They have to get a resting-place in the hollows of the valleys, in holes of the earth and rocks.

They are sons of shame, and of men without a name, who have been forced out of the land.

And now I have become their song, and I am a word of shame to them.

They have made waste my roads, with a view to my destruction; his bowmen come round about me;

Fears have come on me; my hope is gone like the wind, and my well-being like a cloud.

Truly God has made me low, even to the earth, and I have become like dust.

You have become cruel to me; the strength of your hand is hard on me.

Has not my hand been stretched out in help to the poor? have I not been a saviour to him in his trouble?

Have I not been weeping for the crushed? and was not my soul sad for him who was in need?

My feelings are strongly moved, and give me no rest; days of trouble have overtaken me.

I have become a brother to the jackals, and go about in the company of ostriches.

If I have gone in false ways, or my foot has been quick in working deceit;

If my steps have been turned out of the way, or if my heart went after my eyes, or if the property of another is in my hands;

Let me put seed in the earth for another to have the fruit of it, and let my produce be uprooted.

If I made gold my hope, or if I ever said to the best gold, I have put my faith in you;

That would have been another sin to be rewarded with punishment by the judges; for I would have been false to God on high.

If I have taken its produce without payment, causing the death of its owners;

It is not the old who are wise, and those who are full of years have not the knowledge of what is right.

Fear has overcome them, they have no more answers to give; they have come to an end of words.

And am I to go on waiting while they have nothing to say? while they keep quiet and give no more answers?

And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:

If you have anything to say, give me an answer; for it is my desire that you may be judged free from sin.

Give ear, you wise, to my words; and you who have knowledge, give attention to me;

Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good.

Though I am right, still I am in pain; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong.

Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.

May Job be tested to the end, because his answers have been like those of evil men.

If you have done wrong, is he any the worse for it? and if your sins are great in number, what is it to him?

Your evil-doing may have an effect on a man like yourself, or your righteousness on a son of man.

Give me a little more time, and I will make it clear to you; for I have still something to say for God.

And if they have been prisoned in chains, and taken in cords of trouble,

Then he makes clear to them what they have done, even their evil works in which they have taken pride.

Those who have no fear of God keep wrath stored up in their hearts; they give no cry for help when they are made prisoners.

Take care not to be turned to sin, for you have taken evil for your part in place of sorrow.

Who ever gave orders to him, or said to him, You have done wrong?

He does wonders, more than may be searched out; great things of which we have no knowledge;

Have you knowledge of God's ordering of his works, how he makes the light of his cloud to be seen?

Have you knowledge of the balancings of the clouds, the wonders of him who has all wisdom?

How may he have knowledge of my desire for talk with him? or did any man ever say, May destruction come on me?

Where were you when I put the earth on its base? Say, if you have knowledge.

By whom were its measures fixed? Say, if you have wisdom; or by whom was the line stretched out over it?

Have you, from your earliest days, given orders to the morning, or made the dawn conscious of its place;

Have you come into the springs of the sea, walking in the secret places of the deep?

Have the doors of death been open to you, or have the door-keepers of the dark ever seen you?

Have you taken note of the wide limits of the earth? Say, if you have knowledge of it all.

No doubt you have knowledge of it, for then you had come to birth, and the number of your days is great.

Have you come into the secret place of snow, or have you seen the store-houses of the ice-drops,

Which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and fighting?

Have you knowledge of the laws of the heavens? did you give them rule over the earth?

Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,

Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?

To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.

His young have blood for their drink, and where the dead bodies are, there is he to be seen.

I have said once, and even twice, what was in my mind, but I will not do so again.

Have you an arm like God? have you a voice of thunder like his?

Will the fishermen make profit out of him? will they have him cut up for the traders?

Only put your hand on him, and see what a fight you will have; you will not do it again!

Who is this who makes dark the purpose of God by words without knowledge? For I have been talking without knowledge about wonders not to be searched out.

And it came about, after he had said these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am very angry with you and your two friends, because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.

And now, take seven oxen and seven sheep, and go to my servant Job, and give a burned offering for yourselves, and my servant Job will make prayer for you, that I may not send punishment on you; because you have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has.

And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses.

For this cause there will be no mercy for sinners when they are judged, and the evil-doers will have no place among the upright,

The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying,

But I have put my king on my holy hill of Zion.

I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being.

Give answer to my cry, O God of my righteousness; make me free from my troubles; have mercy on me, and give ear to my prayer.

Let there be fear in your hearts, and do no sin; have bitter feelings on your bed, but make no sound. (Selah.)

Lord, you have put joy in my heart, more than they have when their grain and their wine are increased.

The sons of pride have no place before you; you are a hater of all workers of evil.

Send them to destruction, O Lord; let their evil designs be the cause of their fall; let them be forced out by all their sins; because they have gone against your authority.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am wasted away: make me well, for even my bones are troubled.

O Lord my God, if I have done this; if my hands have done any wrong;

If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause;

The Lord will be judge of the peoples; give a decision for me, O Lord, because of my righteousness, and let my virtue have its reward.

You have made clear your strength even out of the mouths of babies at the breast, because of those who are against you; so that you may put to shame the cruel and violent man.

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have put in their places;

For you have made him only a little lower than the gods, crowning him with glory and honour.

You have made him ruler over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet;

I will be glad and have delight in you: I will make a song of praise to your name, O Most High.

You have said sharp words to the nations, you have sent destruction on the sinners, you have put an end to their name for ever and ever.

You have given their towns to destruction; the memory of them has gone; they have become waste for ever.

And those who have knowledge of your name will put their faith in you; because you, Lord, have ever given your help to those who were waiting for you.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, and see how I am troubled by my haters; let me be lifted up from the doors of death;

The nations have gone down into the hole which they made: in their secret net is their foot taken.

The sinners and all the nations who have no memory of God will be turned into the underworld.

He is waiting in the dark places of the towns: in the secret places he puts to death those who have done no wrong: his eyes are secretly turned against the poor.

You have seen it; for your eyes are on sorrow and grief, to take it into your hand: the poor man puts his faith in you; you have been the helper of the child who has no father.

Lord, you have given ear to the prayer of the poor: you will make strong their hearts, you will give them a hearing:

They have said, With our tongues will we overcome; our lips are ours: who is lord over us?

And he who is against me may not say, I have overcome him; and those who are troubling me may not be glad when I am moved.

But I have had faith in your mercy; my heart will be glad in your salvation.

The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.

They have all gone out of the way together; they are unclean, there is not one who does good, no, not one.

Have all the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food as they would take bread; they make no prayer to the Lord.

You have put to shame the thoughts of the poor, but the Lord is his support.

May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! when the fate of his people is changed by the Lord, Jacob will have joy and Israel will be glad.

Lord, who may have a resting-place in your tent, a living-place on your holy hill?

Keep me safe, O God: for in you I have put my faith.

O my soul, you have said to the Lord, You are my Lord: I have no good but you.

Fair are the places marked out for me; I have a noble heritage.