5 “Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
    To which of ^(A)the holy ones will you turn?
² Surely vexation kills the fool,
    and jealousy slays the simple.
^3 (B)I have seen the fool taking root,
    but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
⁴ His children are ^(C)far from safety;
    they are crushed in ^(D)the gate,
    and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵ The hungry eat his harvest,
    and he takes it even out of thorns,^[a]
    and the thirsty pant^[b] after his^[c] wealth.
⁶ For affliction does not come from the dust,
    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
⁷ but man is ^(E)born to trouble
    as the sparks fly upward.

⁸ “As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God would I commit my cause,
⁹ who ^(F)does great things and ^(G)unsearchable,
    ^(H)marvelous things without number:
¹⁰ he gives ^(I)rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he ^(J)sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He ^(K)frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He ^(L)catches the wise in their own craftiness,
    and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime
    and ^(M)grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he ^(N)saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
    and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
    and ^(O)injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷ “Behold, ^(P)blessed is the one whom God reproves;
    therefore ^(Q)despise not the discipline of the ^(R)Almighty.
¹⁸ For he wounds, but he ^(S)binds up;
    he ^(T)shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹ He will ^(U)deliver you from six troubles;
    in seven no ^(V)evil^[d] shall touch you.
^20 (W)In famine he will redeem you from death,
    and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹ You shall be ^(X)hidden from the lash of the tongue,
    and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²² At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
    and shall not fear ^(Y)the beasts of the earth.
²³ For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
    and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴ You shall know that your ^(Z)tent is at peace,
    and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵ You shall know also that your ^(AA)offspring shall be many,
    and your descendants as ^(AB)the grass of the earth.
²⁶ You shall come to your grave in ^(AC)ripe old age,
    like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷ Behold, this we have ^(AD)searched out; it is true.
    Hear, and know it for your good.”^[e]

² “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
    and all my calamity laid in the balances!
³ For then it would be heavier than ^(AE)the sand of the sea;
    therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For ^(AF)the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison;
    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵ Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
    or the ox low over his fodder?
⁶ Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
    or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?^[f]
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
    they are as food that is loathsome to me.^[g]

⁸ “Oh that I might have my request,
    and that God would fulfill my hope,
⁹ that it would ^(AG)please God to crush me,
    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
¹⁰ This would be my comfort;
    I would even exult^[h] in pain ^(AH)unsparing,
    for I have not denied the words of ^(AI)the Holy One.
¹¹ What is my strength, that I should wait?
    And what is my end, that I should be patient?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?
¹³ Have I any help in me,
    when resource is driven from me?

¹⁴ “He who ^(AJ)withholds^[i] kindness from a ^(AK)friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
¹⁵ My ^(AL)brothers are ^(AM)treacherous as a torrent-bed,
    as torrential ^(AN)streams that pass away,
¹⁶ which are dark with ice,
    and where the snow hides itself.
¹⁷ When they melt, they disappear;
    when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
¹⁸ The caravans turn aside from their course;
    they go up into ^(AO)the waste and perish.
¹⁹ The caravans of ^(AP)Tema look,
    the travelers of ^(AQ)Sheba hope.
²⁰ They are ^(AR)ashamed because they were confident;
    they come there and are ^(AS)disappointed.
²¹ For you have now become nothing;
    you see my calamity and are afraid.
²² Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
    Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
²³ Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary's hand’?
    Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of ^(AT)the ruthless’?

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be silent;
    make me understand how I have gone astray.
²⁵ How forceful are upright words!
    But what does reproof from you reprove?
²⁶ Do you think that you can reprove words,
    when the speech of a despairing man is ^(AU)wind?
²⁷ You would even ^(AV)cast lots over the fatherless,
    and bargain over your friend.

²⁸ “But now, be pleased to look at me,
    for I will not lie to your face.
^29 (AW)Please turn; let no injustice be done.
    Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
³⁰ Is there any injustice on my tongue?
    Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

^7 (I)Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where ^(J)shall I flee from your presence?
^8 (K)If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    ^(L)If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall ^(M)lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, ^(N)“Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
^12 (O)even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

¹³ For you ^(P)formed my inward parts;
    you ^(Q)knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^[a]
(R)Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
^15 (S)My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in ^(T)the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your ^(U)book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your ^(V)thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
^18 (W)If I would count them, they are more than ^(X)the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

¹⁹ Oh that you would ^(Y)slay the wicked, O God!
    O ^(Z)men of blood, ^(AA)depart from me!
²⁰ They ^(AB)speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies ^(AC)take your name in vain.^[b]
21 (AD)Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not ^(AE)loathe those who ^(AF)rise up against you?
²² I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    ^(AG)Try me and know my thoughts!^[c]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and ^(AH)lead me in ^(AI)the way everlasting!^[d]