⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.^[d]
10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with grain;
they shout for joy and sing.

⁵ Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot−
come, let us rejoice in him.
⁷ He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations−
let not the rebellious rise up against him.

⁸ Praise our God, all peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
⁹ he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.
¹⁰ For you, God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.
¹¹ You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
¹² You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

¹³ I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you−
¹⁴ vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
¹⁵ I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.

¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
¹⁹ but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
²⁰ Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!

³ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
⁴ May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
⁵ May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

⁶ The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
⁷ May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

² "How you have helped the powerless!
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
³ What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insight you have displayed!
⁴ Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

⁵ "The dead are in deep anguish,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶ The realm of the dead is naked before God;
Destruction^[a] lies uncovered.
⁷ He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.
⁸ He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
⁹ He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
¹⁰ He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.
¹¹ The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.
¹² By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
¹³ By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
¹⁴ And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

² "As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,
³ as long as I have life within me,
the breath of God in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not say anything wicked,
and my tongue will not utter lies.
⁵ I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
⁶ I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

⁷ "May my enemy be like the wicked,
my adversary like the unjust!
⁸ For what hope have the godless when they are cut off,
when God takes away their life?
⁹ Does God listen to their cry
when distress comes upon them?
¹⁰ Will they find delight in the Almighty?
Will they call on God at all times?

¹¹ "I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹² You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³ "Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:
¹⁴ However many his children, their fate is the sword;
his offspring will never have enough to eat.
¹⁵ The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.
¹⁶ Though he heaps up silver like dust
and clothes like piles of clay,
¹⁷ what he lays up the righteous will wear,
and the innocent will divide his silver.
¹⁸ The house he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,
like a hut made by a watchman.
¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.
²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood;
a tempest snatches him away in the night.
²¹ The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
²² It hurls itself against him without mercy
as he flees headlong from its power.
²³ It claps its hands in derision
and hisses him out of his place."

¹² But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
¹³ No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, "It is not in me";
the sea says, "It is not with me."
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
¹⁶ It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.
¹⁷ Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.
¹⁸ Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
¹⁹ The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
²² Destruction^[c] and Death say,
"Only a rumor of it has reached our ears."
²³ God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
²⁴ for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁷ then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
²⁸ And he said to the human race,
"The fear of the Lord−that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding."