I

I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.

I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.

But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief.

Even if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I hold back, how will it go away?

Even if I speak, my pain is not relieved, and if I hold back, how will it go away?

I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust.

I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust.

For when only a few years are past I will go the way of no return.

Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?

But come back and try again, all of you. For I will not find a wise man among you.

If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,

If I look for Sheol as my home, if I spread out my bed in darkness,

Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.

Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.

Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.

Though I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.

He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has veiled my paths with darkness.

He tears me down on every side until I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree.

My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.

I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.

I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth.

My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family.

Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me.

All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.

My skin and flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,

But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.

Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!

I have heard a rebuke that insults me, and my understanding prompts a reply.

Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.

Bear with me while I speak; then, after I have spoken, you may go on mocking.

Is my complaint against a man? Then why should I not be impatient?

When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.

Still, their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

Behold, I know your thoughts full well, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

But it was He who filled their houses with good things; so I stay far from the counsel of the wicked.

If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.

If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.

I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.

I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say.

Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.

When He is at work in the north, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the south, I cannot see Him.

Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.

I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.

I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.

Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.

Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.

Therefore I am terrified in His presence; when I consider this, I fear Him.

Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.

I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.

I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die.

I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty.

I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty.

“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,

…when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,

…when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,

…because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.

I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.

So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.

If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.

I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.

But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.

I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?

If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,

…then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.

If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife, or I have lurked at his door,

If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant when they made a complaint against me,