¹Then Job answered,

¹¶ Na ka whakahoki a Hopa, ka mea,

²“Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?

²E mohiotia ana ano tenei e ahau; engari ma te aha ka tika ai te tangata ki te Atua?

³If he is pleased to contend with him, he can’t answer him one time in a thousand.

³Ki te pai ia ki te totohe ki a ia, kahore he kupu kotahi o roto i te mano e taea e ia te whakahoki ki a ia.

⁴God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?

⁴He ngakau mohio ia, he pakari tona kaha: ko wai e whakauaua ki a ia, a e whiwhi i te pai?

⁵He removes the mountains, and they don’t know it, when he overturns them in his anger.

⁵E nekehia ana e ia nga maunga, te mohio ratou; hurihia ake e ia i a ia e riri ana.

⁶He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.

⁶E whakangaueuetia ana e ia te whenua, e nekehia atu ana i tona wahi, wiri ana ona pou.

⁷He commands the sun, and it doesn’t rise, and seals up the stars.

⁷E korero nei ki te ra, a kore ake e whiti; hiritia putia iho e ia nga whetu.

⁸He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.

⁸Ko ia nei anake hei hora i nga rangi, hei takahi i runga i nga ngaru o te moana.

⁹He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south.

⁹Nana nei i hanga a Aketura, a Tautoru, a Matariki, me nga ruma i te tonga.

¹⁰He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number.

¹⁰Nana nei i mahi nga mea nunui, e kore nei e taea te rapu atu, ae ra nga mea whakamiharo, e kore nei e taea te tatau.

¹¹Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him. He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him.

¹¹Ina tonu ia e haere atu nei, a kahore ahau i kite; ka pahemo atu hoki ia, a kahore ahau e matau ki a ia.

¹²Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹²Nana, ka hopu ia i tana i aru ai, ma wai ia e arai? Ko wai hei ki atu ki a ia, E aha ana koe?

¹³“God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.

¹³E kore te Atua e whakahoki iho i tona riri; e piko ana ki raro i a ia nga kaiawhina o Rahapa.

¹⁴How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?

¹⁴¶ A kia whakahoki kupu ano ahau ki a ia, kia whiriwhiri kupu ano maku ki a ia?

¹⁵Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.

¹⁵Ahakoa he tika ahau, e kore ahau e whakahoki kupu atu; engari ka inoi ahau ki toku kaiwhakawa.

¹⁶If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn’t believe that he listened to my voice.

¹⁶Me i karanga atu ahau, a whakahokia mai ai e ia te kupu ki ahau, kihai ahau i whakaae tera kua whakarongo mai ia ki toku reo.

¹⁷For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁷E aki ana hoki ia ia ahau ki te tupuhi, e whakanui takekore ana hoki i oku mate.

¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

¹⁸Kahore ahau e tukua e ia kia ta toku manawa; otiia whakakiia ana e ia toku wairua ki te kawa.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’

¹⁹Ki te korero tatou mo te kaha o te hunga pakari, nana, kei reira ia! A ki te mea he whakawa, ko wai ra hei whakatakoto i te taima moku?

²⁰Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse.

²⁰Ahakoa he tika ahau, ma toku mangai ano ahau e whakahe; ahakoa he tikanga tapatahi taku, ma reira ano e whakaatu toku ngaunga ketanga.

²¹I am blameless. I don’t respect myself. I despise my life.

²¹He tapatahi ahau; kahore ahau e whakaaro ki ahau ano; e whakahawea ana ahau ki toku ora.

²²“It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.

²²¶ He kotahi tonu ena; koia ahau ka mea, e whakamotitia ana e ia te tapatahi raua ko te kino.

²³If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent.

²³Na ka whakamate tata nei te whiu, he kata tana ki te whakamatautauranga o te hunga harakore.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?

²⁴Kua hoatu te whenua ki te ringa o te tangata kino; e taupokina ana e ia nga mata o nga kaiwhakawa; ki te mea ehara i a ia, tena ko wai?

²⁵“Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good,

²⁵¶ Na, ko te hohoro o oku ra, nui atu i to te kaikawe pukapuka; e rere ana, kahore hoki e kite i te pai.

²⁶They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.

²⁶Kua pahemo, kua pera me nga kaipuke tere, me te ekara ano e topa iho ana ki tana kai.

²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;’

²⁷Ki te mea ahau, ka wareware ahau ki taku tangi, ka unuhia atu e ahau te pouri o toku mata, a ka marama:

²⁸I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me innocent.

²⁸E wehi ana ahau i oku mamae katoa, e mohio ana ahau e kore ahau e meinga e koe he harakore.

²⁹I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain?

²⁹Tera hoki ahau e whakahengia; he aha ahau i whakangenge kau ai i ahau?

³⁰If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye,

³⁰Ki te horoi ahau i ahau ki te hukarere, a ka meinga oku ringa kia ma rawa;

³¹yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me.

³¹Katahi ahau ka rumakina e koe ki te poka, a whakarihariha mai ana oku kakahu ki ahau.

³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.

³²Ehara hoki ia i te tangata, i te penei me ahau nei, e whakahoki kupu ai ahau ki a ia, e haere tahi ai maua ki te whakawa.

³³There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.

³³Kahore he kaiwhakatikatika mo ta maua, kahore he tangata hei whakapa i tona ringa ki a maua tahi.

³⁴Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;

³⁴Me tango atu e ia tana patu i ahau, a kaua hoki tana whakamataku e whakawehi i ahau:

³⁵then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in myself.

³⁵Hei reira ahau ka korero, a kahore e wehi i a ia; kahore hoki ahau e pera i roto i ahau.