2  “Should ^ra wise man answer with ^swindy knowledge,

and fill his ^tbelly with ^uthe 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  Your ^vown mouth condemns you, and not I;

^wyour own lips testify against you.

7  ^x“Are you the first man who was born?

Or ^ywere you brought forth ^zbefore the hills?

8  Have you listened in ^athe council 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  ^cBoth 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 ^dspirit against God

and bring such words out of your mouth?

14  ^eWhat is man, ^fthat he can be pure?

Or he who is ^gborn of a woman, that he can be righteous?

15  Behold, God^{2 h}puts no trust in his ⁱholy ones,

and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

16  ^jhow much less one who is abominable and ^kcorrupt,

a man who ^ldrinks 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 ^mfrom their fathers,

19  to whom alone the land was given,

and no ⁿstranger passed among them).

20  The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the ^oyears that are laid up for ^pthe ruthless.

21  ^qDreadful sounds are in his ears;

in ^rprosperity 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 ^swanders 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 ^tprevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25  Because he has stretched out his hand against God

and defies the Almighty,

26  ^urunning ^vstubbornly against him

with a thickly bossed shield;

27  because he has ^wcovered his face with his fat

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 ^xthe breath of his mouth he will depart.

31  Let him not ^ytrust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

for emptiness will be his payment.

32  It will be paid in full ^zbefore 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 ^athe company of the godless is barren,

and ^bfire consumes the tents of bribery.

35  They ^cconceive trouble and give birth to evil,

and their ^dwomb prepares deceit.”

2  “I have heard ^emany such things;

^fmiserable comforters are you all.

3  Shall ^gwindy words have an end?

Or what provokes you that you answer?

4  I also could speak as you do,

if you were in my place;

I could join words together against you

and ^hshake my head at you.

5  I could strengthen you with my mouth,

and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

6  “If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,

and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

7  Surely now God has worn me out;

ⁱhe has⁴ made desolate all my company.

8  And he has shriveled me up,

which is ^ja witness against me,

and my ^kleanness has risen up against me;

it testifies to my face.

9  He has ^ltorn me in his wrath ^mand hated me;

he has ⁿgnashed his teeth at me;

my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

10  Men have ^ogaped at me with their mouth;

they have ^pstruck me insolently on the cheek;

they ^qmass themselves together against me.

11  God gives me up to the ungodly

and casts me into the hands of the wicked.

12  I was at ease, and he broke me apart;

he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;

he set me up as his ^rtarget;

13  his ^sarchers surround me.

He slashes open my kidneys ^tand does not spare;

he ^upours out my gall on the ground.

14  He breaks me with ^vbreach upon breach;

he ^wruns upon me like a warrior.

15  I have sewed ^xsackcloth upon my skin

and have laid ^ymy strength ^zin the dust.

16  My face is red with weeping,

and on my eyelids is ^adeep darkness,

17  although there is no ^bviolence in my hands,

and my prayer is pure.

18  “O earth, ^ccover not my blood,

and let my ^dcry find no resting place.

19  Even now, behold, my ^ewitness is in heaven,

and he who testifies for me is ^fon high.

20  My friends ^gscorn me;

my eye pours out tears to God,

21  that he would ^hargue the case of a man with God,

as⁵ a son of man does with his neighbor.

22  For when a few years have come

I shall go the way ⁱfrom which I shall not return.

1  Save me, O God!

For ^uthe waters have come up to my neck.¹

2  I sink in deep ^vmire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood ^wsweeps over me.

3  ^xI am weary with my crying out;

^ymy throat is parched.

^zMy eyes grow dim

with ^awaiting for my God.

4  ^bMore in number than the hairs of my head

are ^cthose who hate me ^dwithout cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,

^ethose who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

5  O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6  Let not those who hope in you ^fbe put to shame through me,

O Lord God of hosts;

let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel.

7  For it is ^gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,

that dishonor has covered my face.

8  I have become ^ha stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother’s sons.

9  For ⁱzeal for your house has consumed me,

and ^jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

10  When I wept and humbled² my soul with fasting,

it became my reproach.

11  When I made ^ksackcloth my clothing,

I became ^la byword to them.

12  I am the talk of those who ^msit in the gate,

and the drunkards make ⁿsongs about me.

13  But as for me, my ^oprayer is to you, O Lord.

At ^pan acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

14  Deliver me

from sinking in ^qthe mire;

^rlet me be delivered from my enemies

and from ^sthe deep waters.

15  Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or ^tthe pit close ^uits mouth over me.

16  Answer me, O Lord, for your ^vsteadfast love is good;

according to your abundant ^wmercy, ^xturn to me.

17  ^yHide not your face from your servant,

^zfor I am in distress; ^amake haste to answer me.

18  Draw near to my soul, redeem me;

ransom me because of my enemies!

19  You know my ^breproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

20  ^bReproaches have broken my heart,

so that I am in ^cdespair.

I ^dlooked for ^epity, but there was none,

and for ^fcomforters, but I found none.

21  They gave me ^gpoison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me ^hsour wine to drink.

22  ⁱLet their own ^jtable before them become a snare;

^kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.³

23  ^lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,

^mand make their loins tremble continually.

24  Pour out your indignation upon them,

and let your burning anger overtake them.

25  ⁿMay their camp be a desolation;

let no one dwell in their tents.

26  For they ^opersecute him whom ^pyou have struck down,

and they recount the pain of ^qthose you have wounded.

27  ^rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from you.⁴

28  Let them be ^sblotted out of the book of the living;

let them not be ^tenrolled among the righteous.

29  But I am afflicted and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, ^uset me on high!

30  I will ^vpraise the name of God with a song;

I will ^wmagnify him with ^xthanksgiving.

31  This will ^yplease the Lord more than an ox

or a bull ^zwith horns and hoofs.

32  When ^athe humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, ^alet your hearts revive.

33  For the Lord hears the needy

and ^bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34  Let ^cheaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves in them.

35  For ^dGod will save Zion

and build up the cities of Judah,

and people shall dwell there and possess it;

36  ^ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who love his name shall dwell in it.