37:1 “At this also my heart trembles
  and leaps out of its place.
Keep listening to the thunder of his voice
  and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
  and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
After it his voice roars;
  he thunders with his majestic voice,
  and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard.
God thunders wondrously with his voice;
  he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’
  likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.
He seals up the hand of every man,
  that all men whom he made may know it.
Then the beasts go into their lairs,
  and remain in their dens.
From its chamber comes the whirlwind,
  and cold from the scattering winds.
By the breath of God ice is given,
  and the broad waters are frozen fast.
He loads the thick cloud with moisture;
  the clouds scatter his lightning.
They turn around and around by his guidance,
  to accomplish all that he commands them
  on the face of the habitable world.
Whether for correction or for his land
  or for love, he causes it to happen.

“Hear this, O Job;
  stop and consider the wondrous works of God.
Do you know how God lays his command upon them
  and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
  the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,
you whose garments are hot
  when the earth is still because of the south wind?
Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
  hard as a cast metal mirror?
Teach us what we shall say to him;
  we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
Shall it be told him that I would speak?
  Did a man ever wish that he would be swallowed up?

“And now no one looks on the light
  when it is bright in the skies,
  when the wind has passed and cleared them.
Out of the north comes golden splendor;
  God is clothed with awesome majesty.
The Almighty—we cannot find him;
  he is great in power;
  justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
Therefore men fear him;
  he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Dress for action like a man;
  I will question you, and you make it known to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
  Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
  Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
  or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
  and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

“Or who shut in the sea with doors
  when it burst out from the womb,
when I made clouds its garment
  and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed limits for it
  and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
  and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
  and caused the dawn to know its place,
that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,
  and the wicked be shaken out of it?
It is changed like clay under the seal,
  and its features stand out like a garment.
From the wicked their light is withheld,
  and their uplifted arm is broken.

“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
  or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been revealed to you,
  or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?
  Declare, if you know all this.

“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
  and where is the place of darkness,
that you may take it to its territory
  and that you may discern the paths to its home?
You know, for you were born then,
  and the number of your days is great!

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
  or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
  for the day of battle and war?
What is the way to the place where the light is distributed,
  or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?

“Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain
  and a way for the thunderbolt,
to bring rain on a land where no man is,
  on the desert in which there is no man,
to satisfy the waste and desolate land,
  and to make the ground sprout with grass?

“Has the rain a father,
  or who has begotten the drops of dew?
From whose womb did the ice come forth,
  and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?
The waters become hard like stone,
  and the face of the deep is frozen.

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
  or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,
  or can you guide the Bear with its children?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
  Can you establish their rule on the earth?

“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,
  that a flood of waters may cover you?
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go
  and say to you, ‘Here we are’?
Who has put wisdom in the inward parts
  or given understanding to the mind?
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
  Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,
when the dust runs into a mass
  and the clods stick fast together?

“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,
  or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
when they crouch in their dens
  or lie in wait in their thicket?
Who provides for the raven its prey,
  when its young ones cry to God for help,
  and wander about for lack of food?

60:1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
  you have been angry; oh, restore us.
You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
  repair its breaches, for it totters.
You have made your people see hard things;
  you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
  that they may flee to it from the bow.     Selah
That your beloved ones may be delivered,
  give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

God has spoken in his holiness:
  “With exultation I will divide up Shechem
  and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
  Ephraim is my helmet;
  Judah is my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin;
  upon Edom I cast my shoe;
  over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

Who will bring me to the fortified city?
  Who will lead me to Edom?
Have you not rejected us, O God?
  You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
Oh, grant us help against the foe,
  for vain is the salvation of man!
With God we shall do valiantly;
  it is he who will tread down our foes.

“Do you think this to be just?
  Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’
that you ask, ‘What advantage have I?
  How am I better off than if I had sinned?’
I will answer you
  and your friends with you.
Look at the heavens, and see;
  and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.
If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
  And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
If you are righteous, what do you give to him?
  Or what does he receive from your hand?
Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,
  and your righteousness a son of man.

“Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out;
  they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.
But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
  who gives songs in the night,
who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
  and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
There they cry out, but he does not answer,
  because of the pride of evil men.
Surely God does not hear an empty cry,
  nor does the Almighty regard it.
How much less when you say that you do not see him,
  that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!
And now, because his anger does not punish,
  and he does not take much note of transgression,
Job opens his mouth in empty talk;
  he multiplies words without knowledge.”

“Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
  for I have yet something to say on God's behalf.
I will get my knowledge from afar
  and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
For truly my words are not false;
  one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;
  he is mighty in strength of understanding.
He does not keep the wicked alive,
  but gives the afflicted their right.
He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,
  but with kings on the throne
  he sets them forever, and they are exalted.
And if they are bound in chains
  and caught in the cords of affliction,
then he declares to them their work
  and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.
He opens their ears to instruction
  and commands that they return from iniquity.
If they listen and serve him,
  they complete their days in prosperity,
  and their years in pleasantness.
But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword
  and die without knowledge.

“The godless in heart cherish anger;
  they do not cry for help when he binds them.
They die in youth,
  and their life ends among the cult prostitutes.
He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
  and opens their ear by adversity.
He also allured you out of distress
  into a broad place where there was no cramping,
  and what was set on your table was full of fatness.

“But you are full of the judgment on the wicked;
  judgment and justice seize you.
Beware lest wrath entice you into scoffing,
  and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
Will your cry for help avail to keep you from distress,
  or all the force of your strength?
Do not long for the night,
  when peoples vanish in their place.
Take care; do not turn to iniquity,
  for this you have chosen rather than affliction.
Behold, God is exalted in his power;
  who is a teacher like him?
Who has prescribed for him his way,
  or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?

“Remember to extol his work,
  of which men have sung.
All mankind has looked on it;
  man beholds it from afar.
Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
  the number of his years is unsearchable.
For he draws up the drops of water;
  they distill his mist in rain,
which the skies pour down
  and drop on mankind abundantly.
Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
  the thunderings of his pavilion?
Behold, he scatters his lightning about him
  and covers the roots of the sea.
For by these he judges peoples;
  he gives food in abundance.
He covers his hands with the lightning
  and commands it to strike the mark.
Its crashing declares his presence;
  the cattle also declare that he rises.

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
  protect me from those who rise up against me;
deliver me from those who work evil,
  and save me from bloodthirsty men.

For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
  fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
  for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
  You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
  spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.     Selah

Each evening they come back,
  howling like dogs
  and prowling about the city.
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
  with swords in their lips—
  for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”

But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
  you hold all the nations in derision.
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
  for you, O God, are my fortress.
My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
  God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

Kill them not, lest my people forget;
  make them totter by your power and bring them down,
  O Lord, our shield!
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
  let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
  consume them in wrath;
  consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
  to the ends of the earth.     Selah

Each evening they come back,
  howling like dogs
  and prowling about the city.
They wander about for food
  and growl if they do not get their fill.

But I will sing of your strength;
  I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
  and a refuge in the day of my distress.
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
  for you, O God, are my fortress,
  the God who shows me steadfast love.

33:1 “But now, hear my speech, O Job,
  and listen to all my words.
Behold, I open my mouth;
  the tongue in my mouth speaks.
My words declare the uprightness of my heart,
  and what my lips know they speak sincerely.
The Spirit of God has made me,
  and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Answer me, if you can;
  set your words in order before me; take your stand.
Behold, I am toward God as you are;
  I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.
Behold, no fear of me need terrify you;
  my pressure will not be heavy upon you.

“Surely you have spoken in my ears,
  and I have heard the sound of your words.
You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression;
  I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me.
Behold, he finds occasions against me,
  he counts me as his enemy,
he puts my feet in the stocks
  and watches all my paths.’

“Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you,
  for God is greater than man.
Why do you contend against him,
  saying, ‘He will answer none of man's words’?
For God speaks in one way,
  and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
  when deep sleep falls on men,
  while they slumber on their beds,
then he opens the ears of men
  and terrifies them with warnings,
that he may turn man aside from his deed
  and conceal pride from a man;
he keeps back his soul from the pit,
  his life from perishing by the sword.

“Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed
  and with continual strife in his bones,
so that his life loathes bread,
  and his appetite the choicest food.
His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
  and his bones that were not seen stick out.
His soul draws near the pit,
  and his life to those who bring death.
If there be for him an angel,
  a mediator, one of the thousand,
  to declare to man what is right for him,
and he is merciful to him, and says,
  ‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;
  I have found a ransom;
let his flesh become fresh with youth;
  let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
then man prays to God, and he accepts him;
  he sees his face with a shout of joy,
and he restores to man his righteousness.
  He sings before men and says:
‘I sinned and perverted what was right,
  and it was not repaid to me.
He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit,
  and my life shall look upon the light.’

