1: Job continued by saying:
2: "So what's new? I know all this. The question is, "How can mere mortals get right with God?'
3: If we wanted to bring our case before him, what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!
4: God's wisdom is so deep, God's power so immense, who could take him on and come out in one piece?
5: He moves mountains before they know what's happened, flips them on their heads on a whim.
6: He gives the earth a good shaking up, rocks it down to its very foundations.
7: He tells the sun, "Don't shine,' and it doesn't; he pulls the blinds on the stars.
8: All by himself he stretches out the heavens and strides on the waves of the sea.
9: He designed the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.
10: We'll never comprehend all the great things he does; his miracle-surprises can't be counted.
11: Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don't see him; quietly but surely he's active, and I miss it.
12: If he steals you blind, who can stop him? Who's going to say, "Hey, what are you doing?'
13: God doesn't hold back on his anger; even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.
14: "So how could I ever argue with him, construct a defense that would influence God?
15: Even though I'm innocent I could never prove it; I can only throw myself on the Judge's mercy.
16: If I called on God and he himself answered me, then, and only then, would I believe that he'd heard me.
17: As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post, beating me up, black and blue, for no good reason.
18: He won't even let me catch my breath, piles bitterness upon bitterness.
19: If it's a question of who's stronger, he wins, hands down! If it's a question of justice, who'll serve him the subpoena?
20: Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me; blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.
21: "Believe me, I'm blameless. I don't understand what's going on. I hate my life!
22: Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude that God destroys the good right along with the bad.
23: When calamity hits and brings sudden death, he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.
24: He lets the wicked take over running the world, he installs judges who can't tell right from wrong. If he's not responsible, who is?
25: "My time is short--what's left of my life races off too fast for me to even glimpse the good.
26: My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail, like an eagle plummeting to its prey.
27: Even if I say, "I'll put all this behind me, I'll look on the bright side and force a smile,'
28: All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut since it's clear you're not going to let up.
29: The verdict has already been handed down-"Guilty!'- so what's the use of protests or appeals?
30: Even if I scrub myself all over and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,
31: It wouldn't last--you'd push me into a pigpen, or worse, so nobody could stand me for the stink.
32: "God and I are not equals; I can't bring a case against him. We'll never enter a courtroom as peers.
33: How I wish we had an arbitrator to step in and let me get on with life--
34: To break God's death grip on me, to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.
35: Then I'd speak up and state my case boldly. As things stand, there is no way I can do it.