13 “My eyes have seen all this,^(A)
    my ears have heard and understood it.
² What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.^(B)
3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty^(C)
    and to argue my case with God.^(D)
4 You, however, smear me with lies;^(E)
    you are worthless physicians,^(F) all of you!^(G)
5 If only you would be altogether silent!^(H)
    For you, that would be wisdom.^(I)
6 Hear now my argument;
    listen to the pleas of my lips.^(J)
7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
    Will you speak deceitfully for him?^(K)
8 Will you show him partiality?^(L)
    Will you argue the case for God?
⁹ Would it turn out well if he examined you?^(M)
    Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?^(N)
10 He would surely call you to account
    if you secretly showed partiality.^(O)
11 Would not his splendor^(P) terrify you?
    Would not the dread of him fall on you?^(Q)
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
    your defenses are defenses of clay.^(R)

¹³ “Keep silent^(S) and let me speak;^(T)
    then let come to me what may.^(U)
14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy
    and take my life in my hands?^(V)
15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope^(W) in him;^(X)
    I will surely^[a] defend my ways to his face.^(Y)
16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,^(Z)
    for no godless^(AA) person would dare come before him!^(AB)
17 Listen carefully to what I say;^(AC)
    let my words ring in your ears.
¹⁸ Now that I have prepared my case,^(AD)
    I know I will be vindicated.^(AE)
19 Can anyone bring charges against me?^(AF)
    If so, I will be silent^(AG) and die.^(AH)

²⁰ “Only grant me these two things, God,
    and then I will not hide from you:
²¹ Withdraw your hand^(AI) far from me,
    and stop frightening me with your terrors.^(AJ)
22 Then summon me and I will answer,^(AK)
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.^(AL)
23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed?^(AM)
    Show me my offense and my sin.^(AN)
24 Why do you hide your face^(AO)
    and consider me your enemy?^(AP)
25 Will you torment^(AQ) a windblown leaf?^(AR)
    Will you chase^(AS) after dry chaff?^(AT)
26 For you write down bitter things against me
    and make me reap the sins of my youth.^(AU)
27 You fasten my feet in shackles;^(AV)
    you keep close watch on all my paths^(AW)
    by putting marks on the soles of my feet.

²⁸ “So man wastes away like something rotten,
    like a garment^(AX) eaten by moths.^(AY)

14 “Mortals, born of woman,^(AZ)
    are of few days^(BA) and full of trouble.^(BB)
2 They spring up like flowers^(BC) and wither away;^(BD)
    like fleeting shadows,^(BE) they do not endure.^(BF)
3 Do you fix your eye on them?^(BG)
    Will you bring them^[b] before you for judgment?^(BH)
4 Who can bring what is pure^(BI) from the impure?^(BJ)
    No one!^(BK)
5 A person’s days are determined;^(BL)
    you have decreed the number of his months^(BM)
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.^(BN)
6 So look away from him and let him alone,^(BO)
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.^(BP)

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:^(BQ)
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots^(BR) will not fail.^(BS)
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump^(BT) die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water^(BU) it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.^(BV)
10 But a man dies and is laid low;^(BW)
    he breathes his last and is no more.^(BX)
11 As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,^(BY)
12 so he lies down and does not rise;^(BZ)
    till the heavens are no more,^(CA) people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.^(CB)

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave^(CC)
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!^(CD)
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember^(CE) me!^(CF)
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service^(CG)
    I will wait for my renewal^[c](CH) to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;^(CI)
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.^(CJ)
16 Surely then you will count my steps^(CK)
    but not keep track of my sin.^(CL)
17 My offenses will be sealed^(CM) up in a bag;^(CN)
    you will cover over my sin.^(CO)

¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles^(CP)
    and as a rock is moved from its place,^(CQ)
19 as water wears away stones
    and torrents^(CR) wash away the soil,^(CS)
    so you destroy a person’s hope.^(CT)
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;^(CU)
    you change their countenance and send them away.^(CV)
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.^(CW)
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies^(CX)
    and mourn only for themselves.^(CY)”

⁹ Then you will understand^(K) what is right and just
    and fair—every good path.
¹⁰ For wisdom will enter your heart,^(L)
    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
¹¹ Discretion will protect you,
    and understanding will guard you.^(M)

¹² Wisdom will save^(N) you from the ways of wicked men,
    from men whose words are perverse,
¹³ who have left the straight paths
    to walk in dark ways,^(O)
14 who delight in doing wrong
    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,^(P)
15 whose paths are crooked^(Q)
    and who are devious in their ways.^(R)

¹⁶ Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,^(S)
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
    and ignored the covenant she made before God.^[a](T)
18 Surely her house leads down to death
    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.^(U)
19 None who go to her return
    or attain the paths of life.^(V)

²⁰ Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
    and keep to the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright will live in the land,^(W)
    and the blameless will remain in it;
²² but the wicked^(X) will be cut off from the land,^(Y)
    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.^(Z)