5  But oh, that God would speak

and open his lips to you,

6  and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!

For he is manifold in ^hunderstanding.¹

Know then that God ⁱexacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

7  ^j“Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

8  It is ^khigher than heaven²—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

9  Its measure is longer than the earth

and broader than the sea.

10  If he ^lpasses through and ^mimprisons

and summons the court, who can ⁿturn him back?

11  For he knows ^oworthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

12  But a stupid man will get understanding

when ^pa wild donkey’s colt is ^qborn a man!

13  “If you ^rprepare your heart,

you will ^sstretch out your hands toward him.

14  If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

15  Surely then you will ^tlift up your face without ^ublemish;

you will be secure and will not fear.

16  You will ^vforget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

17  And your life will be ^wbrighter than the noonday;

its darkness will be like the morning.

18  And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and ^xtake your rest in security.

19  You will ^xlie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will ^ycourt your favor.

20  But ^zthe eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is ^ato breathe their last.”

2  “No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

3  But I have ^bunderstanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know ^csuch things as these?

4  I am ^da laughingstock to my friends;

I, who ^ecalled to God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

5  In the thought of one who is ^fat ease there is contempt for misfortune;

it is ready for those whose feet slip.

6  ^gThe tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure,

who bring their god in their hand.³

7  “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;

8  or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;⁴

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

9  Who among all these does not know

that ^hthe hand of the Lord has done this?

10  In ⁱhis hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.

11  Does not ^jthe ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

12  Wisdom is with ^kthe aged,

and understanding in length of days.

13  ^l“With God⁵ are wisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

14  If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he ^mshuts a man in, none can open.

15  If he ⁿwithholds the waters, they dry up;

if he ^osends them out, they overwhelm the land.

16  With him are strength and ^psound wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17  He leads ^qcounselors away stripped,

and ^rjudges he makes fools.

18  He ^slooses the bonds of kings

and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

19  He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows the mighty.

20  He deprives of speech those who are trusted

^tand takes away the discernment of the elders.

21  He ^upours contempt on princes

and loosens the belt of the strong.

22  He ^vuncovers the deeps out of darkness

and brings ^wdeep darkness to light.

23  He ^xmakes nations great, and he destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and ^yleads them away.

24  He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth

and ^zmakes them wander in a trackless waste.

25  They ^agrope in the dark without light,

and he makes them ^bstagger like a drunken man.

1  “Behold, my eye has seen all this,

my ear has heard and understood it.

2  ^cWhat you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3  ^dBut I would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to ^eargue my case with God.

4  As for you, ^fyou whitewash with lies;

^gworthless physicians are you all.

5  Oh that you would ^hkeep silent,

and it would be your wisdom!

6  Hear now my argument

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

7  Will you ⁱspeak falsely for God

and speak ⁱdeceitfully for him?

8  Will you show partiality toward him?

Will you ^jplead the case for God?

9  Will it be well with you when he ^ksearches you out?

Or ^lcan you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

10  He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

11  Will not his ^mmajesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

12  Your maxims are proverbs of ⁿashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

13  “Let me have silence, and I will speak,

and let come on me what may.

14  Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

and ^oput my life in my hand?

15  ^pThough he slay me, I will ^qhope in him;⁶

yet I will ^rargue my ways to his face.

16  This will be my salvation,

that the godless shall not come before him.

17  ^sKeep listening to my words,

and let my declaration be in your ears.

18  Behold, I have ^tprepared my case;

I know that I shall be in the right.

19  ^uWho is there who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

20  Only grant me two things,

then I will not ^vhide myself from your face:

21  ^wwithdraw your hand far from me,

and let not ^xdread of you terrify me.

22  ^yThen call, and I will answer;

or let me speak, and you reply to me.

23  How many are my iniquities and my sins?

^zMake me know my transgression and my sin.

24  Why ^ado you hide your face

and ^bcount me as your enemy?

25  Will you frighten ^ca driven leaf

and pursue dry ^dchaff?

26  For you ^ewrite bitter things against me

and make me inherit ^fthe iniquities of my youth.

