Should knowledge vain a man of wisdom speak,
And empty arguments in answer seek?
Should he inflate himself with eastern wind,
Tempest'ous, sultry, and with heat combined?
And blow it forth in unsubstantial gales,
Pretending wisdom in his speech prevails?
Or reason foolishly, and simply mock,
And deal in vain, unprofitable talk?
Or bold discourses, in a pompous mood,
Wherewith he surely doth no lasting good?
For thou dost make religion truly void,
And moral motives are by thee destroyed.
If God rewardeth not the wicked here,
Thou castest off divine, and holy fear.

If righteous lives, with God, are all in vain,
Then prayer to Him dost thou at once restrain.
Behold thy mouth proclaims thy sin again,
For thou hast chosen tongues of crafty men.
Thy subtleties against the truth of God,
Reveal the guilt that justifies his rod.
Thy mouth itself condemneth thee, not I,

Behold, thy lips against thee testify.

Art thou the man that first on earth was born?

Doth hoary wisdom thus thy mind adorn?

Wast thou created long before the hills?

Whose ancient birth the soul with wonder thrills?

Hast thou, an offspring of the senseless clod,

Been taught the plans, and purposes of God?

Hast thou a listener unto God remained,

And now all wisdom to thyself retained ?
What knowest thou that we have now forgot?

Or understandest which ourselves do not?
The old, and hoary-headed here with thee,
Are elder than thy father lived to be.
Are all the consolations God addressed,
In former speeches, small by thee confessed?
Are words of kindness uttered unto thee,
All disregarded through thy sophistry?
Why doth thy heart transport thee far away?
Why yield to passions, not to reason's sway?
And what do these thy winking eyelids show?
Why roll thy eyes, and shoot their fury so?
That thou shouldst turn thyself against thy God,
And curse the chast'nings of his holy rod?
Inspired by haughtiness, and pride of heart,
And let such words from out thy mouth depart?
Declaring oft with proud, and vain delight,
That thou art righteous in his holy sight;
That God is therefore cruelly severe,

And dealeth mercilessly with thee here.
But what is man that he should once be clean,
And bear the image of his Maker's mien ?

Or what is he that is of woman born,

That righteousness should e'er his life adorn?
So vile is man, and full of moral taints,

No trust He putteth in his holy saints;

But, unapproachable, He dwells in light,
And heaven itself is filthy in his sight;
And how much more than angel hosts above,
In heaven's transcendent purity, and love;
Is embryotic, vile, and loathsome man?
Depraved, and gross, in ev'ry deed and plan?
That drinks with greed iniquity, and sin,
As thirsty camels drink the waters in ?
Behold I now will show this truth to thee,
With strict attention therefore hear thou me;
And what I've seen, and treasured up. with care,
Will I, in frankness, unto thee declare;
With apothegms, and hoary maxims fraught,
From ancient wisdom, former ages taught;
Which sages, sprung from fathers gray and old,
To generations later always told;

To whom the virgin earth alone was given,

Amongst whom passed no stranger under heaven ;

That God, according to his heavenly plan,
Chastiseth only the unrighteous man.

In pain he travels all his earthly days,
Tormented also in unnumbered ways.
The tyrant's years are hidden, and unknown,

By sudden vengeance often overthrown.
A dreadful sound resoundeth in his ears,
And frightful noises suddenly he hears.
The law, the crime, the penalty severe,
The officer pursuing hard and near;

In frightful visions scare him ev'rywhere,
Torment his soul, and drive him to despair.
When most secure, and prosp'rous in his day,
The fell destroyer sweeps him swift away;
Cut off from wealth, and happiness, and home,
A lonely stranger through the earth to roam.
From darkness, trouble, and confusion sore,
He fears alas! that he'll return no more.
Awaited also of the cruel sword,

He lives in dread of perils most deplored.
Abroad he wandereth for daily bread,
In hunger saying: where shall I be fed?
He knows that deeper darkness is at hand,
As forth he travels through a friendless land.
Affliction, trouble, worriment, and care,
Shall make him fear, and tremble with despair.
These forces sure against him shall prevail,
As kings prepared to hurl their battling hail.
He maketh God his dread, opposing foe,
Yet by his power shall he be humbled low.

He stretcheth forth his bold, audacious hand,
Against Jehovah, and His just command;

With forts, and breastworks, made of earth and clod,
He fortifies against the power of God.

He runneth on him, charging bold, and quick,

With haughty neck, and shields, with bosses thick. Licentious pleasure, beastly from excess,

With free libations, and volupt❜ousness;

His bloated face, with wanton fulness, hides,
And monstrous collops makes upon his sides.
He dwells in cities desolate from death,
In houses which no man inhabiteth ;
In which the viper, bold, malignant, creeps,
And which are tumbling into ruined heaps.
Abounding wealth shall nevermore supply,
The luxuries for which his soul shall sigh;
His former substance he shall not regain,
But poor, and squalid he shall hence remain;
His vast possessions never shall expand,
And spread themselves abroad in all the land.
Remorse and anguish shall devour his heart,
And out of darkness he shall not depart;

The flames, with ardor, shall his branches dry,
And through his mouth his wretched soul shall fly.
Deceived by sin, allured by shining dust,

In vanity let him not put his trust.

For if he does, behold, and learn from hence,

That vanity shall be his recompense.

Like trees, cut down, before they've reached their prime,

His life on earth shall not complete its time;

His branches also, once so thrifty seen,

Decayed and dried shall nevermore be green.
But he shall shake his grape unripe away,

As oft the vine denies its own decay;
And cast his flow'rings, blighted and unblown,

As blasted olives cast away their own.