2“Indeed, I know that this is so,

but how can a mortal be just before God?*

3If one wished to contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand.*

4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength;

who has resisted him and succeeded?*

5He removes mountains, and they do not know it

when he overturns them in his anger;

6he shakes the earth out of its place,

and its pillars tremble;*

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

he seals up the stars;

8he alone stretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the Sea;o^,*

9he made the Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;*

10he does great things beyond understanding

and marvelous things without number.*

11Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.*

12He snatches away; who can stop him?

Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’*

13“God will not turn back his anger;

the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him.*

14How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

15Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;

I must appeal to my accuser for my right.*

16If I summoned him and he answered me,

I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.

17For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds without cause;*

18he will not let me get my breath

but fills me with bitterness.*

19If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!

If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?p

20Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21I am blameless; I do not know myself;

I loathe my life.*

22It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’*

23When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamityq of the innocent.*

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

he covers the eyes of its judges—

if it is not he, who then is it?*

25“My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26They go by like skiffs of reed,

like an eagle swooping on the prey.*

27If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;

I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’

28I become afraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29I shall be condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?*

30If I wash myself with soap

and cleanse my hands with lye,*

31yet you will plunge me into filth,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

32For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should come to trial together.*

33There is no mediatorr between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.*

34If he would take his rod away from me

and not let dread of him terrify me,*

35then I would speak without fear of him,

for I know I am not what I am thought to be.s