19. If it is a matter of strength, indeed, He is strong;and if of justice, who will set me a time to plead?
20. Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;though I were perfect, it would prove me perverse.
21. “Though I were perfect,I would not know myself;I would despise my life.
22. It is all one thing; therefore I said,‘He destroys both the perfect and the wicked.’
23. If the whip kills suddenly,He will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.He covers the faces of its judges.If it is not He, then who is it?
25. “Now my days are swifter than a runner;they flee away; they see no good.
26. They pass by like reed skiffs,like an eagle rushing upon its prey.
27. If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;I will leave off my sad face and brighten up,’
28. I am afraid of all my sorrows;I know that You will not hold me innocent.
29. If I am guilty,why then do I labor in vain?
30. If I wash myself with snow waterand cleanse my hands with soap,
31. yet You will plunge me into the pit,and my own clothes will abhor me.
32. “For He is not a man as I am, that I should answer Him,and we should come together in judgment.