13 “My eyes have seen all this,^(A)
    my ears have heard and understood it.
² What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.^(B)
3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty^(C)
    and to argue my case with God.^(D)
4 You, however, smear me with lies;^(E)
    you are worthless physicians,^(F) all of you!^(G)
5 If only you would be altogether silent!^(H)
    For you, that would be wisdom.^(I)
6 Hear now my argument;
    listen to the pleas of my lips.^(J)
7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
    Will you speak deceitfully for him?^(K)
8 Will you show him partiality?^(L)
    Will you argue the case for God?
⁹ Would it turn out well if he examined you?^(M)
    Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?^(N)
10 He would surely call you to account
    if you secretly showed partiality.^(O)
11 Would not his splendor^(P) terrify you?
    Would not the dread of him fall on you?^(Q)
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
    your defenses are defenses of clay.^(R)

¹³ “Keep silent^(S) and let me speak;^(T)
    then let come to me what may.^(U)
14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy
    and take my life in my hands?^(V)
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope^(W) in him;^(X)
    I will surely^[a] defend my ways to his face.^(Y)
16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,^(Z)
    for no godless^(AA) person would dare come before him!^(AB)
17 Listen carefully to what I say;^(AC)
    let my words ring in your ears.
¹⁸ Now that I have prepared my case,^(AD)
    I know I will be vindicated.^(AE)
19 Can anyone bring charges against me?^(AF)
    If so, I will be silent^(AG) and die.^(AH)

²⁰ “Only grant me these two things, God,
    and then I will not hide from you:
²¹ Withdraw your hand^(AI) far from me,
    and stop frightening me with your terrors.^(AJ)
22 Then summon me and I will answer,^(AK)
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.^(AL)
23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed?^(AM)
    Show me my offense and my sin.^(AN)
24 Why do you hide your face^(AO)
    and consider me your enemy?^(AP)
25 Will you torment^(AQ) a windblown leaf?^(AR)
    Will you chase^(AS) after dry chaff?^(AT)
26 For you write down bitter things against me
    and make me reap the sins of my youth.^(AU)
27 You fasten my feet in shackles;^(AV)
    you keep close watch on all my paths^(AW)
    by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

²⁸ “So man wastes away like something rotten,
    like a garment^(AX) eaten by moths.^(AY)

14 “Mortals, born of woman,^(AZ)
    are of few days^(BA) and full of trouble.^(BB)
2 They spring up like flowers^(BC) and wither away;^(BD)
    like fleeting shadows,^(BE) they do not endure.^(BF)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?^(BG)
    Will you bring them^[b] before you for judgment?^(BH)
4 Who can bring what is pure^(BI) from the impure?^(BJ)
    No one!^(BK)
5 A person’s days are determined;^(BL)
    you have decreed the number of his months^(BM)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.^(BN)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,^(BO)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.^(BP)

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:^(BQ)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots^(BR) will not fail.^(BS)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump^(BT) die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water^(BU) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.^(BV)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;^(BW)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(BX)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(BY)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(BZ)
    till the heavens are no more,^(CA) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(CB)

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave^(CC)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(CD)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember^(CE) me!^(CF)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service^(CG)
    I will wait for my renewal^[c](CH) to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;^(CI)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(CJ)
16 Surely then you will count my steps^(CK)
    but not keep track of my sin.^(CL)
17 My offenses will be sealed^(CM) up in a bag;^(CN)
    you will cover over my sin.^(CO)

¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles^(CP)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,^(CQ)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents^(CR) wash away the soil,^(CS)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.^(CT)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(CU)
    you change their countenance and send them away.^(CV)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(CW)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(CX)
    and mourn only for themselves.^(CY)”

² “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
    or fill their belly with the hot east wind?^(DA)
3 Would they argue with useless words,
    with speeches that have no value?^(DB)
4 But you even undermine piety
    and hinder devotion to God.^(DC)
5 Your sin^(DD) prompts your mouth;^(DE)
    you adopt the tongue of the crafty.^(DF)
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
    your own lips testify against you.^(DG)

⁷ “Are you the first man ever born?^(DH)
    Were you brought forth before the hills?^(DI)
8 Do you listen in on God’s council?^(DJ)
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?^(DK)
9 What do you know that we do not know?
    What insights do you have that we do not have?^(DL)
10 The gray-haired and the aged^(DM) are on our side,
    men even older than your father.^(DN)
11 Are God’s consolations^(DO) not enough for you,
    words^(DP) spoken gently to you?^(DQ)
12 Why has your heart^(DR) carried you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,
¹³ so that you vent your rage^(DS) against God
    and pour out such words^(DT) from your mouth?^(DU)

¹⁴ “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
    or those born of woman,^(DV) that they could be righteous?^(DW)
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,^(DX)
    if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,^(DY)
16 how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,^(DZ)
    who drink up evil^(EA) like water!^(EB)

