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.

But if you earnestly seek God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,

Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless will perish.

He makes the stars: the Bear, Orion,
the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky.

Should this stream of words go unanswered
and such a talker be acquitted?

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

But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;
ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.

as you turn your anger against God
and allow such words to leave your mouth?

Indeed, such is the dwelling of the unjust man,
and this is the place of the one who does not know God.

He will suck the poison of cobras;
a viper’s fangs will kill him.

So how can you offer me such futile comfort?
Your answers are deceptive.

Clouds veil Him so that He cannot see,
as He walks on the circle of the sky.”

The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,
astounded at His rebuke.

It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing
and concealed from the birds of the sky.

For I do not know how to give such titles;
otherwise, my Maker would remove me in an instant.

who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?”

He lets it loose beneath the entire sky;
His lightning to the ends of the earth.