He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.

If He passes by me, I wouldn’t see Him;
if He goes right by, I wouldn’t recognize Him.

If He snatches something, who can stop Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”

Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

God does not hold back His anger;
Rahab’s assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

He batters me with a whirlwind
and multiplies my wounds without cause.

Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.

If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.

How then can I answer Him
or choose my arguments against Him?

If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

Though I am blameless,
I no longer care about myself;
I renounce my life.

My days fly by faster than a runner;
they flee without seeing any good.

He doesn’t let me catch my breath
but soaks me with bitter experiences.

Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?

Then Job answered:

He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.

The earth is handed over to the wicked;
He blindfolds its judges.
If it isn’t He, then who is it?

He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.

God is wise and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?

He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in His anger.

It is all the same. Therefore I say,
“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”

When disaster brings sudden death,
He mocks the despair of the innocent.

They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

If one wanted to take Him to court,
he could not answer God once in a thousand times.

If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,

I would still live in terror of all my pains.
I know You will not acquit me.

Since I will be found guilty,
why should I labor in vain?

If I said, “I will forget my complaint,
change my expression, and smile,”

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

There is no one to judge between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.

He makes the stars: the Bear, Orion,
the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky.

For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,
that we can take each other to court.

Let Him take His rod away from me
so His terror will no longer frighten me.

then You dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!

Then I would speak and not fear Him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.

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