9 Job’s reply:

² “Yes, I know all that. You’re not telling me anything new. But how can a man be truly good in the eyes of God? ³ If God decides to argue with him, can a man answer even one question of a thousand he asks? ⁴ For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever opposed him successfully?

⁵ “Suddenly he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. ⁶ He shakes the earth to its foundations. ⁷ The sun won’t rise, the stars won’t shine, if he commands it so! ⁸ Only he has stretched the heavens out and stalked along the seas. ⁹ He made the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern Zodiac.

¹⁰ “He does incredible miracles, too many to count. ¹¹ He passes by, invisible; he moves along, but I don’t see him go. ¹² When he sends death to snatch a man away,^[a] who can stop him? Who dares to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³ “And God does not abate his anger. The pride of man^[b] collapses before him. ¹⁴ And who am I that I should try to argue with Almighty God, or even reason with him? ¹⁵ Even if I were sinless, I wouldn’t say a word. I would only plead for mercy. ¹⁶ And even if my prayers were answered, I could scarce believe that he had heard my cry. ¹⁷ For he is the one who destroys, and multiplies my wounds without a cause. ¹⁸ He will not let me breathe, but fills me with bitter sorrows. ¹⁹ He alone is strong and just.

²⁰ “But I? Am I righteous? My own mouth says no. Even if I were perfect, God would prove me wicked. ²¹ And even if I am utterly innocent, I dare not think of it. I despise what I am. ²² Innocent or evil, it is all the same to him, for he destroys both kinds. ²³ He will laugh when calamity crushes the innocent. ²⁴ The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked. God blinds the eyes of the judges and lets them be unfair. If not he, then who?

²⁵ “My life passes swiftly away, filled with tragedy. ²⁶ My years disappear like swift ships, like the eagle that swoops upon its prey.

²⁷ “If I decided to forget my complaints against God, to end my sadness and be cheerful, ²⁸ then he would pour even greater sorrows upon me. For I know that you will not hold me innocent, O God, ²⁹ but will condemn me. So what’s the use of trying? ³⁰ Even if I were to wash myself with purest water and cleanse my hands with lye to make them utterly clean, ³¹ even so you would plunge me into the ditch and mud; and even my clothing would be less filthy than you consider me to be!

^32-33 “And I cannot defend myself, for you are no mere man as I am. If you were, then we could discuss it fairly, but there is no umpire between us, no middle man, no mediator to bring us together. ³⁴ Oh, let him stop beating me, so that I need no longer live in terror of his punishment. ³⁵ Then I could speak without fear to him and tell him boldly that I am not guilty.