1 Then Job answered and said:
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"Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be z in the right before God?
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If one wished to a contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
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He is b wise in heart and mighty in strength
- who has c hardened himself against him, and succeeded? -
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he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
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who d shakes the earth out of its place,
and e its pillars tremble;
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who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
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who alone f stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
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who g made h the Bear and i Orion,
the Pleiades j and the chambers of the south;
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who does k great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
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Behold, he passes by me, and I l see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
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Behold, he snatches away; m who can turn him back?
n Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'
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"God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of o Rahab.
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p How then can I q answer him,
choosing my words with him?
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r Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must s appeal for mercy to my accuser. 1
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If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
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For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds t without cause;
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he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
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If it is a contest of u strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can v summon him? 2
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Though I am in the right, w my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
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I am x blameless; I regard not myself;
I y loathe my life.
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It is all one; therefore I say,
He z destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
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When a disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity 3 of the innocent.
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b The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he c covers the faces of its judges -
d if it is not he, who then is it?
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"My e days are swifter than f a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
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They go by like g skiffs of reed,
like h an eagle swooping on the prey.
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If I say, i 'I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and j be of good cheer,'
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I become k afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not l hold me innocent.
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I shall be m condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
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If I wash myself with snow
and n cleanse my hands with lye,
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yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will o abhor me.
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For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should p come to trial together.
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q There is no 4 arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
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r Let him take his s rod away from me,
and let t not dread of him terrify me.
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Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.