[1] Then Job answered:
[2] “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
[3] If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
[4] God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
[5] He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.
[6] He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.
[7] He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.
[8] He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
[9] He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
[10] He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
[11] Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
[12] If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
[13] God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
[14] How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?
[15] For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
[16] If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.
[17] For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
[18] He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.
[19] If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him ?
[20] Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
[21] Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
[22] It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
[23] When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
[24] The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
[25] My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.
[26] They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
[27] If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’
[28] I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.
[29] Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?
[30] If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
[31] then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.
[32] For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
[33] Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
[34] Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
[35] Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.