15 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.

² The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

³ The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

⁴ The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

⁵ A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

⁶ The house of the righteous contains great treasure,
but the income of the wicked brings ruin.

⁷ The lips of the wise spread knowledge,
but the hearts of fools are not upright.

⁸ The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

⁹ The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but he loves those who pursue righteousness.

¹⁰ Stern discipline awaits anyone who leaves the path;
the one who hates correction will die.

¹¹ Death and Destruction^[a] lie open before the Lord −
how much more do human hearts!

¹² Mockers resent correction,
so they avoid the wise.

¹³ A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
but heartache crushes the spirit.

¹⁴ The discerning heart seeks knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

¹⁵ All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

¹⁶ Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great wealth with turmoil.

¹⁷ Better a small serving of vegetables with love
than a fattened calf with hatred.

¹⁸ A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,
but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.

¹⁹ The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns,
but the path of the upright is a highway.

²⁰ A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish man despises his mother.

²¹ Folly brings joy to one who has no sense,
but whoever has understanding keeps a straight course.

²² Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.

²³ A person finds joy in giving an apt reply −
and how good is a timely word!

²⁴ The path of life leads upward for the prudent
to keep them from going down to the realm of the dead.

²⁵ The Lord tears down the house of the proud,
but he sets the widow’s boundary stones in place.

²⁶ The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked,
but gracious words are pure in his sight.

²⁷ The greedy bring ruin to their households,
but the one who hates bribes will live.

²⁸ The heart of the righteous weighs its answers,
but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

²⁹ The Lord is far from the wicked,
but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

³⁰ Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart,
and good news gives health to the bones.

³¹ Whoever heeds life-giving correction
will be at home among the wise.

³² Those who disregard discipline despise themselves,
but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.

³³ Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord,
and humility comes before honor.

² "Even today my complaint is bitter;
his hand^[a] is heavy in spite of^[b] my groaning.
³ If only I knew where to find him;
if only I could go to his dwelling!
⁴ I would state my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
⁵ I would find out what he would answer me,
and consider what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he vigorously oppose me?
No, he would not press charges against me.
⁷ There the upright can establish their innocence before him,
and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

⁸ "But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if I go to the west, I do not find him.
⁹ When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
¹¹ My feet have closely followed his steps;
I have kept to his way without turning aside.
¹² I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

¹³ "But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
He does whatever he pleases.
¹⁴ He carries out his decree against me,
and many such plans he still has in store.
¹⁵ That is why I am terrified before him;
when I think of all this, I fear him.
¹⁶ God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.
¹⁷ Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,
by the thick darkness that covers my face.

24 "Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?
² There are those who move boundary stones;
they pasture flocks they have stolen.
³ They drive away the orphan’s donkey
and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
⁴ They thrust the needy from the path
and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
⁵ Like wild donkeys in the desert,
the poor go about their labor of foraging food;
the wasteland provides food for their children.
⁶ They gather fodder in the fields
and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
⁷ Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
⁸ They are drenched by mountain rains
and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
⁹ The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;
the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.
¹⁰ Lacking clothes, they go about naked;
they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
¹¹ They crush olives among the terraces^[c];
they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst.
¹² The groans of the dying rise from the city,
and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.
But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

¹³ "There are those who rebel against the light,
who do not know its ways
or stay in its paths.
¹⁴ When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
kills the poor and needy,
and in the night steals forth like a thief.
¹⁵ The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk;
he thinks, ’No eye will see me,’
and he keeps his face concealed.
¹⁶ In the dark, thieves break into houses,
but by day they shut themselves in;
they want nothing to do with the light.
¹⁷ For all of them, midnight is their morning;
they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

¹⁸ "Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;
their portion of the land is cursed,
so that no one goes to the vineyards.
¹⁹ As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,
so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.
²⁰ The womb forgets them,
the worm feasts on them;
the wicked are no longer remembered
but are broken like a tree.
²¹ They prey on the barren and childless woman,
and to the widow they show no kindness.
²² But God drags away the mighty by his power;
though they become established, they have no assurance of life.
²³ He may let them rest in a feeling of security,
but his eyes are on their ways.
²⁴ For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;
they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
they are cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵ "If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?"

² "Dominion and awe belong to God;
he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
³ Can his forces be numbered?
On whom does his light not rise?
⁴ How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
⁵ If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
⁶ how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot−
a human being, who is only a worm!"