⁴ Is it because you’re so pious that he accuses you
    and brings judgment against you?

³ Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature
    and demand an accounting from me?

² Don’t put your servant on trial,
    for no one is innocent before you.

¹⁴ The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment
    on the elders and rulers of his people:
“You have ruined Israel, my vineyard.
    Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor.
¹⁵ How dare you crush my people,
    grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?”
    demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

³ Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
    who, O Lord, could ever survive?
⁴ But you offer forgiveness,
    that we might learn to fear you.

¹⁶ For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
    May they perish at the sight of your frown.

⁶ At the blast of your breath, O God of Jacob,
    their horses and chariots lay still.

¹¹ When you discipline us for our sins,
    you consume like a moth what is precious to us.
    Each of us is but a breath. Interlude

²³ We don’t set the time
    when we will come before God in judgment.