约伯记 9
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
約伯承認 神的智慧與能力
9 約伯回答說：
2 “我實在知道是這樣，
但是，人在 神面前怎能算為公義呢？
3 人若願意與他辯論，
連千分之一也答不出來。
4 他心裡有智慧，而且有極大的能力，
有誰對他剛硬而平安無事呢？
5 他在怒中移山翻岡；
山岡卻不知道；
6 他使大地震動離開本處，
大地的柱子就搖撼；
7 他吩咐太陽，太陽就不上升，
又封閉眾星；
8 他獨自鋪開蒼天，
步行在海浪之上；
9 他造北斗與參星，
昴星和南方的星座；
10 他所行的大事無法測度，
所行的奇事不可勝數。
11 他行過我身邊，我卻看不見；
他掠過去，我竟不覺察。
12 他奪取，誰能攔阻他？
誰敢問他：‘你幹甚麼？’
人受苦難不一定因為罪
13 神必不抑制他的怒氣，
海怪拉哈伯的助手都俯伏在他以下。
14 何況我呢？我怎敢回答他，
措辭與他辯論呢？
15 即使我有理，也不敢回答，
只向那審判我的求憐憫；
16 即使我呼求，他也回答我，
我還是不信他會垂聽我的聲音。
17 他用暴風傷害我，
無緣無故加添我的創傷。
18 他不讓我喘一口氣，
卻使我飽嘗苦楚。
19 若論力量，他多麼強大，
若論訴訟，他說：‘誰能把我傳來？’
20 即使我有理，我的口還是定我有罪；
即使我完全，我的口還是判我乖謬。
21 我雖然完全，卻不顧我自己，
倒厭惡我的生命。
22 所以我說，善惡都是一樣，
完全人和惡人，他都滅盡。
23 災禍忽然把人殺害的時候，
他就必嘲笑無辜人的遭遇。
24 全世界交在惡人的手中，
他蒙蔽世上審判官的臉，
如果不是他，那麼是誰呢？
25 我的日子過得比信差還快，
飛快逝去，不見福樂。
26 我的日子消逝有如快船，
好像俯衝猛撲食物的鷹。
27 我若說：‘我要忘記我的苦情，
要除去愁容，面露喜樂。’
28 我就懼怕我的一切痛苦，
因為我知道你必不以我為無辜。
29 我既然被定為有罪，
又何必徒然勞苦呢？
30 我若用雪水洗淨我的身，
又用鹼水潔淨我的手，
31 你還是把我扔入坑中，
連我的衣服也憎惡我。
32 他不像我是個人，
使我可以答他，讓我們一起對簿公堂。
33 我倆之間並沒有仲裁者，
能夠按手在我們雙方身上。
34 願他使他的刑杖離開我，
願他可畏的威嚴不驚嚇我，
35 我就說話，也不怕他，
因為我本身並不是這種人。”
Job 9
The Message
Job Continues
How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?
9 1-13 Job continued by saying:
“So what’s new? I know all this.
The question is, ‘How can mere mortals get right with God?’
If we wanted to bring our case before him,
what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!
God’s wisdom is so deep, God’s power so immense,
who could take him on and come out in one piece?
He moves mountains before they know what’s happened,
flips them on their heads on a whim.
He gives the earth a good shaking up,
rocks it down to its very foundations.
He tells the sun, ‘Don’t shine,’ and it doesn’t;
he pulls the blinds on the stars.
All by himself he stretches out the heavens
and strides on the waves of the sea.
He designed the Big Dipper and Orion,
the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.
We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does;
his miracle-surprises can’t be counted.
Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don’t see him;
quietly but surely he’s active, and I miss it.
If he steals you blind, who can stop him?
Who’s going to say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
God doesn’t hold back on his anger;
even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.
14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,
construct a defense that would influence God?
Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;
I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.
If I called on God and he himself answered me,
then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.
As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,
beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.
He won’t even let me catch my breath,
piles bitterness upon bitterness.
If it’s a question of who’s stronger, he wins, hands down!
If it’s a question of justice, who’ll serve him the subpoena?
Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;
blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.
If God’s Not Responsible, Who Is?
21-24 “Believe me, I’m blameless.
I don’t understand what’s going on.
I hate my life!
Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude
that God destroys the good right along with the bad.
When calamity hits and brings sudden death,
he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.
He lets the wicked take over running the world,
he installs judges who can’t tell right from wrong.
If he’s not responsible, who is?
25-31 “My time is short—what’s left of my life races off
too fast for me to even glimpse the good.
My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail,
like an eagle plummeting to its prey.
Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me,
I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,’
All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut
since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.
The verdict has already been handed down—‘Guilty!’—
so what’s the use of protests or appeals?
Even if I scrub myself all over
and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,
It wouldn’t last—you’d push me into a pigpen, or worse,
so nobody could stand me for the stink.
32-35 “God and I are not equals; I can’t bring a case against him.
We’ll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator
to step in and let me get on with life—
To break God’s death grip on me,
to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.
Then I’d speak up and state my case boldly.
As things stand, there is no way I can do it.”
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson