“Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will greatly increase.

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

“Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty;
Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.

“There is no arbitrator between us,
Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].

“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

‘Your hands have formed and made me altogether.
Would You [turn around and] destroy me?

‘Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

“But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips [to speak] against you,

And [that He would] show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know therefore that God forgets a part of your wickedness and guilt.

“Oh, that you would be completely silent,
And that silence would be your wisdom!

“Will it be well for you when He investigates you [and your tactics against me]?
Or will you deceive Him as one deceives a man?

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

“Oh, that You would hide me in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
That You would set a definite time and then remember me [and in Your lovingkindness imprint me on your heart]!

“[Then] You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for [me] the work of Your hands.

“[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth,
And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish.

“Oh, that a man would mediate and plead with God [for me]
Just as a man [mediates and pleads] with his neighbor and friend.

“And if it were true that I have erred,
My error would remain with me [and I would be conscious of it].

“Behold, I know your thoughts,
And the plots by which you would wrong me.

“I would present my cause before Him
And fill my mouth with arguments.

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

“Would He contend against me with His great power?
No, surely He would give attention to me.

“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once],
And the cloud does not burst under them.

“For it is a fire which consumes to Abaddon (destruction, ruin, final torment);
And [illicit passion] would burn and rage and uproot all my [life’s] increase [destroying everything].

If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,
Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,

This also would have been [a heinous] sin calling for judgment,
For I would have denied God above.

“Surely I would [proudly] bear it on my shoulder,
And bind the scroll around my head like a crown.

“I would count out to Him the number of my steps [with every detail of my life],
Approaching His presence as if I were a prince.

“For I do not know how to flatter, [in an appropriate way, and I fear that],
My Maker would soon take me away.

Although I am right, I am accounted a liar.
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.

Because they turned aside from following Him
And would not consider or show regard for any of His ways,

‘Job ought to be tried to the limit
Because he answers like wicked men!

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,
Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;
And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
Let him who disputes with God answer it.”

“Behind him he makes a shining wake;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired [with foam].

You [evildoers] shamefully plan against the poor,
But the Lord is his safe refuge.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores His captive people,
Then Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

You enlarge the path beneath me and make my steps secure,
So that my feet will not slip.

“He trusted and committed himself to the Lord, let Him save him.
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

Would not God discover this?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.

Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the wickedness of those who would betray me surrounds me [on every side],

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
For the world and all it contains are Mine.

For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores [the fortunes of] His people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down trouble on me,
And in anger they persecute me.

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.

“I would wander far away,
I would lodge in the [peace of the] wilderness. Selah.

“I would hurry to my refuge [my tranquil shelter far away]
From the stormy wind and from the tempest.”

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled on me;
All day long the adversary oppresses and torments me.

My enemies have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.

He will send from heaven and save me;
He calls to account him who tramples me down. Selah.
God will send out His lovingkindness and His truth.

Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would destroy me are powerful, being my enemies wrongfully;
I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

If I had said, “I will say this,” [and expressed my feelings],
I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!

“But My people would not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me.

“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!

“Then I would quickly subdue and humble their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries;

Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him and cringe before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.

“But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];
I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

You have placed our wickedness before you,
Our secret sins [which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence.

If the Lord had not been my help,
I would soon have dwelt in [the land of] silence.

“Therefore I swore [an oath] in My wrath,
‘They absolutely shall not enter My rest [the land of promise].’”

Therefore He said He would destroy them,
[And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.

Therefore He lifted up His hand [swearing] to them,
That He would cause them to fall in the wilderness,

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!

Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful acts to the children of men!

If Your law had not been my delight,
Then I would have perished in my time of trouble.

Ayin.
I have done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to those who oppress me.

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;

Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The torrent would have swept over our soul;

Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.”

If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

O that You would kill the wicked, O God;
Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,

They would not accept my counsel,
And they spurned all my rebuke.

For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,
And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].

It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.

“Scarcely had I passed them
When I found him whom my soul loves.
I held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”

(The Chorus)“Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Where is your beloved hiding himself,
That we may seek him with you?”

“Oh, that you were like a brother to me,
Who nursed at the breasts of my mother.
If I found you out of doors, I would kiss you;
No one would blame me or despise me, either.

“I would lead you and bring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.

“Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can rivers drown it.
If a man would offer all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly scorned and despised.”

Who made the world like a wilderness
And overthrew its cities,
Who did not permit his prisoners to return home?’

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):

As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,
So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

“I have no wrath.
Should anyone give Me briars and thorns in battle,
I would step on them, I would set them all on fire.

“Or let him (Israel) cling to My strength and rely on My protection [My stronghold],
Let him make peace with Me,
Let him make peace with Me.”

He who said to them, “This is the place of quiet, give rest to the weary,”
And, “This is the resting place,” yet they would not listen.

For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said this,

“In returning [to Me] and rest you shall be saved,
In quietness and confident trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,

Who gave up Jacob [the kingdom of Judah] for spoil, and [the kingdom of] Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, He against whom we [of Judah] have sinned,
And in whose ways they [of Israel] were unwilling to walk,
And whose law and teaching they did not obey?

All the nations have gathered together
So that the peoples may be assembled.
Who among them (the idolaters) can predict this [that Judah would return from captivity]
And proclaim to us the former events?
Let them provide their witnesses so that they may be justified,
Or let them hear and say [in acknowledgement], “It is the truth.”

For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker says this,

“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons,
And give Me orders concerning the work of My hands.

“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it [I refrain and do not completely destroy you];
For how can My Name be defiled and profaned [as it would if My chosen people were completely destroyed]?
And I will not give My glory to another [by permitting the worshipers of idols to triumph over you].

“Oh, that you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a [flowing] river,
And your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea.

“Your offspring would have been like the sand,
And your descendants [in number] like the grains of sand;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”

“For I will not contend forever,
Nor will I always be angry;
For [if I did stay angry] the spirit [of man] would grow weak before Me,
And the breath of those whom I have created.

Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence—