17. he who crushes me with a tempest,and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
18. He does not allow me to recover my breath,for he fills me with bitterness.
19. If it is a matter of strength, most certainly he is the strong one!And if it is a matter of justice, he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’
20. Although I am innocent, my mouth would condemn me;although I am blameless, it would declare me perverse.
21. I am blameless. I do not know myself.I despise my life.
22. “It is all one! That is why I say,‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
23. If a scourge brings sudden death,he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24. If a land has been given into the hand of a wicked man,he covers the faces of its judges;if it is not he, then who is it?
25. “My days are swifter than a runner,they speed by without seeing happiness.
26. They glide by like reed boats,like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
27. If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,I will change my expression and be cheerful,’
28. I dread all my sufferings,for I know that you do not hold me blameless.
29. If I am guilty,why then weary myself in vain?
30. If I wash myself with snow water,and make my hands clean with lye,
31. then you plunge me into a slimy pitand my own clothes abhor me.
32. For he is not a human being like I am,that I might answer him,that we might come together in judgment.