"Why didn't I die from the womb? Why didn't I give up the spirit when my mother bore me?

There the wicked cease from troubling. There the weary are at rest.

The small and the great are there. The servant is free from his master.

"If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?

In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,

For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;

But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.

In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.

You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.

Isn't it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me?

"To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

Did I say, 'Give to me?' or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'

or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?' or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'

How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.'

Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;

if I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity.

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

before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;

He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

"Only don't do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from your face:

withdraw your hand far from me; and don't let your terror make me afraid.

Look away from him, that he may rest, until he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.

As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up,

For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you shall not exalt them.

His memory shall perish from the earth. He shall have no name in the street.

He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.

He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.

"He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

Don't you know this from old time, since man was placed on earth,

He shall flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow shall strike him through.

This is the portion of a wicked man from God, the heritage appointed to him by God."

Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

They tell God, 'Depart from us, for we don't want to know about your ways.

Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

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

You haven't given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.

who said to God, 'Depart from us;' and, 'What can the Almighty do for us?'

Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Please receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.

If you return to the Almighty, you shall be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.

There the upright might reason with him, so I should be delivered forever from my judge.

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

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.

There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

From out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn't regard the folly.

To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came forth from you?

Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.

"This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty.

For it hurls at him, and does not spare, as he flees away from his hand.

He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.

Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.

Where then does wisdom come from? Where is the place of understanding?

Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.

To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"

The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

They are driven out from the midst of men. They cry after them as after a thief;

They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and don't hesitate to spit in my face.

My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

For what is the portion from God above, and the heritage from the Almighty on high?

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

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

then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone.

For calamity from God is a terror to me. Because his majesty, I can do nothing.

and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,

That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.

He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

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

He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit. My life shall see the light.'

to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.

"Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.

because they turned aside from following him, and wouldn't pay attention to any of his ways,

If you are righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand?

I will get my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

He doesn't withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne, he sets them forever, and they are exalted.

He also opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity.

For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,

"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth from the womb,

From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken.

He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.

From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.

His breath kindles coals. A flame goes forth from his mouth.

"Let's break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us."

Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him. A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.

Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you. Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.

Have mercy on me, Yahweh. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death;

His ways are prosperous at all times. He is haughty, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.

He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.

"Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says Yahweh; "I will set him in safety from those who malign him."

You will keep them, Yahweh. You will preserve them from this generation forever.

How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who did understand, who did seek after God.

My soul, you have said to Yahweh, "You are my Lord. Apart from you I have no good thing."

Let my sentence come forth from your presence. Let your eyes look on equity.