Ἰώβ 9
1 ὑπολαβὼν δὲ Ιωβ λέγει
Then Job replied,
2 ἐπ’ ἀληθείας οἶδα ὅτι οὕτως ἐστίν πῶς γὰρ ἔσται δίκαιος βροτὸς παρὰ κυρίῳ
“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 ἐὰν γὰρ βούληται κριθῆναι αὐτῷ οὐ μὴ ὑπακούσῃ αὐτῷ ἵνα μὴ ἀντείπῃ πρὸς ἕνα λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐκ χιλίων
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 σοφὸς γάρ ἐστιν διανοίᾳ κραταιός τε καὶ μέγας τίς σκληρὸς γενόμενος ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ὑπέμεινεν
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 ὁ παλαιῶν ὄρη καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν ὁ καταστρέφων αὐτὰ ὀργῇ
He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
6 ὁ σείων τὴν ὑπ’ οὐρανὸν ἐκ θεμελίων οἱ δὲ στῦλοι αὐτῆς σαλεύονται
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 ὁ λέγων τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ οὐκ ἀνατέλλει κατὰ δὲ ἄστρων κατασφραγίζει
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 ὁ τανύσας τὸν οὐρανὸν μόνος καὶ περιπατῶν ὡς ἐπ’ ἐδάφους ἐπὶ θαλάσσης
He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
9 ὁ ποιῶν Πλειάδα καὶ ἕσπερον καὶ ἀρκτοῦρον καὶ ταμίεια νότου
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 ὁ ποιῶν μεγάλα καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστα ἔνδοξά τε καὶ ἐξαίσια ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀριθμός
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 ἐὰν ὑπερβῇ με οὐ μὴ ἴδω καὶ ἐὰν παρέλθῃ με οὐδ’ ὧς ἔγνων
He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
12 ἐὰν ἀπαλλάξῃ τίς ἀποστρέψει ἢ τίς ἐρεῖ αὐτῷ τί ἐποίησας
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 αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀπέστραπται ὀργήν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐκάμφθησαν κήτη τὰ ὑπ’ οὐρανόν
God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
14 ἐὰν δέ μου ὑπακούσηται ἦ διακρινεῖ τὰ ῥήματά μου
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 ἐάν τε γὰρ ὦ δίκαιος οὐκ εἰσακούσεταί μου τοῦ κρίματος αὐτοῦ δεηθήσομαι
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 ἐάν τε καλέσω καὶ ὑπακούσῃ οὐ πιστεύω ὅτι εἰσακήκοέν μου
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 μὴ γνόφῳ με ἐκτρίψῃ πολλὰ δέ μου τὰ συντρίμματα πεποίηκεν διὰ κενῆς
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 οὐκ ἐᾷ γάρ με ἀναπνεῦσαι ἐνέπλησεν δέ με πικρίας
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἰσχύι κρατεῖ τίς οὖν κρίματι αὐτοῦ ἀντιστήσεται
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 ἐὰν γὰρ ὦ δίκαιος τὸ στόμα μου ἀσεβήσει ἐάν τε ὦ ἄμεμπτος σκολιὸς ἀποβήσομαι
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 εἴτε γὰρ ἠσέβησα οὐκ οἶδα τῇ ψυχῇ πλὴν ὅτι ἀφαιρεῖταί μου ἡ ζωή
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 διὸ εἶπον μέγαν καὶ δυνάστην ἀπολλύει ὀργή
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 ὅτι φαῦλοι ἐν θανάτῳ ἐξαισίῳ ἀλλὰ δίκαιοι καταγελῶνται
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 παραδέδονται γὰρ εἰς χεῖρας ἀσεβοῦς πρόσωπα κριτῶν αὐτῆς συγκαλύπτει εἰ δὲ μὴ αὐτός τίς ἐστιν
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 ὁ δὲ βίος μού ἐστιν ἐλαφρότερος δρομέως ἀπέδρασαν καὶ οὐκ εἴδοσαν
“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 ἦ καὶ ἔστιν ναυσὶν ἴχνος ὁδοῦ ἢ ἀετοῦ πετομένου ζητοῦντος βοράν
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 ἐάν τε γὰρ εἴπω ἐπιλήσομαι λαλῶν συγκύψας τῷ προσώπῳ στενάξω
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 σείομαι πᾶσιν τοῖς μέλεσιν οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι οὐκ ἀθῷόν με ἐάσεις
then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
29 ἐπειδὴ δέ εἰμι ἀσεβής διὰ τί οὐκ ἀπέθανον
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 ἐὰν γὰρ ἀπολούσωμαι χιόνι καὶ ἀποκαθάρωμαι χερσὶν καθαραῖς
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 ἱκανῶς ἐν ῥύπῳ με ἔβαψας ἐβδελύξατο δέ με ἡ στολή
he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
32 οὐ γὰρ εἶ ἄνθρωπος κατ’ ἐμέ ᾧ ἀντικρινοῦμαι ἵνα ἔλθωμεν ὁμοθυμαδὸν εἰς κρίσιν
“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 εἴθε ἦν ὁ μεσίτης ἡμῶν καὶ ἐλέγχων καὶ διακούων ἀνὰ μέσον ἀμφοτέρων
There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
34 ἀπαλλαξάτω ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ τὴν ῥάβδον ὁ δὲ φόβος αὐτοῦ μή με στροβείτω
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 καὶ οὐ μὴ φοβηθῶ ἀλλὰ λαλήσω οὐ γὰρ οὕτω συνεπίσταμαι
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].”
