“Naked I came out of my mother's womb,

And naked I will return there.

The Lord has given,

And the Lord has taken;

Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“May the day on which I was born perish,

And the night when it was said,

‘A man has been fathered.’

May that day be darkness,

May God not care for it above,

And may no light shine on it.

May darkness and the shadow of death stain it,

May a cloud rest on it;

Let daytime darkenings overwhelm it.

May gloom take that night,

May it not be included in the days of the year;

May it not enter into the number of the months.

Behold, may that night be barren;

May no rejoicing enter into it.

May those who curse a day denounce it

– Those who are prepared to arouse Leviathan.

May its twilight stars be darkened;

May it wait for light and there not be any,

And may it not see the aura of dawn.

For it did not shut the gates of my mother's womb,

Nor did it hide sorrow from my eyes.

Why did I not die in the womb?

Why did I not come out of the belly and expire?

Why did knees prepare for me?

And why were there breasts for me to suck?

For then I would now be lying down and be undisturbed;

For then I would be asleep and at rest,

With kings and counsellors of the earth

Who built monuments now ruins for themselves,

Or with princes who had gold,

Who filled their houses with silver,

Or as a miscarriage that needs to be buried,

So that I would not now exist,

Like infants who never saw light.

There, the wicked cease raging,

And there, those wearied by effort find rest,

Together with prisoners who are at ease;

They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

Whether small or great, there he is,

And the servant, free from his master.

Why does he give light to the wretched,

And life to those who are melancholic?

– Who are waiting for death

But it does not come?

– Who search for it more earnestly than for hidden treasures?

– Who are happy, exultant even,

As they rejoice when they find the grave?

Why does he give light to a man whose way is hidden,

Around whom God has put a hedge?

For my sighing comes to the forefront more than my bread,

And my groaning is uttered voluminously.

For the thing which I greatly feared has befallen me,

And that which I was afraid of has come upon me.

I am not in comfort

And not in quietude

And not at rest,

For trouble has come.”

“If we offer you some words,

Will you take offence?

For to withhold words

– Who can do it?

Look, you have instructed many

And strengthened weak hands.

Your words have lifted up him who was stumbling,

And you have strengthened failing knees.

But now it has come upon you,

And you take offence;

It has touched you,

And you are agitated.

Is not your godly fear your confidence?

And is not the integrity of your ways your hope?

Remember, please, who being innocent ever perished?

And where were the innocent ever annihilated?

According to what I have seen,

Those who plough falsehood and sow iniquity

Reap it again.

By the breath of God they perish,

And by the blast of his nostrils they are destroyed.

The roaring of the lion

And the sound of the fierce lion

And the teeth of the young lions

Are knocked out.

The old lion perishes for want of prey,

And the whelps of the strong lion are scattered.

And a word has come furtively to me,

And my ear has picked up a whisper of it,

In the thoughts from the visions of the night,

When slumber falls on men.

Dread came upon me, and trembling,

And filled the bulk of my bones with foreboding.

And a spirit passed by my face,

And the hair on my flesh bristled up.

It stood still,

But I could not recognize its appearance;

It was an image before my eyes.

There was silence,

Then I heard a voice, which said,

‘Can man be more righteous than God?

Or can a man be more pure than his maker?’

Behold, he does not put trust in his servants,

And he charges his angels with folly.

How much less does he trust dwellers in houses of mortar,

Whose foundation is in the dust?

They could be crushed more easily than a moth.

From morning to evening they could be pounded

Without anyone ever caring

That they had perished.

Would their illustriousness not be removed?

They would die,

And not in wisdom.

Call now and see if there is anyone who answers you.

And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

For wrath kills the foolish man,

And jealousy causes the simple-minded man to die.

I have seen the foolish taking root,

But I suddenly realized how his home would be.

His sons are far from salvation

And are crushed at the gate,

And there is no-one to deliver them,

Whose harvest the hungry will eat,

Which they will take from among the thorns,

As destruction swallows up their wealth.

Although sorrow does not come out of the soil,

And wretchedness does not sprout from the ground,

Yet man is born to face toil,

As surely as sparks fly upward.

But I would seek God,

And with God I would set out my case.

He performs great deeds

Of which there is no searching out

– Wonders of which there is no limit.

He provides rain on the surface of the earth,

And he sends water onto the surface of the open places.

He sets the lowly on high,

So that those who mourn are exalted in salvation,

Frustrating the thoughts of the crafty,

So that their hands cannot perform with competence,

So that the counsel of the deceitful is forestalled.

By day they meet with darkness,

And as at night, so they grope at noon.

But he saves the poor from the sword

– From their blade –

And from the hand of the strong,

So that the lowly have hope,

And injustice shuts its mouth.

Behold, blessed is the man whom God reproves,

So do not reject the correction of the Almighty,

For he causes pain,

But he binds up again;

He bruises,

But his hands heal again.

He will deliver you from six adversities,

And in seven no harm will touch you.

In famine he will save you from death,

And in war, from the power of the sword.

You will be hidden from the scourge of slander,

And you will not fear devastation

If it comes.

You will laugh at devastation and starvation,

And you will not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field,

And the wild beasts will be at peace with you.

And you will know that your tent is at peace,

And when you check your tent,

You will not miss anything.

And you will know that your seed is many,

And your offspring is as the grass of the earth.

You will go to the grave in ripe old age,

Like the gathering in of a stack of corn in its season.

Behold this account;

We have searched it out

– It is so.

Hear it and know it,

For your own sake.”

“If only my grief were thoroughly weighed

And my hardship were laid in the scales together with it.

For now it is heavier than the sand of the sea,

Which is why my words are wild.

For the Almighty's arrows are in me

– My spirit has to drink their payload;

The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Does the wild ass bray over grass,

Or does the ox low over its fodder?

Is bland food eaten without salt,

Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?

I have no appetite for such things;

They are my uninviting food.

If only my request might be considered,

And that God would grant my wish.

If God were to be pleased to crush me,

To loosen his grip

And to cut me off,

It would nevertheless be comfort to me,

And I would endure in writhing,

Which he would not spare,

For I have not concealed the holy one's words.

