אֶ֫רֶץ

“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

…before I go—never to return—to a land of darkness and gloom,

…to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

If its roots grow old in the ground and its stump dies in the soil,

…as water wears away the stones and torrents wash away the soil, so You destroy a man’s hope.

…to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure. His possessions will not overspread the land.

His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.

O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry for help never be laid to rest.

You who tear yourself in anger—should the earth be forsaken on your account, or the rocks be moved from their place?

A noose is hidden in the ground, and a trap lies in his path.

The memory of him perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the land.

Do you not know that from antiquity, since man was placed on the earth,

The heavens will expose his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.

…while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

They are but foam on the surface of the water; their portion of the land is cursed, so that no one turns toward their vineyards.

He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.

Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.

For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.

Who gave Him charge over the earth? Who appointed Him over the whole world?

…who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.

For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’

They swirl about, whirling at His direction, accomplishing all that He commands over the face of all the earth.

Whether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.

You whose clothes get hot when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.

…that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.

In which direction is the lightning dispersed, or the east wind scattered over the earth?

…to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,

Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.

Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.

No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance among their brothers.

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One:

Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.

Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth.

…then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah

For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.