12 Because I delivered the poor who cried out, The fatherless and the one who had no helper.
13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know.
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth.
18 “Then I said, “I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch.
20 My glory is fresh within me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 “Men listened to me and waited, And kept silence for my counsel.
22 After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew.
23 They waited for me as for the rain, And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
24 If I mocked at them, they did not believe it, And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
25 I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners.
1 “But now they mock at me, men younger than I, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.
3 They are gaunt from want and famine, Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,
4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And broom tree roots for their food.
5 They were driven out from among men, They shouted at them as at a thief.
6 They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, In caves of the earth and the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed, Under the nettles they nestled.
8 They were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land.
9 “And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off restraint before me.
12 At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, And they raise against me their ways of destruction.
13 They break up my path, They promote my calamity; They have no helper.
14 They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along.
15 Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me.
17 My bones are pierced in me at night, And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18 By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.
21 But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, If they cry out when He destroys it.
25 Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
27 My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about mourning, but not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29 I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.
31 My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.
1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?
2 For what is the allotment of God from above, And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is it not destruction for the wicked, And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does He not see my ways, And count all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood, Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
6 Let me be weighed on honest scales, That God may know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
8 Then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 Then let my wife grind for another, And let others bow down over her.
11 For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.
12 For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction, And would root out all my increase.
13 “If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me,
14 What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 Or eaten my morsel by myself, So that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father, And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow );
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or any poor man without covering;
20 If his heart has not blessed me, And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my
