² “Can a man be profitable to God,
    as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
³ Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
    Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways blameless?

⁴ “Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
    and enters into judgment with you?
⁵ Is not your wickedness great,
    and your iniquity infinite?
⁶ For you have taken a pledge from your brother for nothing,
    and stripped the naked of their clothing.
⁷ You have not given water to the weary to drink,
    and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
⁸ But as for the mighty man, he possessed the earth,
    and the honorable man lived in it.
⁹ You have sent widows away empty,
    and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
¹⁰ Therefore snares are all around you,
    and sudden fear troubles you,
¹¹ or darkness, so that you cannot see;
    and an abundance of waters covers you.

¹² “Is not God in the height of heaven?
    And see the height of the stars, how high they are!
¹³ And you say, ‘What does God know?
    Can He judge through the dark cloud?
¹⁴ Thick clouds are His covering, so He cannot see;
    and He walks above the circle of heaven.’
¹⁵ Will you keep to the old way,
    that wicked men have trod?
¹⁶ They were cut down before their time;
    their foundations were swept away by a flood.
¹⁷ They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
    and, ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
¹⁸ Yet He filled their houses with good things;
    but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

¹⁹ “The righteous see it and are glad,
    and the innocent laugh them to scorn:
²⁰ ‘Surely our adversaries are cut down,
    and the fire consumes their remnant.’

²¹ “Now acquaint yourself with Him and be at peace;
    thereby good will come to you.
²² Receive, I pray, the teaching from His mouth,
    and lay up His words in your heart.
²³ If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;
    you will put away iniquity far from your tents.
²⁴ Then you will lay up gold as dust,
    and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.
²⁵ Yes, the Almighty will be your gold
    and your precious silver;
²⁶ for then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,
    and will lift up your face unto God.
²⁷ You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you,
    and you will pay your vows.
²⁸ You will also declare a matter, and it will be established unto you;
    and the light will shine upon your ways.
²⁹ When men are cast down, and you say, ‘There is a time of exaltation!’
    then He will save the humble person.
³⁰ He will even deliver one who is not innocent;
    he will be delivered by the purity of your hands.”