Job 9:12-26

English Standard Version

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

²⁵ “My ^(S)days are swifter than ^(T)a runner;
    they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶ They go by like ^(U)skiffs of reed,
    like ^(V)an eagle swooping on the prey.