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.

1  ^p“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

my ear has heard and understood it.

2  ^qWhat you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3  But ^rI would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to argue my case with God.

4  As for you, you ^swhitewash ^twith lies;

^uworthless physicians are you all.

5  ^vOh that you would ^wkeep silent,

and it would be your wisdom!

6  Hear now my argument

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

7  Will you speak falsely for God

and speak deceitfully for him?

8  Will you show partiality toward him?

Will you plead the case for God?

9  Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

10  He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

11  Will not his ^xmajesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

12  Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

13  “Let me have silence, and I will speak,

and let come on me what may.

14  Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

and put my life in my hand?

15  ^yThough he slay me, I will hope in him;⁴

yet I will argue my ways to his face.

16  ^zThis will be my salvation,

that the godless shall not come before him.

17  ^aKeep listening to my words,

and let my declaration be in your ears.

18  Behold, I have prepared my case;

I know that ^bI shall be in the right.

19  Who is there who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

20  Only grant me two things,

then I will not hide myself from your face:

21  withdraw your hand far from me,

and ^clet not dread of you terrify me.

22  ^dThen call, and I will answer;

or let me speak, and you reply to me.

23  How many are my iniquities and my sins?

Make me know my transgression and my sin.

24  Why do you hide your face

and ^ecount me as your enemy?

25  Will you frighten a driven leaf

and pursue dry chaff?

26  For you write bitter things against me

and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

27  ^fYou put my feet in the stocks

and watch all my paths;

you set a limit for⁵ the soles of my feet.

28  Man⁶ wastes away like a ^grotten thing,

like a garment that is ^hmoth-eaten.

1  “Man who is born of a woman

is ⁱfew of days and ^jfull of trouble.

2  He comes out ^klike a flower and withers;

he flees like a shadow and continues not.

3  And do you open your eyes on such a one

and bring me into judgment with you?

4  ^lWho can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

There is not one.

5  Since his days are determined,

and the ^mnumber of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

6  ⁿlook away from him and leave him alone,⁷

that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

7  “For there is hope for a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

8  Though its root grow old in the earth,

and its stump die in the soil,

9  yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put out branches like a young plant.

10  But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and ^owhere is he?

11  As waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12  so a man lies down and rises not again;

till the heavens are no more he will not awake

or be roused out of his sleep.

13  ^pOh that you would hide me in Sheol,

that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14  If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my ^qservice I would wait,

till my renewal⁸ should come.

15  ^rYou would call, and I would answer you;

you would long for the work of your hands.

16  For then you would ^snumber my steps;

^tyou would not keep watch over my sin;

17  my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

18  “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,

and ^uthe rock is removed from its place;

19  the waters wear away the stones;

the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy the hope of man.

20  You prevail forever against him, and he passes;

you change his countenance, and send him away.

21  His sons come to honor, and ^vhe does not know it;

they are brought low, and he perceives it not.

22  He feels only the pain of his own body,

and he mourns only for himself.”

2  “Should a wise man answer with ^wwindy knowledge,

and fill his belly with the east wind?

3  Should he argue in unprofitable talk,

or in words with which he can do no good?

4  But you are doing away with the fear of God⁹

and hindering meditation before God.

5  For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

6  ^xYour own mouth condemns you, and not I;

your own lips testify against you.

7  ^y“Are you the first man who was born?

Or were you brought forth ^zbefore the hills?

8  Have you listened in the ^acouncil of God?

And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

9  ^bWhat do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

10  Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

older than your father.

11  Are the comforts of God too small for you,

or the word that deals gently with you?

12  Why does your heart carry you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

13  that you turn your spirit against God

and bring such words out of your mouth?

14  ^cWhat is man, that he can be pure?

Or he who is born of a woman, ^dthat he can be righteous?

15  Behold, God^{10 e}puts no trust in his holy ones,

and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

16  ^fhow much less one who is abominable and corrupt,

a man who ^gdrinks injustice like water!

17  “I will show you; hear me,

and what I have seen I will declare

18  (what wise men have told,

without hiding it from their fathers,

19  to whom alone the land was given,

and no stranger passed among them).

20  The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

21  Dreadful sounds are in his ears;

in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

22  He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

and he is marked for the sword.

23  He ^hwanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

24  distress and anguish terrify him;

they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25  Because he has stretched out his hand against God

and defies the Almighty,

26  running stubbornly against him

with a thickly bossed shield;

27  because he has covered his face with his ⁱfat

and gathered fat upon his waist

28  and has lived in desolate cities,

in houses that none should inhabit,

which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

29  he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions spread over the earth;¹¹

30  he will not depart from darkness;

the flame will dry up his shoots,

and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

31  Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

for emptiness will be his payment.

32  It will be paid in full ^jbefore his time,

and his branch will not be green.

33  He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,

and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

34  For the company of the godless is barren,

and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

35  They ^kconceive trouble and give birth to evil,

and their womb prepares deceit.”

1  ^tI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down ^utoward your holy temple

and ^vgive thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.¹

3  ^wOn the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.²

4  ^xAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6  For though the Lord is ^yhigh, he regards the lowly,

^zbut the haughty he knows from afar.

7  ^aThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your right hand delivers me.

8  The Lord will ^bfulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not ^cforsake the work of your hands.