Author: Scott Walter

² “Listen carefully to my words;
    let this be the consolation you give me.
³ Bear with me while I speak,
    and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴ “Is my complaint directed to a human being?
    Why should I not be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and be appalled;
    clap your hand over your mouth.
⁶ When I think about this, I am terrified;
    trembling seizes my body.
⁷ Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?
⁸ They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.
⁹ Their homes are safe and free from fear;
    the rod of God is not on them.
¹⁰ Their bulls never fail to breed;
    their cows calve and do not miscarry.
¹¹ They send forth their children as a flock;
    their little ones dance about.
¹² They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
¹³ They spend their years in prosperity
    and go down to the grave in peace.
¹⁴ Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    We have no desire to know your ways.
¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’
¹⁶ But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁷ “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
    How often does calamity come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger?
¹⁸ How often are they like straw before the wind,
    like chaff swept away by a gale?
¹⁹ It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
    Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!
²⁰ Let their own eyes see their destruction;
    let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
²¹ For what do they care about the families they leave behind
    when their allotted months come to an end?

²² “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
    since he judges even the highest?
²³ One person dies in full vigor,
    completely secure and at ease,
²⁴ well nourished in body,
    bones rich with marrow.
²⁵ Another dies in bitterness of soul,
    never having enjoyed anything good.
²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,
    and worms cover them both.

²⁷ “I know full well what you are thinking,
    the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,
    the tents where the wicked lived?’
²⁹ Have you never questioned those who travel?
    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
³⁰ that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
    that they are delivered from the day of wrath?
³¹ Who denounces their conduct to their face?
    Who repays them for what they have done?
³² They are carried to the grave,
    and watch is kept over their tombs.
³³ The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
    everyone follows after them,
    and a countless throng goes before them.

³⁴ “So how can you console me with your nonsense?
    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

² “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
    because I am greatly disturbed.
³ I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
    and my understanding inspires me to reply.

⁴ “Surely you know how it has been from of old,
    ever since mankind was placed on the earth,
⁵ that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
    the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
⁶ Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens
    and his head touches the clouds,
⁷ he will perish forever, like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
⁸ Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,
    banished like a vision of the night.
⁹ The eye that saw him will not see him again;
    his place will look on him no more.
¹⁰ His children must make amends to the poor;
    his own hands must give back his wealth.
¹¹ The youthful vigor that fills his bones
    will lie with him in the dust.

¹² “Though evil is sweet in his mouth
    and he hides it under his tongue,
¹³ though he cannot bear to let it go
    and lets it linger in his mouth,
¹⁴ yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;
    it will become the venom of serpents within him.
¹⁵ He will spit out the riches he swallowed;
    God will make his stomach vomit them up.
¹⁶ He will suck the poison of serpents;
    the fangs of an adder will kill him.
¹⁷ He will not enjoy the streams,
    the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
¹⁸ What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
¹⁹ For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
    he has seized houses he did not build.

²⁰ “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;
    he cannot save himself by his treasure.
²¹ Nothing is left for him to devour;
    his prosperity will not endure.
²² In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
    the full force of misery will come upon him.
²³ When he has filled his belly,
    God will vent his burning anger against him
    and rain down his blows on him.
²⁴ Though he flees from an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
²⁵ He pulls it out of his back,
    the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him;
²⁶     total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
    and devour what is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens will expose his guilt;
    the earth will rise up against him.
²⁸ A flood will carry off his house,
    rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
²⁹ Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
    the heritage appointed for them by God.”

² “How long will you torment me
    and crush me with words?
³ Ten times now you have reproached me;
    shamelessly you attack me.
⁴ If it is true that I have gone astray,
    my error remains my concern alone.
⁵ If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
    and use my humiliation against me,
⁶ then know that God has wronged me
    and drawn his net around me.

⁷ “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;
    though I call for help, there is no justice.
⁸ He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;
    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
⁹ He has stripped me of my honor
    and removed the crown from my head.
¹⁰ He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
    he uproots my hope like a tree.
¹¹ His anger burns against me;
    he counts me among his enemies.
¹² His troops advance in force;
    they build a siege ramp against me
    and encamp around my tent.

