Job 13:13–28

¹³Be quiet and give me a chance to speak,

and let the results be what they will.

¹⁴I am^z ready to risk my life.

¹⁵I’ve lost all hope, so what if God kills me?

I am going to state my case to him.

¹⁶It may even be that my boldness will save me,

since no wicked person would dare to face God.

¹⁷Now listen to my words of explanation.

¹⁸I am ready to state my case,

because I know I am in the right.

¹⁹Are you coming to accuse me, God?

If you do, I am ready to be silent and die.

²⁰Let me ask for two things; agree to them,

and I will not try to hide from you;

²¹stop punishing me, and don’t crush me with terror.

²²Speak first, O God, and I will answer.

Or let me speak, and you answer me.

²³What are my sins? What wrongs have I done?

What crimes am I charged with?

²⁴Why do you avoid me?

Why do you treat me like an enemy?

²⁵Are you trying to frighten me? I’m nothing but a leaf;

you are attacking a piece of dry straw.

²⁶You bring bitter charges against me,

even for what I did when I was young.

^27*You bind chains on my feet;

you watch every step I take,

and even examine my footprints.

²⁸As a result, I crumble like rotten wood,

like a moth-eaten coat.