Job 9:16–35

¹⁶If I summoned Him and He answered me,

I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

¹⁷For He would crush me with a tempest

and multiply my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He does not let me catch my breath,

but overwhelms me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength,

He is indeed mighty!

If it is a matter of justice,

who can summon Him^d?

²⁰Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me;

if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.^e

²¹Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself;

I despise my own life.

²²It is all the same, and so I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When the scourge brings sudden death,

He mocks the despair of the innocent.

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

He blindfolds its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee without seeing good.

²⁶They sweep by like boats of papyrus,

like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint

and change my expression and smile,’

²⁸I would still dread all my sufferings;

I know that You will not acquit me.

²⁹Since I am already found guilty,

why should I labor in vain?

³⁰If I should wash myself with snow^f

and cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹then You would plunge me into the pit,

and even my own clothes would despise me.

³²For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,

that we can take each other to court.

³³Nor is there a mediator between us,

to lay his hand upon us both.

³⁴Let Him remove His rod from me,

so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

³⁵Then I would speak without fear of Him.

But as it is, I am on my own.’’