What strength do I have,

That I should have hope?

And what is my final condition,

That I should prolong my life?

Is my strength the strength of stones?

Is my flesh brazen?

Is it not the case that I have no help in my own resources?

– And that competence has been driven away from me?

To him who is in low spirits,

Kindness is due from his friend,

Even if he has abandoned fear of the Almighty.

But my brothers have acted treacherously

Like a torrent,

Then like torrent tributaries,

They vanished.

They are inhospitable, because of ice,

And in them snow is hidden.

When they are exposed to scorching conditions,

They vanish;

In the heat,

They dry up on the spot.

Their course is brought to a standstill;

They evaporate and are lost.

The travelling companies of Tema looked on;

The caravans of Sheba put hope in them,

But they were put to shame

For where each put his trust.

They arrived there

And were confounded.

For now you {K: are no comfort;} [Q: have become his;]

You see a terrible thing

And are afraid.

Did I say, ‘Give me support’?

Or, ‘Offer me some of your wealth’?

Or, ‘Deliver me from the clutches of adversity’?

Or, ‘Redeem me from the grip of fierce men’?

Teach me,

And I will be silent,

And cause me to understand

In what way I have erred.

How forcible words of uprightness are,

And how strongly reproving your reproof is!

Do you think you have reproved my words?

Or scattered to the wind the words of one in despair?

Indeed, you cast down orphans

And undermine your neighbour.

So now, be willing to turn to me,

And it will be evident to you

If I lie.

Reconsider, I pray,

Let there be no more injustice.

And reconsider also

Whether I am right about this.

Is there any injustice in my tongue?

Can my palate not discern perverse things?”

“Does man not have warfare here on earth?

And are not his days like the days of a hired labourer?

As a servant pants for shade,

And as a hired labourer awaits the wages of his work,

So I am made to endure months of calamity,

And nights of sorrow are appointed to me.

Whenever I lie down, I say,

‘When will it be time for me to get up,

And the night be over?’

For I am full of restlessness

Until the morning twilight.

My flesh is clothed in worms and clods of earth;

My skin breaks up and wastes away.

My days pass more swiftly than a weaver's shuttle,

And they are spent without any hope.

Remember that my life is but wind;

My eye shall not see goodness again.

The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more,

But your eyes will be on me,

Though I will be no more.

As the cloud dissipates and vanishes,

So he who goes down to the grave

Does not ascend again.

He does not return again to his house,

And his home place will not welcome him again.

But I too will not hold back my mouth,

I will speak in the distress of my spirit;

I will lament in the bitterness of my feelings.

Am I the sea, or a sea-monster,

So that you should set a watch over me?

For I have said,

‘My bed will comfort me;

My couch will ease my complaint’,

But you terrify me in dreams

And frighten me with visions.

My being would prefer suffocation;

It would prefer death to my intact body.

I reject life;

I will not live on.

Leave me,

For my days are pointless.

What is man,

That you should make him great?

– Or that you should set your heart on him?

But you visit him every morning

And test him every moment.

How long will you ignore me

And persist with me

Until I swallow my spittle?

I have sinned

– What can I do to you, O guardian of man?

Why have you made me an object of confrontation with you,

So that I am a burden to {P: you} [M: myself]?

And why do you not pardon my transgression

And forgive my iniquity?

For now I shall lie down on the dust,

And you will seek me diligently,

But I will not be there.”

“How long will you declaim these things?

And the words of your mouth are a great wind.

Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?

What if your sons sinned against him,

And he has cast them out for their transgressions?

If you would seek God diligently,

And make supplication to the Almighty,

If you were pure and upright,

Then he would now bestir himself for you

And keep your righteous dwelling place safe.

And however much your beginning may have been a small matter,

Yet your final situation would become very great.

For inquire, I pray you, of a former generation,

And establish it by investigation of their fathers.

For we are of yesterday,

And we do not know much at all,

For our days are just a shadow on the earth.

Will they not teach you

And speak to you

And bring out words from their heart?

Do papyrus plants grow without a swamp?

Does bulrush grow without water?

While it is still in tender greenness,

It is not plucked away.

But it dries up quicker than any other kind of grass.

So are the paths of all who forget God,

And the hope of the profane comes to nothing.

Their hope is cut off,

And their object of trust turns out to be a spider's cobweb.

When he leans on his house,

It will not stand;

He will hold it fast,

But it will not stand firm.

As a tree which is moist in the sun,

Whose young shoot sprouts in its garden,

Whose roots are intertwined at the water-source,

Which looks down on a house of stone,

If anyone uproots it from its place,

The place will disown the tree, and say,

‘I do not care for you.’

Behold, that would be the end of its joyful course,

And other plants would grow from its soil.

Behold, God does not reject those of integrity,

And he does not hold the hand of evildoers.

If you would seek God diligently,

God would not rest

Until he fills your mouth with laughter,

And your lips with a shout for joy.

Those who hate you would be clothed in shame,

And the tent of the wicked would no longer exist.”

“Indeed I know it is so,

But how can a man be just with God?

If he were to be pleased to contend with him,

The man could not answer one question out of a thousand.

Who, however wise of heart and mighty in strength,

Ever hardened himself against him

And came off well?

He removes mountains,

But they are unaware of it,

And he overturns them in his anger.

He shakes the earth out of its place,

So that its pillars tremble.

He commands the sun

And it does not rise,

And he sets a seal around the stars.

He stretches out the heavens on his own,

And he treads on the heights of the sea.

He made the Great Bear and Orion,

And the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

He performs great deeds

Which are beyond searching out,

And wonders which are without number.

Behold, he passes me by,

But I do not see him.

He goes past,

But I do not perceive him.

Behold, when he seizes something,

Who can make him return it?

Who can say to him,

‘What are you doing?’

If God does not avert his anger,

Minions of pride must stoop before him.

How much less can I answer him?

How could I choose my words in dispute with him?

– When even if I were just,

I would not answer;

I would make my supplication to my judge.

Even if I called him, and he answered me,

I would not believe that he had heard my voice.

