to whom alone the land was given when no foreigner passed among them.

Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?

Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

If a land has been given into the hand of a wicked man, he covers the faces of its judges; if it is not he, then who is it?

Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind?

“Why does God give light to one who is in misery, and life to those whose soul is bitter,

The breath of God produces ice, and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.

For God deprived her of wisdom, and did not impart understanding to her.

You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food.

From whose womb does the ice emerge, and the frost from the sky, who gives birth to it,

“Do you give the horse its strength? Do you clothe its neck with a mane?

“Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear caught a whisper of it.

How you have advised the one without wisdom, and abundantly revealed your insight!

to whom I appointed the steppe for its home, the salt wastes as its dwelling place?

(Who has confronted me that I should repay? Everything under heaven belongs to me!)

Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, or made the dawn know its place,

Your words have supported those who stumbled, and you have strengthened the knees that gave way.

My kinsmen have failed me; my friends have forgotten me.

“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you offer me.

“Why do the wicked go on living, grow old, even increase in power?