Beginning

² “Oh, how I yearn for the months long gone
    and for those days when God kept watch over me,
³ when his lamp continued to shine above my head
    and by his light I could walk through darkness.
⁴ “In those days I was in my prime,
    and God protected my tent.
⁵ The Almighty was ever present at my side,
    and my children were around me.
⁶ My feet were bathed in milk,
    and the rocks poured forth streams of oil^[b] for me.
⁷ “When I would go forth to the gate of the city^[c]
    and take my seat in the public square,
⁸ the young men would see me and withdraw,
    and the old men would rise to their feet.
⁹ The nobles would refrain from speaking
    and would place their hands over their mouths.
¹⁰ The voices of the princes were silenced,
    and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

¹¹ “Whoever heard my words spoke favorably of me,
    and those who saw me testified to my merit,
¹² because I delivered the poor who appealed for help
    and the orphan who had no one to protect him.
¹³ The blessing of the wretched was given to me,
    and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
¹⁴ “I put on righteousness as my garment;
    justice was my cloak and my turban.
¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind
    and feet to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the needy,
    and I defended the rights of the stranger.
¹⁷ I broke the fangs of the wicked
    and snatched their prey from their teeth.
¹⁸ “Then I thought, ‘I will die in honor
    after having multiplied my days like grains of sand,^[d]
19 with my roots spreading out to the waters
    and the dew lying on my branches throughout the night.
²⁰ My glory will be forever new
    and the bow in my hand forever strong.’
^21 [e]“Men waited expectantly to hear my words
    and listened in silence to my counsel.
²² Once I had spoken, no one spoke further
    but simply let my thoughts penetrate their minds.
²³ They waited for me as for the rain,
    with open mouths as though to drink in a spring shower.
²⁴ “When I smiled at them, they were filled with gratitude,
    and they were clearly strengthened because of the way I treated them.
²⁵ As their leader I told them which course to follow,
    and I lived like a king among his troops,
    or as a comforter of mourners.

¹ “But now I am the laughingstock
    of people who are younger than I,
people whose fathers I would not have considered fit
    to put with the dogs guarding my flock.
² Of what use to me was the strength of their hands?
    Their vigor had completely wasted away.
³ “Enfeebled by want and hunger,
    they gnawed roots in the wilderness,
    a gloomy place of dry and desolate ground.
⁴ They plucked saltwort and scrub for food,
    and they ate the roots of the broom tree.^[f]
5 Cast out from human society
    and berated as thieves and pursued,
⁶ they were forced to live on the sides of ravines,
    in holes in the ground, and in clefts of rock.
⁷ Among the bushes you could hear them braying,
    huddled together under the nettles.
⁸ They are a vile and irresponsible brood,
    driven as outcasts from society.
⁹ “And these are the ones who speak mockingly about me;
    my name is a byword among them.
¹⁰ They abhor me and keep their distance from me;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
¹¹ And since God has loosened my bowspring^[g] and humbled me,
    they have ceased to have any restraint in my presence.
¹² “The rabble attack in a mob on my right flank;
    they lay snares for my feet
    and raise their siege-ramps against me.
¹³ They advance through my crumbling defenses,
    blocking every means of escape,
    and no one restrains them.
¹⁴ They burst forward through a gaping breach
    and advance in waves.
¹⁵ Terrors surround me on all sides;
    my confidence disintegrates,
    and my hope of deliverance vanishes like a cloud.

¹⁶ “And now my life has begun to ebb away;
    my days are filled with grief and affliction.
¹⁷ During the night pain wracks my bones,
    and I suffer from ceaseless throbbing that allows me no respite.
¹⁸ God seizes my garment violently,
    grasping me by the collar of my tunic.
¹⁹ He has cast me into the mire,
    and I am covered with dust and ashes.
²⁰ “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer me;
    I stand before you, but you barely take notice.
²¹ You have turned with severity against me;
    with your strong hand you persecute me.
²² You lift me up and place me at the mercy of the wind,
    allowing me to be tossed about in the storm.
²³ I know indeed that you will hand me over to death
    and to the place appointed for every living mortal.

