2  “How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a great ^twind?

3  ^uDoes God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

4  If your ^vchildren have sinned against him,

he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

5  ^wIf you will seek God

and ^xplead with the Almighty for mercy,

6  if you are pure and upright,

surely then he will rouse himself for you

and restore your rightful habitation.

7  And ^ythough your beginning was small,

^zyour latter days will be very great.

8  “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,

and consider what the fathers have searched out.

9  For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,

for our days on earth are a ^ashadow.

10  Will they not teach you and tell you

and utter words out of their understanding?

11  ^b“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 wither before any other plant.

13  Such are the paths of all who forget God;

the ^chope of the godless shall perish.

14  His confidence is severed,

and his trust is a spider’s web.¹

15  He leans against his ^dhouse, 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 shoots spread over his garden.

17  His roots entwine the stone heap;

he looks upon a house of stones.

18  If he is destroyed from ^ehis place,

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

19  Behold, this is the joy of his way,

and out of the soil others will spring.

20  “Behold, ^fGod will not reject a blameless man,

nor take the hand of evildoers.

21  He will yet ^gfill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with shouting.

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

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

2  “Truly I know that it is so:

But ⁱhow can a man be in the right before God?

3  If one wished to ^jcontend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4  He is ^kwise in heart and mighty in strength—

who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

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

when he overturns them in his anger,

6  who ^lshakes the earth out of its place,

and its ^mpillars tremble;

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

who seals up the stars;

8  who alone ⁿstretched out the heavens

and ^otrampled the waves of the sea;

9  who made ^pthe Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

10  who does great things ^qbeyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

11  ^rBehold, he passes by me, and I see him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

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

^tWho will say to him, ^u‘What are you doing?’

13  “God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of ^vRahab.

14  How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

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

^xI must appeal 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 ^yhe crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds ^zwithout cause;

18  he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with ^abitterness.

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

If it is a matter of justice, ^bwho can summon him?²

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

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21  I am blameless; I regard not myself;

^cI loathe my life.

22  It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He destroys ^dboth the blameless and the wicked.’

23  When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity³ of the innocent.

24  The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

^ehe covers the faces of its judges—

if it is not he, who then is it?

25  ^f“My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26  They go by like skiffs of reed,

like an eagle swooping on the prey.

27  If I say, ‘I will forget my ^gcomplaint,

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

28  I become afraid of all my suffering,

for I know ⁱyou will not hold me innocent.

29  ^jI shall be condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30  If I wash myself with ^ksnow

and cleanse my hands ^lwith lye,

31  yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

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

that we should come to trial together.

33  ⁿThere is no⁴ arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34  Let him take his ^orod away from me,

and ^plet not dread of him terrify me.

35  Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.

10  ^q“I loathe my life;

I will give free utterance to my ^rcomplaint;

I will speak in the ^sbitterness of my soul.

2  I will say to God, ^tDo not condemn me;

let me know why you ^ucontend against me.

3  Does it seem good to you to oppress,

to despise the work of your hands

and favor the designs of the wicked?

4  Have you eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

5  Are your days as the days of man,

or ^vyour years as a man’s years,

6  that ^wyou seek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

7  although you know that I am not guilty,

and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

8  ^xYour hands fashioned and made me,

and now you have destroyed me altogether.

9  ^yRemember that you have made me like ^zclay;

and will you ^areturn me to the dust?

10  Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

11  You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and ^bknit 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 this was your purpose.

14  If I sin, you watch me

and ^cdo not acquit me of my iniquity.

15  If I am guilty, woe to me!

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

for I am filled with disgrace

and look on my affliction.

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

and again work wonders against me.

17  You renew your witnesses against me

and increase your vexation toward me;

^eyou bring fresh troops against me.

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

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

19  and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

20  ^gAre not my days few?

Then cease, and leave me alone, that ^hI may find a little cheer

21  before I go—and ⁱI shall not return—

to the land of ^jdarkness and deep shadow,

22  the land of gloom like thick darkness,

like deep shadow without any order,

where light is as thick darkness.”

2  “Should a ^kmultitude 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 ^lyou say, ‘My doctrine is ^mpure,

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 understanding.²

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

7  “Can you find out ⁿthe deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

8  ^oIt is ^phigher 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 passes through and imprisons

and summons the court, ^qwho can turn him back?

11  For he knows worthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

12  But a ^rstupid man will get understanding

when a ^swild donkey’s colt is born a man!

13  ^t“If you prepare your heart,

you will stretch out your hands toward him.

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

and let not ^uinjustice dwell in your tents.

15  Surely then you will ^vlift up your face without blemish;

you will be secure and will not fear.

16  You will forget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

17  And your life will be brighter than the ^wnoonday;

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  ^yYou will lie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will court your favor.

20  But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

^zall way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is to breathe their last.”

2  ^a“No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

3  But ^bI have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know such things as these?

4  ^cI am a laughingstock to my friends;

I, who called to God and he answered me,

^da just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

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

it is ready for those whose feet slip.

6  ^eThe 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 ^fteach 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 ^gthe hand of the Lord has done this?

10  In his hand is the ^hlife of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.

11  Does not ⁱthe ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

12  Wisdom is with the aged,

and understanding in length of days.

13  “With God³ are ^jwisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

14  If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he shuts a man in, none can open.

15  ^kIf he withholds the waters, they dry up;

if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

16  With him are strength and sound wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17  He leads counselors away stripped,

and ^ljudges he makes fools.

18  He looses 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

and takes away the discernment of the elders.

21  ^mHe pours contempt on princes

and loosens the belt of the strong.

22  ⁿHe uncovers the deeps out of darkness

and brings deep darkness to light.

23  He makes nations great, and he destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and leads them away.

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

and ^omakes them wander in a trackless waste.

25  They grope in the dark without light,

and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.