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9:1  Then Job spoke again:
9:2  "Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God's sight?
9:3  If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?
9:4  For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?
9:5  "Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger.
9:6  He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble.
9:7  If he commands it, the sun won't rise and the stars won't shine.
9:8  He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea.
9:9  He made all the stars--the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.
9:10  He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.
9:11  "Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go.
9:12  If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, 'What are you doing?'
9:13  And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet.
9:14  "So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him?
9:15  Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy.
9:16  And even if I summoned him and he responded, I'm not sure he would listen to me.
9:17  For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause.
9:18  He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.
9:19  If it's a question of strength, he's the strong one. If it's a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?
9:20  Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked.
9:21  "I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me--I despise my life.
9:22  Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That's why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
9:23  When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent.
9:24  The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he's not the one who does it, who is?
9:25  "My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.
9:26  It disappears like a swift papyrus boat, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
9:27  If I decided to forget my complaints, to put away my sad face and be cheerful,
9:28  I would still dread all the pain, for I know you will not find me innocent, O God.
9:29  Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what's the use of trying?
9:30  Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye,
9:31  you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me.
9:32  "God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.
9:33  If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together.
9:34  The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.
9:35  Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.