² “Truly I know that it is so:
    But how can a man be ^(A)in the right before God?
³ If one wished to ^(B)contend with him,
    one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
⁴ He is ^(C)wise in heart and mighty in strength
    —who has ^(D)hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
⁵ he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
    when he overturns them in his anger,
⁶ who ^(E)shakes the earth out of its place,
    and ^(F)its pillars tremble;
⁷ who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
    who seals up the stars;
⁸ who alone ^(G)stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the sea;
⁹ who ^(H)made ^(I)the Bear and ^(J)Orion,
    the Pleiades ^(K)and the chambers of the south;
¹⁰ who does ^(L)great things beyond searching out,
    and marvelous things beyond number.
¹¹ Behold, he passes by me, and I ^(M)see him not;
    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
¹² Behold, he snatches away; ^(N)who can turn him back?
    ^(O)Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³ “God will not turn back his anger;
    beneath him bowed the helpers of ^(P)Rahab.
^14 (Q)How then can I ^(R)answer him,
    choosing my words with him?
^15 (S)Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
    I must ^(T)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 ^(U)without cause;
¹⁸ he will not let me get my breath,
    but fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If it is a contest of ^(V)strength, behold, he is mighty!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can ^(W)summon him?^[b]
20 Though I am in the right, ^(X)my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
²¹ I am ^(Y)blameless; I regard not myself;
    I ^(Z)loathe my life.
²² It is all one; therefore I say,
    ‘He ^(AA)destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
²³ When ^(AB)disaster brings sudden death,
    he mocks at the calamity^[c] of the innocent.
^24 (AC)The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
    he ^(AD)covers the faces of its judges—
    ^(AE)if it is not he, who then is it?

²⁵ “My ^(AF)days are swifter than ^(AG)a runner;
    they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶ They go by like ^(AH)skiffs of reed,
    like ^(AI)an eagle swooping on the prey.
²⁷ If I say, ^(AJ)‘I will forget my complaint,
    I will put off my sad face, and ^(AK)be of good cheer,’
²⁸ I become ^(AL)afraid of all my suffering,
    for I know you will not ^(AM)hold me innocent.
²⁹ I shall be ^(AN)condemned;
    why then do I labor in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow
    and ^(AO)cleanse my hands with lye,
³¹ yet you will plunge me into a pit,
    and my own clothes will ^(AP)abhor me.
³² For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should ^(AQ)come to trial together.
^33 (AR)There is no^[d] arbiter between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.
^34 (AS)Let him take his ^(AT)rod away from me,
    and let ^(AU)not dread of him terrify me.
³⁵ Then I would speak without fear of him,
    for I am not so in myself.

^18 (BW)“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
    Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
^19 (BX)and were as though I had not been,
    carried from the womb to the grave.
^20 (BY)Are not my days few?
    ^(BZ)Then cease, and leave me alone, ^(CA)that I may find a little cheer
²¹ before I go—and ^(CB)I shall not return—
    to the land of ^(CC)darkness and ^(CD)deep shadow,
²² the land of gloom like thick darkness,
    like deep shadow without any order,
    where light is as thick darkness.”

^3 (E)Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
    ^(F)keep watch over the door of my lips!
^4 (G)Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
    to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who ^(H)work iniquity,
    and ^(I)let me not eat of their delicacies!

^5 (J)Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
    let my head not refuse it.
Yet ^(K)my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
⁶ When their judges are ^(L)thrown over the cliff,^[a]
    then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
⁷ As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
    so shall our bones ^(M)be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.^[b]

⁸ But ^(N)my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
    ^(O)in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!^[c]
9 Keep me from ^(P)the trap that they have laid for me
    and from the snares of evildoers!
¹⁰ Let the wicked ^(Q)fall into their own nets,
    while I pass by safely.