“Behold, God does all these things,
  twice, three times, with a man,
to bring back his soul from the pit,
  that he may be lighted with the light of life.
Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;
  be silent, and I will speak.
If you have any words, answer me;
  speak, for I desire to justify you.
If not, listen to me;
  be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

“Hear my words, you wise men,
  and give ear to me, you who know;
for the ear tests words
  as the palate tastes food.
Let us choose what is right;
  let us know among ourselves what is good.
For Job has said, ‘I am in the right,
  and God has taken away my right;
in spite of my right I am counted a liar;
  my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
What man is like Job,
  who drinks up scoffing like water,
who travels in company with evildoers
  and walks with wicked men?
For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
  that he should take delight in God.’

“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:
  far be it from God that he should do wickedness,
  and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.
For according to the work of a man he will repay him,
  and according to his ways he will make it befall him.
Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
  and the Almighty will not pervert justice.
Who gave him charge over the earth,
  and who laid on him the whole world?
If he should set his heart to it
  and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
  and man would return to dust.

“If you have understanding, hear this;
  listen to what I say.
Shall one who hates justice govern?
  Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,
who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
  and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’
who shows no partiality to princes,
  nor regards the rich more than the poor,
  for they are all the work of his hands?
In a moment they die;
  at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,
  and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

“For his eyes are on the ways of a man,
  and he sees all his steps.
There is no gloom or deep darkness
  where evildoers may hide themselves.
For God has no need to consider a man further,
  that he should go before God in judgment.
He shatters the mighty without investigation
  and sets others in their place.
Thus, knowing their works,
  he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.
He strikes them for their wickedness
  in a place for all to see,
because they turned aside from following him
  and had no regard for any of his ways,
so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,
  and he heard the cry of the afflicted—
When he is quiet, who can condemn?
  When he hides his face, who can behold him,
  whether it be a nation or a man?—
that a godless man should not reign,
  that he should not ensnare the people.

“For has anyone said to God,
  ‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;
teach me what I do not see;
  if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
Will he then make repayment to suit you,
  because you reject it?
For you must choose, and not I;
  therefore declare what you know.
Men of understanding will say to me,
  and the wise man who hears me will say:
‘Job speaks without knowledge;
  his words are without insight.’
Would that Job were tried to the end,
  because he answers like wicked men.
For he adds rebellion to his sin;
  he claps his hands among us
  and multiplies his words against God.”

58:1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
  Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
  your hands deal out violence on earth.

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
  they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
  like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
  or of the cunning enchanter.

O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
  tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
Let them vanish like water that runs away;
  when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
  like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
  whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
  he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
  surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
  how then could I gaze at a virgin?
What would be my portion from God above
  and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
  and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
Does not he see my ways
  and number all my steps?

“If I have walked with falsehood
  and my foot has hastened to deceit;
(Let me be weighed in a just balance,
  and let God know my integrity!)
if my step has turned aside from the way
  and my heart has gone after my eyes,
  and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
then let me sow, and another eat,
  and let what grows for me be rooted out.

“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
  and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
then let my wife grind for another,
  and let others bow down on her.
For that would be a heinous crime;
  that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
  and it would burn to the root all my increase.

“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
  when they brought a complaint against me,
what then shall I do when God rises up?
  When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
  And did not one fashion us in the womb?

“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
  or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
or have eaten my morsel alone,
  and the fatherless has not eaten of it
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
  and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
  or the needy without covering,
if his body has not blessed me,
  and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
  because I saw my help in the gate,
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
  and let my arm be broken from its socket.
For I was in terror of calamity from God,
  and I could not have faced his majesty.

“If I have made gold my trust
  or called fine gold my confidence,
if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
  or because my hand had found much,
if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
  or the moon moving in splendor,
and my heart has been secretly enticed,
  and my mouth has kissed my hand,
this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
  for I would have been false to God above.

