1 Then Job answered:
2 “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? | TOSK |
3 If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. | TOSK |
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered? | TOSK |
5 He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger. | TOSK |
6 He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble. | TOSK |
7 He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars. | TOSK |
8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. | TOSK |
9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. | TOSK |
10 He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number. | TOSK |
11 Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him. | TOSK |
12 If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, 'What are You doing?' | IP | TOSK |
13 God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him. | TOSK |
14 How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? | TOSK |
15 For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. | TOSK |
16 If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice. | TOSK |
17 For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause. | TOSK |
18 He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness. | TOSK |
19 If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? | TOSK |
20 Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty. | TOSK |
21 Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. | TOSK |
22 It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ | TOSK |
23 When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. | TOSK |
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it? | TOSK |
25 My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good. | TOSK |
26 They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. | TOSK |
27 If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’ | TOSK |
28 I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me. | TOSK |
29 Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain? | TOSK |
30 If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, | TOSK |
31 then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me. | TOSK |
32 For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court. | TOSK |
33 Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both. | TOSK |
34 Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me. | TOSK |
35 Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own. | TOSK |