Job 9 Easy-to-Read Version

Job Answers Bildad

9 Then Job answered:

²“Of course, I know that this is true.
    But how can a human being win an argument with God?
³Anyone who chose to argue with him
    could not answer one question in a thousand!
⁴God is so wise and powerful that
    no one could oppose him and survive.
⁵When God is angry, he moves mountains before they know what happened.
⁶He can shake the earth,
    and it will tremble down to its foundations.
⁷With one command he can stop the sun from rising.
    He can lock up the stars and keep them from shining.
⁸He alone made the skies,
    and he walks on the ocean waves.

⁹“God made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades.^[a]
    He made the planets that cross the southern sky.^[b]
¹⁰He does things too marvelous for people to understand.
    He does too many miracles to count!
¹¹When he passes by, I cannot see him.
    He goes right past me, and I don’t notice.
¹²If he takes something away, no one can stop him.
    No one can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
¹³God will not hold back his anger.
    Even Rahab’s helpers are afraid of him.
¹⁴So I cannot argue with God.
    I would not know what to say to him.
¹⁵I am innocent, but I cannot give him an answer.
    All I can do is beg my Judge for mercy.
¹⁶Even if I called and he answered,
    I cannot believe he would listen to me.
¹⁷He would just send storms to crush me.
    He would give me more wounds for no reason.
¹⁸He would not let me catch my breath again.
    He would just give me more trouble.
¹⁹I cannot defeat God.
    He is too powerful!
I cannot take him to court for justice.
    Who could force him to come?
²⁰I am innocent, but anything I say makes me seem guilty.
    I am innocent, but if I speak, my mouth proves me wrong.
²¹I am innocent, but I don’t know what to think.
    I hate my own life.
²²So I say, ‘Does it make any difference?
    God destroys the innocent as well as the guilty.’
²³Is it God who laughs when a disaster kills innocent people?
²⁴Is it God who keeps the leaders from seeing when an evil person takes control?
    If it is not God, then who is it?

²⁵“My days are passing faster than a runner.
They are flying by without any joy.
²⁶They go by as quickly as papyrus boats,
as fast as an eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷“I could say, ‘I will not complain.
    I will forget my pain and put a smile on my face.’
²⁸But the suffering still frightens me.
    I know that God will not see me as innocent.
²⁹I will be found guilty,
    so why should I even think about it?
³⁰Even if I scrubbed my hands with soap
    and washed myself whiter than snow,
³¹God would still push me into the slime pit,^[c]
    and even my clothes would hate to touch me.
³²God is not a human like me, so I cannot argue with him.
    I cannot take him to court.
³³I wish there were someone who could listen to both sides,^[d]
    someone to judge both of us in a fair way.
³⁴I wish someone could take away the threat of God’s punishment.
    Then he would not frighten me anymore.
³⁵Then I could say what I want without being afraid of him.
    But I cannot do that now.

Footnotes

Job 9:9 Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades Names of well-known constellations (groups of stars) in the night sky.
Job 9:9 planets … sky Literally, “Rooms of the South” or “Rooms of Teman.” This might be the planets or the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. North of the equator, these seem to move across the southern sky.
Job 9:31 slime pit The grave, a place where bodies rot.
Job 9:33 someone … sides Literally, “a mediator” or “an umpire.”