² “How you have helped one who has no power!
    How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!^(A)
3 How you have counseled one who has no wisdom
    and given much good advice!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose spirit has come forth from you?
⁵ The shades below tremble,
    the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶ Sheol is naked before God,
    and Abaddon has no covering.^(B)
7 He stretches out Zaphon^[a] over the void
    and hangs the earth upon nothing.^(C)
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not torn open by them.^(D)
9 He covers the face of the full moon
    and spreads over it his cloud.^(E)
10 He has described a circle on the face of the waters,
    at the boundary between light and darkness.^(F)
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his rebuke.
¹² By his power he stilled the Sea;
    by his understanding he struck down Rahab.^(G)
13 By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.^(H)
14 These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways,
    and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”^(I)

² “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
    and the Almighty,^[b] who has made my soul bitter,^(K)
3 as long as my breath is in me
    and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter deceit.^(L)
5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.^(M)
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart will not reproach me as long as I live.^(N)

⁷ “May my enemy be like the wicked,
    and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off,
    when God takes away their lives?^(O)
9 Will God hear their cry
    when trouble comes upon them?^(P)
10 Will they take delight in the Almighty?^[c]
    Will they call upon God at all times?^(Q)
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    that which is with the Almighty^[d] I will not conceal.
¹² All of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³ “This is the portion of the wicked with God
    and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:^[e](R)
14 If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
    and their offspring have not enough to eat.^(S)
15 Those who survive them the pestilence buries,
    and their widows make no lamentation.^(T)
16 Though they heap up silver like dust
    and pile up clothing like clay,^(U)
17 they may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
    and the innocent will divide the silver.^(V)
18 They build their houses like nests,
    like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
¹⁹ They go to bed with wealth but will do so no more;
    they open their eyes, and it is gone.^(W)
20 Terrors overtake them like a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind carries them off.^(X)
21 The east wind lifts them up, and they are gone;
    it sweeps them out of their place.^(Y)
22 It^[f] hurls at them without pity;
    they flee from its^[g] power in headlong flight.^(Z)
23 It^[h] claps its^[i] hands at them
    and hisses at them from its^[j] place.^(AA)

⁷ “That path no bird of prey knows,
    and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
⁸ The proud wild animals have not trodden it;
    the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ “They put their hand to the flinty rock
    and overturn mountains by the roots.^(AD)
10 They cut out channels in the rocks,
    and their eyes see every precious thing.
¹¹ The sources of the rivers they probe;^[m]
    hidden things they bring to light.

¹² “But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?^(AE)
13 Mortals do not know the way to it,^[n]
    and it is not found in the land of the living.^(AF)
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
    and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ It cannot be gotten for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.^[o]
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.^(AG)
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.^(AH)
19 The chrysolite of Cush cannot compare with it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.^(AI)

²⁰ “Where then does wisdom come from?
    And where is the place of understanding?^(AJ)
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
²² Abaddon and Death say,
    ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’^(AK)

²³ “God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.^(AL)
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.^(AM)
25 When he gave to the wind its weight
    and apportioned out the waters by measure,^(AN)
26 when he made a decree for the rain,
    and a way for the thunderbolt,^(AO)
27 then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to humankind,
‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
    and to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”^(AP)