Day 159: Psalm 1 - 9

Chapter 1

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

1: Blessed is the man, who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2: but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3: He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

4: The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5: Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6: for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Chapter 2

The Reign of the LORD’s Anointed

1: Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 

2: The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

3:“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

4: He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

5: Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

7: I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

8: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

9: You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10: Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11: Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12: Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. 

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Chapter 3

Save Me, O My God

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

1 O’ LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
2: many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

3: But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4: I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5: I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
6: I will not be afraid of many thousands of people, who have set themselves against me all around.

7: Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

8: Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! Selah

Chapter 4

Answer Me When I Call

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David

1: Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

2: O men,  how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah
3: But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him.

4: Be angry,  and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah
5: Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.

6: There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”
7: You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8: In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Chapter 5

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David

1: Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.
2: Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.
3: O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for youa and watch.

4: For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.
5: The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6: You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7: But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.
8: Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

9: For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.
10: Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

11: But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
12: For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Chapter 6

O Lord, Deliver My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David

1: O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
2: Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3: My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord, - how long?

4: Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5: For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

6: I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7: My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

8: Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9: The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.
10: All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Chapter 7

In You Do I Take Refuge

A Shiggaiona of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

1: O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2: lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3: O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
4: if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,
5: let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

6: Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7: Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.

8: The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9: Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous - you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!
10: My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
11: God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

12: If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
13: he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
14: Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
15: He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.
16: His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.

17: I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Chapter 8

How Majestic Is Your Name

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

1: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2: Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

3: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4: what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

5: Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6: You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
7: all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8: the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Chapter 9

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.  A Psalm of David

1: I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

2: I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3: When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.

4: For you have maintained my just cause; you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

5: You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6: The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; their cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.

7: But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice,
8: and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.

9: The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
10: And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11: Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12: For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13: Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14: that I may recount all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation.

15: The nations have sunk in the pit that they made; in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16: The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah

17: The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.

18: For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

19: Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!
20: Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Day 157: Job 35 - 38

Chapter 35

1 Elihu continued and said:

2 "Do you think this to be just? You say, 'I am in the right before God.'

3 If you ask, 'What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?'

4 I will answer you and your friends with you.

5 Look at the heavens and see; observe the clouds, which are higher than you.

6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied,
what do you do to him?

7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him; or what does he receive from your hand?

8 Your wickedness affects others like you, and your righteousness, other human beings.

9 "Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.

10 But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives strength in the night,

11 who teaches us more than the animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?'

12 There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evildoers.
13 Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it.

14 How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him,and you are waiting for him!

15 And now, because his anger does not punish,and he does not greatly heed transgression,

16 Job opens his mouth in empty talk, he multiplies words without knowledge."

Chapter 36

1 Elihu continued and said:

2 "Bear with me a little, and I will show you, for I have yet something to say on God's behalf.

3 I will bring my knowledge from far away, and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

4 For truly my words are not false;
one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

5 "Surely God is mighty and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding.

6 He does not keep the wicked alive,
but gives the afflicted their right.

7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them forever,
and they are exalted.

8 And if they are bound in fetters and caught in the cords of affliction,

9 then he declares to them their work and their transgressions,
that they are behaving arrogantly.

10 He opens their ears to instruction, and commands that they return from iniquity.

11 If they listen, and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness.

12 But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword, and die without knowledge.

13 "The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.

14 They die in their youth, and their life ends in shame.

15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and opens their ear by adversity.

16 He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no constraint, and what was set on your table was full of fatness.

17 "But you are obsessed with the case of the wicked; judgment and justice seize you.

18 Beware that wrath does not entice you into scoffing, and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.

19 Will your cry avail to keep you from distress, or will all the force of your strength?

20 Do not long for the night, when peoples are cut off in their place.

21 Beware! Do not turn to iniquity;
because of that you have been tried by affliction.

22 See, God is exalted in his power;
who is a teacher like him?

23 Who has prescribed for him his way, or who can say, 'You have done wrong'?

24 "Remember to extol his work, of which mortals have sung.

25 All people have looked on it; everyone watches it from far away.

26 Surely God is great, and we do not know him; the number of his years is unsearchable.

27 For he draws up the drops of water; he distills his mist in rain,

28 which the skies pour down  and drop upon mortals abundantly.

