² “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,
    and a man full of talk be judged right?
³ Should your babble silence men,
    and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
⁴ For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,
    and I am clean in God's^[a] eyes.’
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 understanding.^[b]
Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

⁷ “Can you find out the deep things of God?
    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
⁸ It is higher than heaven^[c]—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 summons the court, who can turn him back?
¹¹ For he knows worthless men;
    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
¹² But a stupid man will get understanding
    when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!

¹³ “If you prepare your heart,
    you will stretch 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 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 feel secure, because there is hope;
    you will look around and take your rest in security.
¹⁹ You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;
    many will court 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.”

² “No doubt you are the people,
    and wisdom will die with you.
³ But I have understanding as well as you;
    I am not inferior to you.
    Who does not know such things as these?
⁴ I am a laughingstock to my friends;
    I, who called to God and he answered me,
    a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.
⁵ In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;
    it is ready for those whose feet slip.
⁶ The tents of robbers are at peace,
    and those who provoke God are secure,
    who bring their god in their hand.^[d]

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;^[e]
    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 all mankind.
¹¹ Does not the ear test words
    as the palate tastes food?
¹² Wisdom is with the aged,
    and understanding in length of days.

¹³ “With God^[f] are wisdom and might;
    he has counsel and understanding.
¹⁴ If he tears down, none can rebuild;
    if he shuts a man in, none can open.
¹⁵ If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
    if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
¹⁶ With him are strength and sound wisdom;
    the deceived and the deceiver are his.
¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped,
    and judges he makes fools.
¹⁸ He looses 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
    and takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹ He pours contempt on princes
    and loosens the belt of the strong.
²² He uncovers the deeps out of darkness
    and brings deep darkness to light.
²³ He makes nations great, and he destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, and leads them away.
²⁴ He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth
    and makes them wander in a trackless waste.
²⁵ They grope in the dark without light,
    and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

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 put my life in my hand?
¹⁵ Though he slay me, I will hope in him;^[g]
    yet I will argue my ways to his face.
¹⁶ This will be my salvation,
    that the godless shall not come before him.
¹⁷ Keep listening to my words,
    and let my declaration be in your ears.
¹⁸ Behold, I have prepared my case;
    I know that I shall be in the right.
¹⁹ Who 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 hide myself from your face:
²¹ withdraw your hand far from me,
    and let not dread of you terrify me.
²² Then call, and I will answer;
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.
²³ How many are my iniquities and my sins?
    Make me know my transgression and my sin.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face
    and count me as your enemy?
²⁵ Will you frighten a driven leaf
    and pursue dry chaff?
²⁶ For you write bitter things against me
    and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
²⁷ You put my feet in the stocks
    and watch all my paths;
    you set a limit for^[h] the soles of my feet.
²⁸ Man^[i] wastes away like a rotten thing,
    like a garment that is moth-eaten.

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 its stump die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put out branches like a young plant.
¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;
    man breathes his last, and where is he?
¹¹ As waters fail from a lake
    and a river wastes away and dries up,
¹² so a man lies down and rises not again;
    till the heavens are no more he will not awake
    or be roused out of his sleep.
¹³ Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,
    that you would conceal me until 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 service I would wait,
    till my renewal^[k] 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 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 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 does 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.”