2  ^k“Keep listening to my words,

and let this be your comfort.

3  Bear with me, and I will speak,

and after I have spoken, ^lmock on.

4  As for me, is my ^mcomplaint against man?

Why should I not be impatient?

5  Look at me and be appalled,

and ⁿlay your hand over your mouth.

6  When I remember, I am dismayed,

and shuddering seizes my flesh.

7  ^oWhy do the wicked live,

reach old age, and grow mighty in power?

8  Their ^poffspring are established in their presence,

and their descendants before their eyes.

9  Their houses are ^qsafe from fear,

and ^rno rod of God is upon them.

10  Their bull breeds without fail;

their cow calves and ^sdoes not miscarry.

11  They send out their ^tlittle boys like a flock,

and their children dance.

12  They sing to ^uthe tambourine and ^vthe lyre

and rejoice to the sound of ^vthe pipe.

13  They ^wspend their days in prosperity,

and in ^xpeace they go down to ^ySheol.

14  They say to God, ^z‘Depart from us!

We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.

15  ^aWhat is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

And what ^bprofit do we get if we pray to him?’

16  Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?

^cThe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

17  “How often is it that ^dthe lamp of the wicked is put out?

That their calamity comes upon them?

That God¹ distributes pains in his anger?

18  That they are like ^estraw before the wind,

and like ^fchaff that the storm carries away?

19  You say, ‘God ^gstores up their iniquity for their ^hchildren.’

Let him pay it out to them, that they may ⁱknow it.

20  Let their own eyes see their destruction,

and let them ^jdrink of the wrath of the Almighty.

21  For what do they care for their houses after them,

when ^kthe number of their months is cut off?

22  ^lWill any teach God knowledge,

seeing that he ^mjudges those who are on high?

23  One dies in his full vigor,

being wholly at ease and secure,

24  his pails¹ full of milk

and ⁿthe marrow of his bones moist.

25  Another dies in ^obitterness of soul,

never having tasted of prosperity.

26  They ^plie down alike in the dust,

and ^qthe worms cover them.

27  “Behold, I know your thoughts

and your schemes to wrong me.

28  For you say, ^r‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is ^sthe tent in which the wicked lived?’

29  Have you not asked those who travel the roads,

and do you not accept their testimony

30  that ^tthe evil man is spared in the day of calamity,

that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

31  Who declares his way ^uto his face,

and who ^vrepays him for what he has done?

32  When he is ^wcarried to the grave,

watch is kept over his tomb.

33  ^xThe clods of the valley are sweet to him;

^yall mankind follows after him,

and those who go before him are innumerable.

34  How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?

There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

2  ^a“Can a man be profitable to God?

Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

3  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,

or is it gain to him if you ^bmake your ways blameless?

4  Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you

and ^centers into judgment with you?

5  Is not your evil abundant?

There is no end to your iniquities.

6  For you have ^dexacted pledges of your brothers for nothing

^eand stripped the naked of their clothing.

7  You have given no water to the weary to drink,

and you have ^fwithheld bread from the hungry.

8  ^gThe man with power possessed the land,

and ^hthe favored man lived in it.

9  You have ⁱsent widows away empty,

and ^jthe arms of ^kthe fatherless were crushed.

10  Therefore ^lsnares are all around you,

and sudden terror overwhelms you,

11  or ^mdarkness, so that you cannot see,

and a ⁿflood of ^owater covers you.

12  “Is not God high in the heavens?

See ^pthe highest stars, how lofty they are!

13  But you say, ^q‘What does God know?

Can he judge through ^rthe deep darkness?

14  ^sThick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,

and he walks on the vault of heaven.’

15  Will you keep to the old way

that wicked men have trod?

16  They were snatched away ^tbefore their time;

their foundation was washed away.²

17  They said to God, ^u‘Depart from us,’

and ^v‘What can the Almighty do to us?’³

18  Yet he filled their houses with good things—

but ^wthe counsel of the wicked is far from me.

19  ^xThe righteous see it and are glad;

the innocent one ^ymocks at them,

20  saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,

and what they left ^zthe fire has consumed.’

21  ^a“Agree with God, and ^bbe at peace;

thereby good will come to you.

22  Receive instruction from ^chis mouth,

and ^dlay up his words in your heart.

23  If you ^ereturn to the Almighty you will be ^fbuilt up;

if you ^gremove injustice far from your tents,

24  if you lay gold in ^hthe dust,

and gold of ⁱOphir among the stones of the torrent-bed,

25  then the Almighty will be your gold

and your precious silver.

26  For then you ^jwill delight yourself in the Almighty

and ^klift up your face to God.

27  You will ^lmake your prayer to him, and he will hear you,

and you will ^mpay your vows.

28  You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,

and ⁿlight will shine on your ways.

29  For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;⁴

but he saves ^othe lowly.

