“May that day be darkness;
Let not God above care for it,
Nor light shine on it.

“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the rushes grow without water?

‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit.

“Though its roots grow old in the ground
And its stump dies in the dry soil,

“Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.

“Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way,
And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

“For what does he care for his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?

(But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father,
And from infancy I guided her),

Let briars grow instead of wheat,
And stinkweed instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.

“Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field;
They leave and do not return to them.

“Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.