² “Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
    for I have yet something to say on God's behalf.
³ I will get my knowledge from ^(A)afar
    and ascribe ^(B)righteousness to my ^(C)Maker.
⁴ For truly my words are not false;
    one who is ^(D)perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵ “Behold, God is mighty, and ^(E)does not despise any;
    he is ^(F)mighty in strength of understanding.
⁶ He does not keep the wicked alive,
    but gives ^(G)the afflicted their right.
⁷ He does not withdraw his ^(H)eyes from the righteous,
    but with ^(I)kings on the throne
    he sets them forever, and they are ^(J)exalted.
⁸ And if they are ^(K)bound in chains
    and caught in the cords of affliction,
⁹ then he declares to them their work
    and their transgressions, that they are ^(L)behaving arrogantly.
¹⁰ He ^(M)opens their ears to instruction
    and commands that they ^(N)return from iniquity.
^11 (O)If they listen and serve him,
    they ^(P)complete their days in prosperity,
    and their years in pleasantness.
¹² But if they do not listen, they ^(Q)perish by the sword
    and die ^(R)without knowledge.

¹³ “The ^(S)godless in heart cherish anger;
    they do not cry for help when he ^(T)binds them.
¹⁴ They ^(U)die in youth,
    and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.
¹⁵ He delivers ^(V)the afflicted by their affliction
    and ^(W)opens their ear by adversity.
¹⁶ He also allured you out of distress
    into ^(X)a broad place where there was no cramping,
    and what was set on your ^(Y)table was full of ^(Z)fatness.

¹⁷ “But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
    judgment and justice seize you.
¹⁸ Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
    and let not the greatness of ^(AA)the ransom turn you aside.
¹⁹ Will your ^(AB)cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
    or all the force of your strength?
²⁰ Do not long for ^(AC)the night,
    when peoples vanish ^(AD)in their place.
²¹ Take care; ^(AE)do not turn to iniquity,
    for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
²² Behold, God is exalted in his power;
    who is ^(AF)a teacher like him?
²³ Who has ^(AG)prescribed for him his way,
    or who can say, ^(AH)‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴ “Remember to ^(AI)extol his work,
    of which men have ^(AJ)sung.
²⁵ All mankind has looked on it;
    man beholds it from afar.
²⁶ Behold, God is great, and we ^(AK)know him not;
    the number of his ^(AL)years is unsearchable.
²⁷ For he draws up the drops of water;
    they distill his ^(AM)mist in ^(AN)rain,
²⁸ which ^(AO)the skies pour down
    and drop on mankind abundantly.
²⁹ Can anyone understand ^(AP)the spreading of the clouds,
    the thunderings of his ^(AQ)pavilion?
³⁰ Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
    and covers the roots of the sea.
³¹ For by these he ^(AR)judges peoples;
    he gives ^(AS)food in abundance.
³² He covers his ^(AT)hands with the lightning
    and commands it to strike the mark.
³³ Its crashing declares his presence;^[a]
    the cattle also declare that he rises.

⁴ For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵ They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not ^(G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶ Therefore pride is ^(H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as ^(I)a garment.
⁷ Their ^(J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸ They scoff and ^(K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find ^(L)no fault in them.^[a]
11 And they say, ^(M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹² Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they ^(N)increase in riches.
¹³ All in vain have I ^(O)kept my heart clean
    and ^(P)washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ For all the day long I have been ^(Q)stricken
    and ^(R)rebuked ^(S)every morning.
¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed ^(T)the generation of your children.

¹⁶ But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me ^(U)a wearisome task,
¹⁷ until I went into ^(V)the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their ^(W)end.

¹⁸ Truly you set them in ^(X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹ How they are destroyed ^(Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by ^(Z)terrors!
²⁰ Like ^(AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when ^(AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹ When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²² I was ^(AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like ^(AD)a beast toward you.

²³ Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you ^(AE)hold my right hand.
²⁴ You ^(AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will ^(AG)receive me to glory.
^25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
^26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is ^(AJ)the strength^[b] of my heart and my ^(AK)portion ^(AL)forever.

²⁷ For behold, those who are ^(AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is ^(AN)unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But for me it is good to ^(AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my ^(AP)refuge,
    that I may ^(AQ)tell of all your works.