He could crush me with a storm

And multiply my wounds without a cause.

He would not allow me to recover my breath,

For he would fill me with bitter things.

If it is a matter of strength,

Behold, he is mighty.

And if of justice,

Who will appoint me a hearing?

If I were to say, ‘I am justified’,

My mouth would be condemning me.

If I were to say, ‘I have integrity’,

It would convict me of perverseness.

If I were to say, ‘I have integrity’,

I would not recognize myself;

I would loathe my life.

It is all the same.

That is why I claim,

‘He makes an end of the integrous and wicked alike.’

If a scourge suddenly kills,

It makes a mockery of the trial of the innocent.

The earth has been delivered into the hand of the wicked one;

He has put a veil over the faces of its judges.

If it is not so,

Who, then, is he who is responsible?”

“Now my days pass more swiftly than a runner.

They fly past;

They do not see goodness.

They pass with the speed of papyrus boats,

As an eagle swoops after prey.

If I were to say,

‘I will forget my complaint;

I will ignore my situation

And be cheerful’,

I would be fearful with all my sorrows;

I would know

That you still wouldn't pronounce me innocent.

Let me be considered wicked.

Why, then, do I go on struggling in vain?

If I were to wash myself {K: in snow} [Q: in snow-water]

And purify my hands with soap,

Then you would still plunge me into the pit,

And even my garments would abhor me.”

“For he is not a man like me,

That I should be able to answer him, and say,

‘Let us go together to the court of justice.’

There is no arbiter between us,

Who could put his hand on us both.

Let him take away his rod from me,

And let him not frighten me with his terror.

Then I would speak and not fear him,

But it is not so for me in my situation.

My being is weary of my life.

I will consign my complaint to myself.

I will speak in the bitterness of my feelings.

I will say to God,

‘Do not condemn me.

Tell me what you are contending with me about.

Is it good in your sight that you should oppress?

– That you should reject the work of your hands?

– And that you should shine on the counsel of the wicked?

Have you got eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

Are your days like the days of mankind?

Are your years like the days of a man,

When you seek my iniquity

And search for my sin?

You know that I do not act wickedly,

But there is no-one to deliver me out of your hand.

Your hands took pains to fashion me,

Yet all around, you swallow me up.

Remember, I pray, that you fashioned me as with clay,

And that you will return me to the dust.

Did you not pour me out like milk

And solidify me like cheese?

You clothed me in skin and flesh

And wove me together with bones and sinews.

You have granted me life and shown me kindness,

And your watchfulness has guarded my spirit,

Yet you have hidden these things in your heart.

I know that this was your intention.

If I were to sin,

You would observe me,

And you would not acquit me from my iniquity.

If I have acted wickedly,

Woe is me.

If I have been righteous,

I will not lift my head.

I am full of ingloriousness;

Just look at my affliction.

For it is increasing;

You hunt me like a fierce lion

And again use wondrous powers against me.

You renew your testimonies against me

And increase your anger with me.

And a succession of forces is against me.

And why did you bring me out of the womb?

I could have expired,

And no eye would have seen me.

I would be as though I had not existed;

I would have been led from the womb to the grave.’

Are not my days few?

{K: If only he would desist} [Q: Desist, then,] and turn away from me,

{K: Then I would be} [Q: And let me be] a little more cheerful

Before I go (and do not return)

To the land of darkness and the shadow of death

– A land of weariness like deep darkness,

And of the shadow of death,

Where no order reigns,

And where it shines deep darkness.”

“Shall a profusion of words not be answered?

And is a loquacious man necessarily right?

Will your lies silence men?

Or will you mock,

With no-one putting you to shame?

For you have said,

‘My doctrine is pure’,

And, ‘I have been clean in your eyes.’

But if only God would speak

And open his lips with you

And tell you the secrets of wisdom,

For they double the value of insight.

And know that God exacts retribution for your iniquity.

Can you find God with an investigation?

Or can you find the Almighty with complete knowledge?

What can you undertake concerning the heights of heaven?

What can you know about what is deeper than the underworld?

Its dimensions are longer than the earth

And wider than the sea.

If he passes by,

And confines and gathers people up,

Who can make him withdraw it?

For he knows who the vain men are,

And he sees their wickedness

Although he does not appear attentive.

But a witless man can become wise,

For a man is born like a wild ass.

If you prepare your heart,

Then you can stretch out your hands to him.

If there is vanity in your hands,

Remove it,

And do not let iniquity dwell in your tents.

For then you will be able to hold your head high spotlessly,

And you will be steadfast,

And you will not need to fear.

For then you will forget your sorrow

And remember it as you do water that passes by.

A time will come brighter than noon.

You will soar;

You will be like the morning.

You will trust,

For you will have hope,

And you will search matters out

And rest with confidence.

And you will lie down

With nothing to cause alarm,

And many will seek your favour.

But the eyes of the wicked will fail,

And flight will not be available to them,

And their hope will be as a puff of breath.”

“Truly, you constitute a people.

But your wisdom will die with you.

But I also have intellect like you;

I am not inferior to you.

And who is not familiar with such things?

I am an object of scorn to my neighbour

– One calling to God for him to answer him.

A just and integrous man is an object of scorn.

A lamp is an object of contempt to the thoughts of him who is at ease,

Although it is prepared for those who are liable to stumble.

The tents of the plunderers are at ease,

And those who provoke God have confidence

In what God brings in his hand.

But ask, I pray, the beasts,

And each will teach you,

And the birds of the sky,

And they will inform you.

Or speak to the earth

And it will teach you,

And the fish of the sea will recount it to you.

Who does not know by means of all these

That the hand of the Lord has done this?

– In whose hand the existence of every living being is,

And the spirit of all human flesh.

Does not the ear discern the sense of words,

And the palate taste food?

In the elderly is wisdom,

And in great age is understanding.

With him there is wisdom and mastery;

He has counsel and understanding.

Behold, he demolishes a building

So that it cannot be built up.

Behold, he shuts off water,

And it dries up,

And when he sends it again,

It overturns the earth.

He has strength and insight;

He has dominion over him who goes astray

And him who leads astray.

