² “How long will you speak these things,
And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
^3 (A)Does God subvert judgment?
Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
⁴ If ^(B)your sons have sinned against Him,
He has cast them away ^[a]for their transgression.
^5 (C)If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
⁶ If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would ^[b]awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
⁷ Though your beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would ^(D)increase abundantly.

⁸ “For^(E) inquire, please, of the former age,
And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
⁹ For ^(F)we were born yesterday, and know ^[c]nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their heart?

¹¹ “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the reeds flourish without water?
^12 (G)While it is yet green and not cut down,
It withers before any other plant.
¹³ So are the paths of all who ^(H)forget God;
And the hope of the ^(I)hypocrite shall perish,
¹⁴ Whose confidence shall be cut off,
And whose trust is ^[d]a spider’s web.
^15 (J)He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure.
¹⁶ He grows green in the sun,
And his branches spread out in his garden.
¹⁷ His roots wrap around the rock heap,
And look for a place in the stones.
^18 (K)If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹ “Behold, this is the joy of His way,
And ^(L)out of the earth others will grow.
²⁰ Behold, ^(M)God will not ^[e]cast away the blameless,
Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with ^[f]rejoicing.
²² Those who hate you will be ^(N)clothed with shame,
And the dwelling place of the wicked ^[g]will come to nothing.”

⁷ He is the Lord our God;
^(G)His judgments are in all the earth.
⁸ He ^(H)remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
^9 (I)The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
¹⁰ And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹ Saying, ^(J)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
^12 (K)When they were few in number,
Indeed very few, ^(L)and strangers in it.

¹³ When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
^14 (M)He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, ^(N)He rebuked kings for their sakes,
¹⁵ Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”

¹⁶ Moreover ^(O)He called for a famine in the land;
He destroyed all the ^(P)provision of bread.
^17 (Q)He sent a man before them—
Joseph—who ^(R)was sold as a slave.
^18 (S)They hurt his feet with fetters,
^[a]He was laid in irons.
¹⁹ Until the time that his word came to pass,
^(T)The word of the Lord tested him.
^20 (U)The king sent and released him,
The ruler of the people let him go free.
^21 (V)He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his possessions,
²² To ^[b]bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.

^23 (W)Israel also came into Egypt,
And Jacob dwelt ^(X)in the land of Ham.
^24 (Y)He increased His people greatly,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
^25 (Z)He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.

^26 (AA)He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron whom He had chosen.
²⁷ They ^(AB)performed His signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His word.
^29 (AC)He turned their waters into blood,
And killed their fish.
^30 (AD)Their land abounded with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
^31 (AE)He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their territory.
^32 (AF)He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
^33 (AG)He struck their vines also, and their fig trees,
And splintered the trees of their territory.
^34 (AH)He spoke, and locusts came,
Young locusts without number,
³⁵ And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
^36 (AI)He also ^[c]destroyed all the firstborn in their land,
^(AJ)The first of all their strength.

^37 (AK)He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.
^38 (AL)Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
^39 (AM)He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
^40 (AN)The people asked, and He brought quail,
And ^(AO)satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
^41 (AP)He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.

⁴² For He remembered ^(AQ)His holy promise,
And Abraham His servant.
⁴³ He brought out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with ^[d]gladness.
^44 (AR)He gave them the lands of the ^[e]Gentiles,
And they inherited the labor of the nations,
^45 (AS)That they might observe His statutes
And keep His laws.

^[f]Praise the Lord!