Job 9
1 Then Job answered and said:
Then Job replied,
2 Of a truth, I know that it is so: For how can man be just before God?
“Yes, I certainly know that [much of] what you said is true. But (how can anyone say to God, ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it?’/no one can say to God ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it.’) [RHQ]
3 If he choose to contend with him, He cannot answer him to one charge of a thousand.
If someone wanted to argue with God [about that], God could ask him 1,000 questions, and that person would not be able to answer any of them!
4 He is excellent in wisdom, mighty in strength: Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 He removeth the mountains, and they know it not; He overturneth them in his anger.
He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
6 He shaketh the earth out of her place, And the pillars thereof tremble.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And he sealeth up the stars.
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 He alone spreadeth out the heavens, And walketh upon the high waves of the sea.
He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the secret chambers of the South.
He put in their places [the clusters/groups of stars that are called] The Dipper/Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars in the southern sky.
10 He doeth great things past finding out, Yea, wonderful things without number.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 Lo! he goeth by me, but I see him not; He passeth along, but I do not perceive him.
He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
12 Lo! he seizeth, and who can hinder him? Who will say to him, What doest thou?
If he [wants to] snatch something away, no one [RHQ] can hinder him; no one dares to ask him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [RHQ]
13 God will not turn away his anger; The proud helpers are brought low before him.
God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
14 How much less shall I answer him, And choose out words to contend with him?
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 Though I were innocent, I would not answer him; I would cast myself on the mercy of my judge.
Even though I (would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong), I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.
16 Should I call, and he make answer to me, I could not believe that he listened to my voice, —
If I summoned him to [come to the courtroom] and he said that he would come, I would not believe that he would pay attention to what I would say.
17 He who falleth upon me with a tempest, And multiplieth my wounds without cause!
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 Who will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness!
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 If I look to strength, “Lo! here am I!” [[saith he, ]] If to justice, “Who shall summon me to trial?”
If I would try to (wrestle with/fight against) him, [there is no way that I could defeat him, ] [because] he is stronger than I am. If I would request him to appear in court, there is no one who could [RHQ] force him to go there.
20 Though I were upright, yet must my own mouth condemn me; Though I were innocent, He would prove me perverse.
Even though I was innocent, what I would say would cause him to say that I must be punished [MTY]; even though I had not done anything wrong, he would prove that I am guilty.
21 Though I were innocent, I would not care for myself; I would despise my life.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 It is all one; therefore I will affirm, He destroyeth the righteous and the wicked alike.
But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
23 When the scourge bringeth sudden destruction, He laugheth at the sufferings of the innocent.
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; He covereth the face of the judges thereof; If it be not He, who is it?
God has allowed wicked people to control [what happens in] the world. [It is as though] he has caused judges to be blindfolded, [with the result that they cannot judge fairly]. If it is not God who has put wicked people in control, who has done it?
25 My days have been swifter than a courier; They have fled away; they have seen no good.
“My days go by very quickly, like a fast runner; [it is as though] they run away, and nothing good happens to me on those days.
26 They have gone by like the reed-skiffs; Like the eagle, darting upon his prey.
My life goes by very rapidly, like a boat made from reeds sailing swiftly, or like an eagle that swoops down to seize a small animal.
27 If I say, I will forget my lamentation, I will change my countenance, and take courage,
If I smile and say [to God], ‘I will forget what I am complaining about; I will stop looking sad and try to be cheerful/happy,’
28 Still am I in dread of the multitude of my sorrows; For I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
29 I shall be found guilty; Why then should I labor in vain?
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 If I wash myself in snow, And cleanse my hands with lye,
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 Still wilt thou plunge me into the pit, So that my own clothes will abhor me.
he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
32 For He is not a man, as I am, that I may contend with him, And that we may go together into judgment;
“God is not a human, as I am, so there is no way that I could answer him [to prove that I am innocent] if we went together to have a trial [in a courtroom].
33 There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both.
There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
34 Let him take from me his rod, And not dismay me with his terrors,
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 Then I will speak, and not be afraid of him: For I am not so at heart.
If he did that, I would declare [that I am innocent] without being afraid of him, because I know that I really have not [done what is wrong like God thinks that I have].”