¹³ “He has alienated my family from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
¹⁴ My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;
    they look on me as on a stranger.
¹⁶ I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
    though I beg him with my own mouth.
¹⁷ My breath is offensive to my wife;
    I am loathsome to my own family.
¹⁸ Even the little boys scorn me;
    when I appear, they ridicule me.
¹⁹ All my intimate friends detest me;
    those I love have turned against me.
²⁰ I am nothing but skin and bones;
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

²¹ “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck me.
²² Why do you pursue me as God does?
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?

²³ “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,
²⁴ that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!
²⁵ I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
²⁷ I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!

²⁸ “If you say, ‘How we will hound him,
    since the root of the trouble lies in him,’
²⁹ you should fear the sword yourselves;
    for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
    and then you will know that there is judgment.”

² “When will you end these speeches?
    Be sensible, and then we can talk.
³ Why are we regarded as cattle
    and considered stupid in your sight?
⁴ You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
    is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?
    Or must the rocks be moved from their place?

⁵ “The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;
    the flame of his fire stops burning.
⁶ The light in his tent becomes dark;
    the lamp beside him goes out.
⁷ The vigor of his step is weakened;
    his own schemes throw him down.
⁸ His feet thrust him into a net;
    he wanders into its mesh.
⁹ A trap seizes him by the heel;
    a snare holds him fast.
¹⁰ A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
    a trap lies in his path.
¹¹ Terrors startle him on every side
    and dog his every step.
¹² Calamity is hungry for him;
    disaster is ready for him when he falls.
¹³ It eats away parts of his skin;
    death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
¹⁴ He is torn from the security of his tent
    and marched off to the king of terrors.
¹⁵ Fire resides in his tent;
    burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling.
¹⁶ His roots dry up below
    and his branches wither above.
¹⁷ The memory of him perishes from the earth;
    he has no name in the land.
¹⁸ He is driven from light into the realm of darkness
    and is banished from the world.
¹⁹ He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
    no survivor where once he lived.
²⁰ People of the west are appalled at his fate;
    those of the east are seized with horror.
²¹ Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;
    such is the place of one who does not know God.”

³ “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
    Who else will put up security for me?
⁴ You have closed their minds to understanding;
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
⁵ If anyone denounces their friends for reward,
    the eyes of their children will fail.

⁶ “God has made me a byword to everyone,
    a man in whose face people spit.
⁷ My eyes have grown dim with grief;
    my whole frame is but a shadow.
⁸ The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
⁹ Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,
    and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

¹⁰ “But come on, all of you, try again!
    I will not find a wise man among you.
¹¹ My days have passed, my plans are shattered.
    Yet the desires of my heart
¹² turn night into day;
    in the face of the darkness light is near.
¹³ If the only home I hope for is the grave,
    if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,
¹⁴ if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
    and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’
¹⁵ where then is my hope—
    who can see any hope for me?
¹⁶ Will it go down to the gates of death?
    Will we descend together into the dust?”

² “I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters, all of you!
³ Will your long-winded speeches never end?
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?
⁴ I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head at you.
⁵ But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

⁶ “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    and if I refrain, it does not go away.
⁷ Surely, God, you have worn me out;
    you have devastated my entire household.
⁸ You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
    my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.
⁹ God assails me and tears me in his anger
    and gnashes his teeth at me;
    my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes.
¹⁰ People open their mouths to jeer at me;
    they strike my cheek in scorn
    and unite together against me.
¹¹ God has turned me over to the ungodly
    and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked.
¹² All was well with me, but he shattered me;
    he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
¹³     his archers surround me.
Without pity, he pierces my kidneys
    and spills my gall on the ground.
¹⁴ Again and again he bursts upon me;
    he rushes at me like a warrior.

¹⁵ “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
    and buried my brow in the dust.
¹⁶ My face is red with weeping,
    dark shadows ring my eyes;
¹⁷ yet my hands have been free of violence
    and my prayer is pure.

