Job 9

Chapter 9

Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man

¹Then 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;

⁶Who ^ashakes the earth out of its place,

And its ^bpillars tremble;

⁷Who commands 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, 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,’

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 ¹court together.

³³“There is no ^aumpire 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.