I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.For what is our lot from God above, our heritage from the Almighty on high?Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?Does He not see my ways and count my every step?If I have walked with falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit -- let God weigh me in honest scales and He will know that I am blameless…If...  Read More

Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind,  My safety vanishes like a cloud. And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me…I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up but you merely look at me.You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me...I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living…Have I not we...  Read More

How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,When His lamp shone on my head…O for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house...When my path was drenched with cream…Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me because I rescued the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to assist them.The one ...  Read More

There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.Mortals put an end to the darkness; they search out the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness.Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft, in places untouched by human feet; far from other people they dangle and sway. The earth, from which food comes, is transformed ...  Read More

I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.The plague will bury those who survive him, and their w...  Read More

"How you have helped the powerless!How you have saved the arm that is feeble!What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!And what great insight you have displayed!Who has helped you utter these words?And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?...As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter, as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my...  Read More