Job 9
1 Then responded Job, and said—
Then Job replied,
2 Of a truth, I know that so it is, But how can a mortal be just with 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, one 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 Wise in heart, and alert in vigour, What man 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 Who removeth mountains, unawares, Who 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 Who shaketh the earth, out of its place, and, the pillars thereof, shudder;
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 Who commandeth the sun, and it breaketh not forth, and, about the stars, he putteth a seal;
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 Who spreadeth out fire heavens, by himself alone! and marcheth along, on the heights 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 Who made the Bear, the Giant and the Cluster, and the 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 Who doeth great things, past finding out, and marvels, beyond number.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 Lo! he cometh upon me, yet can I not see him, Yea he passeth on, yet can I not discern 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 snatcheth away, who can bring it back? Who shall say unto him, What wouldst thou do?
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 As for GOD, if he withdraw not his anger, under him, will have submitted themselves—the proud helpers.
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 that, I, should answer him, should choose my words with him?
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, to be absolved, I would make supplication.
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 Though I had called, and he had answered me, I could not believe, that he would lend an ear 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 For, with a tempest, would he fall upon me, and would multiply my wounds without need;
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 He would not suffer me to recover my breath, for he would surfeit me with bitter things.
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 If it regardeth vigour, bold is he! If justice, who could summon him?
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 If I should justify myself, mine own mouth, would condemn me, —I blameless? then had it shewn 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 I blameless? I should not know my own soul, I should despise my own life!
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 One thing, there is, for which cause, I have said it, The blameless and the lawless, he bringeth to an end.
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 If, a scourge, slay suddenly, at the despair of innocent ones, he mocketh.
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 The earth, hath been given into the hand of a lawless one, The faces of her judges, he covereth, If not, then 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, therefore, are swifter than a runner, They have fled, 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 passed away with boats of paper-reed, like a vulture [which] rusheth upon food.
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 complaint, I will lay aside my sad countenance, and brighten up,
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 I am afraid of all my pains, I know, that thou wilt not pronounce 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 held guilty, —Wherefore then, in vain, should I toil?
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 Though I bathe myself in snow water, and cleanse, in cleanness itself, my hands,
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 Then, in a ditch, wouldst thou plunge me, and mine own clothes should 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 like myself, whom I might answer, nor could we come 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 not, between us, a mediator, who might 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 off me his rod, and, his terror, let it not startle me:
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 I could speak, and not be afraid of him, although, not so, am, I, in myself!
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].”
