Thou have granted me life and loving kindness, and thy visitation has preserved my spirit.

Why then have thou brought me forth out of the womb? I would have given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.

I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall have no way to flee. And their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who does not know such things as these?

Behold, he will kill me; I have no hope. Nevertheless I will maintain my ways before him.

Behold now, I have set my case in order. I know that I am righteous.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with thee, and thou have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass,

Thou would call, and I would answer thee. Thou would have a desire to the work of thy hands.

Have thou heard the secret counsel of God? And do thou limit wisdom to thyself?

I will show thee. Hear thou me, and that which I have seen I will declare,

which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it,

I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are ye all.

Shall vain words have an end? Or what provokes thee that thou answer?

But now he has made me weary. Thou have made desolate all my company.

And thou have laid fast hold on me, [which] is a witness [against me]. And my leanness rises up against me; it testifies to my face.

They have gaped upon me with their mouth. They have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.

I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my horn in the dust.

O earth, do not cover thou my blood, and let my cry have no [resting] place.

For thou have hid their heart from understanding. Therefore thou shall not exalt [them].

If I look for Sheol as my house, if I have spread my couch in the darkness,

if I have said to corruption, Thou are my father, to the worm, My mother, and my sister,

Why are we counted as beasts, [and] have become unclean in your sight?

His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.

He shall have neither son nor son's son among his people, nor any remaining where he sojourned.

These ten times ye have reproached me. Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.

And be it indeed that I have erred, my error remains with myself.

My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

My bone cleaves to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped with the skin of my teeth.

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.

I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame, and the spirit of my understanding answers me.

yet he shall perish forever like his own dung. Those who have seen him shall say, Where is he?

Allow me, and I also will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray to him?

Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences,

For thou have taken pledges from thy brother for nothing, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Thou have not given water to the weary to drink, and thou have withheld bread from the hungry.

Thou have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Will thou keep the old way which wicked men have trodden?

My foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept his way, and not turned aside.

I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips, I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

They lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

Drought and heat consume the snow waters, [and] Sheol [those who] have sinned.

How thou have helped him who is without power! How thou have saved the arm that has no strength!

How thou have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

To whom have thou uttered words? And whose spirit came forth from thee?

Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it. Why then have ye become altogether vain?

The proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed thereby.

Destruction and Death say, We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.

But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.

And now I have become their song, Yea, I am a byword to them.

For he has loosed his cord, and afflicted me. And they have cast off the bridle before me.

They mar my path. They set forward my calamity, [even] men who have no helper.

And now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold upon me.

He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.

Thou have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of thy hand thou persecute me.

My heart is troubled, and does not rest. Days of affliction have come upon me.

If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit

If my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have laid wait at my neighbor's door,

If I have despised the case of my man-servant or of my maid-servant when they contended with me,

If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it

(no, from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and her I have guided from my mother's womb);

if I have seen any perish for lack of clothing, or that the needy had no covering;

if his loins have not blessed me, and if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,

If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, [Thou are] my confidence;

if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;

if I have beheld the sun when it shone, or the moon walking in brightness,

(this also is an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied the God that is above);

if I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him

(yea, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking his life with a curse);

if the men of my tent have not said, Who can find one who has not been filled with his food?

(the sojourner has not lodged in the street, but I have opened my doors to the traveler);

if like Adam I have covered my transgressions by hiding my iniquity in my bosom

if I have eaten the fruits of it without money, or have caused the owners of it to lose their lives,

Beware lest ye say, We have found wisdom. God may vanquish him, not man.

They are amazed, they answer no more. They have not a word to say.

Behold now, I have opened my mouth. My tongue has spoken in my mouth.

Surely thou have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of [thy] words, [saying],

then [God] is gracious to him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.

He sings before men, and says, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it did not profit me.

If thou have anything to say, answer me. Speak, for I desire to justify thee.

Hear my words, ye wise men, and give ear to me, ye who have knowledge.

saying, I have not sinned, nor committed unrighteousness, nor had fellowship with workers of iniquity to go with the profane.

because they turned aside from following him, and would not have regard in any of his ways,

For has any said to God, I have borne [chastisement], I will not offend [any more].

Teach thou me that which I do not see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?

That thou said, What advantage will it be to thee? [And], What profit shall I have more than if I had sinned?

If thou have sinned, what do thou effect against him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what do thou to him?

Allow me a little, and I will show thee. For I have yet somewhat to say on God's behalf.

then he shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.

Yea, he would have allured thee out of distress into a broad place, where there is no confinement, and that which is set on thy table would be full of fatness.

But thou have fulfilled the judgment of the wicked. Judgment and justice take hold,

Take heed. Do not turn to iniquity, for thou have fixed on this because of affliction.

Who has enjoined him his way? Or who can say, Thou have wrought unrighteousness?

Remember that thou magnify his work, of which men have sung.

All men have looked on it. Man beholds it afar off.

Where were thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou have understanding.

Have thou commanded the morning since thy days [began], [and] caused the dayspring to know its place