1  ^uPraise the Lord!

Praise God in his ^msanctuary;

praise him in ⁿhis mighty heavens!¹

2  Praise him for his ^omighty deeds;

praise him according to his excellent ^pgreatness!

3  Praise him with ^qtrumpet sound;

praise him with ^rlute and ^rharp!

4  Praise him with ^stambourine and ^sdance;

praise him with ^tstrings and ^upipe!

5  Praise him with sounding ^vcymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

6  Let ^weverything that has breath praise the Lord!

^xPraise the Lord!

2  “Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be ^zin the right before God?

3  If one wished to ^acontend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4  He is ^bwise in heart and mighty in strength

—who has ^chardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

5  he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

6  who ^dshakes the earth out of its place,

and ^eits pillars tremble;

7  who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

8  who alone ^fstretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

9  who ^gmade ^hthe Bear and ⁱOrion,

the Pleiades ^jand the chambers of the south;

10  who does ^kgreat things beyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

11  Behold, he passes by me, and I ^lsee him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

12  Behold, he snatches away; ^mwho can turn him back?

ⁿWho will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13  “God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of ^oRahab.

14  ^pHow then can I ^qanswer him,

choosing my words with him?

15  ^rThough I am in the right, I cannot answer him;

I must ^sappeal for mercy to my accuser.¹

16  If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

17  For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds ^twithout cause;

18  he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

19  If it is a contest of ^ustrength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, who can ^vsummon him?²

20  Though I am in the right, ^wmy own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21  I am ^xblameless; I regard not myself;

I ^yloathe my life.

22  It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He ^zdestroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23  When ^adisaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity³ of the innocent.

24  ^bThe earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he ^ccovers the faces of its judges—

^dif it is not he, who then is it?

25  “My ^edays are swifter than ^fa runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26  They go by like ^gskiffs of reed,

like ^han eagle swooping on the prey.

27  If I say, ⁱ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and ^jbe of good cheer,’

28  I become ^kafraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not ^lhold me innocent.

29  I shall be ^mcondemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30  If I wash myself with snow

and ⁿcleanse my hands with lye,

31  yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will ^oabhor me.

32  For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should ^pcome to trial together.

33  ^qThere is no⁴ arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34  ^rLet him take his ^srod away from me,

and let ^tnot dread of him terrify me.

35  Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.