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JobChapter 9

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Then Job answered:
"Yes, I know it is so. But how can a mortal be right before God?
If one wished to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—who has ever defied him and come away whole?
He moves mountains, and they never know it; he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place, and its pillars tremble.
He commands the sun, and it does not rise; he seals up the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the heights of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south.
He does great things beyond searching out, wonders beyond number.
If he passes by me, I do not see him; if he moves on, I do not perceive him.
If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
God does not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow low.
How then could I answer him, or choose my words to argue with him?
Though I were in the right, I could not answer; I could only plead with my judge for mercy.
If I called and he answered me, I could not believe that he was listening to my voice.
For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.
He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
If it is a matter of strength—he is mighty! If of justice—who can summon him?
Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
I am blameless—yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.
It is all the same; therefore I say: he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
The earth is handed over to the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he, then who?
My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.
They skim past like boats of reed, like an eagle swooping on its prey.
If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression and smile,'
I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
I will be held guilty—why then should I labor in vain?
If I washed myself with snow water and cleansed my hands with lye,
you would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would loathe me.
For he is not a man like me, that I could answer him, that we could come together in court.
There is no arbiter between us who could lay his hand on us both,
who could remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would no longer frighten me.
Then I would speak without fear of him—but as it is, I am not so within myself.
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