Job 9

9Then Job answered and said,

²I know ^ait is so ^bof a truth:

But ^chow should man be just ^||with God?

³If he will contend with him,

He cannot answer him one of a thousand.

⁴He is ^dwise in heart, and mighty in strength:

Who hath hardened ^ehimself against him, and hath prospered?

⁵Which removeth the mountains, and they know not:

Which overturneth them in his anger.

⁶Which ^fshaketh the earth out of her place,

And ^gthe pillars thereof tremble.

⁷Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;

And sealeth up the stars.

⁸Which alone ^hspreadeth out the heavens,

And treadeth upon the ^†waves of the sea.

⁹ⁱWhich maketh ^†jArcturus, ^kOrion,

And ^kPleiades, and the chambers of the south.

^10lWhich doeth great things past finding out;

Yea, and wonders without number.

¹¹Lo, he goeth by me, and ^mI see him not:

He passeth on also, ^mbut I perceive him not.

¹²Behold, he taketh away, ^†who can hinder him?

ⁿWho will say unto him, What doest thou?

¹³If God will not withdraw his anger,

The ^†proud helpers do stoop under him.

^14oHow much less shall I answer him,

And ^pchoose out my words to reason with him?

^15qWhom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer,

But I would make supplication to my judge.

¹⁶If I had called, and he had answered me;

Yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

¹⁷For he ^rbreaketh me with a tempest,

And multiplieth my wounds ^swithout cause.

¹⁸He will not suffer me ^tto take my breath,

But filleth me with bitterness.

¹⁹If I speak ^uof strength, lo, he is strong:

And if of judgment, ^wwho shall set me a time to plead?

²⁰If I justify myself, ^xmine own mouth shall condemn me:

If I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

²¹Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul:

I would ^ydespise my life.

²²This is one thing, therefore I said it,

^zHe destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

²³If the ^ascourge slay suddenly,

He will laugh at the trial of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked:

^bHe covereth the faces of the judges thereof;

^cIf not, where, and who is he?

²⁵Now ^dmy days are swifter than ^ea post:

They flee away, ^dthey see no good.

²⁶They are passed away as the ^†||swift ships:

As ^fthe eagle that hasteth to the prey.

^27gIf I say, I will forget my complaint,

I will leave off my heaviness, and ^hcomfort myself:

²⁸I am afraid of all my sorrows,

I know that thou ⁱwilt not hold me innocent.

²⁹If I be wicked,

Why then labour I in vain?

³⁰If I wash myself with ^jsnow water,

And ^kmake my hands never so clean;

³¹Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch,

And mine own clothes shall ^||abhor me.

³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,

And ^lwe should come together in judgment.

^33mNeither is there ^†any ^||daysman betwixt us,

That might ⁿlay ^ohis hand upon us both.

^34oLet him take his ^prod away from me,

And ^qlet not his fear terrify me:

³⁵Then would I speak, and not fear him;

^†But it is not so with me.