29 Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?

30 See, he scatters his lightning around him and covers the roots of the sea.

31 For by these he governs peoples; he gives food in abundance.

32 He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.

33 Its crashing tells about him;
he is jealous with anger against iniquity.

Chapter 37

1 "At this also my heart trembles, and leaps out of its place.

2 Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.

3 Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.

4 After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice
and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.

5 God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.

6 For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth'; and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain,

7 serves as a sign on everyone's hand, so that all whom he has made may know it.

8 Then the animals go into their lairs and remain in their dens.

9 From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds.

10 By the breath of God ice is given,
and the broad waters are frozen fast.

11 He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.

12 They turn round and round by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.

13 Whether for correction, or for his land, or for love, he causes it to happen.

14 "Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God.

15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?

16 Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,

17 you whose garments are hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind?

18 Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a molten mirror?

19 Teach us what we shall say to him; we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.

20 Should he be told that I want to speak?Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?

21 Now, no one can look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.

22 Out of the north comes golden splendor; around God is awesome majesty.

23 The Almighty - we cannot find him; he is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness he will not violate.

24 Therefore mortals fear him;
he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit."

Chapter 38

God's words to Job

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements - surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone

7 when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?
-

9 when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,

11 and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?

12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.

15 Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this.

19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,

20 that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!

22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,

23 which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

24 What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered pon the earth?

25 "Who has cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,

26 to bring rain on a land where no one lives, on the desert, which is empty of human life,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?

28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

31 "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?

35 Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or given understanding to the mind?

37 Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,

38 when the dust runs into a mass
and the clods cling together?

39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 when they crouch in their dens,
or lie in wait in their covert?

41 Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

Day 156: Job 31 - 34

Chapter 31

1 "I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I look upon a virgin?

2 What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Does not calamity befall the unrighteous, and disaster the workers of iniquity?

4 Does he not see my ways, and number all my steps?

5 "If I have walked with falsehood,
and my foot has hurried to deceit -

6 let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity! -

7 if my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands;

8 then let me sow, and another eat;
and let what grows for me be rooted out.

9 "If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbour's door;

10 then let my wife grind for another, and let other men kneel over her.

11 For that would be a heinous crime; that would be a criminal offense;

12 for that would be a fire consuming down to Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my harvest.

13 "If I have rejected the cause of my male or female slaves, when they brought a complaint against me;

14 what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry,
what shall I answer him?

15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the orphan has not eaten from it -

18 for from my youth I reared the orphan like a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow -

19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or a poor person without covering,

20 whose loins have not blessed me,
and who was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21 if I have raised my hand against the orphan, because I saw I had supporters at the gate;

22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23 For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.

24 "If I have made gold my trust,
or called fine gold my confidence;

25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much;

26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor,

27 and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand;

28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above.

29 "If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them -

30 I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse -

31 if those of my tent ever said, 'O that we might be sated with his flesh!' -

32 the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler -

33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors -

35 Oh, that I had one to hear me (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! 

36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown;

37 I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him.

38 "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together;

39 if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners;

40 let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley."

The words of Job are ended.

Chapter 32

1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

2 Then Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram,
became angry. He was angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God;

3 he was angry also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, though they had declared Job to be in the wrong.

4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job, because they were older than he.

5 But when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, he became angry.

6 Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite answered:  "I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.

7 I said, 'Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.'

8 But truly it is the spirit in a mortal,
the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding.

9 It is not the old that are wise, nor the aged that understand what is right.

10 Therefore I say, 'Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.'

11 "See, I waited for your words, I listened for your wise sayings, while you searched out what to say.

12 I gave you my attention, but there was in fact no one that confuted Job,
no one among you that answered his words.

13 Yet do not say, 'We have found wisdom; God may vanquish him,
not a human.'

14 He has not directed his words against me, and I will not answer him with your speeches.

15 "They are dismayed, they answer no more; they have not a word to say.

