Job 9

Job: There is No Mediator

9Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know it is so,

But how can a ^aman be ^brighteous before God?

³If one wished to ¹contend with Him,

He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

^4cGod is wise in heart and mighty in strength.

Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

⁵He removes the mountains, and they do not know

When He overturns them in His anger;

⁶He ^dshakes the earth out of its place,

And its ^epillars tremble;

⁷He commands the sun, and it does not rise;

He seals off the stars;

^8fHe alone spreads out the heavens,

And ²treads on the ³waves of the sea;

^9gHe made ⁴the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

^10hHe does great things past finding out,

Yes, wonders without number.

¹¹ⁱIf He goes by me, I do not see Him;

If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;

^12jIf He takes away, ⁵who can hinder Him?

Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³God will not withdraw His anger,

^kThe allies of ⁶the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

¹⁴“How then can I answer Him,

And choose my words to reason with Him?

^15lFor though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;

I would beg mercy of my Judge.

¹⁶If I called and He answered me,

I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.

¹⁷For He crushes me with a tempest,

And multiplies my wounds ^mwithout cause.

¹⁸He will not allow me to catch my breath,

But fills me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;

And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?

²⁰Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;

Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;

I despise my life.

²²It is all one thing;

Therefore I say, ⁿ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’

²³If the scourge slays suddenly,

He laughs at the plight of the innocent.

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

He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, who else could it be?

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

They flee away, they see no good.

²⁶They pass by like ⁷swift ships,

^pLike an eagle swooping on its prey.

^27qIf I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’

^28rI am afraid of all my sufferings;

I know that You ^swill not hold me innocent.

²⁹If I am condemned,

Why then do I labor in vain?

^30tIf I wash myself with snow water,

And cleanse my hands with ⁸soap,

³¹Yet You will plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes will ⁹abhor me.

³²“For ^uHe is not a man, as I am,

That I may answer Him,

And that we should go to court together.

^33vNor is there any mediator between us,

Who may lay his hand on us both.

^34wLet Him take His rod away from me,

And do not let dread of Him terrify me.

³⁵Then I would speak and not fear Him,

But it is not so with me.