Stones, have been hollowed out by waters, the floods thereof wash away the dust of the earth, and, the hope of mortal man, thou hast destroyed:

But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

In the secret council of GOD, hast thou been wont to hearken? Or canst thou attain for thyself unto wisdom?

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

Lo, in His holy ones He putteth no credence, And the heavens have not been pure in His eyes.

which wise men have told, and hath not been hid from their fathers:

The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

He is greatly in fear of the dark day, trouble and pain overcome him:

Because he had stretched out - against GOD - his hand, and, against the Almighty, had been wont to behave himself proudly;

And he inhabiteth cities cut off, houses not dwelt in, That have been ready to become heaps.

Let him not put credence in vanity, He hath been deceived, For vanity is his recompence.

But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips should assuage your pain.

If I speak, my pain is not assuaged; and if I forbear, what am I eased?

And Thou dost loathe me, For a witness it hath been, And rise up against me doth my failure, In my face it testifieth.

His wrath has torn, and he has been hostile toward me; he gnashed at me with his teeth. My foe sharpens his eyes against me.

At ease I have been, and he breaketh me, And he hath laid hold on my neck, And he breaketh me in pieces, And he raiseth me to him for a mark.

My spirit hath been destroyed, My days extinguished -- graves are for me.

My eyes have become dark because of my pain, and all my body is wasted to a shade.

My days have passed by, My devices have been broken off, The possessions of my heart!

Wherefore have we been reckoned as cattle? We have been defiled in your eyes!

The light hath been dark in his tent, And his lamp over him is extinguished.

For he has been thrown into a net by his feet and he wanders into a mesh.

At this day westerns have been astonished And easterns have taken fright.

These ten times you have been reproaching me; you are not ashamed to attack me!

And, truly, if I have been in error, the effect of my error is only on myself.

My brethren from me He hath put far off, And mine acquaintances surely Have been estranged from me.

Sojourners of my house and my maids, For a stranger reckon me: An alien I have been in their eyes.

Abominate me do all the men of my counsel, And those I have loved, Have been turned against me.

My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

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

That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!

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

Whom I -- I see on my side, And mine eyes have beheld, and not a stranger, Consumed have been my reins in my bosom.

But ye say, 'Why do we pursue after him?' And the root of the matter hath been found in me.

"Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,

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

His bones have been full of his youth, And with him on the dust it lieth down.

Because he has been cruel to the poor, turning away from them in their trouble; because he has taken a house by force which he did not put up;

"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.

Yea, if I have remembered, then I have been troubled. And my flesh hath taken fright.

Wherefore do the wicked live? They have become old, Yea, they have been mighty in wealth.

Lo, not in their hand is their good, (The counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)

"How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished? How often does their misfortune come upon them? How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?

For what is his interest in his home after his death, when the number of his months has been broken off?

His breasts have been full of milk, And marrow his bones doth moisten.

Sweet to him have been the clods of the valley, And after him every man he draweth, And before him there is no numbering.

And how do ye comfort me with vanity, And in your answers hath been left trespass?

Surely then hast been wont to put thy brother in pledge, for nothing, and, the garments of the ill-clad, hast thou stripped off:

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

Who have been cut down unexpectedly, A flood is poured out on their foundation.

Who had been saying unto GOD, Depart from us! and - What can the Almighty do for himself?

And he hath filled their houses with good: (And the counsel of the wicked Hath been far from me.)

'Surely our substance hath not been cut off, And their excellency hath fire consumed.'

And the Mighty hath been thy defence, And silver is strength to thee.

He delivereth the not innocent, Yea, he hath been delivered By the cleanness of thy hands.

Also -- to-day is my complaint bitter, My hand hath been heavy because of my sighing.

For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold.

I have never gone against the orders of his lips; the words of his mouth have been stored up in my heart.

For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs

For I have not been cut off before darkness, And before me He covered thick darkness.

Wherefore from the Mighty One Times have not been hidden, And those knowing Him have not seen His days.

From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.

They have been among rebellious ones of light, They have not discerned His ways, Nor abode in His paths.

High they were for a little, and they are not, And they have been brought low. As all others they are shut up, And as the head of an ear of corn cut off.

Lo -- unto the moon, and it shineth not, And stars have not been pure in His eyes.

How have you given help to him who has no power! how have you been the salvation of the arm which has no strength!

To whom have your words been said? and whose spirit came out from you?

Lo! these, are the fringes of his way, and what a whisper of a word hath been heard of him! But, the thunder of his might, who could understand?

Look! All of you have been watching, so why have you become so completely worthless?

It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden.

As I have been in days of my maturity, And the counsel of God upon my tent.

"Whenever I went out to the city gate, a seat had been reserved for me in the plaza.

Seen me have youths, and they, been hidden, And the aged have risen -- they stood up.

The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved.

He that should have been lost, gave me a good word, and the widow's heart praised me.

Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame am I.

"Therefore, I thought verily that I should have died in my nest: and that my days should have been as many as the sands of the sea.

And when they were driven forth, men cried after them, as it had been after a thief.

Sons of folly -- even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.

And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.

They fell upon me, as it had been the breaking in of waters, and came in by heaps to destroy me.

At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.

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?

A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.

My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,

And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.

For what would have been my portion of +God from above, and what the heritage of the Almighty from on high?

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;

If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door;

Surely that had been a shameful thing! and that an iniquity for the judges!

Surely, a fire, had that been, which, unto destruction, would have consumed, and, of all mine increase, had it torn up the root.

(But from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father,
And from my mother’s womb I have been the widow’s guide),

If his loins have not blessed me, And if he hath not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

If my hand had been lifted up against him who had done no wrong, when I saw that I was supported by the judges;

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

And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:

This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

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