² “Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge,
And fill ^[a]himself with the east wind?
³ Should he reason with unprofitable talk,
Or by speeches with which he can do no good?
⁴ Yes, you cast off fear,
And restrain ^[b]prayer before God.
⁵ For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
And you choose the tongue of the crafty.
^6 (B)Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
Yes, your own lips testify against you.

⁷ “Are you the first man who was born?
^(C)Or were you made before the hills?
^8 (D)Have you heard the counsel of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
^9 (E)What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not in us?
^10 (F)Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Much older than your father.
¹¹ Are the consolations of God too small for you,
And the word spoken ^[c]gently with you?
¹² Why does your heart carry you away,
And ^[d]what do your eyes wink at,
¹³ That you turn your spirit against God,
And let such words go out of your mouth?

¹⁴ “What^(G) is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
^15 (H)If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
^16 (I)How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
^(J)Who drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷ “I will tell you, hear me;
What I have seen I will declare,
¹⁸ What wise men have told,
Not hiding anything received ^(K)from their fathers,
¹⁹ To whom alone the ^[e]land was given,
And ^(L)no alien passed among them:
²⁰ The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
^(M)And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.
^21 [f]Dreadful sounds are in his ears;
^(N)In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him.
²² He does not believe that he will ^(O)return from darkness,
For a sword is waiting for him.
²³ He ^(P)wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows ^(Q)that a day of darkness is ready at his hand.
²⁴ Trouble and anguish make him afraid;
They overpower him, like a king ready for ^[g]battle.
²⁵ For he stretches out his hand against God,
And acts defiantly against the Almighty,
²⁶ Running stubbornly against Him
With his strong, embossed shield.

²⁷ “Though^(R) he has covered his face with his fatness,
And made his waist heavy with fat,
²⁸ He dwells in desolate cities,
In houses which no one inhabits,
Which are destined to become ruins.
²⁹ He will not be rich,
Nor will his wealth ^(S)continue,
Nor will his possessions overspread the earth.
³⁰ He will not depart from darkness;
The flame will dry out his branches,
And ^(T)by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
³¹ Let him not ^(U)trust in futile things, deceiving himself,
For futility will be his reward.
³² It will be accomplished ^(V)before his time,
And his branch will not be green.
³³ He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine,
And cast off his blossom like an olive tree.
³⁴ For the company of hypocrites will be barren,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
^35 (W)They conceive trouble and bring forth futility;
Their womb prepares deceit.”

⁶ Set a wicked man over him,
And let ^(E)an ^[a]accuser stand at his right hand.
⁷ When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
And ^(F)let his prayer become sin.
⁸ Let his days be ^(G)few,
And ^(H)let another take his office.
^9 (I)Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
¹⁰ Let his children ^[b]continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them ^[c]seek their bread also from their desolate places.
^11 (J)Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labor.
¹² Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
^13 (K)Let his ^[d]posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their ^(L)name be blotted out.

^14 (M)Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
And let not the sin of his mother ^(N)be blotted out.
¹⁵ Let them be continually before the Lord,
That He may ^(O)cut off the memory of them from the earth;
¹⁶ Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
That he might even slay the ^(P)broken in heart.
^17 (Q)As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;
As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
¹⁸ As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
So let it ^(R)enter his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.
¹⁹ Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,
And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.
²⁰ Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers,
And to those who speak evil against my person.

²¹ But You, O God the Lord,
Deal with me for Your name’s sake;
Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
²² For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
²³ I am gone ^(S)like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴ My ^(T)knees are weak through fasting,
And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
²⁵ I also have become ^(U)a reproach to them;
When they look at me, ^(V)they shake their heads.

²⁶ Help me, O Lord my God!
Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
^27 (W)That they may know that this is Your hand—
That You, Lord, have done it!
^28 (X)Let them curse, but You bless;
When they arise, let them be ashamed,
But let ^(Y)Your servant rejoice.
^29 (Z)Let my accusers be clothed with shame,
And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.

³⁰ I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;
Yes, ^(AA)I will praise Him among the multitude.
³¹ For ^(AB)He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
To save him from those ^[e]who condemn him.