Job 9

CHAPTER 9

Job Replies There Is No Adjudicator

¹Then Job answered and said,

²“In truth I know that this is so;

But how can a ^aman be in the right ¹before God?

³“If one desired to ^acontend with Him,

He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

⁴“^aWise in heart and ^bmighty in power,

Who has ^cstiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?

⁵“^aGod is the One who removes the mountains, they know not how,

When He overturns them in His anger;

⁶The One who ^ashakes the earth out of its place,

And its ^bpillars tremble;

⁷The One who says for the ^asun ¹not to shine,

And sets a seal upon the stars;

⁸Who alone ^astretches out the heavens,

And ^1btramples down the waves of the sea;

⁹Who makes the ^aBear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the ^bchambers of the south;

¹⁰Who ^adoes great things, unsearchable,

And wondrous works, innumerable.

¹¹“Were He to sweep by me, ^aI would not see Him;

Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

¹²“Were He to snatch away, who could ^aturn Him back?

Who could say to Him, ‘^bWhat are You doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back His anger;

Beneath Him crouch the helpers of ^aRahab.

¹⁴“How then can ^aI ¹answer Him,

And choose my words ²before Him?

¹⁵“For ^athough I were right, I could not ¹answer;

I would have to ^bplead for the grace of my judge.

¹⁶“If I called and He answered me,

I could not believe that He was giving ear to my voice.

¹⁷“For He ^abruises me with a tempest

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

¹⁸“He will ^anot allow me to get my breath,

But saturates me with ^bbitterness.

¹⁹“If it is a matter of power, ^abehold, He is the mighty one!

And if it is a matter of justice, who can make ¹Him testify?

²⁰“^aThough I am righteous, my mouth will ^bcondemn me;

Though I am blameless, He will declare me perverse.

²¹“I am ^ablameless;

I do not know my soul;

I ^breject my life.

²²“It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He ^aconsumes the blameless and the wicked.’

²³“If the scourge puts to death suddenly,

He ^amocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴“The earth ^ais given into the hand of the wicked;

He ^bcovers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵“Now ^amy days are swifter than a runner;

They flee away; ^bthey do not see good.

²⁶“They sweep by like ^areed boats,

Like an ^beagle that swoops on its food.

²⁷“Though I say, ‘I will forget ^amy musing,

I will forsake my sad countenance and be cheerful,’

²⁸I am ^aafraid of all my pains;

I know that ^bYou will not acquit me.

²⁹“I am accounted ^awicked;

Why then should I toil in vain?

³⁰“If I should ^awash myself with snow

And cleanse ^bmy hands with lye,

³¹Yet You would plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes would abhor me.

³²“For ^aHe is not a man as I am that ^bI may answer Him,

That we may go to court for judgment together.

³³“There is no ^aadjudicator between us,

Who may lay his hand upon us both.

³⁴“Let Him ^aremove His rod from me,

And let not dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵“Then I ^awould speak and not fear Him;

But I am not like that in myself.