² “How you have ^(A)helped him who has no power!
    How you have saved ^(B)the arm that has no strength!
³ How you have ^(C)counseled him who has no wisdom,
    and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose breath ^(D)has come out from you?
⁵ The ^(E)dead tremble
    under the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶ Sheol is ^(F)naked before God,^[a]
    and ^(G)Abaddon has no covering.
⁷ He ^(H)stretches out the north over ^(I)the void
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He ^(J)binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not split open under them.
⁹ He covers the face of the full moon^[b]
    and ^(K)spreads over it his cloud.
¹⁰ He has inscribed ^(L)a circle on the face of the waters
    at the boundary between light and darkness.
^11 (M)The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his ^(N)rebuke.
¹² By his power he ^(O)stilled the sea;
    by his understanding he shattered ^(P)Rahab.
^13 (Q)By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced ^(R)the fleeing serpent.
¹⁴ Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ^(S)ways,
    and how small ^(T)a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

² “As God lives, who has ^(V)taken away my right,
    and the Almighty, who has ^(W)made my soul bitter,
³ as long as my breath is in me,
    and ^(X)the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak ^(Y)falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter ^(Z)deceit.
⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    till I die I will not put away my ^(AA)integrity from me.
⁶ I ^(AB)hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart does not ^(AC)reproach me for any of my days.

⁷ “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
    and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
^8 (AD)For what is the hope of the godless ^(AE)when God cuts him off,
    when God takes away his life?
^9 (AF)Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰ Will he ^(AG)take delight in the Almighty?
    Will he call upon God at all times?
¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    ^(AH)what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹² Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

^13 (AI)“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
    and the heritage that ^(AJ)oppressors receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴ If his ^(AK)children are multiplied, it is for ^(AL)the sword,
    and his descendants have not enough bread.
¹⁵ Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
    and his ^(AM)widows do not weep.
¹⁶ Though he ^(AN)heap up silver like dust,
    and pile up clothing like clay,
¹⁷ he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
    and ^(AO)the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸ He builds his ^(AP)house like a moth's,
    like ^(AQ)a booth that ^(AR)a watchman makes.
¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will ^(AS)do so no more;
    he opens his eyes, and ^(AT)his wealth is gone.
^20 (AU)Terrors overtake him like ^(AV)a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind ^(AW)carries him off.
^21 (AX)The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
    it ^(AY)sweeps him out of his place.
²² It^[c] hurls at him ^(AZ)without pity;
    he flees from its^[d] power in headlong flight.
²³ It ^(BA)claps its hands at him
    and ^(BB)hisses at him from its place.

⁷ “That path no bird of prey knows,
    and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
^8 (BH)The proud beasts have not trodden it;
    ^(BI)the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ “Man puts his hand to ^(BJ)the flinty rock
    and overturns mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks,
    and his eye sees every precious thing.
¹¹ He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
    and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

^12 (BK)“But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Man does not know its worth,
    and it is not found in ^(BL)the land of the living.
^14 (BM)The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It ^(BN)cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in ^(BO)the gold of ^(BP)Ophir,
    in precious ^(BQ)onyx or ^(BR)sapphire.
¹⁷ Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of ^(BS)coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above ^(BT)(BU)pearls.
^19 (BV)The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ “From where, then, does wisdom come?
    And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of ^(BW)all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
^22 (BX)Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

^23 (BY)“God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he ^(BZ)looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he ^(CA)gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned the waters by measure,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
    and ^(CB)a way for the lightning of the thunder,
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to man,
‘Behold, ^(CC)the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
    and to ^(CD)turn away from evil is understanding.’”

² “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
    as in the days when God watched over me,
³ when his ^(CF)lamp shone upon my head,
    and by his light I walked through darkness,
⁴ as I was in my prime,^[f]
    when the ^(CG)friendship of God was upon my tent,
⁵ when the Almighty was yet with me,
    when my ^(CH)children were all around me,
⁶ when my steps were ^(CI)washed with ^(CJ)butter,
    and ^(CK)the rock poured out for me streams of ^(CL)oil!
⁷ When I went out to ^(CM)the gate of the city,
    when I prepared my seat in the square,
⁸ the young men saw me and withdrew,
    and the aged rose and stood;
⁹ the princes refrained from talking
    and ^(CN)laid their hand on their mouth;
¹⁰ the voice of the nobles was hushed,
    and their ^(CO)tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
¹¹ When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
    and when the eye saw, it approved,
¹² because I ^(CP)delivered the poor who cried for help,
    and the fatherless who had none to help him.
^13 (CQ)The blessing of him who was ^(CR)about to perish came upon me,
    and I caused ^(CS)the widow's heart to sing for joy.
¹⁴ I ^(CT)put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
    my justice was like a robe and ^(CU)a turban.
¹⁵ I was ^(CV)eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,
    and I searched out ^(CW)the cause of him whom I did not know.
¹⁷ I ^(CX)broke ^(CY)the fangs of the unrighteous
    and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
^18 (CZ)Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my ^(DA)nest,
    and I shall multiply my days as ^(DB)the sand,
¹⁹ my ^(DC)roots spread out to ^(DD)the waters,
    with the dew all night on my ^(DE)branches,
²⁰ my glory fresh with me,
    and my ^(DF)bow ever ^(DG)new in my hand.’

²¹ “Men listened to me and waited
    and kept silence for my counsel.
²² After I spoke they did not speak again,
    and my word ^(DH)dropped upon them.
²³ They waited for me as for the rain,
    and they ^(DI)opened their mouths as for the ^(DJ)spring rain.
²⁴ I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
    and ^(DK)the light of my ^(DL)face they did not cast down.
²⁵ I chose their way and sat as chief,
    and I lived like ^(DM)a king among his troops,
    like one who comforts mourners.

^(AG)“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”