27  You put my feet in ^gthe stocks

and ^hwatch all my paths;

you set a limit for⁷ the soles of my feet.

28  Man⁸ wastes away like ⁱa rotten thing,

like a garment that is ^jmoth-eaten.

1  “Man who is ^kborn of a woman

is ^lfew of days and ^mfull of trouble.

2  He comes out like ⁿa flower and ^owithers;

he flees like ^pa shadow and continues not.

3  And do you ^qopen your eyes on such a one

and ^rbring me into judgment with you?

4  Who can bring ^sa clean thing out of an unclean?

There is not one.

5  Since his ^tdays are determined,

and ^uthe number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

6  ^vlook away from him and leave him alone,⁹

that he may enjoy, like ^wa hired hand, his day.

7  “For there is hope for a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

8  Though its root grow old in the earth,

and ^xits stump die in the soil,

9  yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put out ^ybranches like a young plant.

10  But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and ^zwhere is he?

11  ^aAs waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12  so a man lies down and rises not again;

till ^bthe heavens are no more he will not awake

or be ^croused out of his sleep.

13  Oh that you would ^dhide me in ^eSheol,

that you would ^dconceal me ^funtil your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14  If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my ^gservice I would ^hwait,

till my renewal¹⁰ should come.

15  You would ⁱcall, and I would answer you;

you would long for the ^jwork of your hands.

16  For then you would ^knumber my steps;

you would not keep ^lwatch over my sin;

17  my transgression would be ^msealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

18  “But the mountain falls and ⁿcrumbles away,

and ^othe rock is removed from its place;

19  the waters wear away the stones;

the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy the hope of man.

20  You prevail forever against him, and he passes;

you change his countenance, and send him away.

21  His sons come to honor, and he ^pdoes not know it;

they are brought low, and he perceives it not.

22  He feels only the pain of his own body,

and he mourns only for himself.”

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 God¹¹

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^{12 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;¹³

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 has¹⁴ 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,

as¹⁵ 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  “My spirit is broken; my days are ^jextinct;

^kthe graveyard is ready for me.

2  Surely there are mockers about me,

and my eye dwells on their ^lprovocation.

3  “Lay down a pledge for me with you;

who is there who will put up ^msecurity for me?

4  Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,

therefore you will not let them triumph.

5  He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—

the ⁿeyes of his children will fail.

6  “He has made me ^oa byword of the peoples,

and I am one before whom men spit.

7  My ^peye has grown dim from vexation,

and all my members are like ^qa shadow.

8  The upright are ^rappalled at this,

and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

9  Yet the righteous holds to his way,

and he who has ^sclean hands grows stronger and stronger.

10  But you, ^tcome on again, all of you,

and I shall not find a wise man among you.

11  My ^udays are past; my plans are broken off,

the desires of my heart.

12  They ^vmake night into day:

‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’¹⁶

13  If I hope for ^wSheol as ^xmy house,

if I make my bed in darkness,

14  if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

15  where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

16  Will it go down to the bars of ^wSheol?

Shall we ^ydescend together ^zinto the dust?”¹⁷

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  “How long will you torment me

and break me in pieces with words?

3  These ^wten times you have cast reproach upon me;

are you not ashamed to wrong me?

4  And even if it be true that I have erred,

my error remains with myself.

5  If indeed you ^xmagnify yourselves against me

and make my disgrace an argument against me,

6  know then that God has ^yput me in the wrong

and closed his net about me.

7  Behold, I ^zcry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;

I call for help, but there is no justice.

8  He has ^awalled up my way, so that I cannot pass,

and he has set darkness upon my paths.

9  He has ^bstripped from me my glory

and taken the ^ccrown from my head.

10  He breaks me down on every side, and I ^dam gone,

and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

11  He has kindled his wrath against me

and ^ecounts me as his adversary.

12  His ^ftroops come on together;

they have ^gcast up their siege ramp¹⁸ against me

and encamp around my tent.

13  “He has put my ^hbrothers far from me,

and ⁱthose who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

14  My relatives ^jhave failed me,

my close ^kfriends have forgotten me.

15  The guests ^lin my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;

I have become a foreigner in their eyes.