He leads counsellors stripped of honour,

And he makes a fool of judges.

He dissolves the punishment inflicted by kings,

And he binds a girdle around their waist.

He leads priests stripped of office,

And he overthrows the mighty.

He removes the eloquence of the confident orator,

And he deposes the discernment of the elders.

He pours contempt on dignitaries,

And he loosens the girdle of the mighty.

He uncovers deep things from darkness,

And he brings the shadow of death into the light.

He makes nations great

Then brings them to ruin;

He lets nations expand

Then leads them back.

He removes reason from the chiefs of the various peoples of the earth

And causes them to wander in desolation,

Where there is no thoroughfare.

They grope in the dark,

Where there is no light,

And he causes them to wander

Like a drunkard.

Behold, my eye has seen everything;

My ear has heard it

And understood it.

What you know,

I know too.

I am not inferior to you.

But I would like to speak to the Almighty,

And I desire to reason with God.

But you are fabricators of falsehood;

You are all physicians of no value.

If only you would altogether keep silence;

For it would be wisdom to you.

Hear, I pray, my reasoning,

And hearken to the contentions of my lips.

Will you speak iniquitously to God ?

And speak deceitfully to him?

Will you show partiality with him?

Or contend with God?

Is it right that he should investigate you?

Or will you mock him as one mocks a man?

He will certainly reprove you

If you secretly show partiality.

Will not his exalted position alarm you

And his fear fall upon you?

Your weighty sayings are proverbs of ashes;

Your defences are defences of clay.

Stop talking to me,

And I will speak.

Then let come what may

Come on me.

Why do I take my flesh in my teeth

And put my life in my hands?

{K: Look, I do not expect him to kill me} [Q: Even if he kills me, I will put my hope in him],

But I will contend for my ways before him.

He is also my salvation,

For no profane person can come into his presence.

Hear my words attentively,

And heed my arguments in your ears.

Look, I pray, I have set out my case;

I know I shall be justified.”

“Who is it who would contend with me?

For if I now keep silence,

I will expire.

But avoid doing two things to me,

Then I need not be hidden from your presence.

Remove your hand from me,

And do not alarm me with your foreboding.

Then call, and I will answer,

Or I will speak, and you can answer me.

How many iniquities and sins have I committed?

Make my transgression and my sin known to me.

Why do you hide your face

And consider me to be your enemy?

Will you put fear into a leaf

That is driven about?

Or will you pursue dry chaff?

For you indict me with bitter things,

And you load on me the iniquities of my youth,

Putting my feet in the stocks,

And watching all my paths closely,

And imprinting a mark on the soles of my feet,

Each of which wastes away like rot,

As a moth eats a garment.

Man, born of woman, is of few days,

And has his fill of trouble.

He is as a flower that comes out

Then is cut off.

And he flees as a shadow

And does not stand in place.

Nevertheless, you open your eyes on such a one

And bring me to judgment with you.

Who can make a clean thing

From an unclean one?

– No-one.

If his days are determined,

If the number of his months is your decision,

If you have appointed {K: his limit} [Q: his limits],

Then he cannot exceed them.

Regard him with favour,

Rather than being against him,

So that he may rest

– So that he may take pleasure in his day,

As a hired man does.

For a tree has hope,

If it is cut down,

That it may sprout again

And that its sucker will not fail,

Even if its root in the ground has grown old,

And its felled trunk dies on the ground.

From the smell of water it blossoms

And produces a harvest like a new plant.

But a man dies and loses vitality;

A human being expires,

Then where is he?

As the water from the sea recedes,

And a river becomes desolate and dry,

So a man lies down

And does not rise again

Until the heavens are no more.

They do not awaken,

And they do not rise from their sleep.

If only you would hide me in the underworld

And conceal me until your anger abates

And appoint me a time

And then remember me.

If a man dies,

Will he live again?

I will wait all the days of my struggle

For my revival to come.

You will call,

And I will answer you.

You will yearn for the work of your hands.

For now you can count my steps.

Are you not on guard concerning my sin?

My transgression is sealed in a bag,

And you have sewn up my iniquity.

But even a mountain can fall

And become waste,

And a rock can be removed from its place.

Water wears down stones;

You sweep away with a flood the soil of the land,

And you destroy the hope of mortal man.

You overpower him for perpetuity,

And he passes away.

You change his appearance

And dismiss him.

His sons may acquire honour,

But he would not know,

Or they could be disparaged,

But he would not be aware of their situation.

But meanwhile his flesh on him suffers pain,

And his inner self is in mourning.”

“Does a wise man answer with knowledge which is nothing but hot air?

– Or does he fill his belly with the east wind?

Does one argue with a word that is of no avail?

– Or with speeches in which there is no benefit?

But you would even nullify fear

And minimize the dignity of colloquy with God.

For your mouth spells out your iniquity,

And you choose crafty language.

Your mouth condemns you

– Not I;

And your lips testify against you.

Are you the first man to be born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

Have you heard the secret counsel of God?

Do you reserve wisdom to yourself?

What do you know

That we don't know?

What do you understand

That we are not aware of?

Amongst us are the elderly and aged,

Older than your father in days.

Are the consolations of God too small a matter for you?

And are you indifferent to the matter?

How come your heart is carrying you away?

How come your eyes are winking?

For you are turning your spirit against God

When you bring such words out of your mouth.

What is man

That he should be pure,

And that he who is born of a woman

Should be just?

Behold, he does not put trust in his holy {Q: ones} [K: one],

And the heavens are not pure in his sight.

How much less a man abhorred and corrupt

– A man who drinks iniquity like water.

I will explain it to you;

Listen to me,

And I will declare

What I have seen

– Things which wise men have told of

And have not hidden,

Handed down from their forefathers.

To them alone the land was given,

And no stranger crossed through their midst.

A wicked person writhes in discomfort all his days,

And the number of years of a violent man is hidden.

A fearful sound is in his ears;

In a peaceful time the plunderer will come upon him.

He does not believe he will return from darkness,

And he expects

To be destined for the sword.

He wanders around looking for where there is food;

He knows that the day of darkness is at hand.

