16. “If you have understanding, hear this;listen to what I say.
17. Shall one who hates justice govern?Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,
18. who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’
19. who shows no partiality to princes,nor regards the rich more than the poor,for they are all the work of his hands?
20. In a moment they die;at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.
21. “For his eyes are on the ways of a man,and he sees all his steps.
22. There is no gloom or deep darknesswhere evildoers may hide themselves.
23. For God has no need to consider a man further,that he should go before God in judgment.
24. He shatters the mighty without investigationand sets others in their place.
25. Thus, knowing their works,he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.
26. He strikes them for their wickednessin a place for all to see,
27. because they turned aside from following himand had no regard for any of his ways,
28. so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,and he heard the cry of the afflicted—
29. When he is quiet, who can condemn?When he hides his face, who can behold him,whether it be a nation or a man?—