⁸ “But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. ⁹ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. ¹⁰ He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside. ¹¹ The lowly he sets on high,  and those who mourn are lifted to safety. ¹² He thwarts the plans of the crafty,  so that their hands achieve no success. ¹³ He catches the wise in their craftiness,  and the schemes of the wily are swept away. ¹⁴ Darkness comes upon them in the daytime;  at noon they grope as in the night. ¹⁵ He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth;  he saves them from the clutches of the powerful. ¹⁶ So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.

¹⁷ “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. ¹⁸ For he wounds, but he also binds up;  he injures, but his hands also heal. ¹⁹ From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you. ²⁰ In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword. ²¹ You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes. ²² You will laugh at destruction and famine,     and need not fear the wild animals. ²³ For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you. ²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure;  you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing. ²⁵ You will know that your children will be many,  and your descendants like the grass of the earth. ²⁶ You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.

²⁷ “We have examined this, and it is true.  So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

² “If only my anguish could be weighed  and all my misery be placed on the scales! ³ It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—  no wonder my words have been impetuous. ⁴ The arrows of the Almighty are in me,  my spirit drinks in their poison;  God’s terrors are marshaled against me. ⁵ Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass,  or an ox bellow when it has fodder? ⁶ Is tasteless food eaten without salt,  or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? ⁷ I refuse to touch it;  such food makes me ill.

⁸ “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, ⁹ that God would be willing to crush me,  to let loose his hand and cut off my life! ¹⁰ Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain—     that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

¹¹ “What strength do I have, that I should still hope?  What prospects, that I should be patient? ¹² Do I have the strength of stone?  Is my flesh bronze? ¹³ Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

¹⁴ “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend  forsakes the fear of the Almighty. ¹⁵ But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams,     as the streams that overflow ¹⁶ when darkened by thawing ice  and swollen with melting snow, ¹⁷ but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels. ¹⁸ Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. ¹⁹ The caravans of Tema look for water,     the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. ²⁰ They are distressed, because they had been confident;  they arrive there, only to be disappointed. ²¹ Now you too have proved to be of no help;  you see something dreadful and are afraid. ²² Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf,  pay a ransom for me from your wealth, ²³ deliver me from the hand of the enemy,  rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?

²⁴ “Teach me, and I will be quiet;  show me where I have been wrong. ²⁵ How painful are honest words!  But what do your arguments prove? ²⁶ Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? ²⁷ You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.

²⁸ “But now be so kind as to look at me.  Would I lie to your face? ²⁹ Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. ³⁰ Is there any wickedness on my lips?  Can my mouth not discern malice?

7 “Do not mortals have hard service on earth?  Are not their days like those of hired laborers?² Like a slave longing for the evening shadows,  or a hired laborer waiting to be paid, ³ so I have been allotted months of futility,  and nights of misery have been assigned to me. ⁴ When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’  The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. ⁵ My body is clothed with worms and scabs,  my skin is broken and festering.

⁶ “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,  and they come to an end without hope. ⁷ Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath;  my eyes will never see happiness again. ⁸ The eye that now sees me will see me no longer;     you will look for me, but I will be no more. ⁹ As a cloud vanishes and is gone,     so one who goes down to the grave does not return. ¹⁰ He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.

¹¹ “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,     I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ¹² Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard? ¹³ When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, ¹⁴ even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, ¹⁵ so that I prefer strangling and death,     rather than this body of mine. ¹⁶ I despise my life; I would not live forever.     Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

¹⁷ “What is mankind that you make so much of them,  that you give them so much attention, ¹⁸ that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? ¹⁹ Will you never look away from me,  or let me alone even for an instant? ²⁰ If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? ²¹ Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”