⁹ “And now they mock me with vulgar songs!
    They taunt me!
¹⁰ They despise me and won’t come near me,
    except to spit in my face.
¹¹ For God has cut my bowstring.
    He has humbled me,
    so they have thrown off all restraint.
¹² These outcasts oppose me to my face.
    They send me sprawling
    and lay traps in my path.
¹³ They block my road
    and do everything they can to destroy me.
They know I have no one to help me.
¹⁴     They come at me from all directions.
They jump on me when I am down.
¹⁵     I live in terror now.
My honor has blown away in the wind,
    and my prosperity has vanished like a cloud.

¹⁶ “And now my life seeps away.
    Depression haunts my days.
¹⁷ At night my bones are filled with pain,
    which gnaws at me relentlessly.
¹⁸ With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt.^[a]
    He grips me by the collar of my coat.
¹⁹ He has thrown me into the mud.
    I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.

²⁰ “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer.
    I stand before you, but you don’t even look.
²¹ You have become cruel toward me.
    You use your power to persecute me.
²² You throw me into the whirlwind
    and destroy me in the storm.
²³ And I know you are sending me to my death—
    the destination of all who live.

²⁴ “Surely no one would turn against the needy
    when they cry for help in their trouble.
²⁵ Did I not weep for those in trouble?
    Was I not deeply grieved for the needy?
²⁶ So I looked for good, but evil came instead.
    I waited for the light, but darkness fell.
²⁷ My heart is troubled and restless.
    Days of suffering torment me.
²⁸ I walk in gloom, without sunlight.
    I stand in the public square and cry for help.
²⁹ Instead, I am considered a brother to jackals
    and a companion to owls.
³⁰ My skin has turned dark,
    and my bones burn with fever.
³¹ My harp plays sad music,
    and my flute accompanies those who weep.

¹² “But do people know where to find wisdom?
    Where can they find understanding?
¹³ No one knows where to find it,^[a]
    for it is not found among the living.
¹⁴ ‘It is not here,’ says the ocean.
    ‘Nor is it here,’ says the sea.
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with gold.
    It cannot be purchased with silver.
¹⁶ It’s worth more than all the gold of Ophir,
    greater than precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
¹⁷ Wisdom is more valuable than gold and crystal.
    It cannot be purchased with jewels mounted in fine gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are worthless in trying to get it.
    The price of wisdom is far above rubies.
¹⁹ Precious peridot from Ethiopia^[b] cannot be exchanged for it.
    It’s worth more than the purest gold.

²⁰ “But do people know where to find wisdom?
    Where can they find understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all humanity.
    Even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
²² Destruction^[c] and Death say,
    ‘We’ve heard only rumors of where wisdom can be found.’

²³ “God alone understands the way to wisdom;
    he knows where it can be found,
²⁴ for he looks throughout the whole earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ He decided how hard the winds should blow
    and how much rain should fall.
²⁶ He made the laws for the rain
    and laid out a path for the lightning.
²⁷ Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it.
    He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.
²⁸ And this is what he says to all humanity:
‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;
    to forsake evil is real understanding.’”

² “How you have helped the powerless!
    How you have saved the weak!
³ How you have enlightened my stupidity!
    What wise advice you have offered!
⁴ Where have you gotten all these wise sayings?
    Whose spirit speaks through you?

⁵ “The dead tremble—
    those who live beneath the waters.
⁶ The underworld^[a] is naked in God’s presence.
    The place of destruction^[b] is uncovered.
⁷ God stretches the northern sky over empty space
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸ He wraps the rain in his thick clouds,
    and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.
⁹ He covers the face of the moon,^[c]
    shrouding it with his clouds.
¹⁰ He created the horizon when he separated the waters;
    he set the boundary between day and night.
¹¹ The foundations of heaven tremble;
    they shudder at his rebuke.
¹² By his power the sea grew calm.
    By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.^[d]
13 His Spirit made the heavens beautiful,
    and his power pierced the gliding serpent.
¹⁴ These are just the beginning of all that he does,
    merely a whisper of his power.
    Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”

² “I must reply
    because I am greatly disturbed.
³ I’ve had to endure your insults,
    but now my spirit prompts me to reply.

⁴ “Don’t you realize that from the beginning of time,
    ever since people were first placed on the earth,
⁵ the triumph of the wicked has been short lived
    and the joy of the godless has been only temporary?
⁶ Though the pride of the godless reaches to the heavens
    and their heads touch the clouds,
⁷ yet they will vanish forever,
    thrown away like their own dung.
Those who knew them will ask,
    ‘Where are they?’
⁸ They will fade like a dream and not be found.
    They will vanish like a vision in the night.
⁹ Those who once saw them will see them no more.
    Their families will never see them again.
¹⁰ Their children will beg from the poor,
    for they must give back their stolen riches.
¹¹ Though they are young,
    their bones will lie in the dust.

¹² “They enjoyed the sweet taste of wickedness,
    letting it melt under their tongue.
¹³ They savored it,
    holding it long in their mouths.
¹⁴ But suddenly the food in their bellies turns sour,
    a poisonous venom in their stomach.
¹⁵ They will vomit the wealth they swallowed.
    God won’t let them keep it down.
¹⁶ They will suck the poison of cobras.
    The viper will kill them.
¹⁷ They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil
    or rivers of milk and honey.
¹⁸ They will give back everything they worked for.
    Their wealth will bring them no joy.
¹⁹ For they oppressed the poor and left them destitute.
    They foreclosed on their homes.
²⁰ They were always greedy and never satisfied.
    Nothing remains of all the things they dreamed about.
²¹ Nothing is left after they finish gorging themselves.
    Therefore, their prosperity will not endure.

²² “In the midst of plenty, they will run into trouble
    and be overcome by misery.
²³ May God give them a bellyful of trouble.
    May God rain down his anger upon them.
²⁴ When they try to escape an iron weapon,
    a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce them.
²⁵ The arrow is pulled from their back,
    and the arrowhead glistens with blood.^[a]
The terrors of death are upon them.
²⁶     Their treasures will be thrown into deepest darkness.
A wildfire will devour their goods,
    consuming all they have left.
²⁷ The heavens will reveal their guilt,
    and the earth will testify against them.
²⁸ A flood will sweep away their house.
    God’s anger will descend on them in torrents.
²⁹ This is the reward that God gives the wicked.
    It is the inheritance decreed by God.”

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.”