Job 9
1 Then Job replied,
| ויען איוב ויאמר׃ |
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]
| אמנם ידעתי כי כן ומה יצדק אנוש עם אל׃ |
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!
| אם יחפץ לריב עמו לא יעננו אחת מני אלף׃ |
4 God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
| חכם לבב ואמיץ כח מי הקשה אליו וישלם׃ |
5 He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
| המעתיק הרים ולא ידעו אשר הפכם באפו׃ |
6 He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
| המרגיז ארץ ממקומה ועמודיה יתפלצון׃ |
7 [Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
| האמר לחרס ולא יזרח ובעד כוכבים יחתם׃ |
8 He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
| נטה שמים לבדו ודורך על במתי ים׃ |
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.
| עשה עש כסיל וכימה וחדרי תמן׃ |
10 Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
| עשה גדלות עד אין חקר ונפלאות עד אין מספר׃ |
11 He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
| הן יעבר עלי ולא אראה ויחלף ולא אבין לו׃ |
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]
| הן יחתף מי ישיבנו מי יאמר אליו מה תעשה׃ |
13 God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
| אלוה לא ישיב אפו תחתו שחחו עזרי רהב׃ |
14 “So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
| אף כי אנכי אעננו אבחרה דברי עמו׃ |
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.
| אשר אם צדקתי לא אענה למשפטי אתחנן׃ |
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.
| אם קראתי ויענני לא אאמין כי יאזין קולי׃ |
17 He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
| אשר בשערה ישופני והרבה פצעי חנם׃ |
18 [It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
| לא יתנני השב רוחי כי ישבעני ממררים׃ |
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.
| אם לכח אמיץ הנה ואם למשפט מי יועידני׃ |
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.
| אם אצדק פי ירשיעני תם אני ויעקשני׃ |
21 “I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
| תם אני לא אדע נפשי אמאס חיי׃ |
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.
| אחת היא על כן אמרתי תם ורשע הוא מכלה׃ |
23 When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
| אם שוט ימית פתאם למסת נקים ילעג׃ |
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?
| ארץ נתנה ביד רשע פני שפטיה יכסה אם לא אפוא מי הוא׃ |
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.
| וימי קלו מני רץ ברחו לא ראו טובה׃ |
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.
| חלפו עם אניות אבה כנשר יטוש עלי אכל׃ |
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,’
| אם אמרי אשכחה שיחי אעזבה פני ואבליגה׃ |
28 then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
| יגרתי כל עצבתי ידעתי כי לא תנקני׃ |
29 He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
| אנכי ארשע למה זה הבל איגע׃ |
30 If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
| אם התרחצתי במו שלג והזכותי בבר כפי׃ |
31 he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
| אז בשחת תטבלני ותעבוני שלמותי׃ |
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].
| כי לא איש כמני אעננו נבוא יחדו במשפט׃ |
33 There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
| לא יש בינינו מוכיח ישת ידו על שנינו׃ |
34 I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
| יסר מעלי שבטו ואמתו אל תבעתני׃ |
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].”
| אדברה ולא איראנו כי לא כן אנכי עמדי׃ |
