9:2 “Truly, 1 I know that this is so.
But how 2 can a human 3 be just before 4 God? 5
9:3 If someone wishes 6 to contend 7 with him,
he cannot answer 8 him one time in a thousand.
9:4 He is wise in heart 9 and mighty 10 in strength 11 –
who has resisted 12 him and remained safe? 13
9:5 He who removes mountains suddenly, 14
who overturns them in his anger; 15
9:6 he who shakes the earth out of its place 16
so that its pillars tremble; 17
9:7 he who commands the sun and 18 it does not shine 19
and seals up 20 the stars;
9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads 21 on the waves of the sea; 22
9:9 he makes the Bear, 23 Orion, 24 and the Pleiades, 25
and the constellations of the southern sky; 26
9:10 he does great and unsearchable things, 27
and wonderful things without number.
9:11 If 28 he passes by me, I cannot see 29 him, 30
if he goes by, I cannot perceive him. 31
9:12 If he snatches away, 32 who can turn him back? 33
Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
9:13 God does not restrain his anger; 34
under him the helpers of Rahab 35 lie crushed. 36
9:14 “How much less, 37 then, can I answer him 38
and choose my words 39 to argue 40 with 41 him! 42
9:15 Although 43 I am innocent, 44
I could not answer him; 45
I could only plead 46 with my judge 47 for mercy.
9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me, 48
I would not believe 49
that he would be listening to my voice –
9:17 he who 50 crushes 51 me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds for no reason. 52
9:18 He does not allow 53 me to recover 54 my breath,
for he fills 55 me with bitterness.
9:19 If it is a matter of strength, 56
most certainly 57 he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ 58
9:20 Although I am innocent, 59
my mouth 60 would condemn me; 61
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse. 62
9:21 I am blameless. 63 I do not know myself. 64
I despise my life.
9:22 “It is all one! 65 That is why I say, 66
‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
9:23 If a scourge brings sudden death, 67
he mocks 68 at the despair 69 of the innocent. 70
9:24 If a land 71 has been given
into the hand of a wicked man, 72
he covers 73 the faces of its judges; 74
if it is not he, then who is it? 75
9:25 “My days 76 are swifter than a runner, 77
they speed by without seeing happiness.
9:26 They glide by 78 like reed 79 boats,
like an eagle that swoops 80 down on its prey. 81
9:27 If I say, 82 ‘I will 83 forget my complaint,
I will change my expression 84 and be cheerful,’ 85
9:28 I dread 86 all my sufferings, 87
for 88 I know that you do not hold me blameless. 89
9:29 If I am guilty, 90
why then 91 weary myself 92 in vain? 93
9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, 94
and make my hands clean with lye, 95
9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit 96
and my own clothes abhor me.
9:32 For he 97 is not a human being like I am,
that 98 I might answer him,
that we might come 99 together in judgment.
9:33 Nor is there an arbiter 100 between us,
who 101 might lay 102 his hand on us both, 103
9:34 who 104 would take his 105 rod 106 away from me
so that his terror 107 would not make me afraid.
9:35 Then 108 would I speak and not fear him,
but it is not so with me. 109