14 “How then can I dispute with him?
    How can I find words to argue with him?(A)
15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;(B)
    I could only plead(C) with my Judge(D) for mercy.(E)
16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
    I do not believe he would give me a hearing.(F)
17 He would crush me(G) with a storm(H)
    and multiply(I) my wounds for no reason.(J)
18 He would not let me catch my breath
    but would overwhelm me with misery.(K)
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!(L)
    And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him[a]?(M)
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
    if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.(N)

21 “Although I am blameless,(O)
    I have no concern for myself;(P)
    I despise my own life.(Q)
22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(R)
23 When a scourge(S) brings sudden death,
    he mocks the despair of the innocent.(T)
24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,(U)
    he blindfolds its judges.(V)
    If it is not he, then who is it?(W)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 9:19 See Septuagint; Hebrew me.

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