Job 9
1 Then Job replied,
And Job made answer and said,
2 “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]
Truly, I see that it is so: and how is it possible for a man to get his right before God?
3 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!
If a man was desiring to go to law with him, he would not be able to give him an answer to one out of a thousand questions.
4 God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
He is wise in heart and great in strength: who ever made his face hard against him, and any good came of it?
5 He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
It is he who takes away the mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his wrath:
6 He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
Who is moving the earth out of its place, so that its pillars are shaking:
7 [Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
Who gives orders to the sun, and it does not give its light; and who keeps the stars from shining.
8 He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
By whose hand the heavens were stretched out, and who is walking on the waves of the sea:
9 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.
Who made the Bear and Orion, and the Pleiades, and the store-houses of the south:
10 Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
Who does great things not to be searched out; yes, wonders without number.
11 He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
See, he goes past me and I see him not: he goes on before, but I have no knowledge of him.
12 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]
If he puts out his hand to take, by whom may it be turned back? who may say to him, What are you doing?
13 God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
God's wrath may not be turned back; the helpers of Rahab were bent down under him.
14 “So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
How much less may I give an answer to him, using the right words in argument with him?
15 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.
Even if my cause was good, I would not be able to give an answer; I would make request for grace from him who was against me.
16 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.
If I had sent for him to be present, and he had come, I would have no faith that he would give ear to my voice.
17 He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
For I would be crushed by his storm, my wounds would be increased without cause.
18 [It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
He would not let me take my breath, but I would be full of bitter grief.
19 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.
If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day?
20 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.
Though I was in the right, he would say that I was in the wrong; I have done no evil; but he says that I am a sinner.
21 “I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.
22 But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
It is all the same to me; so I say, He puts an end to the sinner and to him who has done no wrong together.
23 When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
If death comes suddenly through disease, he makes sport of the fate of those who have done no wrong.
24 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?
The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?
25 “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.
My days go quicker than a post-runner: they go in flight, they see no good.
26 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.
They go rushing on like reed-boats, like an eagle dropping suddenly on its food.
27 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,’
If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright;
28 then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.
29 He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
You will not let me be clear of sin! why then do I take trouble for nothing?
30 If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
If I am washed with snow water, and make my hands clean with soap;
31 he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
Then you will have me pushed into the dust, so that I will seem disgusting to my very clothing.
32 “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].
For he is not a man as I am, that I might give him an answer, that we might come together before a judge.
33 There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
There is no one to give a decision between us, who might have control over us.
34 I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
Let him take away his rod from me and not send his fear on me:
35 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].”
Then I would say what is in my mind without fear of him; for there is no cause of fear in myself.
