2 “How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great twind?
3 uDoes God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
4 If your vchildren have sinned against him,
he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
5 wIf you will seek God
and xplead with the Almighty for mercy,
6 if you are pure and upright,
surely then he will rouse himself for you
and restore your rightful habitation.
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.
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.
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.
