Call to mind now: Who, being innocent, ever perished? And where were upright people ever destroyed?

how much more to those who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like a moth?

"Call now! Is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?

And that God would be willing to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and kill me.

Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust?

Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.

Then call, and I will answer, or I will speak, and you respond to me.

You will call and I -- I will answer you; you will long for the creature you have made.

his archers surround me. Without pity he pierces my kidneys and pours out my gall on the ground.

He sucks the poison of serpents; the fangs of a viper kill him.

Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call out to God at all times?

If he piles up silver like dust and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,

Look, I am just like you in relation to God; I too have been molded from clay.

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features are dyed like a garment.

Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the red glow of dawn.