Of coral and jasper no mention will be made; the price of wisdom is more than pearls.

for I rescued the poor who cried out for help, and the orphan who had no one to assist him;

I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

After I had spoken, they did not respond; my words fell on them drop by drop.

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.

Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease.

I cry out to you, but you do not answer me; I stand up, and you only look at me.

Have I not wept for the unfortunate? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

My heart is in turmoil unceasingly; the days of my affliction confront me.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun; in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

Does he not see my ways and count all my steps?

Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us in the womb?

If I ate my morsel of bread myself, and did not share any of it with orphans –

whose heart did not bless me as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

For the calamity from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

I have not even permitted my mouth to sin by asking for his life through a curse –

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

Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder, I would bind it on me like a crown;

So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom! God will refute him, not man!’