¹⁸ “Earth, do not cover my blood;
    may my cry never be laid to rest!
¹⁹ Even now my witness is in heaven;
    my advocate is on high.
²⁰ My intercessor is my friend
    as my eyes pour out tears to God;
²¹ on behalf of a man he pleads with God
    as one pleads for a friend.

²² “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.

² “Would a wise person answer with empty notions
    or fill their belly with the hot east wind?
³ Would they argue with useless words,
    with speeches that have no value?
⁴ But you even undermine piety
    and hinder devotion to God.
⁵ Your sin prompts your mouth;
    you adopt the tongue of the crafty.
⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
    your own lips testify against you.

⁷ “Are you the first man ever born?
    Were you brought forth before the hills?
⁸ Do you listen in on God’s council?
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
⁹ What do you know that we do not know?
    What insights do you have that we do not have?
¹⁰ The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
    men even older than your father.
¹¹ Are God’s consolations not enough for you,
    words spoken gently to you?
¹² Why has your heart carried you away,
    and why do your eyes flash,
¹³ so that you vent your rage against God
    and pour out such words from your mouth?

¹⁴ “What are mortals, that they could be pure,
    or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
¹⁵ If God places no trust in his holy ones,
    if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
¹⁶ how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt,
    who drink up evil like water!

¹⁷ “Listen to me and I will explain to you;
    let me tell you what I have seen,
¹⁸ what the wise have declared,
    hiding nothing received from their ancestors
¹⁹ (to whom alone the land was given
    when no foreigners moved among them):
²⁰ All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
    the ruthless man through all the years stored up for him.
²¹ Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
    when all seems well, marauders attack him.
²² He despairs of escaping the realm of darkness;
    he is marked for the sword.
²³ He wanders about for food like a vulture;
    he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
²⁴ Distress and anguish fill him with terror;
    troubles overwhelm him, like a king poised to attack,
²⁵ because he shakes his fist at God
    and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
²⁶ defiantly charging against him
    with a thick, strong shield.

²⁷ “Though his face is covered with fat
    and his waist bulges with flesh,
²⁸ he will inhabit ruined towns
    and houses where no one lives,
    houses crumbling to rubble.
²⁹ He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure,
    nor will his possessions spread over the land.
³⁰ He will not escape the darkness;
    a flame will wither his shoots,
    and the breath of God’s mouth will carry him away.
³¹ Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless,
    for he will get nothing in return.
³² Before his time he will wither,
    and his branches will not flourish.
³³ He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes,
    like an olive tree shedding its blossoms.
³⁴ For the company of the godless will be barren,
    and fire will consume the tents of those who love bribes.
³⁵ They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;
    their womb fashions deceit.”

14 “Mortals, born of woman,
    are of few days and full of trouble.
² They spring up like flowers and wither away;
    like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
³ Do you fix your eye on them?
    Will you bring them before you for judgment?
⁴ Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
    No one!
⁵ A person’s days are determined;
    you have decreed the number of his months
    and have set limits he cannot exceed.
⁶ So look away from him and let him alone,
    till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.

⁷ “At least there is hope for a tree:
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
    and its new shoots will not fail.
⁸ Its roots may grow old in the ground
    and its stump die in the soil,
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
    and put forth shoots like a plant.
¹⁰ But a man dies and is laid low;
    he breathes his last and is no more.
¹¹ As the water of a lake dries up
    or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
¹² so he lies down and does not rise;
    till the heavens are no more, people will not awake
    or be roused from their sleep.

¹³ “If only you would hide me in the grave
    and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time
    and then remember me!
¹⁴ If someone dies, will they live again?
    All the days of my hard service
    I will wait for my renewal to come.
¹⁵ You will call and I will answer you;
    you will long for the creature your hands have made.
¹⁶ Surely then you will count my steps
    but not keep track of my sin.
¹⁷ My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
    you will cover over my sin.

¹⁸ “But as a mountain erodes and crumbles
    and as a rock is moved from its place,
¹⁹ as water wears away stones
    and torrents wash away the soil,
    so you destroy a person’s hope.
²⁰ You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;
    you change their countenance and send them away.
²¹ If their children are honored, they do not know it;
    if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
²² They feel but the pain of their own bodies
    and mourn only for themselves.”