<p class="poetry">&#8220;Surely you know<n id="1" /> that it has been from old,p> <p class="poetry">ever since humankind was placed<n id="2" /> on the earth,p>

<p class="poetry">They<n id="1" /> are dark<n id="2" /> because of ice;p> <p class="poetry">snow is piled<n id="3" /> up over them.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Its measure is longer than the earth,p> <p class="poetry">and broader than the sea.p>

<p class="poetry">They were banished from the community<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">people<n id="2" /> shouted at themp> <p class="poetry">like they would shout at thieves<n id="3" /> &#8211;p>

<p class="poetry">A tempest blows out from its chamber,p> <p class="poetry">icy cold from the driving winds.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">that it might seize the corners of the earth,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and shake the wicked out of it?p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Now a word was secretly<n id="1" /> brought<n id="2" /> to me,p> <p class="poetry">and my ear caught<n id="3" /> a whisper<n id="4" /> of it.p>

<p class="poetry">Is<n id="1" /> not my power to help myself nothing,p> <p class="poetry">and has not every resource<n id="2" /> been driven from me?p>

<p class="poetry">How painful<n id="1" /> are honest words!p> <p class="poetry">But<n id="2" /> what does your reproof<n id="3" /> prove?<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">My days<n id="1" /> are swifter<n id="2" /> than a weaver&#8217;s shuttle<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and they come to an end without hope.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;My days<n id="1" /> are swifter than a runner,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">they speed by without seeing happiness.p>

<p class="poetry">He reveals the deep things of darkness,p> <p class="poetry">and brings deep shadows<n id="1" /> into the light.p>

<p class="poetry">What you know,<n id="1" /> I<n id="2" /> know also;p> <p class="poetry">I am not inferior<n id="3" /> to you!p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Refrain from talking<n id="1" /> with me so that<n id="2" /> I may speak;p> <p class="poetry">then let come to me<n id="3" /> what may.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">As<n id="1" /> water disappears from the sea,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">or a river drains away and dries up,p>

<p class="poetry">Are God&#8217;s consolations<n id="1" /> too trivial for you;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">or a word spoken<n id="3" /> in gentleness to you?p>

<p class="poetry">my face is reddened<n id="1" /> because of weeping,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;He has put my relatives<n id="1" /> far from me;p> <p class="poetry">my acquaintances only<n id="2" /> turn away from me.p>

<p class="poetry">So they say to God, &#8216;Turn away from us!p> <p class="poetry">We do not want to<n id="1" /> know your ways.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">But their prosperity is not their own doing.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The counsel of the wicked is far from me!<n id="2" />p>