² “How long will you say these things,
    and the words of your mouth be a ^(B)great wind?
^3 (C)Does God pervert justice?
    Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
⁴ If your ^(D)children have sinned against him,
    he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.
⁵ If you will seek God
    and ^(E)plead with the Almighty for mercy,
⁶ if you are pure and upright,
    surely then he will ^(F)rouse himself for you
    and ^(G)restore your rightful habitation.
⁷ And though your beginning was small,
    ^(H)your latter days will be very great.

⁸ “For ^(I)inquire, please, of bygone ages,
    and consider what ^(J)the fathers have searched out.
⁹ For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,
    for our days on earth are ^(K)a shadow.
¹⁰ Will they not teach you and tell you
    and utter words out of their understanding?

¹¹ “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?
    Can reeds flourish where there is no water?
¹² While yet in flower and not cut down,
    they ^(L)wither before any other plant.
¹³ Such are the paths of all who ^(M)forget God;
    ^(N)the hope of ^(O)the godless shall perish.
¹⁴ His confidence is severed,
    and his trust is ^(P)a spider's web.^[a]
15 He leans against his ^(Q)house, but it does not stand;
    he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.
¹⁶ He is a lush plant before the sun,
    and his ^(R)shoots spread over his garden.
¹⁷ His roots entwine the stone heap;
    he looks upon a house of stones.
¹⁸ If he is destroyed from his ^(S)place,
    then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have never ^(T)seen you.’
¹⁹ Behold, this is the joy of his way,
    and out of ^(U)the soil others will spring.

²⁰ “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
    nor take the hand of evildoers.
²¹ He will yet ^(V)fill your mouth with laughter,
    and your lips with shouting.
²² Those who hate you will be ^(W)clothed with shame,
    and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

² “Truly I know that it is so:
    But how can a man be ^(X)in the right before God?
³ If one wished to ^(Y)contend with him,
    one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
⁴ He is ^(Z)wise in heart and mighty in strength
    —who has ^(AA)hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
⁵ he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
    when he overturns them in his anger,
⁶ who ^(AB)shakes the earth out of its place,
    and ^(AC)its pillars tremble;
⁷ who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
    who seals up the stars;
⁸ who alone ^(AD)stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the sea;
⁹ who ^(AE)made ^(AF)the Bear and ^(AG)Orion,
    the Pleiades ^(AH)and the chambers of the south;
¹⁰ who does ^(AI)great things beyond searching out,
    and marvelous things beyond number.
¹¹ Behold, he passes by me, and I ^(AJ)see him not;
    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
¹² Behold, he snatches away; ^(AK)who can turn him back?
    ^(AL)Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³ “God will not turn back his anger;
    beneath him bowed the helpers of ^(AM)Rahab.
^14 (AN)How then can I ^(AO)answer him,
    choosing my words with him?
^15 (AP)Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
    I must ^(AQ)appeal for mercy to my accuser.^[b]
16 If I summoned him 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 ^(AR)without cause;
¹⁸ he will not let me get my breath,
    but fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If it is a contest of ^(AS)strength, behold, he is mighty!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can ^(AT)summon him?^[c]
20 Though I am in the right, ^(AU)my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
²¹ I am ^(AV)blameless; I regard not myself;
    I ^(AW)loathe my life.
²² It is all one; therefore I say,
    ‘He ^(AX)destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
²³ When ^(AY)disaster brings sudden death,
    he mocks at the calamity^[d] of the innocent.
^24 (AZ)The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
    he ^(BA)covers the faces of its judges—
    ^(BB)if it is not he, who then is it?

²⁵ “My ^(BC)days are swifter than ^(BD)a runner;
    they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶ They go by like ^(BE)skiffs of reed,
    like ^(BF)an eagle swooping on the prey.
²⁷ If I say, ^(BG)‘I will forget my complaint,
    I will put off my sad face, and ^(BH)be of good cheer,’
²⁸ I become ^(BI)afraid of all my suffering,
    for I know you will not ^(BJ)hold me innocent.
²⁹ I shall be ^(BK)condemned;
    why then do I labor in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow
    and ^(BL)cleanse my hands with lye,
³¹ yet you will plunge me into a pit,
    and my own clothes will ^(BM)abhor me.
³² For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should ^(BN)come to trial together.
^33 (BO)There is no^[e] arbiter between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.
^34 (BP)Let him take his ^(BQ)rod away from me,
    and let ^(BR)not dread of him terrify me.
³⁵ Then I would speak without fear of him,
    for I am not so in myself.

