He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.

If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.

Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:

Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.

Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.

Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.

If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.

Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?

I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.

For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.

Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:

Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;

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

Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?

What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us?

Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

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

He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.

He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.

Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.

It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?

His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.

Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.

When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.

They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness.

Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.

For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.

Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.

Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,

He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

Though he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth:

He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter.

That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.

Because he hath oppressed and hath forsaken the poor; because he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not;

Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired.

All darkness shall be hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle.

As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?

Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.