Family Prayer
in the Early Evening

² “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
    and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
³ as long as my breath is in me,
    and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter deceit.
⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
⁶ I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

⁷ “Let my enemy be as the wicked,
    and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
    when God takes away his life?
⁹ Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰ Will he take delight in the Almighty?
    Will he call upon God at all times?
¹¹ I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹² Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³ “This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
    and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴ If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
    and his descendants have not enough bread.
¹⁵ Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
    and his widows do not weep.
¹⁶ Though he heap up silver like dust,
    and pile up clothing like clay,
¹⁷ he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
    and the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸ He builds his house like a moth's,
    like a booth that a watchman makes.
¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more;
    he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone.
²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind carries him off.
²¹ The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
    it sweeps him out of his place.
²² It hurls at him without pity;
    he flees from its power in headlong flight.
²³ It claps its hands at him
    and hisses at him from its place.