^18 (CT)“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
    Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
^19 (CU)and were as though I had not been,
    carried from the womb to the grave.
^20 (CV)Are not my days few?
    ^(CW)Then cease, and leave me alone, ^(CX)that I may find a little cheer
²¹ before I go—and ^(CY)I shall not return—
    to the land of ^(CZ)darkness and ^(DA)deep shadow,
²² the land of gloom like thick darkness,
    like deep shadow without any order,
    where light is as thick darkness.”

² “Should ^(DC)a multitude of words go unanswered,
    and a man full of talk be judged right?
³ Should your babble silence men,
    and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
⁴ For ^(DD)you say, ‘My ^(DE)doctrine is pure,
    and I am clean in God's^[g] eyes.’
⁵ But oh, that God would speak
    and open his lips to you,
⁶ and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
    For he is manifold in ^(DF)understanding.^[h]
Know then that God ^(DG)exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

^7 (DH)“Can you find out the deep things of God?
    Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
⁸ It is ^(DI)higher than heaven^[i]—what can you do?
    Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
⁹ Its measure is longer than the earth
    and broader than the sea.
¹⁰ If he ^(DJ)passes through and ^(DK)imprisons
    and summons the court, who can ^(DL)turn him back?
¹¹ For he knows ^(DM)worthless men;
    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
¹² But a stupid man will get understanding
    when ^(DN)a wild donkey's colt is ^(DO)born a man!

¹³ “If you ^(DP)prepare your heart,
    you will ^(DQ)stretch out your hands toward him.
¹⁴ If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
    and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
¹⁵ Surely then you will ^(DR)lift up your face without ^(DS)blemish;
    you will be secure and will not fear.
¹⁶ You will ^(DT)forget your misery;
    you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
¹⁷ And your life will be ^(DU)brighter than the noonday;
    its darkness will be like the morning.
¹⁸ And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
    you will look around and ^(DV)take your rest in security.
¹⁹ You will ^(DW)lie down, and none will make you afraid;
    many will ^(DX)court your favor.
²⁰ But ^(DY)the eyes of the wicked will fail;
    all way of escape will be lost to them,
    and their hope is ^(DZ)to breathe their last.”

³ There is ^(E)no soundness in my flesh
    because of your indignation;
there is no health in my ^(F)bones
    because of my sin.
⁴ For my ^(G)iniquities have gone over my head;
    like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

⁵ My wounds stink and fester
    because of my foolishness,
⁶ I am ^(H)utterly bowed down and ^(I)prostrate;
    all the day I ^(J)go about mourning.
⁷ For my sides are filled with burning,
    and there is ^(K)no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and crushed;
    I ^(L)groan because of the tumult of my heart.

⁹ O Lord, all my longing is before you;
    my ^(M)sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
    and ^(N)the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
¹¹ My ^(O)friends and companions ^(P)stand aloof from my ^(Q)plague,
    and my nearest kin ^(R)stand far off.

¹² Those who seek my life ^(S)lay their snares;
    those who seek my hurt ^(T)speak of ruin
    and meditate ^(U)treachery all day long.

¹³ But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
    like ^(V)a mute man who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ I have become like a man who does not hear,
    and in whose mouth are no ^(W)rebukes.

¹⁵ But for ^(X)you, O Lord, do I wait;
    it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
¹⁶ For I said, “Only ^(Y)let them not rejoice over me,
    who ^(Z)boast against me when my ^(AA)foot slips!”

¹⁷ For I am ^(AB)ready to fall,
    and my pain is ever before me.
¹⁸ I ^(AC)confess my iniquity;
    I am ^(AD)sorry for my sin.
¹⁹ But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
    and many are those who hate me ^(AE)wrongfully.
²⁰ Those who ^(AF)render me evil for good
    ^(AG)accuse me because I ^(AH)follow after good.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord!
    O my God, be not ^(AI)far from me!
^22 (AJ)Make haste to help me,
    O Lord, my ^(AK)salvation!