Beginning

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times^(A) for judgment?^(B)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(C)
2 There are those who move boundary stones;^(D)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(E)
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.^(F)
4 They thrust the needy^(G) from the path
    and force all the poor^(H) of the land into hiding.^(I)
5 Like wild donkeys^(J) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor^(K) of foraging food;
    the wasteland^(L) provides food for their children.
⁶ They gather fodder^(M) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards^(N) of the wicked.^(O)
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(P)
8 They are drenched^(Q) by mountain rains
    and hug^(R) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(S)
9 The fatherless^(T) child is snatched^(U) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized^(V) for a debt.^(W)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(X)
    they carry the sheaves,^(Y) but still go hungry.
¹¹ They crush olives among the terraces^[a];
    they tread the winepresses,^(Z) yet suffer thirst.^(AA)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(AB)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(AC)

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light,^(AD)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.^(AE)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills^(AF) the poor and needy,^(AG)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(AH)
15 The eye of the adulterer^(AI) watches for dusk;^(AJ)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’^(AK)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
¹⁶ In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(AL)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.^(AM)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors^(AN) of darkness.^(AO)

¹⁸ “Yet they are foam^(AP) on the surface of the water;^(AQ)
    their portion of the land is cursed,^(AR)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(AS)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(AT)
    so the grave^(AU) snatches away those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them,
    the worm^(AV) feasts on them;^(AW)
the wicked are no longer remembered^(AX)
    but are broken like a tree.^(AY)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.^(AZ)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(BA)
    though they become established,^(BB) they have no assurance of life.^(BC)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(BD)
    but his eyes^(BE) are on their ways.^(BF)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(BG)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(BH)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.^(BI)

²⁵ “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”^(BJ)

² “Dominion and awe belong to God;^(BL)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(BM)
3 Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?^(BN)
4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(BO)
5 If even the moon^(BP) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(BQ)
6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,^(BR) who is only a worm!”^(BS)

² “How you have helped the powerless!^(BT)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(BU)
3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight^(BV) you have displayed!
⁴ Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(BW)

⁵ “The dead are in deep anguish,^(BX)
    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶ The realm of the dead^(BY) is naked before God;
    Destruction^[b](BZ) lies uncovered.^(CA)
7 He spreads out the northern skies^(CB) over empty space;
    he suspends the earth over nothing.^(CC)
8 He wraps up the waters^(CD) in his clouds,^(CE)
    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
⁹ He covers the face of the full moon,
    spreading his clouds^(CF) over it.
¹⁰ He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters^(CG)
    for a boundary between light and darkness.^(CH)
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,^(CI)
    aghast at his rebuke.
¹² By his power he churned up the sea;^(CJ)
    by his wisdom^(CK) he cut Rahab^(CL) to pieces.
¹³ By his breath the skies^(CM) became fair;
    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.^(CN)
14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
    how faint the whisper^(CO) we hear of him!^(CP)
    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”^(CQ)

² “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,^(CS)
    the Almighty,^(CT) who has made my life bitter,^(CU)
3 as long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God^(CV) in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.^(CW)
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.^(CX)
6 I will maintain my innocence^(CY) and never let go of it;
    my conscience^(CZ) will not reproach me as long as I live.^(DA)

⁷ “May my enemy be like the wicked,^(DB)
    my adversary^(DC) like the unjust!
⁸ For what hope have the godless^(DD) when they are cut off,
    when God takes away their life?^(DE)
9 Does God listen to their cry
    when distress comes upon them?^(DF)
10 Will they find delight in the Almighty?^(DG)
    Will they call on God at all times?

¹¹ “I will teach you about the power of God;
    the ways^(DH) of the Almighty I will not conceal.^(DI)
12 You have all seen this yourselves.
    Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³ “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:^(DJ)
14 However many his children,^(DK) their fate is the sword;^(DL)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.^(DM)
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.^(DN)
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust^(DO)
    and clothes like piles of clay,^(DP)
17 what he lays up^(DQ) the righteous will wear,^(DR)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.^(DS)
18 The house^(DT) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,^(DU)
    like a hut^(DV) made by a watchman.
¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;^(DW)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.^(DX)
20 Terrors^(DY) overtake him like a flood;^(DZ)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.^(EA)
21 The east wind^(EB) carries him off, and he is gone;^(EC)
    it sweeps him out of his place.^(ED)
22 It hurls itself against him without mercy^(EE)
    as he flees headlong^(EF) from its power.^(EG)
23 It claps its hands^(EH) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”^(EI)

¹² But where can wisdom be found?^(FA)
    Where does understanding dwell?^(FB)
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;^(FC)
    it cannot be found in the land of the living.^(FD)
14 The deep^(FE) says, “It is not in me”;
    the sea^(FF) says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
    nor can its price be weighed out in silver.^(FG)
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,^(FH)
    with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^(FI)
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,^(FJ)
    nor can it be had for jewels of gold.^(FK)
18 Coral^(FL) and jasper^(FM) are not worthy of mention;
    the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.^(FN)
19 The topaz^(FO) of Cush^(FP) cannot compare with it;
    it cannot be bought with pure gold.^(FQ)

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
    Where does understanding dwell?^(FR)
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
    concealed even from the birds in the sky.^(FS)
22 Destruction^[d](FT) and Death^(FU) say,
    “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³ God understands the way to it
    and he alone^(FV) knows where it dwells,^(FW)
24 for he views the ends of the earth^(FX)
    and sees everything under the heavens.^(FY)
25 When he established the force of the wind
    and measured out the waters,^(FZ)
26 when he made a decree for the rain^(GA)
    and a path for the thunderstorm,^(GB)
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
    he confirmed it and tested it.^(GC)
28 And he said to the human race,
    “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
    and to shun evil^(GD) is understanding.”^(GE)