² “Some remove ^(C)landmarks;
They seize flocks violently and feed on them;
³ They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
They ^(D)take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
⁴ They push the needy off the road;
All the ^(E)poor of the land are forced to hide.
⁵ Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert,
They go out to their work, searching for food.
The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
⁶ They gather their fodder in the field
And glean in the vineyard of the wicked.
⁷ They ^(F)spend the night naked, without clothing,
And have no covering in the cold.
⁸ They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
And ^(G)huddle around the rock for want of shelter.

⁹ “Some snatch the fatherless from the breast,
And take a pledge from the poor.
¹⁰ They cause the poor to go naked, without ^(H)clothing;
And they take away the sheaves from the hungry.
¹¹ They press out oil within their walls,
And tread winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
¹² The dying groan in the city,
And the souls of the wounded cry out;
Yet God does not charge them with wrong.

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light;
They do not know its ways
Nor abide in its paths.
^14 (I)The murderer rises with the light;
He kills the poor and needy;
And in the night he is like a thief.
^15 (J)The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,
^(K)Saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
And he ^[a]disguises his face.
¹⁶ In the dark they break into houses
Which they marked for themselves in the daytime;
^(L)They do not know the light.
¹⁷ For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death;
If someone recognizes them,
They are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

¹⁸ “They should be swift on the face of the waters,
Their portion should be cursed in the earth,
So that no one would turn into the way of their vineyards.
¹⁹ As drought and heat ^[b]consume the snow waters,
So ^[c]the grave consumes those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb should forget him,
The worm should feed sweetly on him;
^(M)He should be remembered no more,
And wickedness should be broken like a tree.
²¹ For he ^[d]preys on the barren who do not bear,
And does no good for the widow.

²² “But God draws the mighty away with His power;
He rises up, but no man is sure of life.
²³ He gives them security, and they rely on it;
Yet ^(N)His eyes are on their ways.
²⁴ They are exalted for a little while,
Then they are gone.
They are brought low;
They are ^[e]taken out of the way like all others;
They dry out like the heads of grain.

²⁵ “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar,
And make my speech worth nothing?”

² “Dominion and fear belong to Him;
He makes peace in His high places.
^3 [f]Is there any number to His armies?
Upon whom does ^(P)His light not rise?
^4 (Q)How then can man be righteous before God?
Or how can he be ^(R)pure who is born of a woman?
⁵ If even the moon does not shine,
And the stars are not pure in His ^(S)sight,
⁶ How much less man, who is ^(T)a maggot,
And a son of man, who is a worm?”

² “How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
³ How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
⁴ To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit came from you?

⁵ “The dead tremble,
Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
^6 (U)Sheol is naked before Him,
And Destruction has no covering.
^7 (V)He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
^8 (W)He binds up the water in His thick clouds,
Yet the clouds ^[g]are not broken under it.
⁹ He covers the face of His throne,
And spreads His cloud over it.
^10 (X)He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.
¹¹ The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are ^[h]astonished at His rebuke.
^12 (Y)He stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up ^[i]the storm.
^13 (Z)By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced ^(AA)the fleeing serpent.
¹⁴ Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

² “As God lives, ^(AB)who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
³ As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
⁴ My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
⁵ Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die ^(AC)I will not put away my integrity from me.
⁶ My righteousness I ^(AD)hold fast, and will not let it go;
^(AE)My heart shall not ^[j]reproach me as long as I live.

⁷ “May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
^8 (AF)For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?
^9 (AG)Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?
^10 (AH)Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?

¹¹ “I will teach you ^[k]about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹² Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

¹³ “This^(AI) is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:
^14 (AJ)If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
¹⁵ Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And ^(AK)their^[l] widows shall not weep,
¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay—
¹⁷ He may pile it up, but ^(AL)the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸ He builds his house like a ^[m]moth,
^(AM)Like a ^[n]booth which a watchman makes.
¹⁹ The rich man will lie down,
^[o]But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is ^(AN)no more.
^20 (AO)Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.
²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
²² It hurls against him and does not ^(AP)spare;
He flees desperately from its ^[p]power.
²³ Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.