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9:1  Then Iyov responded:
9:2  “Indeed, I know that this is so; but how can a human win a case against God?
9:3  Whoever might want to argue with him could not answer him one [question] in a thousand.
9:4  His heart is so wise, his strength so great — who can resist him and succeed?
9:5  “He moves the mountains, although they don’t know it, when he overturns them in his anger.
9:6  He shakes the earth from its place; its supporting pillars tremble.
9:7  He commands the sun, and it fails to rise; he shuts up the stars under his seal.
9:8  He alone spreads out the sky and walks on the waves in the sea.
9:9  He made the Great Bear, Orion, the Pleiades and the hidden constellations of the south.
9:10  He does great, unsearchable things, wonders beyond counting.
9:11  He can go right by me, and I don’t see him; he moves past without my being aware of him.
9:12  If he kills [people], who will ask why? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
9:13  God will not withdraw his anger — even Rahav’s supporters submit to him.
9:14  “How much less can I answer him and select my arguments against him!
9:15  Even if I were right, I wouldn’t answer; I could only ask for mercy from my judge.
9:16  If I summoned him, and he answered me, I still can’t believe he would listen to my plea.
9:17  He could break me with a storm; he could multiply my wounds for no reason,
9:18  to the point where I couldn’t even breathe — with such bitterness he could fill me!
9:19  If it’s a matter of force, look how mighty he is; if justice, who can summon him to court?
9:20  Even if I’m right, my own mouth will condemn me; if I’m innocent, it would pronounce me guilty.
9:21  “I am innocent. Don’t I know myself? But I’ve had enough of this life of mine!
9:22  So I say it’s all the same — he destroys innocent and wicked alike.
9:23  When disaster brings sudden death, he laughs at the plight of the innocent.
9:24  The earth has been given to the power of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges — if it isn’t he, then who is it?
9:25  My days pass on more swiftly than a runner; they flee without seeing anything good.
9:26  They skim by like skiffs built of reeds, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
9:27  “If I say, ‘I’ll forget my complaining, I’ll put off my sad face and be cheerful,’
9:28  then I’m still afraid of all my pain, and I know you will not hold me innocent.
9:29  I will be condemned, so why waste my efforts?
9:30  Even if I washed myself in melted snow and cleansed my hands with lye,
9:31  you would plunge me into the muddy pit, till my own clothes would detest me.
9:32  “For he is not merely human like me; there is no answer that I could give him if we were to come together in court.
9:33  There is no arbitrator between us who could lay his hand on us both.
9:34  If he would remove his rod from me and not let his terrors frighten me,
9:35  then I would speak without fear of him; for when I’m alone, I’m not afraid.