Adversity and distress terrify him;

They prevail over him like a king ready for battle.

For he stretches out his hand against God,

And he behaves insolently against the Almighty.

He runs headlong against him

With thick bosses on his shields.

For he has covered his face with fatness

And put on flab around his waist.

So he will dwell in desolate cities,

Where houses are uninhabitable

– Which are on the point of becoming heaps of ruins.

He will not become rich,

And his wealth will not endure.

So riches of such will not increase on earth.

He does not depart from darkness.

A flame dries up his sucker,

And by the breath of his mouth he is removed.

Let him who has been deceived not trust in vanity,

For vanity will be his recompense.

His time will be fulfilled before it is due,

And his branch will not be green.

He will be as a vine that shakes off its unripened grapes

And as an olive tree that casts off its blossom,

For the congregation of the profane is fruitless,

And fire will consume the tents of the corrupt.

They conceive sorrow

And give birth to worthlessness,

And their inner workings prepare deceit.”

“I have heard many arguments like these;

You are all wearisome comforters.

Is there an end to vain words?

Or what has stimulated you to answer like that?

I too could speak like you,

If only your well-being was in place of my predicament.

I could heap up words against you,

And I could shake my head at you.

Or I could strengthen you with my speech,

Or the utterance of my lips could give you relief.

But when I speak,

My pain is not relieved,

And if I forbear,

In what way does my pain go away?”

“But even now it is distressing me.

You have desolated all my family circle.

And you have made my face wrinkly;

It is a witness.

And the fact that I have become very lean

Testifies to my face.”

“In his wrath he tears me to pieces

And persecutes me.

He gnashes his teeth against me;

My adversary sharpens his eyes against me.

People gape at me with their mouths;

They strike my cheek in reproach.

They act completely wantonly.

God has delivered me to the evil one,

And he has thrown me into the hands of the wicked.

I was at ease,

But he shook me to pieces,

And he took me by the scruff of the neck

And dashed me to smithereens

And set me up as his target.

His archers surround me;

He cleaves my kidneys apart

And does not spare.

He sheds my gall on the ground.

He breaks me with rupture upon rupture;

He runs at me like a warrior.

I have sewn sackcloth around my skin;

I have to roll my dignity in the dust.

My face has become inflamed with weeping,

And the shadow of death is on my eyelids,

Not for any violence on my hands,

And my prayer was pure.

O earth, do not cover my blood,

And let there be no room for my cry.

Even now, behold, my witness is in the heavens,

And he who testifies for me is in the high places.

Those who mock me are my friends;

My eye sheds tears to God

That someone would plead on behalf of man with God,

As a son of Adam pleads on behalf of his friend.

For when a few years have come,

I shall go the way

From which I will not return.”

“My spirit is broken,

My days are extinguished;

The graves await me.

There are certainly mockers all around me,

And my eye has to endure their provocation.

Arrange an agreement, I pray;

Pledge yourself on my behalf.

Who else is there

Who will shake hands with me?

For you have hidden understanding from their heart;

It being so, you will not exalt them.”

“When a person betrays his friends for a share of spoils,

Even his sons' eyes fail in astonishment.

But he has made me a byword of various nations,

And I have become one who is spat on.

And my eye has grown dim with grief,

And all my limbs are as a shadow.

The upright will be astonished at this,

And the innocent man will be stirred up against the profane.

But the righteous will hold to his way,

And he who is of clean hands will increase in strength.

But to all of them I say,

‘Return, and come, I pray,

For I do not find a single wise man among you.’

My days are passing;

My plans are dashed,

As are the thoughts of my heart.

They appoint me night for day;

The light is short-lived because of darkness.

If I have a hope,

The underworld is my home.

In darkness I will spread my bed.

I call out to bodily decay,

‘You are my father’,

And to the worm,

‘You are my mother and my sister.’

So where then is my hope?

And as for my hope, who will see it?

You will descend by the litter-poles of the underworld

When with you I find rest in the dust.”

“How long will it be

Before you make an end of such words?

First gain understanding,

And afterwards, we will speak.

Why are we counted as cattle?

Why are we defiled in your eyes?

You are the one who tears himself apart in his anger.

Should the earth be forsaken for your sake?

– Or a rock be removed from its place?

Truly, the light of the wicked will be extinguished,

And no flame of such a one's fire will shine.

Light will become darkness in his tent,

And his lamp will be extinguished over him.

His iniquitous steps will be repressed,

And his own counsel will cast him down.

For he is hurled into a net by his own feet,

And he will walk into an entanglement.

A snare will seize him by the heel;

A noose around him will hold him fast.

The tripwire for him is hidden on the ground,

As is a trap for him on the pathway.

Terrors frighten him round about

And chase him around at his feet.

Let his strength be exhausted

And destruction be prepared at his side.

It will consume the fabric of his skin;

The firstborn of death will consume his members.

His confidence will be plucked away from his tent,

And you will march him up to the king of terrors.

Terror will dwell in his tent

Without him being able to do anything about it.

Sulphur will be scattered on his home.

His roots will dry up below,

And his branches will be cut off above.

The memory of him will perish from the land,

And he will have no reputation abroad.

He will be driven from light to darkness;

He will be chased out of the world.

He will have no posterity or progeny among his people,

And no survivor in his dwellings.

Those who come afterwards

Will be astonished at his fate,

Just as those who come before it

Will have taken fright at it.

But these are the dwellings of the unjust,

And this is the place of him

Who does not know God.”

“How long will you afflict my being

And crush me with your words?

You have put me to shame these ten times

And are still not ashamed

That you alienate me like this.

But even if it were true that I have erred,

My sense of error would remain with me.

If you really will act proudly against me,

And argue against me on the grounds of my reproachful state,

Know that God has overthrown me

And has cast his net around me.

Behold, I call out,

‘It is wrong’,

But I am not answered.

I cry out,

But there is no process of judgment.

He has fenced in my way

So that I cannot pass across,

And he has put darkness on my paths.

He has stripped me of my honour,

And he has removed the crown from my head.

