² If one assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
³ Behold, thou hast instructed many,
And thou hast strengthened the weak hands.
⁴ Thy words have upholden him that was falling,
And thou hast made firm the ^[a]feeble knees.
⁵ But now it is come unto thee, and thou ^[b]faintest;
It toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.
⁶ Is not thy fear of God thy confidence,
And the integrity of thy ways thy hope?
⁷ Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent?
Or where were the upright cut off?
⁸ According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,
And sow ^[c]trouble, reap the same.
⁹ By the breath of God they perish,
And by the blast of his anger are they consumed.
¹⁰ The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
¹¹ The old lion perisheth for lack of prey,
And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.

¹² Now a thing was ^[d]secretly brought to me,
And mine ear received a whisper thereof.
¹³ In thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falleth on men,
¹⁴ Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake.
¹⁵ Then ^[e]a spirit passed before my face;
The hair of my flesh stood up.
¹⁶ It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;
A form was before mine eyes:
^[f]There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
¹⁷ Shall mortal man ^[g]be more just than God?
Shall a man ^[h]be more pure than his Maker?
¹⁸ Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants;
And his angels he chargeth with folly:
¹⁹ How much more them that dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed ^[i]before the moth!
^20 [j]Betwixt morning and evening they are ^[k]destroyed:
They perish for ever without any regarding it.
^21 [l]Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them?
They die, and that without wisdom.