Are God's encouragements inconsequential to you, even a word that has been spoken gently to you?

Why has your heart misled you,
and why do your eyes flash

For thou turnest against God thy spirit? And hast brought out words from thy mouth:

"The wicked person writhes in pain throughout his life, a number of years has been reserved for the ruthless.

He has no hope of coming safe out of the dark, and his fate will be the sword;

“Because he has stretched out his hand against God
And behaves arrogantly against the Almighty,

For he has covered his face with his fat,
Adding layers of fat to his thighs [giving himself up to pleasures],

And he has lived in desolate [God-forsaken] cities,
In houses which no one should inhabit,
Which were destined to become heaps [of ruins];

He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

Evil has made them with child, and they give birth to trouble; and the fruit of their body is shame for themselves.

Shall not thy vain words come yet to an end? Or, hast thou yet any more to say?

“If I speak, my pain is not lessened,
And if I hold back, what has left me?

But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.

“His wrath has torn me and hunted me down,
He has gnashed at me with his teeth;
My adversary sharpens His gaze and glares [with piercing eyes] at me.

“God hands me over to criminals
And tosses me [headlong] into the hands of the wicked.

I was at ease, and he broke me apart. Yes, he has taken me by the neck, and dashed me to pieces. He has also set me up for his target.

My face has grown red with weeping,
and darkness covers my eyes,

"Listen, earth! Don't cover my blood, for my outcry has no place to rest.

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

“But He has made me a byword and mockery among the people,
And I have become one in whose face people spit.

“My eye has grown dim (unexpressive) because of grief,
And all my [body’s] members are [wasted away] like a shadow.

The upright are surprised at this, and he who has done no wrong is troubled because of the evil-doers.

“Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his ways,
And he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.

"For he has stumbled into a net with his own feet; he walked right into the network!

All memory of him perishes from the earth;
he has no name anywhere.

He has no children or descendants among his people,
no survivor where he used to live.

Truly, these are the houses of the sinner, and this is the place of him who has no knowledge of God.

Know then that God has wronged me and overthrown me
And has closed His net around me.

“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has set darkness upon my paths.

“He has stripped me of my honor
And removed the crown from my head.

“He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
He has uprooted my hope like a tree.

“He has also kindled His wrath [like a fire] against me
And He considers and counts me as one of His adversaries.

“He has put my brothers far from me,
And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

All the men of my counsel detest me, even this one I loved has turned against me.

“Have pity on me! Have pity on me, O you my friends,
For the hand of God has touched me.

Why are you chasing me, as God has been doing? Aren't you satisfied that I'm sick?

“Even after my [mortal] skin is destroyed [by death],
Yet from my [immortal] flesh I will see God,

This hast thou known from antiquity? Since the placing of man on earth?

the joy of the wicked has been brief
and the happiness of the godless has lasted only a moment?

The eye which saw him sees him no longer; and his place has no more knowledge of him.

“He swallows [his ill-gotten] riches,
But will vomit them up;
God will drive them out of his belly.

That for which he labored he shall restore, and shall not swallow it down. According to the substance that he has gotten, he shall not rejoice.

“For he has oppressed and neglected the poor;
He has violently taken away houses which he did not build.

Because he has not known satisfaction in his stomach, {he lets nothing escape that he desires}.

{There is nothing left after he has eaten}; therefore his prosperity will not endure.

"It will come about that, when he has filled himself to the full, God will vent his burning anger on him; he will pour it out on him and on his body.

"Total darkness has been reserved for his treasures; a fire that has no need to be kindled will devour him and consume whatever remains in his possession.

“For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead,
When the number of his months [of life] is cut off?

Yet another dies with a bitter inner self and has not tasted prosperity.

How the evil man goes free in the day of trouble, and has salvation in the day of wrath?

“But who will confront him with his actions and rebuke him face to face,
And who will repay him for what he has done?

For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

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

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

And thou hast said, 'What -- hath God known? Through thickness doth He judge?

Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

‘Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed,
And fire has consumed their abundance.’

Accept what he has to teach you, and treasure his words in your heart.

If only I knew where to find him, I would visit him where he has taken his seat.

“But He knows the way that I take [and He pays attention to it].
When He has tried me, I will come forth as [refined] gold [pure and luminous].

“My feet have carefully followed His steps;
I have kept His ways and not turned aside.

I haven't wandered away from the commands that he has spoken; I've treasured what he has said more than my own meals."

But he is unchangeable, and who can change him? Whatever he has desired, he does.

“For He performs what is planned (appointed) for me,
And He is mindful of many such things.

“For God has made my heart faint,
And the Almighty has terrified me,

But I am not silenced by the darkness [of these woes that fell on me],
Nor by the thick darkness which covers my face.

They send away the ass of him who has no father, they take the widow's ox for debt.

The public place of his town has no more knowledge of him, and his name has gone from the memory of men: he is rooted up like a dead tree.

He is not kind to the widow, and he has no pity for her child.

Yet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

“Behold, even the moon has no brightness [compared to God’s majesty and glory]
And the stars are not pure in His sight,

How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].

He has enclosed the face of the full moon and spread his clouds over it.

“He has inscribed a circular limit (the horizon) on the face of the waters
At the boundary between light and darkness.

By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.

“As God lives, who has taken away my right and denied me justice,
And the Almighty, who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,

I will keep it safe, and will not let it go: my heart has nothing to say against any part of my life.

“For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?

I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.

If he has many children, their destiny is to die by the sword, and his descendants won't have enough food.

"He builds his house like the moth, and like a booth [that] a watchman has made.

And it hurls at him, and it has no compassion; he will quickly flee from its power.

Its stones [are the] place of sapphire, and [the] earthen dirt {has} gold.

“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,
And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.

“The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand; he has overturned mountains at their bases.

He has cut out channels through the rocks; his eyes have spotted every precious thing.

He has searched the sources of the rivers and what was hidden he has brought into the light.

Man has not seen the way to it, and it is not in the land of the living.

It has been concealed from the sight of every living creature and hidden even from the birds in the skies.

God has knowledge of the way to it, and of its resting-place;

He has commanded mankind: "To fear the Lord that is wisdom; to move away from evil that is understanding.'"

Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?

“For God has loosed His bowstring [attacking me] and [He has] afflicted and humbled me;
They have cast off the bridle [of restraint] before me.

“Terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my honor and reputation like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

"Now, my soul pours itself out; the time of my affliction has taken control of me.