14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,
    construct a defense that would influence God?
Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;
    I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.
If I called on God and he himself answered me,
    then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.
As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,
    beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.
He won’t even let me catch my breath,
    piles bitterness upon bitterness.
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?
Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;
    blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.

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17 He would crush me(A) with a storm(B)
    and multiply(C) my wounds for no reason.(D)
18 He would not let me catch my breath
    but would overwhelm me with misery.(E)
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!(F)
    And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him[a]?(G)

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Footnotes

  1. Job 9:19 See Septuagint; Hebrew me.