1Then Job answered and said, 2“I know it is true; but how can man be justified with God? 3If he tries to contend or dispute with Him, he cannot answer Him once in a thousand times. 4God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. Who has challenged Him and succeeded? 5He It is Who moves mountains without them knowing; Who overturns them in His anger. 6Who shakes the earth out of its place, and its foundations tremble. 7Who commands the sun, and it rises not; and seals up the stars. 8Who alone spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea. 9Who makes Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. 10Who does great things beyond understanding; yea, and wonders without number. 11Lo, He goes by me, and I see Him not; He passes on also, but I perceive Him not. 12Behold, He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

13“If God will not withdraw His anger, those allied against Him will lie prostrate beneath Him. 14How much less shall I answer Him, and choose out my words to reason with Him? 15Though I were innocent, yet I could not answer, but could only appeal to my Judge for mercy. 16If I had called, and He had answered me; yet would I not believe that He had heard my voice. 17For He breaks me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause. 18He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. 19If the issue is of strength, lo, He is strong; and if of justice, who can correct Him? 20If I try to justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; if I say, ‘I am perfect’, it shall also prove me guilty.

21“If I were perfect, yet would I not know my own soul; I would despise my life. 22It is all the same; therefore, I said, ‘He destroys both the perfect and the wicked.’ 23If the scourge kills suddenly, He will laugh at the trial of the innocent. 24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges; if not, where, and Who is He? 25Now my days are swifter than a post; they flee away, they see no good. 26They are passed away as the swift ships; as the eagle that hastens to the prey. 27If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, dispense with my heaviness, and smile,’ 28I am still afraid of all my sorrows, I know that You will not hold me innocent.

29“If I am already regarded as wicked, then why should I labor in vain? 30If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean; 31Yet You would still plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall abhor (and refuse to cover) me. 32For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in judgment. 33Neither is there any arbiter between us, who can place his hand upon both of us. 34Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear and dread terrify me: 35Then would I utter my defense, and not fear Him; but it is not so with me.