16 And am I to wait, because they do not speak, because they stand there,
and answer no more?

17 I also will give my answer; I also will declare my opinion.

18 For I am full of words; the spirit within me constrains me.

19 My heart is indeed like wine that has no vent; like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.

20 I must speak, so that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer.

21 I will not show partiality to any person  or use flattery toward anyone.

22 For I do not know how to flatter -
or my Maker would soon put an end to me!

Chapter 33

1 "But now, hear my speech, O Job,
and listen to all my words.

2 See, I open my mouth; the tongue in my mouth speaks.

3 My words declare the uprightness of my heart, and what my lips know they speak sincerely.

4 The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand.

6 See, before God I am as you are; I too was formed from a piece of clay.

7 No fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy on you.

8 "Surely, you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the sound of your words.

9 You say, 'I am clean, without transgression; I am pure, and there is no iniquity in me.

10 Look, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy;

11 he puts my feet in the stocks, and watches all my paths.'

12 "But in this you are not right. I will answer you: God is greater than any mortal.

13 Why do you contend against him,
saying, 'He will answer none of my words'? For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though people do not perceive it.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on mortals, while they slumber on their beds,

16 then he opens their ears, and terrifies them with warnings,

17 that he may turn them aside from their deeds, and keep them from pride,

18 to spare their souls from the Pit,
their lives from traversing the River.

19 They are also chastened with pain upon their beds, and with continual strife in their bones,

20 so that their lives loathe bread,
and their appetites dainty food.

21 Their flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen; and their bones, once invisible, now stick out.

22 Their souls draw near the Pit,
and their lives to those who bring death.

23 Then, if there should be for one of them an angel, a mediator, one of a thousand, one who declares a person upright,

24 and he is gracious to that person,
and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the Pit; I have found a ransom.

25 Let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor.'

26 Then he prays to God, and is accepted by him, he comes into his presence with joy, and God repays him for his righteousness.

27 That person sings to others and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, and it was not paid back to me.

28 He has redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit, and my life shall see the light.'

29 "God indeed does all these things,
twice, three times, with mortals,

30 to bring back their souls from the Pit, so that they may see the light of life.

31 Pay heed, Job, listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.

32 If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.

33 If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

Chapter 34

1 Then Elihu continued and said:

2 "Hear my words, you wise men,
and give ear to me, you who know;

3 for the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.

4 Let us choose what is right;
let us determine among ourselves what is good.

5 For Job has said, 'I am innocent,
and God has taken away my right;

6 in spite of being right I am counted a liar; my wound is incurable,
though I am without transgression.'

7 Who is there like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water,

8 who goes in company with evildoers and walks with the wicked?

9 For he has said, 'It profits one nothing to take delight in God.'

10 "Therefore, hear me, you who have sense, far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

11 For according to their deeds he will repay them, and according to their ways he will make it befall them.

12 Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

13 Who gave him charge over the earth  and who laid on him the whole world?

14 If he should take back his spirit to himself, and gather to himself his breath,

15 all flesh would perish together,
and all mortals return to dust.

16 "If you have understanding,
hear this; listen to what I say.

17 Shall one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn one who is righteous and mighty,

18 who says to a king, 'You scoundrel!'  and to princes, 'You wicked men!';

19 who shows no partiality to nobles, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?

20 In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

21 "For his eyes are upon the ways of mortals, and he sees all their steps.

22 There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves.

23 For he has not appointed a time for anyone to go before God in judgment.

24 He shatters the mighty without investigation, and sets others in their place.

25 Thus, knowing their works, he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

26 He strikes them for their wickedness while others look on,

27 because they turned aside from following him, and had no regard for any of his ways,

28 so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him, and he heard the cry of the afflicted -

29 When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face,
who can behold him, whether it be a nation or an individual?
-

30 so that the godless should not reign, or those who ensnare the people.

31 "For has anyone said to God, 'I have endured punishment; I will not offend any more;

32 teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more'?

33 Will he then pay back to suit you,
because you reject it? For you must choose, and not I; therefore declare what you know.

34 Those who have sense will say to me, and the wise who hear me will say,

35 'Job speaks without knowledge,
his words are without insight.'

36 Would that Job were tried to the limi, because his answers are those of the wicked.

37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God."