“If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
  or exulted when evil overtook him
(I have not let my mouth sin
  by asking for his life with a curse),
if the men of my tent have not said,
  ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
(the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
  I have opened my doors to the traveler),
if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
  by hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
  and the contempt of families terrified me,
  so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
Oh, that I had one to hear me!
  (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
  Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
  I would bind it on me as a crown;
I would give him an account of all my steps;
  like a prince I would approach him.

“If my land has cried out against me
  and its furrows have wept together,
if I have eaten its yield without payment
  and made its owners breathe their last,
let thorns grow instead of wheat,
  and foul weeds instead of barley.”

“I am young in years,
  and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
  to declare my opinion to you.
I said, ‘Let days speak,
  and many years teach wisdom.’
But it is the spirit in man,
  the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
It is not the old who are wise,
  nor the aged who understand what is right.
Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
  let me also declare my opinion.’

“Behold, I waited for your words,
  I listened for your wise sayings,
  while you searched out what to say.
I gave you my attention,
  and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job
  or who answered his words.
Beware lest you say, ‘We have found wisdom;
  God may vanquish him, not a man.’
He has not directed his words against me,
  and I will not answer him with your speeches.

“They are dismayed; they answer no more;
  they have not a word to say.
And shall I wait, because they do not speak,
  because they stand there, and answer no more?
I also will answer with my share;
  I also will declare my opinion.
For I am full of words;
  the spirit within me constrains me.
Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent;
  like new wineskins ready to burst.
I must speak, that I may find relief;
  I must open my lips and answer.
I will not show partiality to any man
  or use flattery toward any person.
For I do not know how to flatter,
  else my Maker would soon take me away.

57:1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
  for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
  till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
  to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
  he will put to shame him who tramples on me.     Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

My soul is in the midst of lions;
  I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
  whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
  Let your glory be over all the earth!

They set a net for my steps;
  my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
  but they have fallen into it themselves.     Selah
My heart is steadfast, O God,
  my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
  Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
  I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
  I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
  your faithfulness to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
  Let your glory be over all the earth!

“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
  as in the days when God watched over me,
when his lamp shone upon my head,
  and by his light I walked through darkness,
as I was in my prime,
  when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
when the Almighty was yet with me,
  when my children were all around me,
when my steps were washed with butter,
  and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
When I went out to the gate of the city,
  when I prepared my seat in the square,
the young men saw me and withdrew,
  and the aged rose and stood;
the princes refrained from talking
  and laid their hand on their mouth;
the voice of the nobles was hushed,
  and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
  and when the eye saw, it approved,
because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
  and the fatherless who had none to help him.
The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
  and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
  my justice was like a robe and a turban.
I was eyes to the blind
  and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy,
  and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
  and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest,
  and I shall multiply my days as the sand,
my roots spread out to the waters,
  with the dew all night on my branches,
my glory fresh with me,
  and my bow ever new in my hand.’

“Men listened to me and waited
  and kept silence for my counsel.
After I spoke they did not speak again,
  and my word dropped upon them.
They waited for me as for the rain,
  and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
  and the light of my face they did not cast down.
I chose their way and sat as chief,
  and I lived like a king among his troops,
  like one who comforts mourners.

30:1 “But now they laugh at me,
  men who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
  to set with the dogs of my flock.
What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
  men whose vigor is gone?
Through want and hard hunger
  they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation;
they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes,
  and the roots of the broom tree for their food.
They are driven out from human company;
  they shout after them as after a thief.
In the gullies of the torrents they must dwell,
  in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray;
  under the nettles they huddle together.
A senseless, a nameless brood,
  they have been whipped out of the land.

“And now I have become their song;
  I am a byword to them.
They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
  they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
  they have cast off restraint in my presence.
On my right hand the rabble rise;
  they push away my feet;
  they cast up against me their ways of destruction.
They break up my path;
  they promote my calamity;
  they need no one to help them.
As through a wide breach they come;
  amid the crash they roll on.
Terrors are turned upon me;
  my honor is pursued as by the wind,
  and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.

“And now my soul is poured out within me;
  days of affliction have taken hold of me.
The night racks my bones,
  and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
With great force my garment is disfigured;
  it binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
God has cast me into the mire,
  and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
  I stand, and you only look at me.
You have turned cruel to me;
  with the might of your hand you persecute me.
You lift me up on the wind; you make me ride on it,
  and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.
For I know that you will bring me to death
  and to the house appointed for all living.

“Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
  and in his disaster cry for help?
Did not I weep for him whose day was hard?
  Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
But when I hoped for good, evil came,
  and when I waited for light, darkness came.
My inward parts are in turmoil and never still;
  days of affliction come to meet me.
I go about darkened, but not by the sun;
  I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I am a brother of jackals
  and a companion of ostriches.
My skin turns black and falls from me,
  and my bones burn with heat.
My lyre is turned to mourning,
  and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.

56:1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
  all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long,
  for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
  I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
  in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
  What can flesh do to me?

All day long they injure my cause;
  all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife, they lurk;
  they watch my steps,
  as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will they escape?
  In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

You have kept count of my tossings;
  put my tears in your bottle.
  Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will turn back
  in the day when I call.
  This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
  in the LORD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
  What can man do to me?

I must perform my vows to you, O God;
  I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
  yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
  in the light of life.

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
  has become the cornerstone’?

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
  until I make your enemies your footstool.’

“As God lives, who has taken away my right,
  and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
as long as my breath is in me,
  and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak falsehood,
  and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me to say that you are right;
  till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
  my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

“Let my enemy be as the wicked,
  and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
  when God takes away his life?
Will God hear his cry
  when distress comes upon him?
Will he take delight in the Almighty?
  Will he call upon God at all times?
I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
  what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
  why then have you become altogether vain?

“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
  and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
  and his descendants have not enough bread.
Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
  and his widows do not weep.
Though he heap up silver like dust,
  and pile up clothing like clay,
he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
  and the innocent will divide the silver.
He builds his house like a moth's,
  like a booth that a watchman makes.
He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;
  he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.
Terrors overtake him like a flood;
  in the night a whirlwind carries him off.
The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
  it sweeps him out of his place.
It hurls at him without pity;
  he flees from its power in headlong flight.
It claps its hands at him
  and hisses at him from its place.

28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
  and a place for gold that they refine.
Iron is taken out of the earth,
  and copper is smelted from the ore.
Man puts an end to darkness
  and searches out to the farthest limit
  the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
  they are forgotten by travelers;
  they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
  but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
  and it has dust of gold.

“That path no bird of prey knows,
  and the falcon's eye has not seen it.
The proud beasts have not trodden it;
  the lion has not passed over it.

“Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
  and overturns mountains by the roots.
He cuts out channels in the rocks,
  and his eye sees every precious thing.
He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
  and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

“But where shall wisdom be found?
  And where is the place of understanding?
Man does not know its worth,
  and it is not found in the land of the living.
The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
  and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be bought for gold,
  and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
  in precious onyx or sapphire.
Gold and glass cannot equal it,
  nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
  the price of wisdom is above pearls.
The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
  nor can it be valued in pure gold.

“From where, then, does wisdom come?
  And where is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living
  and concealed from the birds of the air.
Abaddon and Death say,
  ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’

“God understands the way to it,
  and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth
  and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight
  and apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a decree for the rain
  and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
  he established it, and searched it out.
And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
  and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
  and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
Attend to me, and answer me;
  I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
because of the noise of the enemy,
  because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
  and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

My heart is in anguish within me;
  the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
  and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
  I would fly away and be at rest;
yes, I would wander far away;
  I would lodge in the wilderness;     Selah
I would hurry to find a shelter
  from the raging wind and tempest.”

Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
  for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it
  on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
  ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
  do not depart from its marketplace.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
  then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
  then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
  my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together;
  within God's house we walked in the throng.
Let death steal over them;
  let them go down to Sheol alive;
  for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

But I call to God,
  and the LORD will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
  I utter my complaint and moan,
  and he hears my voice.
He redeems my soul in safety
  from the battle that I wage,
  for many are arrayed against me.
God will give ear and humble them,
  he who is enthroned from of old,     Selah
because they do not change
  and do not fear God.

My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
  he violated his covenant.
His speech was smooth as butter,
  yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
  yet they were drawn swords.

Cast your burden on the LORD,
  and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
  the righteous to be moved.

But you, O God, will cast them down
  into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
  shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.

