then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted, such as a man who drinks injustice like water?"

which is what wise men have explained, who didn't withhold anything from their ancestors.

For the company of the godless is desolation, and fire consumes the tents of those who bribe.

Offer, then, some collateral on my behalf. Is there anyone who will be my guarantor?

"Because you're the one who closed their hearts to compassion; therefore, you won't let them triumph.

Now as for the one who testifies against his friends to take their property, even the eyes of his children will fail.

where would my hope be? "And speaking of my hope, who would notice it?

People who live west of him are appalled at his fate; those who live east of him are seized with terror.

Indeed, the residences of the wicked are like this; and so are the homes of those who don't know God."

Those who live in my house and my maidservants, too! treat me like a stranger; they think I'm a foreigner.

whom I will see for myself. My own eyes will look at him there won't be anyone else for me! He is the culmination of my innermost desire."

he'll perish forever, like his own excrement; those who saw him will ask, "Where is he?'

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Where's the profit in talking to him?'

Who will expose his conduct to his face? Who will repay him for what he has done

"Can a human being be useful to God, since he, who is wise, is sufficient to himself?

who were snatched away before their time; when their foundation was swept away by a river?

He'll even deliver the guilty, who will be delivered through your innocence."

"But he is One who can change him? He does whatever he wants to do.

Why doesn't the Almighty reserve time for judgment? And why don't those who know him perceive his days?

"Then there are those who rebel against the light; they are not acquainted with its ways; and they don't stay on its course.

If this weren't so, who can prove that I'm a liar by showing that there's nothing to what I'm saying?"

"Dominion and fear belong to God; who fashions peace in his high heaven.

Is there any limit to his armies? On whom does his light not shine?

How much less is man, who is only a maggot, or a man's children, who are only worms!"

Who helped you say all of this? Who inspired you?"

"The ghosts of the dead writhe under the waters along with those who live there with them.

Indeed, these are the fringes of his ways, and how faint is the whisper we've heard of it! But who can comprehend the thunder of his might?"

Those who do survive him disease will bury, and his widow won't even weep.

because I delivered the poor who were crying for help, along with orphans who had no one to help them.

Those who were about to die blessed me, and I made widows sing for joy.

I set an example of the way to live, as a leader would; I lived like a king among his army; like one who comforts mourners."

"But now they mock me; men who are far younger than I, whose fathers I would have hated to entrust with my own sheep dogs.

They come like those who breach through a wall; as everything crashes around me they'll roll on and on!

Haven't I wept for the one who is going through hard times? Haven't I grieved for the needy?

But my harp is in mourning; my flute plays only songs for those who are weeping."

if not calamity that is due the unjust, and misfortune that is due those who practice iniquity?

The one who made me in the womb made them, too, didn't he? Didn't the same one prepare each of us in the womb?"

if I've observed someone who is about to die for lack of clothes or if I have no clothing to give to the poor,

"Have I rejoiced in the destruction of those who hate me, or have I been happy that evil caught up with him?

People in my household have said, "We cannot find anyone who has not been satisfied with his meat,' haven't they?

"Who will grant me a hearing? Here's my signature let the Almighty answer! Since my adversary indicted me,

since I don't know the first thing about how to flatter; and the one who made me would sweep me away as if I were nothing."

"What man is like Job, who drinks mockery like water,

traffics in those who practice evil, and walks with wicked people?

Who entrusted the earth to him? Who made him responsible for the entire inhabited world?

Can one who hates justice really govern? And if God is righteous and mighty, can you condemn him?

Who isn't partial to princes? Who doesn't give preference to the nobles over the poor? Nevertheless, all of them are his handiwork.

There's no such thing as darkness to him not even deep darkness that can conceal those who practice evil.

