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Psalm 55

1  Hear my prayer, O God; ♦︎
   hide not yourself from my petition.
2  Give heed to me and answer me; ♦︎
   I am restless in my complaining.
3  I am alarmed at the voice of the enemy ♦︎
   and at the clamour of the wicked;
4  For they would bring down evil upon me ♦︎
   and are set against me in fury.
5  My heart is disquieted within me, ♦︎
   and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
6  Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, ♦︎
   and a horrible dread has overwhelmed me.
7  And I said: ‘O that I had wings like a dove, ♦︎
   for then would I fly away and be at rest.
8  ‘Then would I flee far away ♦︎
   and make my lodging in the wilderness.
9  ‘I would make haste to escape ♦︎
   from the stormy wind and tempest.’
10  Confuse their tongues, O Lord, and divide them, ♦︎
   for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
11  Day and night they go about on her walls; ♦︎
   mischief and trouble are in her midst.
12  Wickedness walks in her streets; ♦︎
   oppression and guile never leave her squares.
13  For it was not an open enemy that reviled me, ♦︎
   for then I could have borne it;
14  Nor was it my adversary that puffed himself up against me, ♦︎
   for then I would have hid myself from him.
15  But it was even you, one like myself, ♦︎
   my companion and my own familiar friend.
16  We took sweet counsel together ♦︎
   and walked with the multitude in the house of God.
17  Let death come suddenly upon them;
      let them go down alive to the Pit; ♦︎
   for wickedness inhabits their dwellings, their very hearts.

Eliphaz Speaks: Job Undermines Religion

15Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
² ‘Should the wise answer with windy knowledge,
   and fill themselves with the east wind?
³ Should they argue in unprofitable talk,
   or in words with which they can do no good?
⁴ But you are doing away with the fear of God,
   and hindering meditation before God.
⁵ For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
   and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
⁶ Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;
   your own lips testify against you.

⁷ ‘Are you the firstborn of the human race?
   Were you brought forth before the hills?
⁸ Have you listened in the council of God?
   And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
⁹ What do you know that we do not know?
   What do you understand that is not clear to us?
¹⁰ The grey-haired and the aged are on our side,
   those older than your father.
¹¹ Are the consolations of God too small for you,
   or the word that deals gently with you?
¹² Why does your heart carry you away,
   and why do your eyes flash,^*
13 so that you turn your spirit against God,
   and let such words go out of your mouth?
¹⁴ What are mortals, that they can be clean?
   Or those born of woman, that they can be righteous?
¹⁵ God puts no trust even in his holy ones,
   and the heavens are not clean in his sight;
¹⁶ how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,
   one who drinks iniquity like water!

¹⁷ ‘I will show you; listen to me;
   what I have seen I will declare—
¹⁸ what sages have told,
   and their ancestors have not hidden,
¹⁹ to whom alone the land was given,
   and no stranger passed among them.
²⁰ The wicked writhe in pain all their days,
   through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
²¹ Terrifying sounds are in their ears;
   in prosperity the destroyer will come upon them.
²² They despair of returning from darkness,
   and they are destined for the sword.
²³ They wander abroad for bread, saying, “Where is it?”
   They know that a day of darkness is ready at hand;
²⁴ distress and anguish terrify them;
   they prevail against them, like a king prepared for battle.
²⁵ Because they stretched out their hands against God,
   and bid defiance to the Almighty,^*
26 running stubbornly against him
   with a thick-bossed shield;
²⁷ because they have covered their faces with their fat,
   and gathered fat upon their loins,
²⁸ they will live in desolate cities,
   in houses that no one should inhabit,
   houses destined to become heaps of ruins;
²⁹ they will not be rich, and their wealth will not endure,
   nor will they strike root in the earth;^*
30 they will not escape from darkness;
   the flame will dry up their shoots,
   and their blossom^* will be swept away^* by the wind.
³¹ Let them not trust in emptiness, deceiving themselves;
   for emptiness will be their recompense.
³² It will be paid in full before their time,
   and their branch will not be green.
³³ They will shake off their unripe grape, like the vine,
   and cast off their blossoms, like the olive tree.
³⁴ For the company of the godless is barren,
   and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
³⁵ They conceive mischief and bring forth evil
   and their heart prepares deceit.’

Concerning Adultery

27 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” ²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.^{* 30}And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.^*

Concerning Divorce

31 ‘It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” ³²But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Concerning Oaths

33 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.