jbe of good cheer,’

28  I become ^kafraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not ^lhold me innocent.

29  I shall be ^mcondemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30  If I wash myself with snow

and ⁿcleanse my hands with lye,

31  yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will ^oabhor me.

32  For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should ^pcome to trial together.

33  ^qThere is no⁴ arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34  ^rLet him take his ^srod away from me,

and let ^tnot dread of him terrify me.

35  Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.

10  “I ^uloathe my life;

I will give free utterance to my ^vcomplaint;

I will speak in ^wthe bitterness of my soul.

2  I will say to God, Do not ^xcondemn me;

let me know why you ^ycontend against me.

3  ^zDoes it seem good to you to oppress,

to despise ^athe work of your hands

^band favor the designs of the wicked?

4  Have you ^ceyes of flesh?

^dDo you see as man sees?

5  Are your days as the days of man,

or your ^eyears as a man’s years,

6  that you ^fseek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

7  although you ^gknow that I am not guilty,

and there is ^hnone to deliver out of your hand?

8  ⁱYour hands fashioned and made me,

and now you have destroyed me altogether.

9  Remember that you have made me like ^jclay;

and will you return me to the ^kdust?

10  Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

11  You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

12  You have granted me life and steadfast love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

13  Yet these things you hid in your heart;

I know that ^lthis was your purpose.

14  If I sin, you ^mwatch me

and do not ⁿacquit me of my iniquity.

15  ^oIf I am guilty, woe to me!

If I am ^pin the right, I cannot lift up my head,

for I am filled with disgrace

and ^qlook on my affliction.

16  And were my head lifted up,¹ you would hunt me like ^ra lion

and again work ^swonders against me.

17  You renew your ^twitnesses against me

and increase your vexation toward me;

you ^ubring fresh troops against me.

18  ^v“Why did you bring me out from the womb?

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

19  ^wand were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

20  ^xAre not my days few?

^yThen cease, and leave me alone, ^zthat I may find a little cheer

21  before I go—and ^aI shall not return—

to the land of ^bdarkness and ^cdeep shadow,

22  the land of gloom like thick darkness,

like deep shadow without any order,

where light is as thick darkness.”

2  “Should ^ea multitude of words go unanswered,

and a man full of talk be judged right?

3  Should your babble silence men,

and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

4  For ^fyou say, ‘My ^gdoctrine is pure,

and I am clean in God’s¹ eyes.’

5  But oh, that God would speak

and open his lips to you,

6  and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!

For he is manifold in ^hunderstanding.²

Know then that God ⁱexacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

7  ^j“Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

8  It is ^khigher than heaven³—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

9  Its measure is longer than the earth

and broader than the sea.

10  If he ^lpasses through and ^mimprisons

and summons the court, who can ⁿturn him back?

11  For he knows ^oworthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

12  But a stupid man will get understanding

when ^pa wild donkey’s colt is ^qborn a man!

13  “If you ^rprepare your heart,

you will ^sstretch out your hands toward him.

14  If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

15  Surely then you will ^tlift up your face without ^ublemish;

you will be secure and will not fear.

16  You will ^vforget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

17  And your life will be ^wbrighter than the noonday;

its darkness will be like the morning.

18  And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and ^xtake your rest in security.

19  You will ^xlie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will ^ycourt your favor.

20  But ^zthe eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is ^ato breathe their last.”

2  “No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

3  But I have ^bunderstanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know ^csuch things as these?

4  I am ^da laughingstock to my friends;

I, who ^ecalled to God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

5  In the thought of one who is ^fat ease there is contempt for misfortune;

it is ready for those whose feet slip.

6  ^gThe tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure,

who bring their god in their hand.¹

7  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;

8  or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;²

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

9  Who among all these does not know

that ^hthe hand of the Lord has done this?

10  In ⁱhis hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.

11  Does not ^jthe ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

12  Wisdom is with ^kthe aged,

and understanding in length of days.

13  ^l“With God³ are wisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

14  If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he ^mshuts a man in, none can open.

15  If he ⁿwithholds the waters, they dry up;

if he ^osends them out, they overwhelm the land.

16  With him are strength and ^psound wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17  He leads ^qcounselors away stripped,

and ^rjudges he makes fools.

18  He ^slooses the bonds of kings

and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

19  He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows the mighty.

20  He deprives of speech those who are trusted

^tand takes away the discernment of the elders.

21  He ^upours contempt on princes

and loosens the belt of the strong.

22  He ^vuncovers the deeps out of darkness

and brings ^wdeep darkness to light.

23  He ^xmakes nations great, and he destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and ^yleads them away.

24  He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth

and ^zmakes them wander in a trackless waste.

25  They ^agrope in the dark without light,

and he makes them ^bstagger like a drunken man.