15. Even if I were righteous I could not answer;I would plead to my Judge for favor.
16. If I called, and He answered me,I would not believe that He had listened to my voice.
17. For He crushes me with a stormand multiplies my wounds without cause.
18. He will not allow me to get my breath,but fills me with bitterness.
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.