Study Desk

"For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; So that he does not abandon (turn away from) the fear of the Almighty.

So am I allotted months of futility and suffering, And [long] nights of trouble and misery are appointed to me.

"As a cloud vanishes and is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) does not come up.

So that I would choose suffocation, Death rather than my pain.

"If I have sinned, what [harm] have I done to You, O Watcher of mankind? Why have You set me as a target for You, So that I am a burden to myself?

"So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish,

"The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice]. If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

'Remember now, that You have made me as clay; So will You turn me into dust again?

"Will you show partiality for Him [and be unjust to me so that you may gain favor with Him]? Will you contend and plead for God?

"Be silent before me so that I may speak; And let happen to me what may.

"How many are my iniquities and sins [that so much sorrow should come to me]? Make me recognize and understand my transgression and my sin.

"Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You [in Your control], And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].

"[O God] turn your gaze from him so that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day [on earth] like a hired man.

So man lies down and does not rise [again]. Until the heavens are no longer, The dead will not awake nor be raised from their sleep.

Water wears away the stones, Its floods and torrents wash away the soil of the earth, So You [O Lord] destroy the hope of man.

"Is there no end to [your futile] words of wind? Or what plagues you [so much] that you [so boldly] answer [me like this]?

"He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has set darkness upon my paths.

"Then beware and be afraid of the sword [of divine vengeance] for yourselves, For wrathful are the punishments of that sword, So that you may know there is judgment."

"They fully enjoy their days in prosperity, And so go down to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) in a [peaceful] moment.

"You say, 'God stores away [the punishment of] man's wickedness for his children.' Let God repay him so that he may know and experience it.