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It toucheth thee, and thou art affrighted.

⁶Is not thy fear of God thy confidence,

And thy hope the integrity of thy ways?

⁷Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?

Or where were the upright cut off?

⁸According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,

And sow mischief, reap the same.

⁹By the breath of God they perish,

And by the blast of His anger are they consumed.

¹⁰The lion roareth, and the fierce lion howleth—

Yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.

¹¹The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,

And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.

 

¹²Now a word was secretly brought to me,

And mine ear received a whisper thereof.

¹³In thoughts from the visions of the night,

When deep sleep falleth on men,

¹⁴Fear came upon me, and trembling,

And all my bones were made to shake. ¹⁵Then a spirit passed before my face,

That made the hair of my flesh to stand up.

¹⁶It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;

A form was before mine eyes; I heard a still voice:

¹⁷'Shall mortal man be just before God?

Shall a man be pure before his Maker?

¹⁸Behold, He putteth no trust in His servants,

And His angels He chargeth with folly;

¹⁹How much more them that dwell in houses of clay,

Whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!

²⁰Betwixt morning and evening they are shattered;

They perish for ever without any regarding it.

²¹Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?

They die, and that without wisdom.'

 

5 Call now; is there any that will answer thee?

And to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn?

²For anger killeth the foolish man,

And envy slayeth the silly one.

³I have seen the foolish taking root;

But suddenly I beheld his habitation cursed.

⁴His children are far from safety,

And are crushed in the gate, with none to deliver them.

⁵Whose harvest the hungry eateth up,

And taketh it even out of the thorns, and the snare gapeth for their substance.

⁶For affliction cometh not forth from the dust,

Neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;

⁷But man is born unto trouble,

As the sparks fly upward.

 

⁸But as for me, I would seek unto God,

And unto God would I commit my cause;

⁹Who doeth great things and unsearchable,

Marvellous things without number;

¹⁰Who giveth rain upon the earth,

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