Job 9
1 Then Job replied,
And Job, responding, 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 know that it is so, and that man cannot be justified compared with 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 he chooses to contend with him, he is not able to respond to him once out of a thousand times.
4 God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
He is understanding in heart and mighty in strength; who has resisted him and yet had peace?
5 He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
He has moved mountains, and those whom he overthrew in his fury did not know it.
6 He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
He shakes the earth out of its place and its pillars tremble.
7 [Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
He commands the sun and it does not rise, and he closes the stars as if under a seal.
8 He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
He alone extends the heavens, and he walks upon 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.
He fashions Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the interior of the south.
10 Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
He accomplishes great and incomprehensible and miraculous things, which cannot be numbered.
11 He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
If he approaches me, I will not see him; if he departs, I will not understand.
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 suddenly should question, who will answer him? Or who can say, “Why did you do so?”
13 God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
God, whose wrath no one is able to resist, and under whom they bend who carry the world,
14 “So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
what am I then, that I should answer him and exchange words 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.
And if I now have any justice, I will not respond, but will beseech my judge.
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.
And if he should listen to me when I call, I would not believe that he had heard 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 he will crush me in a whirlwind and multiply my wounds, even 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 does not permit my spirit to rest, and he fills me with bitterness.
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 strength is sought, he is most strong; if equity in judgment, no one would dare to give testimony for me.
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.
If I wanted to justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me; if I would reveal my innocence, he would prove me depraved.
21 “I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
And if I now became simple, my soul would be ignorant even of this, and my life would weary me.
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.
There is one thing that I have said: both the innocent and the impious he consumes.
23 When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
If he scourges, let him kill all at once, and not laugh at the punishment of the innocent.
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?
Since the earth has been given into the hand of the impious, he covers the face of its judges; for if it is not him, then who is 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 have been swifter than a messenger; they have fled and have not seen goodness.
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 have passed by like ships carrying fruits, just like an eagle flying to 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: “By no means will I speak this way.” I change my face and I am tortured with sorrow.
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 have dreaded all my works, knowing that you did not spare the offender.
29 He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
Yet, if I am also just as impious, why have I labored in vain?
30 If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
If I had been washed with snow-like waters, and my hands were shining like the cleanest thing,
31 he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
yet you would plunge me in filth, and my own garments would abhor me.
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 even I would not answer a man who were like myself, nor one who could be heard with me equally in judgment.
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 who could both prevail in argument and in placing his hand between the two.
34 I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
Let him take his staff away from me, and let not the fear of him terrify 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].”
I will speak and I will not fear him, for in fearfulness I am not able to respond.
