For this cause my thoughts are troubling me and driving me on.

I have to give ear to arguments which put me to shame, and your answers to me are wind without wisdom.

Though he grow as tall as the sky, or though his head touches the clouds,

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

People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer.

His children are hoping that the poor will be kind to them, and his hands give back his wealth.

His bones are full of the sin of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust.

He will not look on the streams, the rivers, which are the torrents of honey and butter.

"He will flee from an iron weapon, [but] an arrow of bronze will pierce him.

It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him.

The increase of his house shall be rolled off; they were poured out in the day of his anger.

Hear diligently my speech, and let this be your consolations.

As for me, is my complaint to man? and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled?

Mark me, and be astonished, and lay your hand upon your mouth.

Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

“Their children and descendants are established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.

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

They make songs to the instruments of music, and are glad at the sound of the pipe.

They wear out in good their days, And in a moment to Sheol go down.

“Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us,
For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.

What is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what are we profited if we pray unto him?

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

How frequently is the light of the evil-doers put out, or does trouble come on them? how frequently does his wrath take them with cords?

They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

“For what pleasure does he have in his house and family after he is dead,
When the number of his months [of life] is cut off?

Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

Whereas another dies with a bitter soul,
Never even tasting pleasure or good fortune.

Together they go down to the dust, and are covered by the worm.

Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

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

That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath?

when he is carried away to the cemetery and guardians are placed to watch his tomb?

The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

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

Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

“Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you,
That He enters into judgment against you?

“Is not your wickedness great,
And your sins without end?

“For you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause,
And stripped men naked.

To such as were weary, hast thou given no water to drink, and thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry.

Although you were a powerful man, owning land, an honored man living on it,

Widows thou hast sent away empty, And the arms of the fatherless are bruised.

Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

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

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

The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

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

Put yourself now in a right relation with him and be at peace: so will you do well in your undertakings.

“Please receive the law and instruction from His mouth
And establish His words in your heart and keep them.

“If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored];
If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

And put the precious ore with the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrents,

Then the Almighty will be thy precious ore, and silver heaped up unto thee;

Then you will have delight in the Almighty,
And you will lift up your face to God.

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

“You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you;
And the light [of God’s favor] will shine upon your ways.

When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

“He will even rescue the one [for whom you intercede] who is not innocent;
And he will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands.”

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

"When I go forward, {he is not there}, or backward, I cannot see him.

On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

My feet have gone in his steps; I have kept in his way, without turning to one side or to the other.

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

Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

There are that remove the landmarks; They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

They push the needy off the road;
the poor of the land are forced into hiding.

Ill-clad, they are left to lodge without clothing, and have no covering in the cold;

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

There are that pluck the fatherless from the breast, And take a pledge of the poor;

Between their terraces they press out oil; they tread [the] presses, but they are thirsty.

From the town come sounds of pain from those who are near death, and the soul of the wounded is crying out for help; but God does not take note of their prayer.

They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

In the dark he makes holes in the walls of houses: in the daytime they are shutting themselves up, they have no knowledge of the light.

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

"They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don't turn into the way of the vineyards.

O that they, for the wickedness which they have done, were drawn to the hell, sooner than snow melteth at the heat.

The womb forgets them;
worms feed on them;
they are remembered no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.

They pluck down the mighty with their power, and when they themselves are gotten up, they are never without fear, as long as they live.

Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

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

And if it is not so, now, who will make it clear that my words are false, and that what I say is of no value?

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

whose men of war are innumerable, and whose light ariseth over all.

How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

How much less a mortal who is a creeping thing? Or a son of the earth-born who is a worm?

"What a help you are to the weak! How powerfully you deliver those without strength!

How hast thou given counsel to one of no-wisdom? or, effective wisdom, abundantly made known?

Who did you speak these words to?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?

Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

yea, and all they which dwell beneath in the hell are not hid from him, and the very destruction itself cannot be kept out of his sight.

“It is He who spreads out the north over emptiness
And hangs the earth on nothing.

By him the waters are shut up in his thick clouds, and the cloud does not give way under them.

A, boundary, hath he encircled on the face of the waters, as far as where light ends in darkness;

The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

“He stirred up the sea by His power,
And by His understanding He smashed [proud] Rahab.