‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He?
Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?

“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.

“But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who gives songs [of rejoicing] in the night,

“I will bring my knowledge from afar,
And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

“As I have seen, those who plow wickedness
And those who sow trouble and harm harvest it.

“They conceive mischief and bring forth wickedness,
And their inmost soul prepares deceit and fraud.”