If he pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment, who can hinder him?

For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn't consider it.

“If you direct your heart [on the right path]
And stretch out your hands to Him,

if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—

Then, indeed, you could lift up your face [to Him] without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and not fear.

And your life will be brighter than day; though it is dark, it will become like the morning.

Sleeping with no fear of danger; and men will be desiring to have grace in your eyes;

But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, And they shall have no way to flee; And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.

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

But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.

There is wealth in the tents of those who make destruction, and those by whom God is moved to wrath are safe; even those whose god is their strength.

And yet, ask, I pray thee, One of the beasts, and it doth shew thee, And a fowl of the heavens, And it doth declare to thee.

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

“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,

“Does the ear not put words to the test,
Just as the palate tastes its food [distinguishing between the desirable and the undesirable]?

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

Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

True wisdom and power belong to Him.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.

Causing counsellors to go away a spoil, And judges He maketh foolish.

He strips away the authority of kings to punish and puts them in prison clothes instead.

Causing ministers to go away a spoil And strong ones He overthroweth.

Removing the lip to the faithful, and he will take discernment of old men.

He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

Who giveth greatness to nations, or destroyeth them, Who spreadeth out nations, or leadeth them into exile:

He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

Lo, all -- hath mine eye seen, Heard hath mine ear, and it attendeth to it.

What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.

Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.

“But you smear me with lies [you defame my character most untruthfully];
You are all worthless physicians and have no remedy to offer.

O that ye would keep perfectly silent, And it would be to you for wisdom.

Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

For God do ye speak perverseness? And for Him do ye speak deceit?

Will ye show partiality to him? Will ye contend for God?

Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him?

He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons.

His splendor will petrify you with terror, paralyzing you with fear, won't it?

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

Be quiet, and I will speak.
Let whatever comes happen to me.

Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?

“Even though He kills me;
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless, I will argue my ways to His face.

Also -- He is to me for salvation, For the profane cometh not before Him.

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

See now, I have put my cause in order, and I am certain that I will be seen to be right.

Can anyone indict me?
If so, I will be silent and die.

Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee.

remove Your hand from me,
and do not let Your terror frighten me.

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

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

Why dost Thou hide Thy face? And reckonest me for an enemy to Thee?

Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?

For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.

Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, And markest all my paths; Thou settest a bound to the soles of my feet:

Though a man comes to nothing like a bit of dead wood, or like a robe which has become food for the worm.

Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of divers miseries.

He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down. He also flees like a shadow, and doesn't continue.

“You also open Your eyes upon him
And bring him into judgment with Yourself.

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he can't pass;

Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

There is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its shoots will not die.

Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

the presence of water will make it to bud so that it sprouts new branches like a young plant.

“But [the brave, strong] man must die and lie face down;
Man breathes his last, and where is he?

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.

If only you would keep me safe in the underworld, putting me in a secret place till your wrath is past, giving me a fixed time when I might come to your memory again!

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

But now you number my steps. Don't you watch over my sin?

“My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
And You cover my wickedness [from Your view].

And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place.

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.

Will a wise man make answer with knowledge of no value, or will he give birth to the east wind?

Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?

Yes, you do away with fear, and hinder devotion before God.

Your iniquity teaches you what to say,
and you choose the language of the crafty.

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 come into the world? or did you come into being before the hills?

Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

“What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not equally clear to us?

With us are both the gray-headed and aged, mightier than your father as to days.

Are the consolations of God too small for thee, Even the word that is gentle toward thee?

Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,

as you turn your anger against God
and allow such words to leave your mouth?

What is man, that he should be clean? What hath he, which is born of a woman, whereby he might be known to be righteous?

Look, if God doesn't trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren't pure as he looks at them,

I will shew thee, listen to me; and what I have seen I will declare;

What wise men have [freely] told,
And have not hidden [anything passed on to them] from their fathers,

To them alone was the land given, And a stranger passed not over into their midst:

The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

A fearful voice is in his ears, In peace doth a destroyer come to him.

He believeth not to return from darkness, And watched is he for the sword.

He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

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

He used to run against him with uplifted neck, with the stout bosses of his bucklers;

For he has covered his face with his fat,
Adding layers of fat to his thighs [giving himself up to pleasures],

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