1  “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’s² 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.³

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 heaven⁴—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.⁵

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;⁶

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 God⁷ 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.

^w“For your sake ^xwe are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”