² “Can a man be of benefit to God?^(B)
    Can even a wise person benefit him?^(C)
3 What pleasure^(D) would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?^(E)
    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?^(F)

⁴ “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
    and brings charges against you?^(G)
5 Is not your wickedness great?
    Are not your sins^(H) endless?^(I)
6 You demanded security^(J) from your relatives for no reason;^(K)
    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.^(L)
7 You gave no water^(M) to the weary
    and you withheld food from the hungry,^(N)
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land^(O)—
    an honored man,^(P) living on it.^(Q)
9 And you sent widows^(R) away empty-handed^(S)
    and broke the strength of the fatherless.^(T)
10 That is why snares^(U) are all around you,^(V)
    why sudden peril terrifies you,^(W)
11 why it is so dark^(X) you cannot see,
    and why a flood of water covers you.^(Y)

¹² “Is not God in the heights of heaven?^(Z)
    And see how lofty are the highest stars!
¹³ Yet you say, ‘What does God know?^(AA)
    Does he judge through such darkness?^(AB)
14 Thick clouds^(AC) veil him, so he does not see us^(AD)
    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’^(AE)
15 Will you keep to the old path
    that the wicked^(AF) have trod?^(AG)
16 They were carried off before their time,^(AH)
    their foundations^(AI) washed away by a flood.^(AJ)
17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    What can the Almighty do to us?’^(AK)
18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,^(AL)
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.^(AM)
19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;^(AN)
    the innocent mock^(AO) them, saying,
²⁰ ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,^(AP)
    and fire^(AQ) devours their wealth.’

²¹ “Submit to God and be at peace^(AR) with him;^(AS)
    in this way prosperity will come to you.^(AT)
22 Accept instruction from his mouth^(AU)
    and lay up his words^(AV) in your heart.^(AW)
23 If you return^(AX) to the Almighty, you will be restored:^(AY)
    If you remove wickedness far from your tent^(AZ)
24 and assign your nuggets^(BA) to the dust,
    your gold^(BB) of Ophir^(BC) to the rocks in the ravines,^(BD)
25 then the Almighty will be your gold,^(BE)
    the choicest silver for you.^(BF)
26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty^(BG)
    and will lift up your face^(BH) to God.^(BI)
27 You will pray to him,^(BJ) and he will hear you,^(BK)
    and you will fulfill your vows.^(BL)
28 What you decide on will be done,^(BM)
    and light^(BN) will shine on your ways.^(BO)
29 When people are brought low^(BP) and you say, ‘Lift them up!’
    then he will save the downcast.^(BQ)
30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,^(BR)
    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”^(BS)

² “Even today my complaint^(A) is bitter;^(B)
    his hand^[a] is heavy in spite of^[b] my groaning.^(C)
3 If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!^(D)
4 I would state my case^(E) before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.^(F)
5 I would find out what he would answer me,^(G)
    and consider what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he vigorously oppose me?^(H)
    No, he would not press charges against me.^(I)
7 There the upright^(J) can establish their innocence before him,^(K)
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.^(L)

⁸ “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
    if I go to the west, I do not find him.
⁹ When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.^(M)
10 But he knows the way that I take;^(N)
    when he has tested me,^(O) I will come forth as gold.^(P)
11 My feet have closely followed his steps;^(Q)
    I have kept to his way without turning aside.^(R)
12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;^(S)
    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.^(T)

¹³ “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?^(U)
    He does whatever he pleases.^(V)
14 He carries out his decree against me,
    and many such plans he still has in store.^(W)
15 That is why I am terrified before him;^(X)
    when I think of all this, I fear him.^(Y)
16 God has made my heart faint;^(Z)
    the Almighty^(AA) has terrified me.^(AB)
17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,^(AC)
    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times^(A) for judgment?^(B)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(C)
2 There are those who move boundary stones;^(D)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(E)
3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.^(F)
4 They thrust the needy^(G) from the path
    and force all the poor^(H) of the land into hiding.^(I)
5 Like wild donkeys^(J) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor^(K) of foraging food;
    the wasteland^(L) provides food for their children.
⁶ They gather fodder^(M) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards^(N) of the wicked.^(O)
7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(P)
8 They are drenched^(Q) by mountain rains
    and hug^(R) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(S)
9 The fatherless^(T) child is snatched^(U) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized^(V) for a debt.^(W)
10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(X)
    they carry the sheaves,^(Y) but still go hungry.
¹¹ They crush olives among the terraces^[a];
    they tread the winepresses,^(Z) yet suffer thirst.^(AA)
12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(AB)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(AC)

¹³ “There are those who rebel against the light,^(AD)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.^(AE)
14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills^(AF) the poor and needy,^(AG)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(AH)
15 The eye of the adulterer^(AI) watches for dusk;^(AJ)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’^(AK)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
¹⁶ In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(AL)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.^(AM)
17 For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors^(AN) of darkness.^(AO)

¹⁸ “Yet they are foam^(AP) on the surface of the water;^(AQ)
    their portion of the land is cursed,^(AR)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(AS)
19 As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(AT)
    so the grave^(AU) snatches away those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them,
    the worm^(AV) feasts on them;^(AW)
the wicked are no longer remembered^(AX)
    but are broken like a tree.^(AY)
21 They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.^(AZ)
22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(BA)
    though they become established,^(BB) they have no assurance of life.^(BC)
23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(BD)
    but his eyes^(BE) are on their ways.^(BF)
24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(BG)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(BH)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.^(BI)

²⁵ “If this is not so, who can prove me false
    and reduce my words to nothing?”^(BJ)