12  From out of the city the dying¹ groan,

and the soul of the wounded cries for help;

yet God charges no one with wrong.

13  “There are those who rebel against 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 may kill the poor and needy,

and in the night he is like a thief.

15  The eye of the adulterer also waits for the ^ltwilight,

saying, ‘No eye will see me’;

and he veils his face.

16  In the dark they dig through houses;

by day they shut themselves up;

they do not know the light.

17  For deep darkness is morning to all of them;

for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

18  “You say, ‘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 Sheol those who have sinned.

20  The womb forgets them;

the worm finds them sweet;

^mthey are no longer remembered,

so wickedness is broken like a tree.’

21  “They wrong the barren, childless woman,

and do no good to the widow.

22  Yet God² 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 ⁿhis eyes are upon their ways.

24  ^oThey are exalted a little while, and then are gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

they are cut off like the heads of grain.

25  If it is not so, ^pwho will prove me a liar

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