JOB 9 [†]Then Job answered and said:

2[^] “Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be  z in the right before God?

3[†] If one wished to  a contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4 He is  b wise in heart and mighty in strength

—who has  c hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

6 who  d shakes the earth out of its place,

and  e its pillars tremble;

7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

8 who alone  f stretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

9 who  g made  h the Bear and  i Orion,

the Pleiades  j and the chambers of the south;

10 who does  k great things beyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

11 Behold, he passes by me, and I  l see him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

12 Behold, he snatches away;  m who can turn him back?

 n Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13[†] “God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of  o Rahab.

14[^]  p How then can I  q answer him,

choosing my words with him?

15[†]  r Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;

I must  s appeal for mercy to my accuser. [1]

16 If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

17 For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds  t without cause;

18 he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

19 If it is a contest of  u strength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, who can  v summon him? [2]

20[†] Though I am in the right,  w my own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21[†] I am  x blameless; I regard not myself;

I  y loathe my life.

22[†] It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He  z destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23 When  a disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity [3] of the innocent.

24[^]  b The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he  c covers the faces of its judges—

 d if it is not he, who then is it?

25 “My  e days are swifter than  f a runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26 They go by like  g skiffs of reed,

like  h an eagle swooping on the prey.

27 If I say,  i ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and  j be of good cheer,’

28 I become  k afraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not  l hold me innocent.

29 I shall be  m condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30[^] If I wash myself with snow

and  n cleanse my hands with lye,

31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will  o abhor me.

32[†] For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should  p come to trial together.

33[^]  q There is no [4] arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34  r Let him take his  s rod away from me,

and let  t not dread of him terrify me.

35 Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.