Study Desk

For only a few years will passbefore I go the way of no return.

Accept my pledge! Put up security for me.Who else will be my sponsor?

If a man denounces his friends for a price,the eyes of his children will fail.

where then is my hope?Who can see any hope for me?

For his own feet lead him into a net,and he strays into its mesh.

A rope lies hidden for him on the ground,and a snare waits for him along the path.

His strength is depleted;disaster lies ready for him to stumble.

I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response;I call for help, but there is no justice.

I call for my servant, but he does not answer,even if I beg him with my own mouth.

Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,for God’s hand has struck me.

His children will beg from the poor,for his own hands must give back his wealth.

For he oppressed and abandoned the poor;he seized a house he did not build.

Nothing is left for him to consume;therefore, his prosperity will not last.

Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him;it will feed on what is left in his tent.

This is the wicked person’s lot from God,the inheritance God ordained for him.

As for me, is my complaint against a human being?Then why shouldn’t I be impatient?

God reserves a person’s punishment for his children.Let God repay the person himself, so that he may know it.

For what does he care about his family once he is dead,when the number of his months has run out?

For you say, “Where now is the nobleman’s house?”and “Where are the tents the wicked lived in?”

Who would denounce his behavior to his face?Who would repay him for what he has done?