If there is an angel beside him, one mediator out of a thousand, to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness;

“Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit? Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?

As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up,

and he contends with God on behalf of man as a man pleads for his friend.

“My days are swifter than a runner, they speed by without seeing happiness.

Its heart is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.

If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing, or a poor man without a coat,

whose trust is in something futile, whose security is a spider’s web.

He breaks through against me, time and time again; he rushes against me like a warrior.

will you, with him, spread out the clouds, solid as a mirror of molten metal?

Does the rain have a father, or who has fathered the drops of the dew?

They allow their children to run like a flock; their little ones dance about.

Indeed, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him?

Smoke streams from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning rushes.

he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason.

He loosens the bonds of kings and binds a loincloth around their waist.

Its breath sets coals ablaze and a flame shoots from its mouth.

Do you wish to torment a windblown leaf and chase after dry chaff?

Your wickedness affects only a person like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.

If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.