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1O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, the soul in anguish, the troubled spirit, crieth unto thee.[#Cp. Tob. 3.1.]
2Hear, O Lord, and have mercy; for thou art a merciful God: yea, have mercy upon us, because we have sinned before thee.
3For thou sittest as king for ever, and we perish evermore.[#Lam. 5. (mg.). See Ps. 29.10.]
4O Lord Almighty, thou God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead Israelites, and of the children of them which were sinners before thee, that hearkened not unto the voice of thee their God: for the which cause these plagues clave unto us.[#3.4 Probably a mistake for the men of Israel.; #Cp. ver. 10,11.; #See ch. 1.20.]
5Remember not the iniquities of our fathers: but remember thy power and thy name now at this time.
6For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise.
7For for this cause thou hast put thy fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon thy name: and we will praise thee in our captivity, for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers, that sinned before thee.[#3.7 Another reading is and made us to call.; #Deut. 30.1. Cp. ch. 2.30.; #3.7 Another reading is put away from our heart all & c.]
8Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity, where thou hast scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to penalty, according to all the iniquities of our fathers, which departed from the Lord our God.[#See ch. 2.4.]
9Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom.
10How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thine enemies' land, that thou art waxen old in a strange country, that thou art defiled with the dead,[#Cp. ver. 4.]
11That thou art counted with them that go down into the grave?[#Ps. 28.1 & 88.4 & 143.7. Cp. ver.19.; #3.11 Gr. Hades.]
12Thou hast forsaken the fountain of wisdom.[#Cp. Jer. 2.13.]
13For if thou hadst walked in the way of God, thou shouldest have dwelled in peace for ever.[#See Is. 48.18.]
14Learn where is wisdom, where is strength, where is understanding; that thou mayest know also where is length of days, and life, where is the light of the eyes, and peace.[#3.14 Or prudence; #See Prov. 3.2.]
15Who hath found out her place? and who hath come into her treasuries?[#Cp. Job 28.12,20.]
16Where are the princes of the heathen, and such as ruled the beasts that are upon the earth;[#See Jer. 27.6.]
17They that had their pastime with the fowls of the air, and they that hoarded up silver and gold, wherein men trust; and of whose getting there is no end?[#Cp. Job 41.5.]
18For they that wrought in silver, and were so careful, and whose works are past finding out,[#3.18 Or diligently sought after: Prov. 11.27 (Gk.)]
19They are vanished and gone down to the grave, and others are come up in their steads.[#See ver. 11.; #3.19 Gr. Hades.]
20Younger men have seen the light, and dwelt upon the earth: but the way of knowledge have they not known,[#ver. 27,36.]
21Neither understood they the paths thereof: neither have their children laid hold of it: they are far off from their way.[#3.21 Another reading is the way thereof.]
22It hath not been heard of in Canaan, neither hath it been seen in Teman.[#See Jer. 49.7.]
23The sons also of Agar that seek understanding, which are in the land, the merchants of Merran and Teman, and the authors of fables, and the searchers out of understanding; none of these have known the way of wisdom, or remembered her paths.[#Ps. 83.6. Cp. 1 Chr. 5.10.; #Josh. 13.4.; #See Jer. 49.7.]
24O Israel, how great is the house of God! and how large is the place of his possession!
25Great, and hath none end; high, and unmeasurable.
26There were the giants born that were famous of old, great of stature, and expert in war.[#See Wis. 14.6.]
27These did not God choose, neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them:[#See ver. 20.]
28So they perished, because they had no wisdom, they perished through their own foolishness.[#3.28 Or prudence]
29Who hath gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds?[#Deut. 30.12,13. Rom. 10.6,7.; #Cp. Ecclus. 24.4.]
30Who hath gone over the sea, and found her, and will bring her for choice gold?[#Cp. Wis. 7.9. See Job 28.15-19.]
31There is none that knoweth her way, nor any that comprehendeth her path.
32But he that knoweth all things knoweth her, he found her out with his understanding: he that prepared the earth for evermore hath filled it with fourfooted beasts:[#Job 28.23.]
33He that sendeth forth the light, and it goeth; he called it, and it obeyed him with fear:
34And the stars shined in their watches, and were glad: when he called them, they said, Here we be; they shined with gladness unto him that made them.[#Cp. Ecclus. 43.10.; #Cp. Ps. 147.4 & Is. 40.26.]
35This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him.
36He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel that is beloved of him.[#Job 28.23.; #Cp. Ecclus. 24.8. See Ps. 147.19.]
37Afterward did she appear upon earth, and was conversant with men.[#Cp. Prov. 8.31.]