Job 9
Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man
1 Then Job 1answered,
2 “In truth I know that this is so;
But how can a aman be in the right 1before God?
3 “If one wished to adispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
4 “aWise in heart and bmighty in strength,
Who has 1cdefied Him 2without harm?
5 “aIt is God who removes the mountains, they know not how,
When He overturns them in His anger;
6 Who ashakes the earth out of its place,
And its bpillars tremble;
7 Who commands the asun 1not to shine,
And sets a seal upon the stars;
8 Who alone astretches out the heavens
And 1btramples down the waves of the sea;
9 Who makes the aBear, Orion and the Pleiades,
And the bchambers of the south;
10 Who adoes great things, 1unfathomable,
And wondrous works without number.
11 “Were He to pass 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 arestrain Him?
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 bimplore the mercy of my judge.
16 “If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening 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 strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon 1Him?
20 “aThough I am righteous, my mouth will bcondemn me;
Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.
21 “I am aguiltless;
I do not take notice of myself;
I bdespise my life.
22 “It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He adestroys the guiltless and the wicked.’
23 “If the scourge kills 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 see no good.
26 “They slip by like areed boats,
Like an beagle that swoops on 1its prey.
27 “Though I say, ‘I will forget amy complaint,
I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,’
28 I 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,
Job 16
Job Says Friends Are Sorry Comforters
1 Then Job 1answered,
2 “I have heard many such things;
1aSorry comforters are you all.
3 “Is there no limit to awindy words?
Or what plagues you that you answer?
4 “I too could speak like you,
If 1I were in your place.
I could compose words against you
And ashake my head at you.
5 “I could strengthen you with my mouth,
And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.
6 “If I speak, amy pain is not lessened,
And if I hold back, what has left me?
7 “But now He has aexhausted me;
You have laid bwaste all my company.
aIt has become a witness;
And my bleanness rises up against me,
It testifies to my face.
9 “His anger has atorn me and 1hunted me down,
He has bgnashed at me with His teeth;
10 “They have agaped at me with their mouth,
They have 1bslapped me on the cheek with contempt;
They have cmassed themselves against me.
11 “God hands me over to ruffians
And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.
12 “I was at ease, but aHe shattered me,
And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;
He has also set me up as His btarget.
13 “His aarrows surround me.
Without mercy He splits my kidneys open;
He pours out bmy gall on the ground.
14 “He abreaks through me with breach after breach;
He bruns at me like a warrior.
15 “I have sewed asackcloth over my skin
And bthrust my horn in the dust.
16 “My face is flushed from aweeping,
bAnd deep darkness is on my eyelids,
17 Although there is no aviolence in my hands,
And bmy prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
And let there be no resting place for my cry.
19 “Even now, behold, amy witness is in heaven,
20 “My friends are my scoffers;
21 “O that a man might plead with God
As a man with his neighbor!
22 “For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way aof no return.
Job 19
1 Then Job 1responded,
2 “How long will you torment 1me
And crush me with words?
3 “These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 “Even if I have truly erred,
My error lodges with me.
5 “If indeed you avaunt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that aGod has wronged me
And has closed bHis net around me.
7 “Behold, aI cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
8 “He has awalled up my way so that I cannot pass,
And He has put bdarkness on my paths.
9 “He has astripped my honor from me
And removed the bcrown from my head.
10 “He abreaks me down on every side, and I am gone;
And He has uprooted my bhope clike a tree.
11 “He has also akindled His anger against me
And bconsidered me as His enemy.
12 “His atroops come together,
And bbuild up their 1way against me
And camp around my tent.
13 “He has aremoved my brothers far from me,
And my bacquaintances are completely estranged from me.
And my aintimate friends have forgotten me.
15 “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 “I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore him with my mouth.
17 “My breath is 1offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 “Even young children despise me;
I rise up and they speak against me.
19 “All 1my aassociates abhor me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 “My abone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
For the ahand of God has struck me.
22 “Why do you apersecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were ainscribed in a book!
24 “That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 “As for me, I know that amy 1Redeemer lives,
And 2at the last He will take His stand on the 3earth.
26 “Even after my skin 1is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall asee God;
27 Whom I 1myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
28 “If you say, ‘How shall we apersecute him?’
And ‘1What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 “Then be afraid of athe sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know bthere is judgment.”
Job 33
1 “However now, Job, please ahear my speech,
And listen to all my words.
2 “Behold now, I open my mouth,
My tongue in my 1mouth speaks.
3 “My words are from the uprightness of my heart,
And my lips speak aknowledge sincerely.
4 “The aSpirit of God has made me,
And the bbreath of 1the Almighty gives me life.
5 “aRefute me if you can;
Array yourselves before me, take your stand.
6 “Behold, I belong to God like you;
I too have been 1formed out of the aclay.
7 “Behold, ano fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.
8 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
And I have heard the sound of your words:
9 ‘I am apure, bwithout transgression;
I am innocent and there cis no guilt in me.
10 ‘Behold, He 1invents pretexts against me;
He acounts me as His enemy.
11 ‘He aputs my feet in the stocks;
He watches all my paths.’
12 “Behold, let me 1tell you, ayou are not right in this,
For God is greater than man.
13 “Why do you acomplain against Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?
14 “Indeed aGod speaks once,
Or twice, yet no one notices it.
15 “In a adream, a vision of the night,
When sound sleep falls on men,
While they slumber in their beds,
16 Then aHe opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction,
17 That He may turn man aside from his conduct,
And 1keep man from pride;
18 He akeeps back his soul from the pit,
And his life from 1passing over binto Sheol.
19 “1Man is also chastened with apain on his bed,
And with unceasing complaint in his bones;
20 So that his life aloathes bread,
And his soul favorite food.
21 “His aflesh wastes away from sight,
And his bbones which were not seen stick out.
22 “Then ahis soul draws near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.
23 “If there is an angel as amediator for him,
One out of a thousand,
To remind a man what is 1right for him,
24 Then let him be gracious to him, and say,
‘Deliver him from agoing down to the pit,
I have found a bransom’;
25 Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;
26 Then he will apray to God, and He will accept him,
That bhe may see His face with joy,
And He may restore His righteousness to man.
27 “He will sing to men and say,
‘I ahave sinned and perverted what is right,
And it is not bproper for me.
28 ‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,
And my life shall asee the light.’
29 “Behold, God does aall these 1oftentimes with men,
30 To abring back his soul from the pit,
That he