⁵ Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins^(A) endless?^(B)
6 You demanded security^(C) from your relatives for no reason;^(D)
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.^(E)
7 You gave no water^(F) to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,^(G)
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land^(H)—
    an honored man,^(I) living on it.^(J)
9 And you sent widows^(K) away empty-handed^(L)
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.^(M)
10 That is why snares^(N) are all around you,^(O)
    why sudden peril terrifies you,^(P)
11 why it is so dark^(Q) you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.^(R)

¹² “Is not God in the heights of heaven?^(S)
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
¹³ Yet you say, ‘What does God know?^(T)
    Does he judge through such darkness?^(U)
14 Thick clouds^(V) veil him, so he does not see us^(W)
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’^(X)
15 Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked^(Y) have trod?^(Z)
16 They were carried off before their time,^(AA)
    their foundations^(AB) washed away by a flood.^(AC)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’^(AD)
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,^(AE)
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(AF)
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;^(AG)
    the innocent mock^(AH) them, saying,
²⁰ ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,^(AI)
    and fire^(AJ) devours their wealth.’

²¹ “Submit to God and be at peace^(AK) with him;^(AL)
    in this way prosperity will come to you.^(AM)
22 Accept instruction from his mouth^(AN)
    and lay up his words^(AO) in your heart.^(AP)
23 If you return^(AQ) to the Almighty, you will be restored:^(AR)
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent^(AS)
24 and assign your nuggets^(AT) to the dust,
    your gold^(AU) of Ophir^(AV) to the rocks in the ravines,^(AW)
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,^(AX)
    the choicest silver for you.^(AY)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty^(AZ)
    and will lift up your face^(BA) to God.^(BB)
27 You will pray to him,^(BC) and he will hear you,^(BD)
    and you will fulfill your vows.^(BE)
28 What you decide on will be done,^(BF)
    and light^(BG) will shine on your ways.^(BH)
29 When people are brought low^(BI) and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.^(BJ)
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,^(BK)
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”^(BL)

⁶ if you are pure and upright,
    even now he will rouse himself on your behalf^(A)
    and restore you to your prosperous state.^(B)

² “How you have helped the powerless!^(A)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(B)
3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight^(C) you have displayed!
⁴ Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(D)

² “Dominion and awe belong to God;^(A)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(B)
3 Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?^(C)
4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(D)
5 If even the moon^(E) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(F)
6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,^(G) who is only a worm!”^(H)

²⁵ “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”^(A)