“What is man that You magnify him,
And that You are concerned about him,

And that your hand is on him every morning, and that you are testing him every minute?

How long will it be before your eyes are turned away from me, so that I may have a minute's breathing-space?

How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words are a blast of wind.

Then, if you are pure and upright,
Surely now He will awaken for you
And restore your righteous place.

(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)

While they are still green and not yet ready to be harvested, they wither before any plant.

So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish:

His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.

Surely God won't reject those who are blameless or hold hands with those who practice evil.

Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:

He doth great things, such as are unsearchable, yea and wonders without number.

“Behold, He snatches away; who can restrain or turn Him back?
Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

"God doesn't restrain his anger. Rahab's assistants are humiliated under him.

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.

They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.

I'll say to God, "Don't condemn me! Let me know why you are fighting me.

Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,

Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.

Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

Are all these words to go unanswered? and is a man seen to be right because he is full of talk?

Are your words of pride to make men keep quiet? and are you to make sport, with no one to put you to shame?

And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

Are you able to take God's measure, to make discovery of the limits of the Ruler of all?

They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

They are longer than the earth's circumference, and broader than the ocean.

For he knows {those who are worthless}; {when he sees} iniquity, {he will not consider it}.

For thou shalt forget thy misery; Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away,

And the eyes of the wicked are consumed, And refuge hath perished from them, And their hope is a breathing out of soul!

No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn’t know the things you are talking about?

The one who is at ease holds calamity in contempt
and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.

The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

“Who among all these does not recognize [in all these things that good and evil are randomly scattered throughout nature and human life]
That the hand of the Lord has done this,

Are not words tested by the ear, even as food is tasted by the mouth?

With Him are wisdom and might, To him are counsel and understanding.

Lo, He keepeth in the waters, and they are dried up, And he sendeth them forth, And they overturn the land.

With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.

“He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And takes away the discernment and discretion of the aged.

The same things are in my mind as in yours; I am equal to you.

But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.

He will, severely rebuke, you, if ye are secretly partial.

Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.

How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.

Are you a god who would make a leaf tremble or who would prosecute a dry straw?

As for man, the son of woman, his days are short and full of trouble.

Is it on such a one as this that your eyes are fixed, with the purpose of judging him?

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

The floods when they be dried up, and the rivers when they be empty, are filled again through the flowing waters of the sea:

So man lieth down, and riseth not again; till the heavens be no more, they do not awake, nor are raised out of their sleep.

For now my steps are numbered by you, and my sin is not overlooked.

"Mountains fall and crumble; rocks are dislodged from their places.

The stones are crushed small by the force of the waters; the dust of the earth is washed away by their overflowing: and so you put an end to the hope of man.

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

“Should he argue with useless talk,
Or with words which are not profitable?

“Indeed, you are doing away with fear,
And you are diminishing meditation before God.

It is by your mouth, even yours, that you are judged to be in the wrong, and not by me; and your lips give witness against you.

“Were you the first man to be born [the original wise man],
Or were you created before the hills?

With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

What -- doth thine heart take thee away? And what -- are thine eyes high?

So that you are turning your spirit against God, and letting such words go out of your mouth?

Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, Even the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor.

“A [dreadful] sound of terrors is in his ears;
While at peace and in a time of prosperity the destroyer comes upon him [the tent of the robber is not at peace].

And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

He does not get wealth for himself, and is unable to keep what he has got; the heads of his grain are not bent down to the earth.

He does not come out of the dark; his branches are burned by the flame, and the wind takes away his bud.

For the band of the evil-doers gives no fruit, and the tents of those who give wrong decisions for reward are burned with fire.

I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

May words which are like the wind be stopped? or what is troubling you to make answer to them?

“You have taken a firm hold on me and have shriveled me up,
It has become a witness [against me];
And my leanness [and infirmity] rises up [as evidence] against me,
It testifies to my face [about my guilt].

I am broken by his wrath, and his hate has gone after me; he has made his teeth sharp against me: my haters are looking on me with cruel eyes;

Their mouths are open wide against me; the blows of his bitter words are falling on my face; all of them come together in a mass against me.

“My face is red and swollen with weeping,
And on my eyelids is the shadow of death [my eyes are dimmed],

although my hands are free from violence
and my prayer is pure.

My friends are my mockers; mine eye poureth out tears unto +God.

When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?

For a portion he sheweth friendship, And the eyes of his sons are consumed.

Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.

Astonished are the upright at this, And the innocent against the profane Stirreth himself up.

And the righteous layeth hold on his way, And the clean of hands addeth strength, And -- dumb are they all.

My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.

They are changing night into day; they say, The light is near the dark.

If I call out to the pit (grave), ‘You are my father’;
And to the worm [that feeds on decay], ‘You are my mother and my sister [because I will soon be closest to you],’

"When are you going to stop your word hunt? Think first, and then we can talk.

Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?

"[You who] are tearing {yourself} in your anger, will [the] earth be forsaken because of you? Or will [the] rock be removed from its place?

Straitened are the steps of his strength, And cast him down doth his own counsel.

Parts of his skin are eaten away;
death’s firstborn consumes his limbs.

They who are none of his shall dwell in his tent; brimstone shall be showered upon his habitation:

From beneath his roots are dried up, And from above cut off is his crop.

[Those of the] west are appalled over {his fate}, and [those of the] east {are seized with horror}.

Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.

He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.

Even young children have no respect for me; when I get up their backs are turned on me.