²⁵ “My days are swifter than a runner;^(A)
    they fly away without a glimpse of joy.^(B)
26 They skim past^(C) like boats of papyrus,^(D)
    like eagles swooping down on their prey.^(E)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,^(F)
    I will change my expression, and smile,’
²⁸ I still dread^(G) all my sufferings,
    for I know you will not hold me innocent.^(H)
29 Since I am already found guilty,
    why should I struggle in vain?^(I)
30 Even if I washed myself with soap^(J)
    and my hands^(K) with cleansing powder,^(L)
31 you would plunge me into a slime pit^(M)
    so that even my clothes would detest me.^(N)

³² “He is not a mere mortal^(O) like me that I might answer him,^(P)
    that we might confront each other in court.^(Q)
33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,^(R)
    someone to bring us together,^(S)
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,^(T)
    so that his terror would frighten me no more.^(U)
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,^(V)
    but as it now stands with me, I cannot.^(W)