24:1 “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,
  and why do those who know him never see his days?
Some move landmarks;
  they seize flocks and pasture them.
They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
  they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
They thrust the poor off the road;
  the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
  the poor go out to their toil, seeking game;
  the wasteland yields food for their children.
They gather their fodder in the field,
  and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
They lie all night naked, without clothing,
  and have no covering in the cold.
They are wet with the rain of the mountains
  and cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
  and they take a pledge against the poor.)
They go about naked, without clothing;
  hungry, they carry the sheaves;
among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil;
  they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
From out of the city the dying groan,
  and the soul of the wounded cries for help;
  yet God charges no one with wrong.

“There are those who rebel against the light,
  who are not acquainted with its ways,
  and do not stay in its paths.
The murderer rises before it is light,
  that he may kill the poor and needy,
  and in the night he is like a thief.
The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
  saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
  and he veils his face.
In the dark they dig through houses;
  by day they shut themselves up;
  they do not know the light.
For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
  for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

“You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters;
  their portion is cursed in the land;
  no treader turns toward their vineyards.
Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
  so does Sheol those who have sinned.
The womb forgets them;
  the worm finds them sweet;
they are no longer remembered,
  so wickedness is broken like a tree.’

“They wrong the barren, childless woman,
  and do no good to the widow.
Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
  they rise up when they despair of life.
He gives them security, and they are supported,
  and his eyes are upon their ways.
They are exalted a little while, and then are gone;
  they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
  they are cut off like the heads of grain.
If it is not so, who will prove me a liar
  and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

“Dominion and fear are with God;
  he makes peace in his high heaven.
Is there any number to his armies?
  Upon whom does his light not arise?
How then can man be in the right before God?
  How can he who is born of woman be pure?
Behold, even the moon is not bright,
  and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
how much less man, who is a maggot,
  and the son of man, who is a worm!”

“How you have helped him who has no power!
  How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
  and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
With whose help have you uttered words,
  and whose breath has come out from you?
The dead tremble
  under the waters and their inhabitants.
Sheol is naked before God,
  and Abaddon has no covering.
He stretches out the north over the void
  and hangs the earth on nothing.
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
  and the cloud is not split open under them.
He covers the face of the full moon
  and spreads over it his cloud.
He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters
  at the boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble
  and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the sea;
  by his understanding he shattered Rahab.
By his wind the heavens were made fair;
  his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Behold, these are 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?”

54:1 O God, save me by your name,
  and vindicate me by your might.
O God, hear my prayer;
  give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen against me;
  ruthless men seek my life;
  they do not set God before themselves.     Selah

Behold, God is my helper;
  the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
  in your faithfulness put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
  I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
  and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

“Can a man be profitable to God?
  Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right,
  or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you
  and enters into judgment with you?
Is not your evil abundant?
  There is no end to your iniquities.
For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing
  and stripped the naked of their clothing.
You have given no water to the weary to drink,
  and you have withheld bread from the hungry.
The man with power possessed the land,
  and the favored man lived in it.
You have sent widows away empty,
  and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
Therefore snares are all around you,
  and sudden terror overwhelms you,
or darkness, so that you cannot see,
  and a flood of water covers you.

“Is not God high in the heavens?
  See the highest stars, how lofty they are!
But you say, ‘What does God know?
  Can he judge through the deep darkness?
Thick clouds veil him, so that he does not see,
  and he walks on the vault of heaven.’
Will you keep to the old way
  that wicked men have trod?
They were snatched away before their time;
  their foundation was washed away.
They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’
  and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’
Yet he filled their houses with good things—
  but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
The righteous see it and are glad;
  the innocent one mocks at them,
saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off,
  and what they left the fire has consumed.’

“Agree with God, and be at peace;
  thereby good will come to you.
Receive instruction from his mouth,
  and lay up his words in your heart.
If you return to the Almighty you will be built up;
  if you remove injustice far from your tents,
if you lay gold in the dust,
  and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed,
then the Almighty will be your gold
  and your precious silver.
For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty
  and lift up your face to God.
You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you,
  and you will pay your vows.
You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you,
  and light will shine on your ways.
For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;
  but he saves the lowly.
He delivers even the one who is not innocent,
  who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

“Today also my complaint is bitter;
  my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
  that I might come even to his seat!
I would lay my case before him
  and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know what he would answer me
  and understand what he would say to me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
  No; he would pay attention to me.
There an upright man could argue with him,
  and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
  and backward, but I do not perceive him;
on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
  he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
But he knows the way that I take;
  when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
My foot has held fast to his steps;
  I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
  I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
  What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me,
  and many such things are in his mind.
Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
  when I consider, I am in dread of him.
God has made my heart faint;
  the Almighty has terrified me;
yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
  nor because thick darkness covers my face.

