1 Then Job answered and said:
2 "Truly I know it is so; but how can a man be in the right with God?
3 Should one wish to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time in a thousand.
4 Wise in heart and mighty in power is he; who ever stiffened his neck against him and came away whole?
5 It is he who uproots mountains before they are aware, who overturns them in his wrath,
6 who jolts the earth out of its place so that its pillars quake,
7 who speaks to the sun and it does not shine, who puts a seal over the stars,
8 who by himself spreads out the heavens and walks upon the waves of the sea,
9 who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the inner rooms of the south,
10 who does great deeds past finding out, and wonders beyond counting.
11 If he goes past me, I do not see him; if he glides on, I do not notice him.
12 If he seizes, who can hinder him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
13 God does not hold back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab lie bowed.
14 How then could I answer him, picking out my words to reason with him?
15 Even if I were right, I could give no answer; I would have to beg mercy of my judge.
16 If I called and he replied to me, I would not trust that he was giving ear to my voice,
17 he who bruises me with a storm and adds to my wounds for no cause.
18 He does not allow me to get my breath back, but sates me with bitter things.
19 If it is a test of strength, here he is, the mighty one! If it is a case at law, who will summon me?
20 Were I right, my own mouth would condemn me; were I blameless, it would declare me crooked.
21 Blameless I am; I have no regard for myself; I reject my life.
22 It is all the same; that is why I say, 'He brings to an end the blameless and the wicked alike.'
23 If a whip brings sudden death, he laughs at the trial of the innocent.
24 The land is handed over to the power of the wicked; he veils the faces of its judges. If not he, who then is it?
25 My days are faster than a courier; they run off without seeing any good.
26 They slip past like skiffs of reed, like an eagle that swoops down on its food.
27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint; I will drop my gloomy look and brighten up,'
28 I shrink from all my pains, for I know you will not count me innocent.
29 I am to be held guilty; why then should I toil for nothing?
30 If I scrub myself with snow and make my hands clean with lye,
31 even then you will dip me in the pit, and my own clothes will loathe me.
32 For he is not a man like me, that I could answer him, that we could go to court together.
33 There is no arbiter between us who might set his hand upon us both.
34 Let him remove his rod from me, and let the terror of him not dismay me;
35 then I would speak and not be afraid of him; for I am not so in myself."