1 THEN Job answered and said,

2 Truly, I know that it is so; but how can a man be declared innocent before God?

3 If he should contend with him, he cannot answer him one out of a thousand.

4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has hardened himself against him, and had peace?

5 He who removes mountains and overthrows them with his anger, does he not know?

6 He shakes the earth out of its foundations, and its inhabitants tremble.

7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise; and seals up the stars.

8 He alone stretched out the heavens, and treads upon the mighty waves of the sea.

9 He made the Pleiades, Aldebaran, and Orion, and the chambers of the south.

10 He has done great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.

11 Lo, if he will pass by me, I will see him not; and if he will circle around me, I will not perceive him.

12 Behold, if he will destroy, who can resist him? Who can say to him, What doest thou?

13 God will not turn away his anger, the mighty shall be humiliated under him.

14 I will answer him also, and choose out my words in his presence.

15 If I am not justified I would not resist, but I would make supplication to my judge.

16 If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I would not believe that he had hearkened to my voice.

17 For he has crushed me with a tempest, and multiplied my wounds without cause.

18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

19 If it is a matter of strength, lo, he is mighty; and if of judgment, who can summon him?

20 If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; though I say I am pure, he shall also prove me perverse.

21 Though I am pure, yet I would not know my soul; I would despise my life.

22 It is all the same; therefore I say, He destroys both the righteous and the wicked.

23 If his rod slays suddenly, he will laugh at the foolishness of the innocent.

24 The earth is handed over to the wicked; and the faces of the judges are covered; if not, who can endure their wrath?

25 Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.

26 They are passed away like ships of the enemy; like the eagle that swoops on the prey.

27 I have forgotten my bitterness; if my mind or my thought would leave me alone, then I would find rest.

28 Though I am at rest, I am afraid of every torment, because I know that thou wilt not declare me innocent.

29 Behold, if I am declared guilty, why then dost thou consume me in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow why then dost thou consume me in my hands;

31 Yet thou shalt plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes shall be abhorrent to me.

32 For God is not a man as I am, that I might answer him. and that we should come together for trial.

33 O that there were a judge between us, that he might silence us both!

34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me;

35 Then I would speak, and I will not be afraid of him, for I have never been against him.