30  He ^pdelivers even the one who is not innocent,

who will be delivered through ^qthe cleanness of your hands.”

2  “Today also my ^rcomplaint is bitter;⁵

my ^shand is heavy on account of my groaning.

3  Oh, ^tthat I knew where I might find him,

that I might come even to his ^useat!

4  I would ^vlay my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

5  I would know what he would answer me

and understand what he would say to me.

6  Would he ^wcontend with me in the greatness of his power?

No; he would pay attention to me.

7  There an upright man could argue with him,

and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

8  “Behold, ^xI go forward, but he is not there,

and backward, but I do not perceive him;

9  on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;

he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

10  But he ^yknows ^zthe way that I ^atake;

when he has ^btried me, I shall come out as gold.

11  My foot ^chas held fast to his steps;

I have kept his way and have ^dnot turned aside.

12  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

I have ^etreasured the words of his mouth more than my ^fportion of food.

13  But he is unchangeable,⁶ and ^gwho can turn him back?

What he ^hdesires, that he does.

14  For he will complete what he ⁱappoints for me,

and many such things are ^jin his mind.

15  Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

when I consider, I am in dread of him.

16  God has made my ^kheart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me;

17  yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

nor because thick darkness covers my face.

1  “Why are ^lnot times of judgment ^mkept by the Almighty,

and why do those who know him never see his ⁿdays?

2  Some move ^olandmarks;

they seize flocks and pasture them.

3  They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;

they ^ptake the widow’s ox for a pledge.

4  They ^qthrust the poor off the road;

the poor of the earth ^rall hide themselves.

5  Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert

the poor^{7 s}go out to their toil, ^tseeking game;

the wasteland yields food for their children.

6  They gather their⁸ fodder in the field,

and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.

7  They ^ulie all night naked, without clothing,

and have no covering in the cold.

8  They are wet with the rain of the mountains

and ^vcling to the rock for lack of shelter.

9  (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,

and they take a pledge against the poor.)

10  They go about naked, without clothing;

hungry, they ^wcarry the sheaves;

11  among the olive rows of the wicked⁹ they make oil;

they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.

12  From out of the city the dying¹⁰ groan,

and the soul of ^xthe wounded cries for help;

yet God charges no one with ^ywrong.

13  “There are those who rebel ^zagainst the light,

who are not acquainted with its ways,

and do not stay in its paths.

14  The murderer rises before it is light,

that he ^amay kill the poor and needy,

and in the night he is like a thief.

15  The eye of the adulterer also waits for ^bthe twilight,

saying, ‘No ^ceye will see me’;

and he veils his face.

16  In the dark they ^ddig through houses;

by day they shut themselves up;

they do not know the light.

17  For ^edeep darkness is morning to all of them;

for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

18  “You say, ^f‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;

their portion is cursed in the land;

no treader turns toward their vineyards.

19  Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;

so does ^gSheol those who have sinned.

20  The womb forgets them;

the worm finds them sweet;

they are ^hno longer remembered,

so wickedness is broken like ⁱa tree.’

21  “They wrong the barren, childless woman,

and do no good to the widow.

22  Yet God¹¹ prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;

they rise up when they despair of life.

23  He gives them security, and they are supported,

and his ^jeyes are upon their ways.

24  They are exalted ^ka little while, and then ^lare gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

they are ^mcut off like the heads of grain.

25  If it is ⁿnot so, who will prove me a liar

and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

2  “Dominion and fear are with God;¹²

he makes peace in his high heaven.

3  Is there any number to his ^parmies?

Upon whom does his ^qlight not arise?

4  How then can man be ^rin the right before God?

How can he who is ^sborn of woman be ^tpure?

5  Behold, even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure in his eyes;

6  ^uhow much less man, who is ^va maggot,

and ^wthe son of man, who is a worm!”

2  “How you have ^xhelped him who has no power!

How you have saved ^ythe arm that has no strength!

3  How you have ^zcounseled him who has no wisdom,

and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

4  With whose help have you uttered words,

and whose breath ^ahas come out from you?

5  The ^bdead tremble

under the waters and their inhabitants.

6  Sheol is ^cnaked before God,¹³

and ^dAbaddon has no covering.

7  He ^estretches out the north over ^fthe void

and hangs the earth on nothing.

8  He ^gbinds up the waters in his thick clouds,

and the cloud is not split open under them.

9  He covers the face of the full moon¹⁴

and ^hspreads over it his cloud.

10  He has inscribed ⁱa circle on the face of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness.

11  ^jThe pillars of heaven tremble

and are astounded at his ^krebuke.

12  By his power he ^lstilled the sea;

by his understanding he shattered ^mRahab.

13  ⁿBy his wind the heavens were made fair;

his hand pierced ^othe fleeing serpent.

14  Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ^pways,

and how small ^qa whisper do we hear of him!

