although you know that I am not guilty, and that there is no one who can deliver out of your hand?

Remember that you have made me as with the clay; will you return me to dust?

"But these things you have concealed in your heart; I know that this is with you:

If I lift myself up, you hunt me as a fierce lion, and again you display your power against me.

I should have been as though I had never existed; I should have been carried right from the womb to the grave!

to the land of utter darkness, like the deepest darkness, and the deepest shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness."

For you have said, 'My teaching is flawless, and I am pure in your sight.'

It is higher than the heavens -- what can you do? It is deeper than Sheol -- what can you know?

Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

But an empty man will become wise, when a wild donkey's colt is born a human being.

"As for you, if you prove faithful, and if you stretch out your hands toward him,

if iniquity is in your hand -- put it far away, and do not let evil reside in your tents.

And you will be secure, because there is hope; you will be protected and will take your rest in safety.

But the eyes of the wicked fail, and escape eludes them; their one hope is to breathe their last."

I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

I am a laughingstock to my friends, I, who called on God and whom he answered -- a righteous and blameless man is a laughingstock!

For calamity, there is derision (according to the ideas of the fortunate) -- a fate for those whose feet slip!

in whose hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all the human race.

Does not the ear test words, as the tongue tastes food?

Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?

If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt; if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.

Would it turn out well if he would examine you? Or as one deceives a man would you deceive him?

Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy?

Since man's days are determined, the number of his months is under your control; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.

"But there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.

But man dies and is powerless; he expires -- and where is he?

As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up,

But as a mountain falls away and crumbles, and as a rock will be removed from its place,

as water wears away stones, and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man's hope.

"Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, or fill his belly with the east wind?

What is man that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, who drinks in evil like water!

what wise men declare, hiding nothing, from the tradition of their ancestors,

He does not expect to escape from darkness; he is marked for the sword;

he wanders about -- food for vultures; he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.

Let him not trust in what is worthless, deceiving himself; for worthlessness will be his reward.

For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.

"But if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I refrain from speaking -- how much of it goes away?

my face is reddened because of weeping, and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,

although there is no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure.

Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.

My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God;

and he contends with God on behalf of man as a man pleads for his friend.

My spirit is broken, my days have faded out, the grave awaits me.

Surely mockery is with me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

He has made me a byword to people, I am the one in whose face they spit.

My eyes have grown dim with grief; my whole frame is but a shadow.

Upright men are appalled at this; the innocent man is troubled with the godless.

"But turn, all of you, and come now! I will not find a wise man among you.

These men change night into day; they say, 'The light is near in the face of darkness.'

where then is my hope? And my hope, who sees it?

Why should we be regarded as beasts, and considered stupid in your sight?

"Yes, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; his flame of fire does not shine.

The light in his tent grows dark; his lamp above him is extinguished.

A rope is hidden for him on the ground and a trap for him lies on the path.

Calamity is hungry for him, and misfortune is ready at his side.

He is dragged from the security of his tent, and marched off to the king of terrors.

Fire resides in his tent; over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.

He is driven from light into darkness and is banished from the world.

Surely such is the residence of an evil man; and this is the place of one who has not known God.'"

"If I cry out, 'Violence!' I receive no answer; I cry for help, but there is no justice.

My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my brothers.

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth.

If you say, 'How we will pursue him, since the root of the trouble is found in him!'

Fear the sword yourselves, for wrath brings the punishment by the sword, so that you may know that there is judgment."

"This is why my troubled thoughts bring me back -- because of my feelings within me.

that the elation of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

he will perish forever, like his own excrement; those who used to see him will say, 'Where is he?'

Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.

"If evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue,

his food is turned sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him.

"Nothing is left for him to devour; that is why his prosperity does not last.

"While he is filling his belly, God sends his burning anger against him, and rains down his blows upon him.

Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; a fire which has not been kindled will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

Such is the lot God allots the wicked, and the heritage of his appointment from God."

Is my complaint against a man? If so, why should I not be impatient?

Their houses are safe and without fear; and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

So they say to God, 'Turn away from us! We do not want to know your ways.

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain if we were to pray to him?'

But their prosperity is not their own doing. The counsel of the wicked is 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?

For you say, 'Where now is the nobleman's house, and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?'

that the evil man is spared from the day of his misfortune, that he is delivered from the day of God's wrath?

And when he is carried to the tombs, and watch is kept over the funeral mound,

So how can you console me with your futile words? Nothing is left of your answers but deception!"

"Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit? Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?

Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty that you should be righteous, or is it any gain to him that you make your ways blameless?

Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you and goes to judgment with you?

Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity?

That is why snares surround you, and why sudden fear terrifies you,

why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.

"Is not God on high in heaven? And see the lofty stars, how high they are!

Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, as he goes back and forth in the vault of heaven.'

They were saying to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can the Almighty do to us?'

he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, who will escape through the cleanness of your hands."

"Even today my complaint is still bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning.

"If I go to the east, he is not there, and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

In the north when he is at work, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I see no trace of him.

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