“Surely you know ¹  that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed ²  on the earth,

Turn aside from the way, stray off the path. ¹  Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.” ² 

They ¹  are dark ²  because of ice; snow is piled ³  up over them. ⁴ 

Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, ¹  they follow ²  after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers. From Makir leaders came down, from Zebulun came ³  the ones who march carrying ⁴  an officer’s staff.

“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ¹  all you who are left from the family of Israel, ²  you who have been carried from birth, ³  you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ⁴ 

My days ¹  are swifter ²  than a weaver’s shuttle ³  and they come to an end without hope. ⁴ 

“My days ¹  are swifter than a runner, ²  they speed by without seeing happiness.

He reveals the deep things of darkness, and brings deep shadows ¹  into the light.

As ¹  water disappears from the sea, ²  or a river drains away and dries up,

my face is reddened ¹  because of weeping, ²  and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, ³ 

But their prosperity is not their own doing. ¹  The counsel of the wicked is far from me! ² 

But it was he ¹  who filled their houses with good things – yet the counsel of the wicked ²  was far from me. ³ 

They detest me and maintain their distance; ¹  they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

My skin has turned dark on me; ¹  my body ²  is hot with fever. ³ 

He spares a person’s life from corruption, ¹  his very life from crossing over ²  the river.

to turn back his life from the place of corruption, that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

You made us retreat ¹  from the enemy. Those who hate us take whatever they want from us. ² 

Our record of sins overwhelms me, ¹  but you forgive ²  our acts of rebellion.

I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past. ¹