53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
  They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
  there is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven
  on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
  who seek after God.

They have all fallen away;
  together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
  not even one.

Have those who work evil no knowledge,
  who eat up my people as they eat bread,
  and do not call upon God?

There they are, in great terror,
  where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
  you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
  When God restores the fortunes of his people,
  let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

“Therefore my thoughts answer me,
  because of my haste within me.
I hear censure that insults me,
  and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.
Do you not know this from of old,
  since man was placed on earth,
that the exulting of the wicked is short,
  and the joy of the godless but for a moment?
Though his height mount up to the heavens,
  and his head reach to the clouds,
he will perish forever like his own dung;
  those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
He will fly away like a dream and not be found;
  he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
The eye that saw him will see him no more,
  nor will his place any more behold him.
His children will seek the favor of the poor,
  and his hands will give back his wealth.
His bones are full of his youthful vigor,
  but it will lie down with him in the dust.

“Though evil is sweet in his mouth,
  though he hides it under his tongue,
though he is loath to let it go
  and holds it in his mouth,
yet his food is turned in his stomach;
  it is the venom of cobras within him.
He swallows down riches and vomits them up again;
  God casts them out of his belly.
He will suck the poison of cobras;
  the tongue of a viper will kill him.
He will not look upon the rivers,
  the streams flowing with honey and curds.
He will give back the fruit of his toil
  and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of his trading
  he will get no enjoyment.
For he has crushed and abandoned the poor;
  he has seized a house that he did not build.

“Because he knew no contentment in his belly,
  he will not let anything in which he delights escape him.
There was nothing left after he had eaten;
  therefore his prosperity will not endure.
In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress;
  the hand of everyone in misery will come against him.
To fill his belly to the full,
  God will send his burning anger against him
  and rain it upon him into his body.
He will flee from an iron weapon;
  a bronze arrow will strike him through.
It is drawn forth and comes out of his body;
  the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder;
  terrors come upon him.
Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures;
  a fire not fanned will devour him;
  what is left in his tent will be consumed.
The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
  and the earth will rise up against him.
The possessions of his house will be carried away,
  dragged off in the day of God's wrath.
This is the wicked man's portion from God,
  the heritage decreed for him by God.”

“Keep listening to my words,
  and let this be your comfort.
Bear with me, and I will speak,
  and after I have spoken, mock on.
As for me, is my complaint against man?
  Why should I not be impatient?
Look at me and be appalled,
  and lay your hand over your mouth.
When I remember, I am dismayed,
  and shuddering seizes my flesh.
Why do the wicked live,
  reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
Their offspring are established in their presence,
  and their descendants before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
  and no rod of God is upon them.
Their bull breeds without fail;
  their cow calves and does not miscarry.
They send out their little boys like a flock,
  and their children dance.
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
  and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,
  and in peace they go down to Sheol.
They say to God, ‘Depart from us!
  We do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
What is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
  And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’
Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand?
  The counsel of the wicked is far from me.

“How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out?
  That their calamity comes upon them?
  That God distributes pains in his anger?
That they are like straw before the wind,
  and like chaff that the storm carries away?
You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
  Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it.
Let their own eyes see their destruction,
  and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
For what do they care for their houses after them,
  when the number of their months is cut off?
Will any teach God knowledge,
  seeing that he judges those who are on high?
One dies in his full vigor,
  being wholly at ease and secure,
his pails full of milk
  and the marrow of his bones moist.
Another dies in bitterness of soul,
  never having tasted of prosperity.
They lie down alike in the dust,
  and the worms cover them.

“Behold, I know your thoughts
  and your schemes to wrong me.
For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
  Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’
Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
  and do you not accept their testimony
that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,
  that he is rescued in the day of wrath?
Who declares his way to his face,
  and who repays him for what he has done?
When he is carried to the grave,
  watch is kept over his tomb.
The clods of the valley are sweet to him;
  all mankind follows after him,
  and those who go before him are innumerable.
How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
  There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

52:1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
  The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
Your tongue plots destruction,
  like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
You love evil more than good,
  and lying more than speaking what is right.     Selah
You love all words that devour,
  O deceitful tongue.

