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  ^oThe Mighty One, God the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

^pfrom the rising of the sun to its setting.

2  Out of Zion, ^qthe perfection of beauty,

^rGod shines forth.

3  Our God comes; he ^sdoes not keep silence;¹

before him is a devouring ^tfire,

around him a mighty tempest.

4  ^uHe calls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

5  “Gather to me my faithful ones,

who made ^va covenant with me by sacrifice!”

6  ^wThe heavens declare his righteousness,

for ^xGod himself is judge! Selah

7  ^y“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you.

^zI am God, your God.

8  Not for your sacrifices ^ado I rebuke you;

your burnt offerings are continually before me.

9  I will not accept a bull from your house

or goats from your folds.

10  For every beast of the forest is mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

11  ^bI know all the birds of the hills,

and all that moves in the field is mine.

12  “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

^cfor the world and its fullness are mine.

13  Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

14  ^dOffer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,²

and ^eperform your vows to the Most High,

15  and ^fcall upon me in the day of trouble;

I will ^gdeliver you, and you shall ^hglorify me.”

16  But to the wicked God says:

“What right have you to recite my statutes

or take my covenant on your lips?

17  ⁱFor you hate discipline,

^jand you cast my words behind you.

18  If you see a thief, ^kyou are pleased with him,

^land you keep company with adulterers.

19  “You give your mouth free rein for evil,

^mand your tongue frames deceit.

20  You sit and speak against your brother;

you slander your own mother’s son.

21  These things you have done, and I ⁿhave been silent;

you thought that I³ was one like yourself.

But now I ^orebuke you and ^play the charge before you.

22  “Mark this, then, you who ^qforget God,

lest I tear you apart, and there be ^rnone to deliver!

23  The one who ^soffers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who ^torders his way rightly

I will show the ^usalvation of God!”