Job 13  Contemporary English Version

13 I know and understand
    every bit of this.
² None of you are smarter
    than I am;
there's nothing you know
    that I don't.
³ But I prefer to argue my case
    with God All-Powerful—
⁴ you are merely useless doctors,
    who treat me with lies.
⁵ The wisest thing you can do
is to keep quiet ⁶ and listen
    to my argument.
⁷ Are you telling lies for God
⁸ and not telling the whole truth
    when you argue his case?
⁹ If he took you to court,
could you fool him,
    just as you fool others?
¹⁰ If you were secretly unfair,
    he would correct you,
¹¹ and his glorious splendor
    would make you terrified.
¹² Your wisdom and arguments
    will blow away like dust.

¹³ Be quiet while I speak,
    and we'll see what happens.
¹⁴ I will be responsible
    for what happens to me.
¹⁵ God may kill me, but still
I will trust him^[a]
    and offer my defense.
¹⁶ This may be what saves me,
because no guilty person
    would come to his court.
¹⁷ Listen carefully to my words!
¹⁸ I have prepared my case well,
    and I am certain to win.
¹⁹ If you can prove me guilty,
    I will give up and die.

²⁰ I ask only two things
    of you, my God,
and I will no longer
    hide from you—
²¹ stop punishing
    and terrifying me!