² Dominion and dread^(A) belong to Him,
the One who establishes harmony in the heavens.^[a]
3 Can His troops be numbered?
Does His light not shine on everyone?
⁴ How can a person be justified before God?^(B)
How can one born of woman be pure?^(C)
5 If even the moon does not shine
and the stars are not pure in His sight,^(D)
6 how much less man, who is a maggot,
and the son of man, who is a worm!^(E)

² How you have helped^(F) the powerless
and delivered the arm that is weak!
³ How you have counseled the unwise^(G)
and thoroughly explained the path to success!
⁴ Who did you speak these words to?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?

⁵ The departed spirits tremble
beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.^(H)
6 Sheol^(I) is naked before God,
and Abaddon^(J) has no covering.^(K)
7 He stretches the northern skies over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He wraps up the waters in His clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight.^(L)
9 He obscures the view of His throne,
spreading His cloud over it.
¹⁰ He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters^(M)
at the boundary between light and darkness.
¹¹ The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,
astounded at His rebuke.^(N)
12 By His power He stirred^(O) the sea,
and by His understanding He crushed Rahab.^(P)
13 By His breath the heavens gained their beauty;
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.^[b](Q)
14 These are but the fringes of His ways;
how faint is the word we hear of Him!
Who can understand His mighty thunder?

² As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,^(R)
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,^(S)
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,^(T)
4 my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
⁵ I will never affirm that you are right.
I will maintain my integrity^[c](U) until I die.
⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience^(V) will not accuse me as long as I live!

⁷ May my enemy be like the wicked
and my opponent like the unjust.
⁸ For what hope does the godless man^(W) have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?^(X)
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes on him?
¹⁰ Will he delight^(Y) in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
¹¹ I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.^[d]
12 All of you have seen this for yourselves,
why do you keep up this empty talk?^(Z)

¹³ This is a wicked man’s lot^(AA) from God,
the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
¹⁴ Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;
his descendants will never have enough food.
¹⁵ Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.^(AB)
16 Though he piles up silver like dust
and heaps up a wardrobe like clay—
¹⁷ he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide up his silver.^(AC)
18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon
or a booth set up by a watchman.^(AD)
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, it is gone.
²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood;^(AE)
a storm^(AF) wind sweeps him away at night.
²¹ An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;
it carries him away from his place.
²² It blasts at him without mercy,
while he flees desperately from its grasp.
²³ It claps^(AG) its hands at him
and scorns him from its place.

⁴ I do not sit with the worthless
or associate with hypocrites.
⁵ I hate a crowd of evildoers,
and I do not sit with the wicked.^(D)
6 I wash my hands^[a] in innocence^(E)
and go around Your altar, Lord,^(F)
7 raising my voice in thanksgiving^(G)
and telling about Your wonderful works.^(H)

⁸ Lord, I love the house where You dwell,
the place where Your glory resides.^(I)
9 Do not destroy me along with sinners,
or my life along with men of bloodshed^(J)
10 in whose hands are evil schemes
and whose right hands are filled with bribes.^(K)

¹¹ But I live with integrity;
redeem me and be gracious to me.^(L)
12 My foot stands on level ground;^(M)
I will praise the Lord in the assemblies.^(N)