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2“Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can a mortal be righteous before God?

3Though one wished to dispute with him,
he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.

4His wisdom is profound, his power is vast.
Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?

5He moves mountains without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.

6He shakes the earth from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.

7He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;
he seals off the light of the stars.

8He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.

9He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.

11When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

12If he snatches away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13God does not restrain his anger;
even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.

14“How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?

15Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.

16Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.

17He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.

18He would not let me regain my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.

19If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon himSee Septuagint; Hebrew me.?

20Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.

21“Although I am blameless,
I have no concern for myself;
I despise my own life.

22It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23When a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.

24When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?

27If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression, and smile,’

28I still dread all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?

30Even if I washed myself with soapOr snow
and my hands with washing soda,

31you would plunge me into a slime pit
so that even my clothes would detest me.

32“He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
that we might confront each other in court.

33If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
to lay his hand upon us both,

34someone to remove God's rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35Then I would speak up without fear of him,
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.

2I will say to God: Do not condemn me,
but tell me what charges you have against me.

3Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?

4Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?

5Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a man,

6that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin—

7though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?

8“Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?

9Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?

10Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,

11clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?

12You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.

13“But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:

14If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.

15If I am guilty—woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned inOr and aware of my affliction.

16If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.

17You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.

18“Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.

19If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!

20Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy

21before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and deep shadow,Or and the shadow of death; also in verse 22

22to the land of deepest night,
of deep shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”