Remember that my life [is] a breath; my eye will not return to see good.

A cloud vanishes, and it goes away, so [he who] goes down to Sheol will not come up.

He does not return again to his house, and his place does not recognize him again.

[If] I have sinned, what have I done to you, watcher of humanity? Why have you made me as a target for yourself, so that I have become a burden to myself?

And why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my guilt? For now I shall lie in the dust, and you will seek me, but {I will be no more}."

If you yourself would seek God, then you would plead to Shaddai for grace.

for we [are of] yesterday, and we do not know, for our days on earth [are] a shadow.

If he wants to contend with him, he cannot answer him one [time] in a thousand.

"[He is the one] who moves mountains, and they do not know [how], who overturns them in his anger.

{If} he would snatch away, who could turn him? Who could say to him, 'What are you doing?'

If I summon [him], and he should answer me, I do not believe that he will listen to my voice--

He will not allow me to {catch} my breath; rather, he will fill me with bitterness.

"I [am] blameless; I do not care about myself; I loathe my life.

"And my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they do not see good.

I become afraid of all my sufferings; I know that you do not consider me innocent.

"For [he is] not a mortal like me [that] I can answer him, [that] {we can come to trial together}.

"My inner self loathes my life; {I want to give vent to my complaint}; I want to speak out of [the] bitterness of my inner self.

I will say to God, 'You should not condemn me; let me know why you contend [against] me.

{Do you have eyes of flesh}? Or {do you see as human beings see}?

If I am guilty, woe to me! But if I am righteous, I dare not lift my head; [I am] filled [with] shame, and [just] look [at] my misery!

I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been brought from [the] womb to the grave.

Before I go--and I will not return-- to [the] land of darkness and deep shadow,

to [the] land of darkness, like [the] darkness of a deep shadow and {chaos}, so that it shines forth like darkness.'"

Should your loose talk put people to silence? {And when you mock, shall no one put you to shame}?

But, {O that} God might speak, and [that] he would open his lips to you,

{It is higher than the heaven}; what can you do? [It is] deeper than Sheol; what can you know?

"If you yourself direct your heart and stretch out your hands to him--

But [the] eyes of [the] wicked will fail; and refuge will be lost to them, and their hope [is] {to breathe their last breath}."

"Truly indeed you [are the] people, and wisdom will die with you.

I am a laughingstock to my friends: '[He] calls on God, and he answers him.' A righteous, blameless man [is] a laughingstock.

or ask the earth, and it will teach you, and the fishes of the sea will declare to you.

"With him [are] wisdom and powerful deeds, and to him [belong] counsel and understanding.

"He uncovers mysteries out of darkness, and he brings deep shadow to the light.

But I would speak to Shaddai, and I desire to argue with God.

Please hear my argument, and listen attentively [to the] pleadings of my lips.

{Will you show partiality for him}? Or do you want to plead God's case?

Moreover, this [is] salvation to me, that [the] godless would not come {before him}.

"Listen carefully [to] my words, and [let] my exposition [be] in your ears.

"Only you must not do [these] two [things] to me; then I will not hide from your face:

Then call, and I myself will answer; or let me speak, then reply to me.

"{How many} [are] my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my transgression and my sin.

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

His children may [come to] honor, but he does not know [it]; or they may become lowly, but he does not realize it.

Should he argue in talk [that] is not profitable or [in] words with which he cannot do good?

Have you listened in God's confidential discussion? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

What do you know that we do not know? [What] do you understand that [is] not clear to us?

"Are the consolations of God too small for you, a word [spoken] gently with you?

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

"I will show you, listen to me; and what I have seen, I will tell--

{to whom alone} the land was given, and no stranger passed through their midst.

"He is wandering for bread, [saying], 'Where [is it]?' He knows that a day of darkness [is] ready {at hand}.

Because he stretched out his hand against God, and he was arrogant to Shaddai;

[Is there] a limit to windy words? What provokes you that you answer?

Thus you shriveled me up; it became a witness. And my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face.

God delivers me to an evil one, and he casts me into the hands of [the] wicked.

"I was at ease, then he broke me in two, and he seized [me] by my neck; then he shattered me and set me up as a target for him.

My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God,

But [the] righteous holds on to his way, and {he who has clean hands} increases in strength.

They make night into day, [saying], 'Light [is] {near to darkness}.'

[if] I call to the pit, 'You [are] my father,' to the maggot, '[You are] my mother or my sister,'

Will they go down [to] the bars of Sheol? Or shall we descend together into the dust?"

He is torn from his tent {in which he trusted}, and it brought him to the king of terrors.

I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I must {personally} plead with him.

My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to {my own family}.

My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

Why do you pursue me like God? And are not satisfied with my flesh?

Even though his stature mounts up to the heaven, and his head reaches to the clouds,

Returning [the] products of [his] toil, he will not swallow; according to the profit of his trade, {he will not enjoy},

The products of his house will be carried away [like] gushing waters on the day of his wrath.

"Listen carefully to my words, and let this be your consolation.

Turn to me and be appalled, and place [your] hand on [your] mouth.

"Why do [the] wicked live, grow old, even grow mighty [in] power?

They {sing} to [the] tambourine and lyre, and they rejoice to [the] sound of [the] long flute.

They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

And they say to God, 'Turn away from us, for we do not desire to know your ways.

Look, their prosperity [is] not in their hands; the schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

'God stores up his iniquity for his children'? [Then] let him repay [it] to him that he may know.

Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he himself judges high ones?

Do you not ask [those] traveling [the] roads, and do you not take notice of their accounts?

Indeed, [the] wicked is spared from [the] day of disaster; he is delivered from [the] day of wrath.

Who denounces his way to his face? And who repays him [for what] he has done?

When he is brought to [the] grave, then someone stands guard over [the] tomb.

[The] clods of [the] valley are sweet to him; everyone will follow after him, and {before} him {they are innumerable}.

"Can a man be of use to God? Yes, can [the] wise be of use to him?

[Is] it a pleasure to Shaddai if you are righteous, or a gain if you make your ways blameless?

[Is] not your wickedness great, and there is no end to your iniquities?

You have given no water [for the] weary to drink, and you withheld food from [the] hungry.

And the land {belongs to the man of power}, and {the favored} lives in it.

Will you keep [to the] way of old that [the] people of mischief have trod,

[Those] who said to God, 'Turn away from us,' and 'What can Shaddai do to us?'

Yet he himself filled up their houses [with] good [things], but [the] schemes of [the] wicked are repugnant to me.

"Please reconcile yourself with him, and be at peace; {in this way}, good will come to you.

If you return to Shaddai, you will be restored; [if] you remove wickedness from your tent,

Indeed, then you will delight yourself in Shaddai, and {you will expect that God will be good to you}.

You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.

"Even today my complaint [is] bitter; my hand is heavy in addition to my groaning.

{O that} I knew and [that] I might find him; [O that] I might come to his dwelling.

I want to know [the] words [with which] he would answer me, and I want to understand what he would say to me.

Would he contend with me in [the] greatness of [his] strength? No, but he himself would give heed to me.

{When he works} [on the] left, {I cannot perceive} [him]; he turns to [the] right, but I cannot see [him].