² “Indeed, I know that this is so,
    but how can a mortal be just before God?^(A)
3 If one wished to contend with him,
    one could not answer him once in a thousand.^(B)
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
    who has resisted him and succeeded?^(C)
5 He removes mountains, and they do not know it
    when he overturns them in his anger;
⁶ he shakes the earth out of its place,
    and its pillars tremble;^(D)
7 he commands the sun, and it does not rise;
    he seals up the stars;
⁸ he alone stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the Sea;^[a](E)
9 he made the Bear and Orion,
    the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;^(F)
10 he does great things beyond understanding
    and marvelous things without number.^(G)
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.^(H)
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
    Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’^(I)

¹³ “God will not turn back his anger;
    the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.^(J)
14 How then can I answer him,
    choosing my words with him?
¹⁵ Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;
    I must appeal to my accuser for my right.^(K)
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
    I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
¹⁷ For he crushes me with a tempest
    and multiplies my wounds without cause;^(L)
18 he will not let me get my breath
    but fills me with bitterness.^(M)
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?^[b]
20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
²¹ I am blameless; I do not know myself;
    I loathe my life.^(N)
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’^(O)
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
    he mocks at the calamity^[c] of the innocent.^(P)
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
    he covers the eyes of its judges—
    if it is not he, who then is it?^(Q)

²⁵ “My days are swifter than a runner;
    they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶ They go by like skiffs of reed,
    like an eagle swooping on the prey.^(R)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
    I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’
²⁸ I become afraid of all my suffering,
    for I know you will not hold me innocent.
²⁹ I shall be condemned;
    why then do I labor in vain?^(S)
30 If I wash myself with soap
    and cleanse my hands with lye,^(T)
31 yet you will plunge me into filth,
    and my own clothes will abhor me.
³² For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should come to trial together.^(U)
33 There is no mediator^[d] between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.^(V)
34 If he would take his rod away from me
    and not let dread of him terrify me,^(W)
35 then I would speak without fear of him,
    for I know I am not what I am thought to be.^[e]