2  “As God lives, who has ^staken away my right,

and the Almighty, who has ^tmade my soul bitter,

3  as long as my breath is in me,

and ^uthe spirit of God is in my nostrils,

4  my lips will not speak ^vfalsehood,

and my tongue will not utter ^vdeceit.

5  Far be it from me to say that you are right;

till I die I will not put away my ^wintegrity from me.

6  I ^xhold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;

my heart does not ^yreproach me for any of my days.

7  “Let my enemy be as the wicked,

and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.

8  ^zFor what is the hope of the godless ^awhen God cuts him off,

when God takes away his life?

9  ^bWill God hear his cry

when distress comes upon him?

10  Will he ^ctake delight in the Almighty?

Will he call upon God at all times?

11  I will teach you concerning the hand of God;

^dwhat is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

12  Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;

why then have you become altogether vain?

13  ^e“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,

and the heritage that ^foppressors receive from the Almighty:

14  If his ^gchildren are multiplied, it is for ^hthe sword,

and his descendants have not enough bread.

15  Those who survive him the pestilence buries,

and his ⁱwidows do not weep.

16  Though he ^jheap up silver like dust,

and pile up clothing like clay,

17  he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and ^kthe innocent will divide the silver.

18  He builds his ^lhouse like a moth’s,

like ^ma booth that ⁿa watchman makes.

19  He goes to bed rich, but will ^odo so no more;

he opens his eyes, and ^phis wealth is gone.

20  ^qTerrors overtake him like ^ra flood;

in the night a whirlwind ^scarries him off.

21  ^tThe east wind lifts him up and he is gone;

it ^usweeps him out of his place.

22  It¹ hurls at him ^vwithout pity;

he flees from its² power in headlong flight.

23  It ^wclaps its hands at him

and ^xhisses at him from its place.

1  “Surely there is a mine for silver,

and a place for gold that they ^yrefine.

2  Iron is taken out of the earth,

and copper is smelted from the ore.

3  Man puts an end to darkness

and searches out to the farthest limit

the ore in ^zgloom and ^adeep darkness.

4  He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;

they are forgotten by travelers;

they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.

5  As for the earth, ^bout of it comes bread,

but underneath it is turned up as by fire.

6  Its stones are the place of ^csapphires,³

and it has dust of gold.

7  “That path no bird of prey knows,

and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.

8  ^dThe proud beasts have not trodden it;

^ethe lion has not passed over it.

9  “Man puts his hand to ^fthe flinty rock

and overturns mountains by the roots.

10  He cuts out channels in the rocks,

and his eye sees every precious thing.

11  He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,

and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

12  ^g“But where shall wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13  Man does not know its worth,

and it is not found in ^hthe land of the living.

14  ⁱThe deep says, ‘It is not in me,’

and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15  It ^jcannot be bought for gold,

and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

16  It cannot be valued in ^kthe gold of ^lOphir,

in precious ^monyx or ⁿsapphire.

17  Gold and glass cannot equal it,

nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

18  No mention shall be made of ^ocoral or of crystal;

the price of wisdom is above ^oppearls.

19  ^qThe topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20  “From where, then, does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

21  It is hidden from the eyes of ^rall living

and concealed from the birds of the air.

22  ^sAbaddon and Death say,

‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

23  ^t“God understands the way to it,

and he knows its place.

24  For he ^ulooks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25  When he ^vgave to the wind its weight

and apportioned the waters by measure,

26  when he made a decree for the rain

and ^wa way for the lightning of the thunder,

27  then he saw it and declared it;

he established it, and searched it out.

28  And he said to man,

‘Behold, ^xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to ^yturn away from evil is understanding.’”

1  ^gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

2  Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless ^hin my complaint and I ⁱmoan,

3  because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they ^jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4  My heart is in anguish within me;

^kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5  Fear and trembling come upon me,

and ^lhorror ^moverwhelms me.

6  And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

7  ⁿyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

8  I would hurry to find a shelter

from ^othe raging wind and tempest.”

9  Destroy, O Lord, ^pdivide their tongues;

for I see ^qviolence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and ^riniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

^soppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who ^tdeals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

13  ^uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in ^vthe throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol ^walive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  ^xEvening and ^ymorning and at ^znoon

I ^autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for ^bmany are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is ^centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not ^dchange

and do not fear God.

20  My companion^{2 e}stretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His ^fspeech was ^gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were ^hdrawn swords.

22  ⁱCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

^jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, ^kwill cast them down

into ^lthe pit of destruction;

men of ^mblood and treachery

shall not ⁿlive out half their days.

But I will ^otrust in you.