² “Can a mortal be of use to God?
    Can even the wisest be of service to him?^(A)
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty^[a] if you are righteous,
    or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
⁴ Is it for your piety that he reproves you
    and enters into judgment with you?^(B)
5 Is not your wickedness great?
    There is no end to your iniquities.^(C)
6 For you have exacted pledges from your family for no reason
    and stripped the naked of their clothing.^(D)
7 You have given no water to the weary to drink,
    and you have withheld bread from the hungry.^(E)
8 The powerful possess the land,
    and the favored live in it.
⁹ You have sent widows away empty-handed,
    and the arms of the orphans you have crushed.^[b](F)
10 Therefore snares are around you,
    and sudden terror overwhelms you,
¹¹ or darkness so that you cannot see;
    a flood of water covers you.^(G)

¹² “Is not God high in the heavens?
    See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
¹³ Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?
    Can he judge through the deep darkness?^(H)
14 Thick clouds enwrap him, so that he does not see,
    and he walks on the dome of heaven.’
¹⁵ Will you keep to the old way
    that the wicked have trod?
¹⁶ They were snatched away before their time;
    their foundation was washed away by a flood.^(I)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone,’
    and ‘What can the Almighty^[c] do to us?’^[d]
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things—
    but the plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.^(J)
19 The righteous see it and are glad;
    the innocent laugh them to scorn,^(K)
20 saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
    and what they left, the fire has consumed.’^(L)

²¹ “Agree with God,^[e] and be at peace;
    in this way good will come to you.^(M)
22 Receive instruction from his mouth,
    and lay up his words in your heart.^(N)
23 If you return to the Almighty,^[f] you will be restored,
    if you remove unrighteousness from your tents,^(O)
24 if you treat gold like dust
    and gold of Ophir like the stones of the torrent bed,^(P)
25 and if the Almighty^[g] is your gold
    and your precious silver,^(Q)
26 then you will delight yourself in the Almighty^[h]
    and lift up your face to God.^(R)
27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
    and you will pay your vows.^(S)
28 You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
    and light will shine on your ways.^(T)
29 When others are humiliated, you say it is pride,
    for he saves the humble.^(U)
30 He will deliver even those who are guilty;
    they will escape because of the cleanness of your hands.”^[i](V)