¹⁷ “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
    let me tell you what I have seen,^(EC)
18 what the wise have declared,
    hiding nothing received from their ancestors^(ED)
19 (to whom alone the land^(EE) was given
    when no foreigners moved among them):
²⁰ All his days the wicked man suffers torment,^(EF)
    the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.^(EG)
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;^(EH)
    when all seems well, marauders attack him.^(EI)
22 He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;^(EJ)
    he is marked for the sword.^(EK)
23 He wanders about^(EL) for food like a vulture;^(EM)
    he knows the day of darkness^(EN) is at hand.^(EO)
24 Distress and anguish^(EP) fill him with terror;^(EQ)
    troubles overwhelm him, like a king^(ER) poised to attack,
²⁵ because he shakes his fist^(ES) at God
    and vaunts himself against the Almighty,^(ET)
26 defiantly charging against him
    with a thick, strong shield.^(EU)

²⁷ “Though his face is covered with fat
    and his waist bulges with flesh,^(EV)
28 he will inhabit ruined towns
    and houses where no one lives,^(EW)
    houses crumbling to rubble.^(EX)
29 He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,^(EY)
    nor will his possessions spread over the land.^(EZ)
30 He will not escape the darkness;^(FA)
    a flame^(FB) will wither his shoots,^(FC)
    and the breath of God’s mouth^(FD) will carry him away.^(FE)
31 Let him not deceive^(FF) himself by trusting what is worthless,^(FG)
    for he will get nothing in return.^(FH)
32 Before his time^(FI) he will wither,^(FJ)
    and his branches will not flourish.^(FK)
33 He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,^(FL)
    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.^(FM)
34 For the company of the godless^(FN) will be barren,
    and fire will consume^(FO) the tents of those who love bribes.^(FP)
35 They conceive trouble^(FQ) and give birth to evil;^(FR)
    their womb fashions deceit.”

² “I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters,^(FS) all of you!^(FT)
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?^(FU)
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?^(FV)
4 I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head^(FW) at you.
⁵ But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort^(FX) from my lips would bring you relief.^(FY)

⁶ “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    and if I refrain, it does not go away.^(FZ)
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;^(GA)
    you have devastated my entire household.^(GB)
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
    my gauntness^(GC) rises up and testifies against me.^(GD)
9 God assails me and tears^(GE) me in his anger^(GF)
    and gnashes his teeth at me;^(GG)
    my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.^(GH)
10 People open their mouths^(GI) to jeer at me;^(GJ)
    they strike my cheek^(GK) in scorn
    and unite together against me.^(GL)
11 God has turned me over to the ungodly
    and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.^(GM)
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
    he seized me by the neck and crushed me.^(GN)
He has made me his target;^(GO)
13     his archers surround me.^(GP)
Without pity, he pierces^(GQ) my kidneys
    and spills my gall on the ground.
¹⁴ Again and again^(GR) he bursts upon me;
    he rushes at me like a warrior.^(GS)

¹⁵ “I have sewed sackcloth^(GT) over my skin
    and buried my brow in the dust.^(GU)
16 My face is red with weeping,^(GV)
    dark shadows ring my eyes;^(GW)
17 yet my hands have been free of violence^(GX)
    and my prayer is pure.^(GY)

¹⁸ “Earth, do not cover my blood;^(GZ)
    may my cry^(HA) never be laid to rest!^(HB)
19 Even now my witness^(HC) is in heaven;^(HD)
    my advocate is on high.^(HE)
20 My intercessor^(HF) is my friend^[d](HG)
    as my eyes pour out^(HH) tears^(HI) to God;
²¹ on behalf of a man he pleads^(HJ) with God
    as one pleads for a friend.

²² “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.^(HK)

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
    Prepare for war!^(T)
Rouse the warriors!^(U)
    Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords
    and your pruning hooks^(V) into spears.^(W)
Let the weakling^(X) say,
    “I am strong!”^(Y)
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
    and assemble^(Z) there.

Bring down your warriors,^(AA) Lord!

¹² “Let the nations be roused;
    let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat,^(AB)
for there I will sit
    to judge^(AC) all the nations on every side.
¹³ Swing the sickle,^(AD)
    for the harvest^(AE) is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,^(AF)
    for the winepress^(AG) is full
    and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”

¹⁴ Multitudes,^(AH) multitudes
    in the valley^(AI) of decision!
For the day of the Lord^(AJ) is near
    in the valley of decision.^(AK)
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
    and the stars no longer shine.^(AL)
16 The Lord will roar^(AM) from Zion
    and thunder from Jerusalem;^(AN)
    the earth and the heavens will tremble.^(AO)
But the Lord will be a refuge^(AP) for his people,
    a stronghold^(AQ) for the people of Israel.

¹⁸ “In that day the mountains will drip new wine,^(AX)
    and the hills will flow with milk;^(AY)
    all the ravines of Judah will run with water.^(AZ)
A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house^(BA)
    and will water the valley of acacias.^[d](BB)
19 But Egypt^(BC) will be desolate,
    Edom^(BD) a desert waste,
because of violence^(BE) done to the people of Judah,
    in whose land they shed innocent blood.
²⁰ Judah will be inhabited forever^(BF)
    and Jerusalem through all generations.
²¹ Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged?^(BG)
    No, I will not.^(BH)”