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  “Therefore my thoughts answer me,

because of my haste within me.

3  I hear censure that insults me,

and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

4  Do you not know this from of old,

since man was placed on earth,

5  that ^athe exulting of the wicked is short,

and the joy of the godless but for a moment?

6  Though his height mount up to the heavens,

and his head reach to the clouds,

7  he will ^bperish forever like his own dung;

those who have seen him will say, ^c‘Where is he?’

8  He will fly away like a dream and not be found;

he will be chased away like a vision of the night.

9  ^dThe eye that saw him will see him no more,

nor will ^ehis place any more behold him.

10  His children will seek the favor of the poor,

and his hands will give back his wealth.

11  His bones are full of his youthful vigor,

but it will lie down with him ^fin the dust.

12  “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,

though he hides it under his tongue,

13  though he is loath to let it go

and holds it in his mouth,

14  yet his food is turned in his stomach;

it is the venom of cobras within him.

15  He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;

God casts them out of his belly.

16  He will suck the poison of cobras;

the tongue of a viper will kill him.

17  He will not look upon the rivers,

the ^gstreams flowing with honey and curds.

18  He will give back the fruit of his toil

and will not swallow it down;

from the profit of his trading

he will get no enjoyment.

19  For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;

he has seized a house that he did not build.

20  “Because he knew no contentment in his belly,

he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.

21  There was nothing left after he had eaten;

therefore his prosperity will not endure.

22  In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;

the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.

23  To fill his belly to the full,

God¹ will send his burning anger against him

and rain it upon him into his body.

24  ^hHe will flee from an iron weapon;

a bronze arrow will strike him through.

25  It is drawn forth and comes out of his body;

the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder;

terrors come upon him.

26  Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;

a fire not fanned will devour him;

what is left in his tent will be consumed.

27  The heavens will reveal his iniquity,

and ⁱthe earth will rise up against him.

28  The possessions of his house will be carried away,

dragged off in the day of God’s² wrath.

29  This is ^jthe wicked man’s portion from God,

the heritage decreed for him by God.”