Job 9:13-35
English Standard Version
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of (A)Rahab.
14 (B)How then can I (C)answer him,
choosing my words with him?
15 (D)Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must (E)appeal for mercy to my accuser.[a]
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 (F)without cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of (G)strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can (H)summon him?[b]
20 Though I am in the right, (I)my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am (J)blameless; I regard not myself;
I (K)loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He (L)destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When (M)disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity[c] of the innocent.
24 (N)The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he (O)covers the faces of its judges—
(P)if it is not he, who then is it?
25 “My (Q)days are swifter than (R)a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like (S)skiffs of reed,
like (T)an eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, (U)‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and (V)be of good cheer,’
28 I become (W)afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not (X)hold me innocent.
29 I shall be (Y)condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow
and (Z)cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will (AA)abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should (AB)come to trial together.
33 (AC)There is no[d] arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
34 (AD)Let him take his (AE)rod away from me,
and let (AF)not dread of him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.