2  “Truly I know that it is so:

But ⁱhow can a man be in the right before God?

3  If one wished to ^jcontend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4  He is ^kwise in heart and mighty in strength—

who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

5  he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

6  who ^lshakes the earth out of its place,

and its ^mpillars tremble;

7  who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

8  who alone ⁿstretched out the heavens

and ^otrampled the waves of the sea;

9  who made ^pthe Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

10  who does great things ^qbeyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

11  ^rBehold, he passes by me, and I see him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

12  Behold, he snatches away; ^swho can turn him back?

^tWho will say to him, ^u‘What are you doing?’

13  “God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of ^vRahab.

14  How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

15  Though ^wI am in the right, I cannot answer him;

^xI must appeal for mercy to my accuser.¹

16  If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

17  For ^yhe crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds ^zwithout cause;

18  he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with ^abitterness.

19  If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, ^bwho can summon him?²

20  Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21  I am blameless; I regard not myself;

^cI loathe my life.

22  It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He destroys ^dboth the blameless and the wicked.’

23  When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity³ of the innocent.

24  The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

^ehe covers the faces of its judges—

if it is not he, who then is it?

25  ^f“My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26  They go by like skiffs of reed,

like an eagle swooping on the prey.

27  If I say, ‘I will forget my ^gcomplaint,

I will put off my sad face, and ^hbe of good cheer,’

28  I become afraid of all my suffering,

for I know ⁱyou will not hold me innocent.

29  ^jI shall be condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30  If I wash myself with ^ksnow

and cleanse my hands ^lwith lye,

31  yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

32  For ^mhe is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should come to trial together.

33  ⁿThere is no⁴ arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34  Let him take his ^orod away from me,

and ^plet not dread of him terrify me.

35  Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself.