1Then Job answered and said: 2Truly I know it is so; but how can a man be just before the Mighty God? 3If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. 4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and been at peace? 5He removes the mountains, and they do not know 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 spreads out the heavens, and treads upon the waves of the sea; 9He made the Ursa Major, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; 10He does great things past finding out, yea, wonders without number. 11If He passes by me, I do not see Him; if He moves past, I do not perceive Him. 12If He takes away, who can repulse Him? Who can say to Him, What are You doing? 13The Mighty God will not withdraw His anger; those who help the proud lie prostrate beneath Him. 14How then can I answer Him, and choose my words before Him? 15For though I had been righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge. 16If I had called and He answered me, I would not believe that He had heard the voice of my prayer. 17For He crushes 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 it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; and if of justice, who will appoint my meeting? 20Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were perfect, it would prove me perverse. 21Though I were perfect, yet I do not know my soul; I despise my life. 22It is all one; therefore I have said, He destroys the perfect and the wicked. 23If the scourge slays suddenly, He mocks at the despair of the innocent. 24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it? 25Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. 26They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its food. 27If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile, 28I am afraid of all my pain; I know that You will not hold me innocent. 29If I am guilty, why then do I labor in vain? 30If I wash myself with snow water, and cleanse my hands with soap, 31yet You will plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would abhor me. 32For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should come together in judgment. 33Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both. 34Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let the dread of Him terrify me. 35Then I would speak and not fear Him; but it is not so with me.