⁷ “Can you find out the deep things of God?
    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?^[d]
8 It is higher than heaven^[e]—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 passes through, and imprisons,
    and assembles for judgment, who can hinder him?
¹¹ For he knows those who are worthless;
    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
¹² But a stupid person will get understanding,
    when a wild ass is born human.^[f]

¹³ “If you direct your heart rightly,
    you will stretch out your hands toward him.
¹⁴ If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
    and do not let wickedness reside in your tents.
¹⁵ Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;
    you will be secure, and will not fear.
¹⁶ You will forget your misery;
    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
¹⁷ And your life will be brighter than the noonday;
    its darkness will be like the morning.
¹⁸ And you will have confidence, because there is hope;
    you will be protected^[g] and take your rest in safety.
¹⁹ You will lie down, and no one will make you afraid;
    many will entreat your favor.
²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail;
    all way of escape will be lost to them,
    and their hope is to breathe their last.”

⁷ “But ask the animals, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
⁸ ask the plants of the earth,^[j] and they will teach you;
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
⁹ Who among all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of every human being.
¹¹ Does not the ear test words
    as the palate tastes food?
¹² Is wisdom with the aged,
    and understanding in length of days?

¹³ “With God^[k] are wisdom and strength;
    he has counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ If he tears down, no one can rebuild;
    if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.
¹⁵ If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
    if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
¹⁶ With him are strength and wisdom;
    the deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped,
    and makes fools of judges.
¹⁸ He looses the sash of kings,
    and binds a waistcloth on their loins.
¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped,
    and overthrows the mighty.
²⁰ He deprives of speech those who are trusted,
    and takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹ He pours contempt on princes,
    and looses the belt of the strong.
²² He uncovers the deeps out of darkness,
    and brings deep darkness to light.
²³ He makes nations great, then destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
²⁴ He strips understanding from the leaders^[l] of the earth,
    and makes them wander in a pathless waste.
²⁵ They grope in the dark without light;
    he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

13 “Look, my eye has seen all this,
    my ear has heard and understood it.
² What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.
³ But I would speak to the Almighty,^[m]
    and I desire to argue my case with God.
⁴ As for you, you whitewash with lies;
    all of you are worthless physicians.
⁵ If you would only keep silent,
    that would be your wisdom!
⁶ Hear now my reasoning,
    and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
⁷ Will you speak falsely for God,
    and speak deceitfully for him?
⁸ Will you show partiality toward him,
    will you plead the case for God?
⁹ Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
    Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another?
¹⁰ He will surely rebuke you
    if in secret you show partiality.
¹¹ Will not his majesty terrify you,
    and the dread of him fall upon you?
¹² Your maxims are proverbs of ashes,
    your defenses are defenses of clay.

¹³ “Let me have silence, and I will speak,
    and let come on me what may.
¹⁴ I will take my flesh in my teeth,
    and put my life in my hand.^[n]
15 See, he will kill me; I have no hope;^[o]
    but I will defend my ways to his face.
¹⁶ This will be my salvation,
    that the godless shall not come before him.
¹⁷ Listen carefully to my words,
    and let my declaration be in your ears.
¹⁸ I have indeed prepared my case;
    I know that I shall be vindicated.
¹⁹ Who is there that will contend with me?
    For then I would be silent and die.

14 “A mortal, born of woman, few of days and full of trouble,
²     comes up like a flower and withers,
    flees like a shadow and does not last.
³ Do you fix your eyes on such a one?
    Do you bring me into judgment with you?
⁴ Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
    No one can.
⁵ Since their days are determined,
    and the number of their months is known to you,
    and you have appointed the bounds that they cannot pass,
⁶ look away from them, and desist,^[q]
    that they may enjoy, like laborers, their days.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree,
    if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
⁸ Though its root grows old in the earth,
    and its stump dies in the ground,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put forth branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But mortals die, and are laid low;
    humans expire, and where are they?
¹¹ As waters fail from a lake,
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹² so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
    until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
    or be roused out of their sleep.
¹³ O that you would hide me in Sheol,
    that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
    that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
¹⁴ If mortals die, will they live again?
    All the days of my service I would wait
    until my release should come.
¹⁵ You would call, and I would answer you;
    you would long for the work of your hands.
¹⁶ For then you would not^[r] number my steps,
    you would not keep watch over my sin;
¹⁷ my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
    and you would cover over my iniquity.

¹⁸ “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,
    and the 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 mortals.
²⁰ You prevail forever against them, and they pass away;
    you change their countenance, and send them away.
²¹ Their children come to honor, and they do not know it;
    they are brought low, and it goes unnoticed.
²² They feel only the pain of their own bodies,
    and mourn only for themselves.”