2  “Today also my ^rcomplaint is bitter;¹

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,² 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^{3 s}go out to their toil, ^tseeking game;

the wasteland yields food for their children.

6  They gather their⁴ 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 wicked⁵ they make oil;

they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.

12  From out of the city the dying⁶ 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 God⁷ 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;⁸

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!”