² “How long will you speak these things,
And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
³ Does God subvert judgment?
Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
⁴ If your sons have sinned against Him,
He has cast them away for their transgression.
⁵ If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
⁶ If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
⁷ Though your beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

⁸ “For inquire, please, of the former age,
And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
⁹ For we were born yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.
¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their heart?

¹¹ “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the reeds flourish without water?
¹² While it is yet green and not cut down,
It withers before any other plant.
¹³ So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,
¹⁴ Whose confidence shall be cut off,
And whose trust is a spider’s web.
¹⁵ He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure.
¹⁶ He grows green in the sun,
And his branches spread out in his garden.
¹⁷ His roots wrap around the rock heap,
And look for a place in the stones.
¹⁸ If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

¹⁹ “Behold, this is the joy of His way,
And out of the earth others will grow.
²⁰ Behold, God will not cast away the blameless,
Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
²¹ He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with rejoicing.
²² Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”^[a]

² “Truly I know it is so,
But how can a man be righteous before God?
³ If one wished to contend with Him,
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
⁴ God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
⁵ He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger;
⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;
⁷ He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
He seals off the stars;
⁸ He alone spreads out the heavens,
And treads on the waves of the sea;
⁹ He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
¹⁰ He does great things past finding out,
Yes, wonders without number.
¹¹ If He goes by me, I do not see Him;
If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
¹² If He takes away, who can hinder Him?
Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
¹³ God will not withdraw His anger,
The allies of the proud^[b] lie prostrate beneath Him.

¹⁴ “How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words to reason with Him?
¹⁵ For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;
I would beg mercy of my Judge.
¹⁶ If I called and He answered me,
I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
¹⁷ For He crushes me with a tempest,
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
¹⁸ He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
²⁰ Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹ “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;
I despise my life.
²² It is all one thing;
Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
²³ If the scourge slays suddenly,
He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
²⁴ The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, who else could it be?

²⁵ “Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.
²⁶ They pass by like swift ships,
Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
²⁷ If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
²⁸ I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.
²⁹ If I am condemned,
Why then do I labor in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow water,
And cleanse my hands with soap,
³¹ Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes will abhor me.
³² “For He is not a man, as I am,
That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
³³ Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.
³⁴ Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
³⁵ Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me.

⁸ ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
⁹ Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
¹⁰ Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
¹¹ Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
¹² You have granted me life and favor,
And Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³ ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;
I know that this was with You:
¹⁴ If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
¹⁵ If I am wicked, woe to me;
Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am full of disgrace;
See my misery!
¹⁶ If my head is exalted,
You hunt me like a fierce lion,
And again You show Yourself awesome against me.
¹⁷ You renew Your witnesses against me,
And increase Your indignation toward me;
Changes and war are ever with me.

¹⁸ ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
¹⁹ I would have been as though I had not been.
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
²⁰ Are not my days few?
Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
²¹ Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,
To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
²² A land as dark as darkness itself,
As the shadow of death, without any order,
Where even the light is like darkness.’”