2
"Listen carefully to my speech, And let this be your consolation.
3
Bear with me that I may speak, And after I have spoken, keep mocking.
4
"As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient?
5
Look at me and be astonished; Put your hand over your mouth.
6
Even when I remember I am terrified, And trembling takes hold of my flesh.
7
Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?
8
Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes.
9
Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them.
10
Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage.
11
They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
12
They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
13
They spend their days in wealth, And in a moment go down to the grave.
14
Yet they say to God, 'Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
15
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?'
16
Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
17
"How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
18
They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.
19
They say, 'God lays up one's iniquity for his children'; Let Him recompense him, that he may know it.
20
Let his eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21
For what does he care about his household after him, When the number of his months is cut in half?
22
"Can anyone teach God knowledge, Since He judges those on high?