He has demolished me all around,

And I have melted,

And he has removed my hope like a tree.

And he has kindled his wrath against me,

And he has considered me as one of his adversaries.

His troops come together

And raise up their highway against me

And encamp around my tent.

He has removed my brothers from me,

And my acquaintances are thoroughly estranged from me.

My relatives have disowned me,

And my colleagues have forgotten me.

Those who dwell in my house and my handmaids

Consider me a stranger;

I have become a foreigner in their sight.

I call my servant,

But he does not answer;

I implore him with my instructions.

My breath is loathsome to my wife,

And I am abominable to the sons of my loins.

Even young children reject me;

When I appear,

They jeer at me.

All the members of my secret counsel abhor me,

And they whom I loved have turned against me.

My bones cleave to my skin and flesh,

And I survive by the skin of my teeth.

Have pity on me,

Have pity on me, my friends,

For the hand of God has struck me.

Why do you persecute me like God,

And why are you not satisfied with the state of my flesh?

If only my words could be written down now;

If only they could be inscribed in a book.

If only they could be engraved in rock in perpetuity,

With an iron stylus, and lead filled.

But I know that my redeemer lives,

And that in the end time he will appear on earth,

And that after my skin has been destroyed like this,

I will in my flesh yet behold God,

Whom I shall behold for myself,

And my eyes will see one

Who is not a stranger,

For whom my heart pines deeply.

For you will say,

‘Why did we persecute him?’

Is the root of the matter to be found in me?

Fear the sword,

For the punishments of the sword are full of fury,

In order that you may know that there is justice.”

“This is why my thoughts prompt me to answer,

And why I am hasty in doing so:

I hear correction of my supposedly shameful stance,

And my discerning spirit gives me an answer.

Do you not know this,

Known of olden time,

Since man was placed on the earth,

That the rejoicing of the wicked is of short duration,

And the happiness of the profane is but for a moment?

Even if his exaltation goes up to heaven,

And his head reaches to the clouds,

He will perish in perpetuity like his dung.

Those who have seen him will say,

‘Where is he?’

He will fly away like a dream

And will not be found,

And he will be driven away like a nightly vision.

An eye may have seen him,

But it will do so no more,

And his home place will no longer welcome him.

His sons will satisfy the poor,

And his own hands will repay his wealth.

While his bones are still full of youthful vigour,

Each will lie down in the dust with him.

Although wickedness is sweet in the mouth,

And he keeps it hidden under his tongue,

Keeping it and not letting it go,

And retaining it in his mouth,

His food will change in his bowels;

There will be adders' venom in his innards.

He has swallowed down riches

And will vomit them up again;

God will drive them out of his stomach.

He will suck adders' poison;

The tongue of the viper will kill him.

May he not see streams

– The rivers and brooks of honey and butter.

He will repay what is owed for his toil

And will not swallow it up.

According to his wealth, his debt of restitution will be,

And he will not rejoice in it,

Because he crushed and abandoned the poor;

He seized a house

Which he did not build,

And because he was never content inwardly,

Nor did he ever let a desirable object escape him.

There is nothing that escapes his voracity,

Which is why his well-being will not last.

In satisfying his greed,

He enters into straits.

Every distressing force shall come upon him.

When he is about to fill his belly,

God will send his furious anger on him,

And he will rain it on him during his meal.

He may flee from iron weaponry,

But the copper bow will pierce him through.

And if one extract the arrow,

And it comes out of his back,

Or the blade comes out from his entrails,

Then terrors still await him.

All darkness is reserved for his hidden treasures;

A fire not blown with bellows will devour him.

Any survivor in his tent will fare badly.

The heavens will reveal his iniquity,

And the earth will rise up against him.

The produce of his household will be taken away,

And various things will be poured out

On the day of his wrath.

This is the fate of the wicked man from God,

And his appointed inheritance from God.”

“Listen carefully to my words,

And let this be your consolation.

Bear with me, and I will speak,

And after my words, you can mock.

Is my complaint made to man?

And if so, why should I not be impatient?

Turn towards me and be astonished,

And put your hand over your mouth.

If I remember it,

I am terrified,

And fear takes hold of my body.

Why do the wicked live

And grow old,

And even increase their power?

Their seed is established with them in their presence,

And their progeny in their sight.

Their houses are free of fear,

But there is no rule of God over them.

His ox procreates

And is not infertile;

His cow calves

And does not miscarry.

They let their little ones frolic like lambs,

And their children dance around.

They lift up their spirits with drum and harp,

And they rejoice to the sound of the flute.

They {K: spend} [Q: end] their days in well-being,

But in a moment they descend to the underworld.

Yet they say to God,

‘Depart from us’,

And, ‘We do not take pleasure in knowledge of your ways.

Who is the Almighty,

That we should serve him,

And in what way are we profited,

That we entreat him?’

Behold, their well-being is not under their control.

The conduct of the wicked is far from me.

But you say,

‘How often the lamp of the wicked is extinguished,

And how often their downfall comes upon them!

He apportions them agony in his anger.

They will be as straw in the wind,

And as chaff which the storm carries away.

God reserves his punishment for the man's iniquity for his sons;

He retributes him,

And he knows it.

His eyes will see his demise,

And he will drink from the wrath of the Almighty.

For what pleasure does he leave in his house after him

When the number of his months is cut in half?’

Can anyone teach God knowledge?

Or will he judge those on high?

One dies in the prime of his strength

When he is entirely at ease and comfortable.

His bottles are full of milk,

And the marrow of his bones is well-nourished.

Another dies with bitter feelings

And does not partake of the goodness.

Together in the dust they lie

And the worm covers them both.

Behold, I know your thoughts

And your devices,

Which do violence to me.

For you say,

‘Where is the noble's house?’

And, ‘Where is the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?’

Have you not asked the passers-by?

Do you not recognize their writing?

They say,

‘For the wicked man is reserved to the day of calamity;

They will be led to the day of wrath.’

Who will tell him his way to his face?

And who will repay him for what he has done?

So he will be led to the burial places,

And he will take his place in his sepulchral mound.

The covering of turf from the brook will be sweet to him.

