“It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’

“The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, then who is it?

“For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him,
That we may go to court together.

“There is no umpire between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both.

‘Is it right for You indeed to oppress,
To reject the labor of Your hands,
And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?

‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees?

‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or Your years as man’s years,

‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.

‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
And would You turn me into dust again?

‘Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:

‘You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
Hardship after hardship is with me.

‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’

The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.”

“For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And I am innocent in your eyes.’

“They are high as the heavens, what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol, what can you know?

“Its measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.

“An idiot will become intelligent
When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
And do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;

“For you would forget your trouble,
As waters that have passed by, you would remember it.

“Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.

“But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And there will be no escape for them;
And their hope is to breathe their last.”

“But I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And who does not know such things as these?

“I am a joke to my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and blameless man is a joke.

“He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.

In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?

“Does not the ear test words,
As the palate tastes its food?

“Wisdom is with aged men,
With long life is understanding.

“Will you speak what is unjust for God,
And speak what is deceitful for Him?

“Will it be well when He examines you?
Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

While I am decaying like a rotten thing,
Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

“Man, who is born of woman,
Is short-lived and full of turmoil.

“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass.

“For there is hope for a tree,
When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And its shoots will not fail.

“But man dies and lies prostrate.
Man expires, and where is he?

“As water evaporates from the sea,
And a river becomes parched and dried up,

“My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You wrap up my iniquity.

“Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge
And fill himself with the east wind?

“Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Older than your father.

“What is man, that he should be pure,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

How much less one who is detestable and corrupt,
Man, who drinks iniquity like water!

What wise men have told,
And have not concealed from their fathers,

“He does not believe that he will return from darkness,
And he is destined for the sword.

“He wanders about for food, saying, ‘Where is it?’
He knows that a day of darkness is at hand.

“For the company of the godless is barren,
And fire consumes the tents of the corrupt.

“Is there no limit to windy words?
Or what plagues you that you answer?

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

“I was at ease, but He shattered me,
And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His target.

“My face is flushed from weeping,
And deep darkness is on my eyelids,

Although there is no violence in my hands,
And my prayer is pure.

“Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
And my advocate is on high.

“O that a man might plead with God
As a man with his neighbor!

“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished,
The grave is ready for me.

“Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself;
Who is there that will be my guarantor?

“My eye has also grown dim because of grief,
And all my members are as a shadow.

“But come again all of you now,
For I do not find a wise man among you.

“They make night into day, saying,
‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.

“If I look for Sheol as my home,
I make my bed in the darkness;

Where now is my hope?
And who regards my hope?

“Why are we regarded as beasts,
As stupid in your eyes?

“O you who tear yourself in your anger—
For your sake is the earth to be abandoned,
Or the rock to be moved from its place?

“The light in his tent is darkened,
And his lamp goes out above him.

“His vigorous stride is shortened,
And his own scheme brings him down.

“For he is thrown into the net by his own feet,
And he steps on the webbing.

“A noose for him is hidden in the ground,
And a trap for him on the path.

“His strength is famished,
And calamity is ready at his side.

“His skin is devoured by disease,
The firstborn of death devours his limbs.

“He is torn from the security of his tent,
And they march him before the king of terrors.

“There dwells in his tent nothing of his;
Brimstone is scattered on his habitation.

“His roots are dried below,
And his branch is cut off above.

“He is driven from light into darkness,
And chased from the inhabited world.

“Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God.”

“Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.

“He has also kindled His anger against me
And considered me as His enemy.

“My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

“Why do you persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

“Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

“Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment.”

That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless momentary?

He perishes forever like his refuse;
Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

“He flies away like a dream, and they cannot find him;
Even like a vision of the night he is chased away.

“Though evil is sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,

Yet his food in his stomach is changed
To the venom of cobras within him.

“He returns what he has attained
And cannot swallow it;
As to the riches of his trading,
He cannot even enjoy them.

“When he fills his belly,
God will send His fierce anger on him
And will rain it on him while he is eating.

“It is drawn forth and comes out of his back,
Even the glittering point from his gall.
Terrors come upon him,

Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures,
And unfanned fire will devour him;
It will consume the survivor in his tent.

“This is the wicked man’s portion from God,
Even the heritage decreed to him by God.”

“As for me, is my complaint to man?
And why should I not be impatient?

Their houses are safe from fear,
And the rod of God is not on them.

“They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

‘Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him,
And what would we gain if we entreat Him?’

“Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand;
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
Or does their calamity fall on them?
Does God apportion destruction in His anger?

“Are they as straw before the wind,
And like chaff which the storm carries away?

“For what does he care for his household after him,
When the number of his months is cut off?

His sides are filled out with fat,
And the marrow of his bones is moist,

“For you say, ‘Where is the house of the nobleman,
And where is the tent, the dwelling places of the wicked?’

“For the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity;
They will be led forth at the day of fury.

“While he is carried to the grave,
Men will keep watch over his tomb.