2  “How long will you say these things,

and the words of your mouth be a ^dgreat wind?

3  ^eDoes God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

4  If your ^fchildren have sinned against him,

he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

5  If you will seek God

and ^gplead with the Almighty for mercy,

6  if you are pure and upright,

surely then he will ^hrouse himself for you

and ⁱrestore your rightful habitation.

7  And though your beginning was small,

^jyour latter days will be very great.

8  “For ^kinquire, please, of bygone ages,

and consider what ^lthe fathers have searched out.

9  For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,

for our days on earth are ^ma shadow.

10  Will they not teach you and tell you

and utter words out of their understanding?

11  “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

12  While yet in flower and not cut down,

they ⁿwither before any other plant.

13  Such are the paths of all who ^oforget God;

^pthe hope of ^qthe godless shall perish.

14  His confidence is severed,

and his trust is ^ra spider’s web.¹

15  He leans against his ^shouse, but it does not stand;

he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.

16  He is a lush plant before the sun,

and his ^tshoots spread over his garden.

17  His roots entwine the stone heap;

he looks upon a house of stones.

18  If he is destroyed from his ^uplace,

then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never ^vseen you.’

19  Behold, this is the joy of his way,

and out of ^wthe soil others will spring.

20  “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

nor take the hand of evildoers.

21  He will yet ^xfill your mouth with laughter,

and your lips with shouting.

22  Those who hate you will be ^yclothed with shame,

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

2  “How long will you ^bhunt for words?

Consider, and then we will speak.

3  Why are we counted as ^ccattle?

Why are we stupid in your sight?

4  You who ^dtear yourself in your anger,

shall the earth be forsaken for you,

or ^ethe rock be removed out of its place?

5  “Indeed, ^fthe light of the wicked is put out,

and the flame of his fire does not shine.

6  The light is ^gdark in his tent,

and his lamp above him is put out.

7  His strong steps are shortened,

and his ^hown schemes throw him down.

8  For he is cast into a net by his own feet,

and he walks on its mesh.

9  ⁱA trap seizes him by the heel;

a snare lays hold of him.

10  A rope is hidden for him in the ground,

a trap for him in the path.

11  ^jTerrors frighten him on every side,

and chase him at his heels.

12  His strength is famished,

and calamity is ^kready for his stumbling.

13  It consumes the parts of his skin;

^lthe firstborn of death consumes his limbs.

14  He is torn from the tent in which he trusted

and is brought to ^mthe king of terrors.

15  In his tent dwells that which is none of his;

ⁿsulfur is scattered over his habitation.

16  His ^oroots dry up beneath,

and his branches ^pwither above.

17  His ^qmemory perishes from the earth,

and he has no name in the street.

18  ^rHe is thrust from light into darkness,

and driven out of the world.

19  He has no ^sposterity or progeny among his people,

and no survivor where he used to live.

20  They of the west are appalled at his ^tday,

and ^uhorror seizes them of the east.

21  Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,

such is the place of him who ^vknows not God.”

2  “Dominion and fear are with God;¹

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!”