¹ Then Job replied:

² “Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?
³ Though they wished to dispute with him,
they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
⁴ His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
⁵ He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.
⁶ He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.
⁷ He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.
⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
⁹ He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
¹⁰ He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
¹¹ When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
¹² If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
¹³ God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

¹⁴ “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?
¹⁵ Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
¹⁶ Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
¹⁷ He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.
¹⁸ He would not let me catch my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.
¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him?
²⁰ Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

²¹ “Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.
²² It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
²³ When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
²⁴ When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?

²⁵ “My days are swifter than a runner;
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
²⁶ They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like eagles swooping down on their prey.
²⁷ If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,’
²⁸ I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
²⁹ Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?
³⁰ Even if I washed myself with soap
and my hands with cleansing powder,
³¹ you would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.

³² “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.
³³ If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
³⁴ someone to remove God’s rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.
³⁵ Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.