But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

2  “As God lives, who has ^staken away my right,

and the Almighty, who has ^tmade my soul bitter,

3  as long as my breath is in me,

and ^uthe spirit of God is in my nostrils,

4  my lips will not speak ^vfalsehood,

and my tongue will not utter ^vdeceit.

5  Far be it from me to say that you are right;

till I die I will not put away my ^wintegrity from me.

6  I ^xhold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;

my heart does not ^yreproach me for any of my days.

7  “Let my enemy be as the wicked,

and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

8  ^zFor what is the hope of the godless ^awhen God cuts him off,

when God takes away his life?

9  ^bWill God hear his cry

when distress comes upon him?

10  Will he ^ctake delight in the Almighty?

Will he call upon God at all times?

11  I will teach you concerning the hand of God;

^dwhat is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

12  Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;

why then have you become altogether vain?

13  ^e“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,

and the heritage that ^foppressors receive from the Almighty:

14  If his ^gchildren are multiplied, it is for ^hthe sword,

and his descendants have not enough bread.

15  Those who survive him the pestilence buries,

and his ⁱwidows do not weep.

16  Though he ^jheap up silver like dust,

and pile up clothing like clay,

17  he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and ^kthe innocent will divide the silver.

18  He builds his ^lhouse like a moth’s,

like ^ma booth that ⁿa watchman makes.

19  He goes to bed rich, but will ^odo so no more;

he opens his eyes, and ^phis wealth is gone.

20  ^qTerrors overtake him like ^ra flood;

in the night a whirlwind ^scarries him off.

21  ^tThe east wind lifts him up and he is gone;

it ^usweeps him out of his place.

22  It¹⁵ hurls at him ^vwithout pity;

he flees from its¹⁶ power in headlong flight.

23  It ^wclaps its hands at him

and ^xhisses at him from its place.

1  “Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for gold that they ^yrefine.

2  Iron is taken out of the earth,

and copper is smelted from the ore.

3  Man puts an end to darkness

and searches out to the farthest limit

the ore in ^zgloom and ^adeep darkness.

4  He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;

they are forgotten by travelers;

they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

5  As for the earth, ^bout of it comes bread,

but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

6  Its stones are the place of ^csapphires,¹⁷

and it has dust of gold.

7  “That path no bird of prey knows,

and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

8  ^dThe proud beasts have not trodden it;

^ethe lion has not passed over it.

9  “Man puts his hand to ^fthe flinty rock

and overturns mountains by the roots.

10  He cuts out channels in the rocks,

and his eye sees every precious thing.

11  He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,

and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

12  ^g“But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13  Man does not know its worth,

and it is not found in ^hthe land of the living.

14  ⁱThe deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15  It ^jcannot be bought for gold,

and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

16  It cannot be valued in ^kthe gold of ^lOphir,

in precious ^monyx or ⁿsapphire.

17  Gold and glass cannot equal it,

nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18  No mention shall be made of ^ocoral or of crystal;

the price of wisdom is above ^oppearls.

19  ^qThe topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20  “From where, then, does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

21  It is hidden from the eyes of ^rall living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

22  ^sAbaddon and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

23  ^t“God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

24  For he ^ulooks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25  When he ^vgave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

26  when he made a decree for the rain

and ^wa way for the lightning of the thunder,

27  then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

28  And he said to man,

‘Behold, ^xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to ^yturn away from evil is understanding.’”

2  “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,

as in the days when God watched over me,

3  when his ^alamp shone upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness,

4  as I was in my prime,¹⁸

when the ^bfriendship of God was upon my tent,

5  when the Almighty was yet with me,

when my ^cchildren were all around me,

6  when my steps were ^dwashed with ^ebutter,

and ^fthe rock poured out for me streams of ^goil!

7  When I went out to ^hthe gate of the city,

when I prepared my seat in the square,

8  the young men saw me and withdrew,

and the aged rose and stood;

9  the princes refrained from talking

and ⁱlaid their hand on their mouth;

10  the voice of the nobles was hushed,

and their ^jtongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

11  When the ear heard, it called me blessed,

and when the eye saw, it approved,

12  because I ^kdelivered the poor who cried for help,

and the fatherless who had none to help him.

13  ^lThe blessing of him who was ^mabout to perish came upon me,

and I caused ⁿthe widow’s heart to sing for joy.

14  I ^oput on righteousness, and it clothed me;

my justice was like a robe and ^pa turban.

15  I was ^qeyes to the blind

and feet to the lame.

16  I was a father to the needy,

and I searched out ^rthe cause of him whom I did not know.

17  I ^sbroke ^tthe fangs of the unrighteous

and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

18  ^uThen I thought, ‘I shall die in my ^vnest,

and I shall multiply my days as ^wthe sand,

19  my ^xroots spread out to ^ythe waters,

with the dew all night on my ^zbranches,

20  my glory fresh with me,

and my ^abow ever ^bnew in my hand.’

21  “Men listened to me and waited