the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

May its morning stars grow dark.
May it wait for daylight but have none;
may it not see the breaking of dawn.

Now I would certainly be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep.
Then I would be at rest

They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk;
they perish forever while no one notices.

Reconsider; don’t be unjust.
Reconsider; my righteousness is still the issue.

When I lie down I think:
When will I get up?
But the evening drags on endlessly,
and I toss and turn until dawn.

As a cloud fades away and vanishes,
so the one who goes down to Sheol will never rise again.

If I have sinned, what have I done to You,
Watcher of mankind?
Why have You made me Your target,
so that I have become a burden to You?

Why not forgive my sin
and pardon my transgression?
For soon I will lie down in the grave.
You will eagerly seek me, but I will be gone.

They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—

You will be confident, because there is hope.
You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.

You will lie down without fear,
and many will seek your favor.

Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?

Whatever He tears down cannot be rebuilt;
whoever He imprisons cannot be released.

There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.

so man lies down never to rise again.
They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;
they will not stir from their sleep.

What do you know that we don’t?
What do you understand that is not clear to us?

Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,
or will we descend together to the dust?

You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat me without shame.

He tears me down on every side so that I am ruined.
He uproots my hope like a tree.

I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll

Don’t you know that ever since antiquity,
from the time man was placed on earth,

His bones may be full of youthful vigor,
but will lie down with him in the grave.

When he fills his stomach,
God will send His burning anger against him,
raining it down on him while he is eating.

They spend their days in prosperity
and go down to Sheol in peace.

Yet they say to God: “Leave us alone!
We don’t want to know Your ways.

Have you never consulted those who travel the roads?
Don’t you accept their reports?

Who would denounce his behavior to his face?
Who would repay him for what he has done?

The murderer rises at dawn
to kill the poor and needy,
and by night he becomes a thief.

He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

The ocean depths say, “It’s not in me,”
while the sea declares, “I don’t have it.”

When I went out to the city gate
and took my seat in the town square,

For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon;
it would destroy my entire harvest.

and to be gracious to him and say,
“Spare him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom,”

He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will continue to see the light.”

Teach me what I cannot see;
if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”

God tells them what they have done
and how arrogantly they have transgressed.

Who has appointed His way for Him,
and who has declared, “You have done wrong”?

Have you ever in your life commanded the morning
or assigned the dawn its place,

Don’t you know? You were already born;
you have lived so long!

They crouch down to give birth to their young;
they deliver their newborn.

Its brood gulps down blood,
and where the slain are, it is there.

Can you pull in Leviathan with a hook
or tie his tongue down with a rope?

His snorting flashes with light,
while his eyes are like the rays of dawn.