⁵ But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged;^(A)
    it strikes^(B) you, and you are dismayed.^(C)

¹⁶ Even if I summoned him and he responded,
    I do not believe he would give me a hearing.^(A)
17 He would crush me^(B) with a storm^(C)
    and multiply^(D) my wounds for no reason.^(E)
18 He would not let me catch my breath
    but would overwhelm me with misery.^(F)
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!^(G)
    And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him^[a]?^(H)
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
    if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.^(I)

²¹ “Although I am blameless,^(J)
    I have no concern for myself;^(K)
    I despise my own life.^(L)
22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’^(M)
23 When a scourge^(N) brings sudden death,
    he mocks the despair of the innocent.^(O)
24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,^(P)
    he blindfolds its judges.^(Q)
    If it is not he, then who is it?^(R)

²⁵ “My days are swifter than a runner;^(S)
    they fly away without a glimpse of joy.^(T)
26 They skim past^(U) like boats of papyrus,^(V)
    like eagles swooping down on their prey.^(W)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,^(X)
    I will change my expression, and smile,’
²⁸ I still dread^(Y) all my sufferings,
    for I know you will not hold me innocent.^(Z)
29 Since I am already found guilty,
    why should I struggle in vain?^(AA)
30 Even if I washed myself with soap^(AB)
    and my hands^(AC) with cleansing powder,^(AD)
31 you would plunge me into a slime pit^(AE)
    so that even my clothes would detest me.^(AF)

³² “He is not a mere mortal^(AG) like me that I might answer him,^(AH)
    that we might confront each other in court.^(AI)
33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,^(AJ)
    someone to bring us together,^(AK)
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,^(AL)
    so that his terror would frighten me no more.^(AM)
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,^(AN)
    but as it now stands with me, I cannot.^(AO)

³⁹ Why should the living complain
    when punished for their sins?^(A)

³⁹ Why should the living complain
    when punished for their sins?^(A)