And every man after him will face the same fate,

As have countless before him,

So how can you comfort me with vanity,

And with answers in which treachery remains?”

“Is a man profitable to God?

For a prudent man is profitable to himself.

Is it a matter of delight to the Almighty

If you are righteous?

Or is it gain to him

That you act with integrity in your ways?

Will he contend with you for fear of you?

Will he enter with you into a judicial process?

Is not your wickedness great?

And is there no end to your iniquities?

– Whether you bind your brothers by a pledge gratuitously,

Or strip off the clothes of those you leave naked,

Or you don't give the weary water to drink,

Or you withhold bread from the hungry?

Or you may be of those who say,

‘The earth belongs to the powerful man’,

And, ‘Let him who is of elevated station dwell in it.’

You may have sent away widows empty-handed

And stood by when the arms of orphans were crushed.

That is why there are snares all around you,

And fear suddenly grips you,

Or darkness so that you can't see anything,

Or a flood of water which will cover you.

Is not God in the height of the heavens?

For see how high the foremost stars are.

And you may have said,

‘What does God know?

Can he judge through dark clouds?

Thick clouds are his secret covering,

And he cannot see,

And he walks round in the circuit of heaven.’

Have you observed the age-old path

Which vain men have trodden?

They become wrinkly before their time;

A river is spilled over their foundation.

They say to God,

‘Depart from us’,

And ask how the Almighty can profit them.

Yet he filled their houses with good things.

So the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

The righteous will see their downfall and rejoice,

And the innocent man will mock them

And say,

‘Our adversary will certainly be obliterated,

And fire will consume their remnant.’

Become familiar, I pray, with him,

And be at peace with them,

And your future will be good.

Receive, I pray, the law from what he says,

And put his declarations in your heart.

If you return to the Almighty,

You will be built up.

So remove iniquity from your tent,

And cast your fine gold on the dust,

And your Ophir gold on a torrent boulder,

And the Almighty will be your fine gold

And your silver treasure.

For then you will delight in the Almighty,

And you will lift up your face to God.

You will entreat him,

And he will hear you,

And you will fulfil your vows.

And you will make a declaration

Which will hold good for you,

And light will shine on your ways.

When others are brought low,

You will say,

‘Such is the consequence of pride,

But he saves the humble.’

He delivers the estate of the innocent,

And deliverance comes through the cleanness of your hands.”

“Today, too, my complaint is bitter;

My vitality has become listless with all my sighing.

If only I knew where I could find him,

I would go to his judgment seat.

I would set out my case before him

And fill my mouth with arguments.

I would acknowledge the words

Which he would answer me,

And I would understand

What he would say to me.

Would he contend with me with great power?

No; he would certainly consider me.

There, the upright disputes with him,

And I would be delivered in perpetuity from my judge.

If I go forwards,

He is not there,

And if backwards,

I do not discern him,

Or to the left where he is at work,

I do not behold him;

If he envelops himself on the right,

I do not see him.

However, he knows the way I take.

When he examines me,

I will come out as gold.

My foot takes hold of his step;

I keep his way

And do not turn aside.

As for his commandment which he has uttered,

I have not drawn back from what was appointed me.

I have treasured up the words which he has pronounced.

But he is of one mind,

And who can make him go back on it?

His will desires a thing,

And he performs it.

For he will carry out

What has been appointed for me,

And many such things

He has in store.

That is why I will fear his presence.

When I consider the matter,

I am fearful of him.

But God makes my heart faint,

And the Almighty causes me alarm,

For I have not been cut off in the face of darkness,

Nor has he put a covering of gloom over my face.

Why, seeing that the times are not hidden from the Almighty,

{K: And they are known,} [Q: Do those who know him]

{K: Do they not} [Q: Not] see his dealings?

They move boundaries,

And they snatch away a flock

And pasture it.

They drive away an orphan's donkey;

They take away a widow's ox as security.

They turn the poor aside from the way;

The poor of the earth are driven into hiding together.

See how as wild asses in the desert they go out

In their business of diligently seeking food.

An arid tract is feeding ground

For each and for their young.

In the field they reap their food,

And they glean the vineyard of a wicked man.

They spend the night naked for lack of clothing,

And they have no covering in the cold.

They become wet with mountain rainstorms,

And for lack of shelter they embrace a rock.

They tear away the orphan for gain,

And they enslave the poor with debt.

They cause him to go naked for lack of clothing,

And they take away the sheaf from the hungry.

Within their walls they press out new oil;

They tread the wine vats,

Yet are thirsty.

From the city, men groan,

And the inward being of the wounded cries out,

Yet God does not impute them their depravity.

These people are those who rebel against the light;

They do not recognize his ways,

And they do not remain in his paths.

At first light the murderer rises

And kills the poor and needy,

And at night he is a thief.

The eye of the adulterer observes darkness,

Saying, ‘No eye shall behold me’,

And he puts a covering on his face.

He breaks into houses in the darkness,

Which in the daytime they mark out for themselves.

They do not know the light.

For the morning for them is altogether the shadow of death,

For each knows the terrors of the shadow of death,

Which is swift upon the surface of the water;

Their portion is cursed upon the earth.

He will not return to the way of the vineyards.

As drought and heat snatch away the snowy waters,

So the grave snatches those who have sinned.

The womb will disown him;

The worm will feed sweetly on him.

He will no longer be remembered,

And iniquity will be shivered like a tree.

He devours the barren,

Who has not given birth,

And to the widow he does not do good.

He drags away the mighty by his strength;

He rises,

And no-one is sure of his life.

God grants him security,

And he relies on it,

But his eyes are on their ways.

They are exalted for a little while,

Then they are gone,

And they waste away.

Like all others, they are gathered into the grave.

And like the top of a stem of corn,

They are cut off.

And if it is not so, who will convict me of falsehood

And make my speech null and void?”

“Dominion and fear are with him

– The one who makes peace in his high places.

Do his troops have a number?

And upon whom does his light not rise?

And how can man be justified with God?

And how can he who is born of a woman be pure?

Behold, even the moon

(But it does not shine,)

And the stars

Are not pure in his sight.

