Job 9 (English Standard Version)

Job 9

Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter

 ¹Then Job answered and said:
 ²"Truly I know that it is so:
   But how can a man be^(A) in the right before God?
³If one wished to^(B) contend with him,
   one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
⁴He is^(C) wise in heart and mighty in strength
   —who has^(D) hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
⁵he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
   when he overturns them in his anger,
⁶who^(E) shakes the earth out of its place,
   and^(F) its pillars tremble;
⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
   who seals up the stars;
⁸who alone^(G) stretched out the heavens
   and trampled the waves of the sea;
⁹who^(H) made^(I) the Bear and^(J) Orion,
   the Pleiades^(K) and the chambers of the south;
¹⁰who does^(L) great things beyond searching out,
   and marvelous things beyond number.
¹¹Behold, he passes by me, and I^(M) see him not;
   he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
¹²Behold, he snatches away;^(N) who can turn him back?
   ^(O) Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'

 ¹³"God will not turn back his anger;
   beneath him bowed the helpers of^(P) Rahab.
^14(Q) How then can I^(R) answer him,
   choosing my words with him?
^15(S) Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
   I must^(T) appeal for mercy to my accuser.^[a]
16If I summoned him 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^(U) without cause;
¹⁸he will not let me get my breath,
   but fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹If it is a contest of^(V) strength, behold, he is mighty!
   If it is a matter of justice, who can^(W) summon him?^[b]
20Though I am in the right,^(X) my own mouth would condemn me;
   though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
²¹I am^(Y) blameless; I regard not myself;
   I^(Z) loathe my life.
²²It is all one; therefore I say,
   He^(AA) destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
²³When^(AB) disaster brings sudden death,
   he mocks at the calamity^[c] of the innocent.
^24(AC) The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
   he^(AD) covers the faces of its judges—
   ^(AE) if it is not he, who then is it?

 ²⁵"My^(AF) days are swifter than^(AG) a runner;
   they flee away; they see no good.
²⁶They go by like^(AH) skiffs of reed,
   like^(AI) an eagle swooping on the prey.
²⁷If I say,^(AJ) 'I will forget my complaint,
   I will put off my sad face, and^(AK) be of good cheer,'
²⁸I become^(AL) afraid of all my suffering,
   for I know you will not^(AM) hold me innocent.
²⁹I shall be^(AN) condemned;
   why then do I labor in vain?
³⁰If I wash myself with snow
   and^(AO) cleanse my hands with lye,
³¹yet you will plunge me into a pit,
   and my own clothes will^(AP) abhor me.
³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
   that we should^(AQ) come to trial together.
^33(AR) There is no^[d] arbiter between us,
   who might lay his hand on us both.
^34(AS) Let him take his^(AT) rod away from me,
   and let^(AU) not dread of him terrify me.
³⁵Then I would speak without fear of him,
   for I am not so in myself.