1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "Truly I know that [it is] so, but how can a human being be just before God?
3 If he wants to contend with him, he cannot answer him one [time] in a thousand.
4 [He is] wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has resisted him and succeeded?
5 "[He is the one] who moves mountains, and they do not know [how], who overturns them in his anger.
6 [He is the one] who shakes [the] earth from its place, and its pillars tremble.
7 [He is the one] who commands the sun, and it does not rise, {and he seals up the stars}.
8 [He is the one] who alone stretches out [the] heavens and [who] tramples on [the] waves of [the] sea.
9 [He is the one] who made [the] Bear [and] Orion, [the] Pleiades and [the] constellations of [the] south.
10 [He is the one] who does great things {beyond understanding} and marvelous things {beyond number}.
11 "{If} he passes by me, {I would not see him}; and [if] he should move on, {I would not recognize him}.
12 {If} he would snatch away, who could turn him? Who could say to him, 'What are you doing?'
13 God will not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
14 {How much less} can I myself answer him? [How] can I choose my words with him,
15 whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous? From my judge I must implore grace.
16 If I summon [him], and he should answer me, I do not believe that he will listen to my voice--
17 who crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to {catch} my breath; rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
19 If {it is a matter of} strength, look, [he is] mighty. But if {it is a matter of} justice, who can summon me?
20 Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; [even though] I [am] blameless, yet it would pronounce me guilty.
21 "I [am] blameless; I do not care about myself; I loathe my life.
22 It [is all] one; therefore I say, 'He destroys [both the] blameless and [the] wicked.'
23 When the whip kills suddenly, he mocks at [the] despair of [the] innocent.
24 The earth is given into [the] hand of [the] wicked; he covers the face of its judge-- if [it is] not [he], then who [is] it?
25 "And my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they do not see good.
26 They go by like papyrus skiffs, like an eagle swoops down on [its] prey.
27 Though {I say}, 'I will forget my complaint; I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,'
28 I become afraid of all my sufferings; I know that you do not consider me innocent.
29 [If] I shall be [declared] guilty, why then should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap, and I cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you plunge me into the [slime] pit, and my clothes abhor me.
32 "For [he is] not a mortal like me [that] I can answer him, [that] {we can come to trial together}.
33 There is no arbiter between us [that] he might lay his hand on both of us.
34 May he remove his rod from me, and let his dread not terrify me;
35 [then] I would speak and not fear him, for {in myself I am not fearful}.