Job 9
1 Then Job answered and said,
Then Job replied,
2 “I truly know that this is so. But how can a person be in the right 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 wants to argue with God, he cannot answer him once in a thousand times.
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 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has ever hardened himself against him and succeeded?—
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 he who removes the mountains without warning anyone when he overturns 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 who shakes the earth out of its place and sets its supports trembling.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 It is the same God who tells the sun not to rise, and it does not, and who covers 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 who by himself stretches out the heavens and tramples down the 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 who makes the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations 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 does great and unsearchable things, and wonderful things that cannot be counted.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 See, he goes by me, and I do not see him; he passes on also, 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 If he takes something away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
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 withdraw his anger; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath 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 could I answer him, could I choose words to reason with him?
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 Even if I were righteous, I could not answer him; I could only plead for mercy with 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 Even if I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening 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 he breaks me with a tempest and multiplies 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 He does not allow me to regain my breath; but he fills 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 it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can 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 Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; and though I am blameless, my words would prove me to be guilty.
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 am blameless, but I do not care any more about myself; I despise my own life.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 It makes no difference, which is why I say that he destroys blameless people and wicked people together.
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 a whip suddenly kills, he mocks the despair 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 hand of wicked people; God covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he who does it, 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 are swifter than a running messenger; my days flee away; they see no good anywhere.
“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 are as fast as papyrus reed boats, and as fast as the eagle that swoops down on its victim.
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 said that I would forget about my complaints, that I would take off my sad face and be happy,
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 would be afraid of all my sorrows because I know that you will not consider 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 will be condemned; why, then, should I try 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 washed myself with snow water and made my hands ever so clean,
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 God would plunge me in a ditch, and my own clothes would be disgusted with 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 God is not a man, as I am, that I could answer him, that we could come together in court.
“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 judge between us 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 There is no other judge who could take God's rod off me, who could keep his terror from frightening me.
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 Then would I speak up and not fear him. But as things are now, I cannot do that.
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].”