"If he remains silent, who will condemn him? If he conceals his face, who can see him? He watches over both nation and individual alike,

Oh, how Job needs to be given a full court trial, as a rebuke to those who practice evil,

He never asks, "Where is God, my Creator, who gives me songs in the night,

who teaches us more than the earth's wild animals, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'

"They cry out there, but he doesn't answer because of the arrogance of those who practice evil.

because what I have to say isn't deceptive, and the one who has perfect knowledge is with you."

"Indeed, God is exalted in his power. Who is like him as a teacher?

Who ordained his path for him, and who has asked him, "You are wrong, aren't you?'

"Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel without knowing what he's talking about?

Who set its measurement? Am I to assume you know? Who stretched a boundary line over it?

On what were its bases set? Who laid its corner stone

"Who enclosed the sea with limits when it gushed out of the womb,

"Who cuts canals for storm floods, and paths for the lightning and thunder,

"Does the rain have a father? Who fathered the dew?

Whose womb brings forth the ice? Who gives birth to frost out of an empty sky,

"Who sets wisdom within you, or imbues your mind with understanding?

Who has the wisdom to be able to count the clouds, or to empty the water jars of heaven,

Who prepares food for the raven, when its offspring cry out to God as they wander for lack of food?"

"Who sets the wild donkey free? Who loosens the bonds of the wild donkey

to whom I've given the Arabah for a home; the salt plain for his dwelling place?

"Should the one who is fighting the Almighty find fault with him? Let God's accuser answer."

No one is fierce enough to dare to arouse him. "Who, then, can stand in my presence and face me?

Who can take me to court and be reconciled to me? All of heaven is mine.

Who can strip off his outer armor? Who can approach him with a bridle?

Who dares to open his mouth, since it is ringed with his terrible teeth!

"His neck is so powerful that all who meet him are terrified.

You asked, "Who is this that darkens counsel without knowledge?' Well now, I have talked about what I don't understand awesome things beyond me that I don't know.

Then all his brothers and sisters and all those who knew him before arrived. They ate food with him in his house, mourned for him, and consoled him for all the trouble that the LORD had brought and placed on him. Some gave him gold bullion and some brought gold earrings.

How blessed is the person, who does not take the advice of the wicked, who does not stand on the path with sinners, and who does not sit in the seat of mockers.

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

Kiss the son before he becomes angry, and you die where you stand. Indeed, his wrath can flare up quickly. How blessed are those who take refuge in him. A Davidic Psalm, when he fled from his son Absalom.

But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

I will not fear multitudes of people, who set themselves against me on every side.

Many are asking, "Who will help us to see better days?" LORD, may the light of your favor shine upon us.

Indeed, you aren't a God who delights in wickedness; evil will never dwell with you.

Boastful ones will not stand before you; you hate all those who practice wickedness.

You will destroy those who speak lies. The LORD abhors the person of bloodshed and deceit.

Let all those who take refuge in you rejoice! Let them shout for joy forever, and may you protect them. Let those who love your name exult in you.

In death, there is no memory of you. Who will give you thanks where the dead are?

Get away from me, all of you who practice evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

LORD, my God, I seek refuge in you. Deliver me from those who persecute me! Rescue me!

if I have rewarded those who did me good with evil, if I have plundered my enemy without justification,

Let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous. For you are the righteous God who discerns the inner thoughts.

God is my shield, the one who delivers the upright in heart.

God is a righteous judge, a God who is angry with sinners every day.

Those who know your name will trust you, for you have not forsaken those who seek you, LORD.

Sing praises to the LORD who dwells in Zion; declare his mighty deeds among the nations.

Be gracious to me, LORD, take note of my affliction, because of those who hate me. You snatch me away from the gates of death,

The wicked one arrogantly pursues the afflicted, who are trapped in the schemes he devises.

The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence, he hates.

those who say, "By our tongues we will prevail; our lips belong to us. Who is master over us?"

"Because the poor are being oppressed, because the needy are sighing, I will now arise," says the LORD, "I will establish in safety those who yearn for it."