²⁴ “And yet should you not extend a hand
    to someone who pleads with you for help?
²⁵ Did I not shed tears over the plight of the unfortunate?
    Was not my soul grieved for the destitute?
²⁶ Yet when I hoped for good, only evil came;
    when I looked for light, there was only darkness.
²⁷ My inward parts are in constant pain,
    and days of affliction torment me.
²⁸ “I walk about dejected and without comfort;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
²⁹ I have become a brother to the jackal
    and a companion to the ostrich.
³⁰ My skin has turned black and peels off my body,
    and my bones are scorched by heat.
³¹ My harp has been tuned to dirges,
    and my flute to the sounds of weeping.

¹ “I have made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look with desire upon a virgin.
² For what is man’s lot prescribed by God above,
    his inheritance from the Almighty on high?
³ Is it not destruction for the wicked
    and disaster for wrongdoers?
⁴ Does not God see my ways
    and number all my steps?
⁵ “If I have walked in falsehood
    or hastened my steps toward deceit,
⁶ let God weigh me on honest scales;
    then he will know that I am blameless.

⁷ “If my steps have wandered from the path of righteousness,
    or if my eyes have led my heart astray,
    or if any stain has besmirched my hands,
⁸ then let someone else eat what I sow,
    and let my crops be uprooted.
⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
¹⁰ then let my wife grind grain^[k] for another
    and let other men enjoy her.
¹¹ For that would be a heinous crime
    and judged as a criminal offense.
¹² It would be a fire that leads to Destruction^[l]
    until it consumes all my possessions completely.
¹³ “If I have ever rejected the pleas of my male or female slaves
    when they lodged a complaint against me,
¹⁴ what will I do when God confronts me?
    What will I answer if he calls me to account?
¹⁵ Did not he who formed me in the womb also make them?
    Did not the one God create all human beings?^[m]
16 “Have I ignored the needs of the poor
    or caused the eyes of widows to overflow with tears?
¹⁷ Did I ever eat my bread alone
    without sharing it with an orphan,
¹⁸ I whom God has reared like a father
    and guided ever since I left my mother’s womb?
¹⁹ “Have I ever seen a stranger in need of clothing,
    or a poor wretch with nothing to cover him,
²⁰ whose body has not blessed me
    after being warmed with the fleece of my sheep?
²¹ Have I ever raised my hand against the innocent,
    knowing that my friends would support me?
²² “If I have done any of these things,
    then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder
    and let my arm be torn from its socket.
²³ For then the fear of God would overcome me
    and I would be unable to stand in his presence.
²⁴ “Have I placed my faith in gold
    and regarded it as my security?
²⁵ Have I rejoiced in my great wealth
    and the abundance of riches in my possession?
^26 [n]Have I beheld the sun when it shone
    and the moon moving in its splendor
²⁷ and ever found my heart to be secretly enticed
    so that I blew them a kiss in homage?
²⁸ Any of these would be a serious offense,
    for I would have been unfaithful to God above.
^29 [o]“Have I ever rejoiced at the ruin of my enemy
    or exulted when evil overtook him—
³⁰ I who would not allow my tongue to sin
    by laying his life under a curse?
³¹ Have not those of my household said,
    ‘Who has not eaten his meat and been sated?’
³² No stranger has ever had to spend the night in the street;
    my door has always been open to the traveler.
³³ “Have I ever concealed my transgressions as others do,
    keeping my guilt buried within my breast,
³⁴ because I feared the gossip that would ensue,
    and I was terrified at the scorn of the multitude?
If so, then I would have remained silent
    and not ventured out of doors.

^35 [q]“Oh, if only I had someone to hear my defense
    and my accuser would write out his indictment!
³⁶ I would wear it on my shoulder
    and place it on my head as a crown.
³⁷ I would give him an account of my entire life,
    and like a prince I would present myself before him.

³⁸ “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have joined in the weeping,
³⁹ if I have eaten its produce without payment
    and caused the death of its owners,
⁴⁰ then let thistles grow instead of wheat
    and noxious weeds instead of barley.”