²¹ Then Peter went down to the men and said, I am the man you seek; what is the purpose of your coming?

²² And they said, Cornelius, a centurion (captain) who is just and upright and in right standing with God, being God-fearing and obedient and well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has been instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house; and he ^[a]has received in answer [to prayer] a warning to listen to and act upon what you have to say.

²³ So Peter invited them in to be his guests [for the night]. The next day he arose and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

²⁴ And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for and expecting them, and he had invited together his relatives and his intimate friends.

²⁵ As Peter arrived, Cornelius met him, and falling down at his feet he made obeisance and paid worshipful reverence to him.

²⁶ But Peter raised him up, saying, Get up; I myself am also a man.

²⁷ And as [Peter] spoke with him, he entered the house and found a large group of persons assembled;

²⁸ And he said to them, You yourselves are aware how it is not lawful or permissible for a Jew to keep company with or to visit or [even] to come near or to speak first to anyone of another nationality, but God has shown and taught me by words that I should not call any human being common or unhallowed or [ceremonially] unclean.

²⁹ Therefore when I was sent for, I came without hesitation or objection or misgivings. So now I ask for what reason you sent for me.

³⁰ And Cornelius said, This is now the fourth day since about this time I was observing the ninth hour (three o’clock in the afternoon) of prayer in my lodging place; [suddenly] a man stood before me in dazzling apparel,

³¹ And he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and harkened to, and your donations to the poor have been known and ^[b]preserved before God [so that He heeds and is about to help you].

³² Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is surnamed Peter; he is staying in the house of Simon the tanner by the seaside.

³³ So at once I sent for you, and you [being a Jew] have done a kind and ^[c]courteous and handsome thing in coming. Now then, we are all present in the sight of God to listen to all that you have been instructed by the Lord to say.

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9 Then Job answered and said,

² Yes, I know it is true. But how can mortal man be right before God?

³ If one should want to contend with Him, he cannot answer one [of His questions] in a thousand.

⁴ [God] is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has [ever] hardened himself against Him and prospered or even been safe?

⁵ [God] Who removes the mountains, and they know it not when He overturns them in His anger;

⁶ Who shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars of it tremble;

⁷ Who commands the sun, and it rises not; Who seals up the stars [from view];

⁸ Who alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the waves and high places of the sea;

⁹ Who made [the constellations] the Bear, Orion, and the [loose cluster] Pleiades, and the [vast starry] spaces of the south;

¹⁰ Who does great things past finding out, yes, marvelous things without number.

¹¹ Behold, He goes by me, and I see Him not; He passes on also, but I perceive Him not.

¹² Behold, He snatches away; who can hinder or turn Him back? Who will say to Him, What are You doing?

¹³ God will not withdraw His anger; the [proud] helpers of Rahab [arrogant monster of the sea] bow under Him.

¹⁴ How much less shall I answer Him, choosing out my words to reason with Him

¹⁵ Whom, though I were righteous (upright and innocent) yet I could not answer? I must appeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge [for my right].

¹⁶ If I called and He answered me, yet would I not believe that He listened to my voice.

¹⁷ For He overwhelms and breaks me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸ He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹ If I speak of strength, behold, He is mighty! And if of justice, Who, says He, will summon Me?

²⁰ Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, He would prove me perverse.

²¹ Though I am blameless, I regard not myself; I despise my life.

²² It is all one; therefore I say, God [does not discriminate, but] destroys the blameless and the wicked.

²³ When [His] scourge slays suddenly, He mocks at the calamity and trial of the innocent.

²⁴ The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blinded to justice]. If it is not [God], who then is it [responsible for all this inequality]?

²⁵ Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.

²⁶ They are passed away like the swift rowboats made of reeds, or like the eagle that swoops down on the prey.

²⁷ If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer and brighten up,

²⁸ I become afraid of all my pains and sorrows [yet to come], for I know You will not pronounce me innocent [by removing them].

²⁹ I shall be held guilty and be condemned; why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?

³⁰ If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹ Yet You will plunge me into the ditch, and my own clothes will abhor me [and refuse to cover so foul a body].

³² For [God] is not a [mere] man, as I am, that I should answer Him, that we should come together in court.

³³ There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand upon us both, [would that there were!]^(A)

³⁴ That He might take His rod away from [threatening] me, and that the fear of Him might not terrify me.

³⁵ [Then] would I speak and not fear Him, but I am not so in myself [to make me afraid, were only a fair trial given me].

10 I am weary of my life and loathe it! I will give free expression to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

² I will say to God, Do not condemn me [do not make me guilty]! Show me why You contend with me.

³ Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise and reject the work of Your hands, and favor the schemes of the wicked?

⁴ Have You eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees?

⁵ Are Your days as the days of man, are Your years as man’s [years],

⁶ That You inquire after my iniquity and search for my sin—

⁷ Although You know that I am not wicked or guilty and that there is none who can deliver me out of Your hand?

⁸ Your hands have formed me and made me. Would You turn around and destroy me?

⁹ Remember [earnestly], I beseech You, that You have fashioned me as clay [out of the same earth material, exquisitely and elaborately]. And will You bring me into dust again?

¹⁰ Have You not poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese?

¹¹ You have clothed me with skin and flesh and have knit me together with bones and sinews.

¹² You have granted me life and favor, and Your providence has preserved my spirit.

¹³ Yet these [the present evils] have You hid in Your heart [for me since my creation]; I know that this was with You [in Your purpose and thought].

¹⁴ If I sin, then You observe me, and You will not acquit me from my iniquity and guilt.

¹⁵ If I am wicked, woe unto me! And if I am righteous, yet must I not lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and the sight of my affliction.

¹⁶ If I lift myself up, You hunt me like a lion and again show Yourself [inflicting] marvelous [trials] upon me.

¹⁷ You renew Your witnesses against me and increase Your indignation toward me; I am as if attacked by a troop time after time.

¹⁸ Why then did You bring me forth out of the womb? Would that I had perished and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹ I should have been as though I had not existed; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰ Are not my days few? Cease then and let me alone, that I may take a little comfort and cheer up

²¹ Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death,

²² The land of sunless gloom as intense darkness, [the land] of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as thick darkness.