1 Then Job answered and said:
2 Truly I know it is so; but how can a man be just before the Mighty God?
3 If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and been at peace?
5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know when He overturns them in His anger;
6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;
7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals up the stars;
8 He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea;
9 He made the Ursa Major, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south;
10 He does great things past finding out, yea, wonders without number.
11 If He passes by me, I do not see Him; if He moves past, I do not perceive Him.
12 If He takes away, who can repulse Him? Who can say to Him, What are You doing?
13 The Mighty God will not withdraw His anger; those who help the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.
14 How then can I answer Him, and choose my words before Him?
15 For though I had been righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.
16 If I had called and He answered me, I would not believe that He had heard the voice of my prayer.
17 For He crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; and if of justice, who will appoint my meeting?
20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were perfect, it would prove me perverse.
21 Though I were perfect, yet I do not know my soul; I despise my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I have said, He destroys the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge slays suddenly, He mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
25 Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.
26 They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its food.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,
28 I am afraid of all my pain; I know that You will not hold me innocent.
29 If I am guilty, why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and cleanse my hands with soap,
31 yet You will plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would abhor me.
32 For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should come together in judgment.
33 Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both.
34 Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let the dread of Him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him; but it is not so with me.