2  “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

3  Behold, you have ^einstructed many,

and ^fyou have strengthened the weak hands.

4  Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

5  But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

6  ^gIs not your fear of God¹ your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

7  “Remember: ^hwho that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

8  As I have seen, ⁱthose who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.

9  By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

10  The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

^jthe teeth of the young lions are broken.

11  The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12  “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;

my ear received the whisper of it.

13  ^kAmid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

14  dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

15  A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

16  It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

17  ^l‘Can mortal man be in the right before² God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

18  Even in his servants he ^mputs no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

19  ⁿhow much more those who dwell in ^ohouses of clay,

whose foundation is in the ^pdust,

who are crushed like³ the moth.

20  Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;

they ^qperish forever without anyone regarding it.

21  Is not their ^rtent-cord plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

5  “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2  Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

3  ^sI have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

4  His children are ^tfar from safety;

they are ^ucrushed in the gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

5  The hungry eat his harvest,

and he takes it even out of thorns,¹

and the thirsty pant² after his³ wealth.

6  For ^vaffliction does not come from the dust,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

7  but man is ^wborn to trouble

as the sparks fly upward.

8  “As for me, I would seek God,

and to God would I commit my cause,

9  who does great things and ^xunsearchable,

marvelous things without number:

10  ^yhe gives rain on the earth

and sends waters on the fields;

11  ^zhe sets on high those who are lowly,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12  ^aHe frustrates the devices of the crafty,

so that their hands achieve no success.

13  ^bHe catches the wise in their own craftiness,

and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

14  They meet with darkness in the daytime

and ^cgrope at noonday as in the night.

15  But he ^dsaves the needy from the sword of their mouth

and from the hand of the mighty.

16  So the poor have hope,

and ^einjustice shuts her mouth.

17  “Behold, ^fblessed is the one whom God reproves;

therefore ^gdespise not the discipline of the Almighty.

18  For ^hhe wounds, but he binds up;

he shatters, but his hands heal.

19  He will deliver you from ⁱsix troubles;

in seven no evil⁴ shall touch you.

20  ^jIn famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword.

21  You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,

and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

22  At destruction and famine you shall laugh,

and ^kshall not fear the beasts of the earth.

23  For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,

and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

24  You shall know that your tent is at peace,

and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

25  You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,

and your descendants ^las the grass of the earth.

26  ^mYou shall come to your grave in ripe old age,

like a sheaf gathered up in its season.

27  Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.

Hear, and know it for your good.”⁵

2  “Oh that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

3  For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

4  For the ⁿarrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

5  Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,

or the ox low over his fodder?

6  Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?¹

7  ^oMy appetite refuses to touch them;

they are as food that is loathsome to me.²

8  ^p“Oh that I might have my request,

and that God would fulfill my hope,

9  that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and ^qcut me off!

10  This would be my comfort;

I would even exult³ in pain unsparing,

for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

11  What is my strength, that I should wait?

And what is my end, that I should be patient?

12  Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?

13  Have I any help in me,

when resource is driven from me?

14  “He who withholds⁴ kindness from a friend

forsakes the ^rfear of the Almighty.

15  My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed,

^sas torrential streams that pass away,

16  which are dark with ice,

and where the snow hides itself.

17  When they melt, they disappear;

when it is hot, they vanish from their place.

18  The caravans turn aside from their course;

they go up into the waste and perish.

19  The caravans of Tema look,

the travelers of Sheba hope.

20  They are ^tashamed because they were confident;

they come there and are disappointed.

21  For you have now become nothing;

you see my calamity and are afraid.

22  Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?

Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?

23  Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?

24  ^u“Teach me, and I will be silent;

make me understand how I have gone astray.

25  How forceful are upright words!

But what does reproof from you reprove?

26  Do you think that you can reprove words,

when the speech of a despairing man is ^vwind?

27  You would even ^wcast lots over the fatherless,

and bargain over your friend.

28  “But now, be pleased to look at me,

for ^xI will not lie to your face.

29  Please turn; let no injustice be done.

Turn now; ^ymy vindication is at stake.

30  Is there any injustice on my tongue?

Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

7  “Has not man a ^zhard service on earth,

and are not his days like the days of a hired hand?

2  Like a slave who longs for the shadow,

and like a hired hand who looks for his wages,

3  so I am allotted months of emptiness,

and ^anights of misery are apportioned to me.

4  When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’

But the night is long,

and I toss and turn till the dawn.

5  My flesh is clothed with ^bworms and dirt;

^cmy skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.

6  ^dMy days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle

and come to their end without hope.

7  ^e“Remember that my life is a breath;

my eye will never again see good.

8  ^fThe eye of him who sees me will behold me no more;

while your eyes are on me, I shall be gone.

9  As the cloud fades and vanishes,

so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

10  ^ghe returns no more to his house,

nor does ^hhis place know him anymore.

11  “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will ⁱcomplain in the ^jbitterness of my soul.

12  Am I the sea, or a sea monster,

that you set a guard over me?

13  When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,

my couch will ease my complaint,’

14  then you scare me with dreams

and terrify me with visions,

15  so that I would ^kchoose strangling

and death rather than my bones.

16  ^lI loathe my life; I would not live forever.

Leave me alone, for my days are a ^mbreath.

17  ⁿWhat is man, that you make so much of him,

and that you set your heart on him,

18  ^ovisit him every morning

and test him every moment?

19  How long will you not ^plook away from me,

nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

20  ^qIf I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?

Why have you made me your ^rmark?

Why have I become a burden to you?

21  Why do you not ^spardon my transgression

and take away my iniquity?

For now I shall lie in the earth;

you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

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.”