Job 9
1 Then Job answered and said,
Then Job answered:
2 I know of a truth that it is so: for how shall a mortal man be just before the Lord?
“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
3 For if he would enter into judgement with him, [God] would not listen to him, so that he should answer to one of his charges of a thousand.
If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
4 For he is wise in mind, and mighty, and great: who has hardened himself against him and endured?
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
5 Who wears out the mountains, and [men] know it not: who overturns them in anger.
He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.
6 Who shakes the [earth] under heaven from its foundations, and its pillars totter.
He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.
7 Who commands the sun, and it rises not; and he seals up the stars.
He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.
8 Who alone has stretched out the heavens, and walks on the sea as on firm ground.
He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 Who makes Pleias, and Hesperus, and Arcturus, and the chambers of the south.
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 Who does great and unsearchable things; glorious also and excellent things, innumerable.
He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
11 If ever he should go beyond me, I shall not see him: if he should pass by me, neither thus have I known [it].
Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
12 If he would take away, who shall turn him back? or who shall say to him, What have you done?
If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
13 For [if] he has turned away [his] anger, the whales under heaven have stooped under him.
God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
14 Oh then that he would listen to me, or judge my cause.
How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?
15 For though I be righteous, he will not listen to me: I will entreat his judgement.
For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
16 And if I should call and he should not listen, I can’t believe that he has listened to my voice.
If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.
17 Let him not crush me with a dark storm: but he has made by bruises many without cause.
For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
18 For he suffers me not to take breath, but he has filled me with bitterness.
He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.
19 For indeed he is strong in power: who then shall resist his judgement?
If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
20 For though I should seem righteous, my mouth will be profane: and though I should seem blameless, I shall be proved perverse.
Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
21 For even if I have sinned, I know it not [in] my soul: but my life is taken away.
Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
22 Therefore I said, Wrath slays the great and mighty man.
It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 For the worthless die, but the righteous are laughed to scorn.
When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 For they are delivered into the hands of the unrighteous [man]: he covers the faces of the judges [of the earth]: but if it be not he, who is it?
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
25 But my life is swifter than a post: [my days] have fled away, and they knew it not.
My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.
26 Or again, is there a trace of [their] path [left] by ships? or is there one of the flying eagle as it seeks [its] prey?
They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27 And if I should say, I will forget to speak, I will bow down my face and groan;
If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’
28 I quake in all my limbs, for I know that you will not leave me alone [as] innocent.
I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.
29 But since I am ungodly, why have I not died?
Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?
30 For if I should wash myself with snow, and purge myself with pure hands,
If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 you had thoroughly plunged me in filth, and my garment had abhorred me.
then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.
32 For you are not man like me, with whom I could contend, that we might come together to judgement.
For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
33 Would that [he] our mediator were [present], and a reprover, and one who should hear [the cause] between both.
Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let him remove [his] rod from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
35 so shall I not be afraid, but I will speak: for I am not thus conscious [of guilt].
Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.
