“For though I were right, I could not answer;
I would have to implore the mercy of my judge.

“If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

“He will not allow me to get my breath,
But saturates me with bitterness.

“I am guiltless;
I do not take notice of myself;
I despise my life.

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

“I loathe my own life;
I will give full vent to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

“I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.

‘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?

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

‘If I am wicked, woe to me!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery.

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

Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and deep shadow,

And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God forgets a part of your iniquity.

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

“If you would direct your heart right
And spread out your hand to Him,

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

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

“Truly then you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!

“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.

“Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

“With Him are wisdom and might;
To Him belong counsel and understanding.

“With Him are strength and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader belong to Him.

“What you know I also know;
I am not inferior to you.

“But I would speak to the Almighty,
And I desire to argue with God.

“Please hear my argument
And listen to the contentions of my lips.

“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let my declaration fill your ears.

“Who will contend with me?
For then I would be silent and die.

“Only two things do not do to me,
Then I will not hide from Your face:

“Then call, and I will answer;
Or let me speak, then reply to me.

“How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.

“Why do You hide Your face
And consider me Your enemy?

“Will You cause a driven leaf to tremble?
Or will You pursue the dry chaff?

“For You write bitter things against me
And make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

“Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest,
Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

“Oh that You would hide me in Sheol,
That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You,
That You would set a limit for me and remember me!

“For now You number my steps,
You do not observe my sin.

“Indeed, you do away with reverence
And hinder meditation before God.

“Were you the first man to be born,
Or were you brought forth before the hills?

“Do you hear the secret counsel of God,
And limit wisdom to yourself?

“What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that we do not?

“Are the consolations of God too small for you,
Even the word spoken gently with you?

“Why does your heart carry you away?
And why do your eyes flash,

That you should turn your spirit against God
And allow such words to go out of your mouth?

“I will tell you, listen to me;
And what I have seen I will also declare;

To whom alone the land was given,
And no alien passed among them.

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

“He has lived in desolate cities,
In houses no one would inhabit,
Which are destined to become ruins.

“He will not become rich, nor will his wealth endure;
And his grain will not bend down to the ground.

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

“I too could speak like you,
If I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And shake my head at you.

“You have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness;
And my leanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.

“God hands me over to ruffians
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.

“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.

“O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no resting place for my cry.

“My friends are my scoffers;
My eye weeps to God.

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

“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 call to the pit, ‘You are my father’;
To the worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;

“Will it go down with me to Sheol?
Shall we together go down into the dust?”

“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?

“These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.

“If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,

“I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.

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

“My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

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

“I listened to the reproof which insults me,
And the spirit of my understanding makes me answer.

“Do you know this from of old,
From the establishment of man on earth,

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.

“Nothing remains for him to devour,
Therefore his prosperity does not endure.

“The increase of his house will depart;
His possessions will flow away in the day of His anger.

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

“Listen carefully to my speech,
And let this be your way of consolation.

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

“Why do the wicked still live,
Continue on, also become very powerful?

“They sing to the timbrel and harp
And rejoice at the sound of the flute.

“They spend their days in prosperity,
And suddenly they go down to Sheol.

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

“Have you not asked wayfaring men,
And do you not recognize their witness?

“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.

“Can a vigorous man be of use to God,
Or a wise man be useful to himself?

“Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous,
Or profit if you make your ways perfect?

“To the weary you have given no water to drink,
And from the hungry you have withheld bread.

“But the earth belongs to the mighty man,
And the honorable man dwells in it.

“Will you keep to the ancient path
Which wicked men have trod,

“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!’
And ‘What can the Almighty do to them?’

“Yield now and be at peace with Him;
Thereby good will come to you.

“If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent,

Then the Almighty will be your gold
And choice silver to you.

“For then you will delight in the Almighty
And lift up your face to God.

“You will pray to Him, and He will hear you;
And you will pay your vows.

“Oh that I knew where I might find Him,
That I might come to His seat!

“I would learn the words which He would answer,
And perceive what He would say to me.

“Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power?
No, surely He would pay attention to me.

“My foot has held fast to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.