Job 9
1 And Job answereth and saith: —
Then Job replied,
2 Truly I have known that [it is] so, And what — is man righteous 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 delight to strive with Him — He doth not 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 strong in power — Who hath hardened toward Him and is at peace?
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 Who is removing mountains, And they have not known, Who hath overturned 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 is shaking earth from its place, And its pillars move themselves.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 Who is speaking to the sun, and it riseth not, And the stars He sealeth up.
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 Stretching out the heavens by Himself, And treading 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 Making Osh, Kesil, and Kimah, And the inner 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 Doing great things till there is no searching, And wonderful, till there is no numbering.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 Lo, He goeth over by me, and I see not, And He passeth on, and I attend not to it.
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 snatches away, who bringeth it back? Who saith unto Him, 'What dost Thou?'
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 doth not turn back His anger, Under Him bowed have 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 do I — I answer Him? Choose out 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, I answer not, For my judgment I 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 answereth me, I do not believe that He giveth 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 Because with a tempest He bruiseth me, And hath multiplied my wounds for nought.
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 permitteth me not to refresh my spirit, But filleth 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 of power, lo, the Strong One; And if of judgment — who doth convene me?
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 be righteous, Mine mouth doth declare me wicked, Perfect I am! — it declareth 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 Perfect I am! — I know not my soul, I despise my life.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 It is the same thing, therefore I said, 'The perfect and the wicked He is consuming.'
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 doth put to death suddenly, At the trial of the innocent He laugheth.
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 Earth hath been given Into the hand of the wicked one. The face of its judges he covereth, If not — where, who [is] he?
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 have been swifter than a runner, They have fled, they have not seen 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 on with ships of reed, As an eagle darteth on 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 Though I say, 'I forget my talking, I forsake my corner, and I 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 have been afraid of all my griefs, I have known that Thou dost not acquit me.
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 — I am become wicked; why [is] this? [In] vain I labour.
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 If I have washed myself with snow-water, And purified with soap my hands,
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 Then in corruption Thou dost dip me, And my garments have abominated 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 But if a man like myself — I answer him, 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 If there were between us an umpire, He doth place his hand on 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 He doth turn aside from off me his rod, And His terror doth not make me afraid,
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 I speak, and do not fear Him, But I am not right with 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].”
