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

Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall expire.

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

Why hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thy enemy?

Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

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

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

Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.

Yes, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.

For thy mouth uttereth thy iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

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

He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.

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

For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

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

O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor!

My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

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

But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.

And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who will see it?

He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of its place?

Yes, 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.

The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance are verily estranged from me.

They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of my own body.

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

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

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth:

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

Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste.

That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they who have seen him shall say, Where is he?

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

There shall none of his food be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods.

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 houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

Therefore they say to 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.

God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

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

But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it.

Therefore snares are around thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

Who said to God, depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them!

Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

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

If thou shalt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God.

There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge.

Behold, as wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

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

For the morning is to them even as the shades of death: if one knoweth them, they are in the terrors of the shades of death.

They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all others, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

Far be it from me that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me.

For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.

As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.

It cannot be obtained for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price of it.

The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;

To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.

When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:

And to man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.

For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.

Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their food.

They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.

For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?

When I looked for good, then evil came: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

For this is a hainous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges.

For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all my increase.

(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;)

If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.

Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?

Behold, I waited for your words; I gave ear to your reasons, whilst ye searched out what to say.

When I had waited, (for they spoke not, but stood still, and answered no more;)

For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.