1 “How frail is humanity!
    How short is life, how full of trouble!
² We blossom like a flower and then wither.
    Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.
³ Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature
    and demand an accounting from me?
⁴ Who can bring purity out of an impure person?
    No one!
⁵ You have decided the length of our lives.
    You know how many months we will live,
    and we are not given a minute longer.
⁶ So leave us alone and let us rest!
    We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.

⁷ “Even a tree has more hope!
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again
    and grow new branches.
⁸ Though its roots have grown old in the earth
    and its stump decays,
⁹ at the scent of water it will bud
    and sprout again like a new seedling.

¹⁰ “But when people die, their strength is gone.
    They breathe their last, and then where are they?
¹¹ As water evaporates from a lake
    and a river disappears in drought,
¹² people are laid to rest and do not rise again.
    Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up
    nor be roused from their sleep.

¹³ “I wish you would hide me in the grave^[a]
    and forget me there until your anger has passed.
    But mark your calendar to think of me again!
¹⁴ Can the dead live again?
    If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
    and I would eagerly await the release of death.
¹⁵ You would call and I would answer,
    and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
¹⁶ For then you would guard my steps,
    instead of watching for my sins.
¹⁷ My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
    and you would cover my guilt.

¹⁸ “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble
    and as rocks fall from a cliff,
¹⁹ as water wears away the stones
    and floods wash away the soil,
    so you destroy people’s hope.
²⁰ You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.
    You disfigure them in death and send them away.
²¹ They never know if their children grow up in honor
    or sink to insignificance.
²² They suffer painfully;
    their life is full of trouble.”

² “You people really know everything, don’t you?
    And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
³ Well, I know a few things myself—
    and you’re no better than I am.
    Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?
⁴ Yet my friends laugh at me,
    for I call on God and expect an answer.
I am a just and blameless man,
    yet they laugh at me.
⁵ People who are at ease mock those in trouble.
    They give a push to people who are stumbling.
⁶ But robbers are left in peace,
    and those who provoke God live in safety—
    though God keeps them in his power.^[a]

⁷ “Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.
    Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
⁸ Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you.
    Let the fish in the sea speak to you.
⁹ For they all know
    that my disaster^[b] has come from the hand of the Lord.
¹⁰ For the life of every living thing is in his hand,
    and the breath of every human being.
¹¹ The ear tests the words it hears
    just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
¹² Wisdom belongs to the aged,
    and understanding to the old.

¹³ “But true wisdom and power are found in God;
    counsel and understanding are his.
¹⁴ What he destroys cannot be rebuilt.
    When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.
¹⁵ If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert.
    If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
¹⁶ Yes, strength and wisdom are his;
    deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
¹⁷ He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment;
    wise judges become fools.
¹⁸ He removes the royal robe of kings.
    They are led away with ropes around their waist.
¹⁹ He leads priests away, stripped of status;
    he overthrows those with long years in power.
²⁰ He silences the trusted adviser
    and removes the insight of the elders.
²¹ He pours disgrace upon princes
    and disarms the strong.

²² “He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness;
    he brings light to the deepest gloom.
²³ He builds up nations, and he destroys them.
    He expands nations, and he abandons them.
²⁴ He strips kings of understanding
    and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
²⁵ They grope in the darkness without a light.
    He makes them stagger like drunkards.