If you say, ‘How we will pursue him, since the root of the trouble is found in him!’

People who had seen him will not see him again, and the place where he was will recognize him no longer.

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

In the fullness of his sufficiency, distress overtakes him. the full force of misery will come upon him.

Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you and goes to judgment with you?

and throw your gold in the dust – your gold of Ophir among the rocks in the ravines –

The fatherless child is snatched from the breast, the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.

He locks the waters in his clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.

It hurls itself against him without pity as he flees headlong from its power.

then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value; he established it and examined it closely.

My glory will always be fresh in me, and my bow ever new in my hand.’

They detest me and maintain their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

They destroy my path; they succeed in destroying me without anyone assisting them.

“Surely one does not stretch out his hand against a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.

“I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

then let my wife turn the millstone for another man, and may other men have sexual relations with her.

if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth, or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

if I looked at the sun when it was shining, and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

But no stranger had to spend the night outside, for I opened my doors to the traveler –