14. If God should decideto take away life and breath,
15. then everyone would die togetherand turn back into dust.
16. “If you can understand, hear this;listen to what I have to say.
17. Can anyone govern who hates what is right?How can you blame God who is both fair and powerful?
18. God is the one who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’or to important people, ‘You are evil.’
19. He is not nicer to princes than other people,nor kinder to rich people than poor people,because he made them all with his own hands.
20. They can die in a moment, in the middle of the night.They are struck down, and then they pass away;powerful people die without help.
21. “God watches where people go;he sees every step they take.
22. There is no dark place or deep shadowwhere those who do evil can hide from him.
23. He does not set a timefor people to come before him for judging.
24. Without asking questions, God breaks powerful people into piecesand puts others in their place.
25. Because God knows what people do,he defeats them in the night, and they are crushed.
26. He punishes them for the evil they doso that everyone else can watch,
27. because they stopped following Godand did not care about any of his ways.
28. The cry of the poor comes to God;he hears the cry of the needy.
29. But if God keeps quiet, who can blame him?If he hides his face, who can see him?God still rules over both nations and persons alike.
30. He keeps the wicked from rulingand from trapping others.