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.