2  “If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?

Yet who can keep from speaking?

3  Behold, you have ^einstructed many,

and ^fyou have strengthened the weak hands.

4  Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble knees.

5  But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;

it touches you, and you are dismayed.

6  ^gIs not your fear of God¹ your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

7  “Remember: ^hwho that was innocent ever perished?

Or where were the upright cut off?

8  As I have seen, ⁱthose who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.

9  By the breath of God they perish,

and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.

10  The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,

^jthe teeth of the young lions are broken.

11  The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12  “Now a word was brought to me stealthily;

my ear received the whisper of it.

13  ^kAmid thoughts from visions of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men,

14  dread came upon me, and trembling,

which made all my bones shake.

15  A spirit glided past my face;

the hair of my flesh stood up.

16  It stood still,

but I could not discern its appearance.

A form was before my eyes;

there was silence, then I heard a voice:

17  ^l‘Can mortal man be in the right before² God?

Can a man be pure before his Maker?

18  Even in his servants he ^mputs no trust,

and his angels he charges with error;

19  ⁿhow much more those who dwell in ^ohouses of clay,

whose foundation is in the ^pdust,

who are crushed like³ the moth.

20  Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces;

they ^qperish forever without anyone regarding it.

21  Is not their ^rtent-cord plucked up within them,

do they not die, and that without wisdom?’

1  “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?

To which of the holy ones will you turn?

2  Surely vexation kills the fool,

and jealousy slays the simple.

3  ^sI have seen the fool taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.

4  His children are ^tfar from safety;

they are ^ucrushed in the gate,

and there is no one to deliver them.

5  The hungry eat his harvest,

and he takes it even out of thorns,¹

and the thirsty pant² after his³ wealth.

6  For ^vaffliction does not come from the dust,

nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

7  but man is ^wborn to trouble

as the sparks fly upward.

8  “As for me, I would seek God,

and to God would I commit my cause,

9  who does great things and ^xunsearchable,

marvelous things without number:

10  ^yhe gives rain on the earth

and sends waters on the fields;

11  ^zhe sets on high those who are lowly,

and those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12  ^aHe frustrates the devices of the crafty,

so that their hands achieve no success.

13  ^bHe catches the wise in their own craftiness,

and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.

14  They meet with darkness in the daytime

and ^cgrope at noonday as in the night.

15  But he ^dsaves the needy from the sword of their mouth

and from the hand of the mighty.

16  So the poor have hope,

and ^einjustice shuts her mouth.

17  “Behold, ^fblessed is the one whom God reproves;

therefore ^gdespise not the discipline of the Almighty.

18  For ^hhe wounds, but he binds up;

he shatters, but his hands heal.

19  He will deliver you from ⁱsix troubles;

in seven no evil⁴ shall touch you.

20  ^jIn famine he will redeem you from death,

and in war from the power of the sword.

21  You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,

and shall not fear destruction when it comes.

22  At destruction and famine you shall laugh,

and ^kshall not fear the beasts of the earth.

23  For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,

and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

24  You shall know that your tent is at peace,

and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.

25  You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,

and your descendants ^las the grass of the earth.

26  ^mYou shall come to your grave in ripe old age,

like a sheaf gathered up in its season.

27  Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.

Hear, and know it for your good.”⁵

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 God¹

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^{2 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;³

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.”

2  ^y“Can a man be profitable to God?

Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.

3  ^zIs it any pleasure to the Almighty if ^ayou are in the right,

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

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

and enters into judgment with you?

5  Is not your evil abundant?

There is no end to your iniquities.

6  For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing

and stripped the naked of their clothing.

7  ^bYou have given no water to the weary to drink,

and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

8  The man with power possessed the land,

and the favored man lived in it.

9  You have sent ^cwidows away empty,

and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.

10  Therefore snares are all around you,

and sudden terror overwhelms you,

11  or darkness, so that you cannot see,

and ^da flood of water covers you.

12  “Is not God ^ehigh in the heavens?

See the highest stars, how lofty they are!

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

Can he judge through the ^gdeep darkness?

14  Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,

and he walks on the ^hvault of heaven.’

15  Will you keep to the old way

that wicked men have trod?

16  They were snatched away ⁱbefore their time;

their foundation was washed away.¹

17  ^jThey said to God, ‘Depart from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’²

18  Yet he filled their houses with good things—

but the ^kcounsel of the wicked is far from me.

19  ^lThe righteous see it and are glad;

the innocent one mocks at them,

20  saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,

and what they left the fire has consumed.’

21  “Agree with God, and be at peace;

thereby good will come to you.

22  Receive instruction from his mouth,

and lay up his words in your heart.

23  ^mIf you return to the Almighty you will be built up;

if you remove ⁿinjustice far from your tents,

24  if you lay gold in the dust,

and gold of ^oOphir among the stones of the torrent-bed,

25  then the Almighty will be your gold

and your precious silver.

26  For then you will ^pdelight yourself in the Almighty

and ^qlift up your face to God.

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

and you will pay your vows.

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

and light will shine on your ways.

29  For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;³

but ^rhe saves the lowly.

30  He delivers even the one who is not innocent,

who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”