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³ "Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.^(f)
    Who else will put up security^(g) for me?^(h)
4 You have closed their minds to understanding;⁽ⁱ⁾
    therefore you will not let them triumph.
⁵ If anyone denounces their friends for reward,^(j)
    the eyes of their children will fail.^(k)

⁶ "God has made me a byword^(l) to everyone,^(m)
    a man in whose face people spit.^(n)
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;^(o)
    my whole frame is but a shadow.^(p)
8 The upright are appalled at this;
    the innocent are aroused^(q) against the ungodly.
⁹ Nevertheless, the righteous^(r) will hold to their ways,
    and those with clean hands^(s) will grow stronger.^(t)

¹⁰ "But come on, all of you, try again!
    I will not find a wise man among you.^(u)
11 My days have passed,^(v) my plans are shattered.
    Yet the desires of my heart^(w)
12 turn night into day;^(x)
    in the face of the darkness light is near.^(y)
13 If the only home I hope for is the grave,^(z)
    if I spread out my bed^(aa) in the realm of darkness,^(ab)
14 if I say to corruption,^(ac) ‘You are my father,'
    and to the worm,^(ad) ‘My mother' or ‘My sister,'
¹⁵ where then is my hope—^(ae)
    who can see any hope for me?^(af)
16 Will it go down to the gates of death?^(ag)
    Will we descend together into the dust?"^(ah)