But God will break you down forever;
  he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
  he will uproot you from the land of the living.     Selah
The righteous shall see and fear,
  and shall laugh at him, saying,
“See the man who would not make
  God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches
  and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

But I am like a green olive tree
  in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
  forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
  because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
  in the presence of the godly.

17:1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct;
  the graveyard is ready for me.
Surely there are mockers about me,
  and my eye dwells on their provocation.

“Lay down a pledge for me with yourself;
  who is there who will put up security for me?
Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,
  therefore you will not let them triumph.
He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—
  the eyes of his children will fail.

“He has made me a byword of the peoples,
  and I am one before whom men spit.
My eye has grown dim from vexation,
  and all my members are like a shadow.
The upright are appalled at this,
  and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
Yet the righteous holds to his way,
  and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
But you, come on again, all of you,
  and I shall not find a wise man among you.
My days are past; my plans are broken off,
  the desires of my heart.
They make night into day:
  ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’
If I hope for Sheol as my house,
  if I make my bed in darkness,
if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
  and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
where then is my hope?
  Who will see my hope?
Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?
  Shall we descend together into the dust?”

“How long will you hunt for words?
  Consider, and then we will speak.
Why are we counted as cattle?
  Why are we stupid in your sight?
You who tear yourself in your anger,
  shall the earth be forsaken for you,
  or the rock be removed out of its place?

“Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out,
  and the flame of his fire does not shine.
The light is dark in his tent,
  and his lamp above him is put out.
His strong steps are shortened,
  and his own schemes throw him down.
For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
  and he walks on its mesh.
A trap seizes him by the heel;
  a snare lays hold of him.
A rope is hidden for him in the ground,
  a trap for him in the path.
Terrors frighten him on every side,
  and chase him at his heels.
His strength is famished,
  and calamity is ready for his stumbling.
It consumes the parts of his skin;
  the firstborn of death consumes his limbs.
He is torn from the tent in which he trusted
  and is brought to the king of terrors.
In his tent dwells that which is none of his;
  sulfur is scattered over his habitation.
His roots dry up beneath,
  and his branches wither above.
His memory perishes from the earth,
  and he has no name in the street.
He is thrust from light into darkness,
  and driven out of the world.
He has no posterity or progeny among his people,
  and no survivor where he used to live.
They of the west are appalled at his day,
  and horror seizes them of the east.
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
  such is the place of him who knows not God.”

“How long will you torment me
  and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times you have cast reproach upon me;
  are you not ashamed to wrong me?
And even if it be true that I have erred,
  my error remains with myself.
If indeed you magnify yourselves against me
  and make my disgrace an argument against me,
know then that God has put me in the wrong
  and closed his net about me.
Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;
  I call for help, but there is no justice.
He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass,
  and he has set darkness upon my paths.
He has stripped from me my glory
  and taken the crown from my head.
He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone,
  and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.
He has kindled his wrath against me
  and counts me as his adversary.
His troops come on together;
  they have cast up their siege ramp against me
  and encamp around my tent.

“He has put my brothers far from me,
  and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me.
My relatives have failed me,
  my close friends have forgotten me.
The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;
  I have become a foreigner in their eyes.
I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;
  I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.
My breath is strange to my wife,
  and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
Even young children despise me;
  when I rise they talk against me.
All my intimate friends abhor me,
  and those whom I loved have turned against me.
My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,
  and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,
  for the hand of God has touched me!
Why do you, like God, pursue me?
  Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

“Oh that my words were written!
  Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
  they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
  and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
  yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
  and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
  My heart faints within me!
If you say, ‘How we will pursue him!’
  and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him,’
be afraid of the sword,
  for wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
  that you may know there is a judgment.”

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God,
  according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
  blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
  and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
  and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
  and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
  and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
  and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
  and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
  wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
  let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
  and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
  and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
  and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
  and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
  and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
  O God of my salvation,
  and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
  and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
  you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
  a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
  build up the walls of Jerusalem;
then will you delight in right sacrifices,
  in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
  then bulls will be offered on your altar.