How much less man,

Destined for worms,

And the son of Adam,

Destined for maggots.”

“How have you helped him

Who is without power,

And saved him

Whose arm is without strength?

How have you given counsel to him

Who is without wisdom?

And how have you taught insight

To the multitude?

To whom have you declared words,

And whose inspiration came from you?

Do the Rephaim give birth under water,

Or do those who lie there with them?

The grave is naked before him,

And there is no covering for the place of destruction.

He stretches out the north over desolation,

And hangs the earth on nothing,

Binding up waters on his thick clouds,

While the cloud below them is not laid open.

He takes hold of the front of his throne

And spreads his cloud on it.

He circumscribes a bound round the surface of the water

At the terminator between light and dark.

The pillars of heaven are shaken

And are astonished at his rebuke.

By his power the sea roars,

And by his understanding

He dashes pride.

By his spirit the heavens are beautifully made;

His hand formed the constellation of the fleeing serpent.

Behold, these are the outlines of his {Q: ways} [K: way],

For only a whisper of the matter is heard,

But who can understand the thunder of his {K: power} [Q: mighty acts]?”

“As God lives,

Who has taken my justice away,

And the Almighty,

Who has embittered my feelings,

As long as my breath is in me,

And the spirit of God is in my nostrils,

My lips shall certainly not speak wickedness,

And my tongue shall certainly not utter deceit.

Far be it from me to justify you.

I will not renounce my integrity

Before I expire.

I have held on to my righteousness,

And I will not relent on it.

My heart shall not reproach me

In all my days.

Let my enemy be declared wicked,

And my opponent unjust.

For what is the hope of the profane

If he has made unjust gain,

If God is indifferent to his life?

Will God hear his cry

When adversity comes upon him?

Will he delight in the Almighty?

Will he call on God at all times?”

“I will teach you by the hand of God;

I will not hide that which is with the Almighty.

Behold, all of you have seen it.

Why then do you act so very vainly?

This is the portion of the wicked man with God,

And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty.

If his sons become numerous,

They will be destined for the sword,

And his offspring will not be satisfied with bread.

Those who survive him will be buried in death,

And his widowed daughters-in-law will not weep.

If he heaps up silver like dust

And prepares luxury clothing like clay,

He may prepare it,

But the righteous man will wear it,

And the innocent will divide the silver.

He builds a house like the moth,

And as a booth which a guard makes.

The rich man lies down

But is not reunited with his forefathers;

He opens his eyes,

And his wealth has gone.

Every terror will overtake him like water;

At night a whirlwind will steal him away.

The east wind will bear him away,

And away he will go,

And a storm will sweep him from his place.

For he will cast terrors on him,

And he will not spare.

He will certainly want to flee from his hand.

He will clap his hands at him

And hiss him away from his place.

Now for silver there is a vein,

And there is a place where they refine gold.

Iron is obtained from ore,

And mineral is cast into copper.

The miner discounts darkness,

And in every direction he searches for minerals,

In thick darkness and the shadow of death.

He sinks a shaft with a migrant workforce,

Who do not use their feet.

They are lowered down;

They move about unnaturally.

As for the land, from it comes bread,

But underneath it,

It is like fire swirling around.

Amongst its stones is a place of sapphire;

It includes gold-bearing ore.

There is a path which the bird of prey does not know,

And the eye of the kite has not seen.

The lion's whelps have not trodden it,

And the fierce lion has not passed along it.

At the flint he applies his hand;

He overturns mountains at their roots.

He cuts out galleries in the rocks,

And his eye sees every kind of precious gemstone.

He blocks underground rivers from gushing,

And he brings a hidden thing to light.

But from where is wisdom obtained?

And where is the place of understanding?

Man does not know its value,

Nor is it found in the land of the living.

The ocean says,

‘It is not in me’,

And the sea says,

‘It is not with me.’

Gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

And silver cannot be weighed out as its price.

It cannot be piled in the scales against fine gold from Ophir

Or valuable onyx or sapphire.

Gold and crystal cannot match its value,

Nor is its exchange value an object of purified gold.

Precious gems and crystal are not worth a mention,

But the acquisition of wisdom is worth more than red corals.

Ethiopian topaz cannot match its value,

Nor can it be piled in the scales against pure gold.

But as for wisdom – where does it come from?

And where is the place of understanding?

Well, it is concealed from the eyes of every living being,

And it is hidden from the birds of the sky.

Destruction and death say,

‘We have heard of its reputation with our ears.’

God understands its way,

And he knows its place.

For he looks to the ends of the earth;

He sees what is under all the heavens.

It was to give weight to the wind

When he weighed water accurately,

And when he issued a statute to the rain,

And a way for lightning and thunderclaps.

Then he saw it

And declared it.

He established it

And searched it out.

And he said to man,

‘Behold, the fear of the Lord^* is wisdom,

And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

“If only I were as in months past,

As in the days when God protected me,

When he shone his light on my head,

When I walked by his light in darkness,

When I was in my autumnal days,

With the secret counsel of God in my tent,

When the Almighty was still with me,

When my children were round about me,

When my steps were washed with buttermilk

And the rock poured out streams of oil for me,

When I went out to the gate of the city,

And when I prepared my seat in the street.

Young men would see me and make way for me,

And old men would rise and stand.

Princes would hold back their words

And put their hand to their mouth.

The voice of the governors would be hushed,

And their tongue would cleave to their palate.

For the ear that heard me would bless me,

And the eye that saw me would bear witness to me.

For I delivered the poor who cried out,

And the orphan who had no-one to help him.

The blessing for him who was dying would fall to me,

And I would cause the heart of the widow to rejoice.

I put on righteousness,

And it clothed me;

My justice was as a coat and turban.

I was eyes to the blind,

And I was feet to the lame.

I was a father to the poor,

And if there was a dispute

Which I did not know the details of,

I would investigate it.

And I broke the incisors of the unjust,

And I plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

And I said,

‘I will expire when my home does,

And multiply my days like the sand.’

My root spread out to the water,

And dew lodged on my branch.

The honour I had was fresh,