Job 9
World English Bible
9 Then Job answered,
2 “Truly I know that it is so,
but how can man be just with God?
3 If he is pleased to contend with him,
he can’t answer him one time in a thousand.
4 God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against him and prospered?
5 He removes the mountains, and they don’t know it,
when he overturns them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth out of its place.
Its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun and it doesn’t rise,
and seals up the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
and the rooms of the south.
10 He does great things past finding out;
yes, marvelous things without number.
11 Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him.
He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him.
12 Behold, he snatches away.
Who can hinder him?
Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God will not withdraw his anger.
The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
14 How much less will I answer him,
And choose my words to argue with him?
15 Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him.
I would make supplication to my judge.
16 If I had called, and he had answered me,
yet I wouldn’t believe that he listened to my voice.
17 For he breaks me with a storm,
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catch my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’
20 Though I am righteous, my own mouth will condemn me.
Though I am blameless, it will prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless.
I don’t respect myself.
I despise my life.
22 “It is all the same.
Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.
23 If the scourge kills suddenly,
he will mock at the trial of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
He covers the faces of its judges.
If not he, then who is it?
25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner.
They flee away. They see no good.
26 They have passed away as the swift ships,
as the eagle that swoops on the prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;’
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows,
I know that you will not hold me innocent.
29 I will be condemned.
Why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me in the ditch.
My own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,
that we should come together in judgment.
33 There is no umpire between us,
that might lay his hand on us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me.
Let his terror not make me afraid;
35 then I would speak, and not fear him,
for I am not so in myself.
Job 9
International Standard Version
Job Cannot Argue with His Creator
9 This was Job’s response:
2 “Indeed, I’m fully aware that this is so,
but how can a person become right with God?
3 If one were to seek to argue with him,
he won’t be able to answer him even once in a thousand times.
4 He is wise in heart and strong in will—
who can be stubborn against him and succeed?
5 “He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overthrowing them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth from its orbit,[a]
so that its foundations shudder.
7 He commands the sun so that it doesn’t shine[b]
and seals up the stars.
8 He alone spreads out the heavens,
he walks on the waves[c] of the sea.
9 He created Bear, Orion, the Pleiades,
and the southern constellations.
10 He does great things that cannot be explained,
and awesome deeds that cannot be counted.
11 “If he were to pass near me, I wouldn’t notice;
if he moves by, I wouldn’t perceive him.
12 Indeed, if he snatches someone[d] away,
who could restrain him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God doesn’t restrain his anger.
Rahab’s assistants are humiliated under him.
14 So how am I to answer him,
choosing what I am to say to him?
15 Even if I’m in the right,
I cannot answer him.
I can only appeal for mercy.
16 “Were I to be summoned, and he were to answer me,
I wouldn’t even believe
that he was listening to what I have to say.[e]
17 For he crushes me with a storm,
and keeps on wounding me for no reason.
18 He won’t let me catch my breath;
instead, he fills me with bitterness.
19 “Is this a contest of strength? He is obviously stronger!
Is this a matter of justice? Who can sue him?
20 Though I’m in the right, my own mouth will condemn me;
though I’m blameless, he’ll pronounce me as guilty.
21 “I’m blameless;
I don’t know myself;
I despise my life.
22 I say it’s all the same—
he destroys both the blameless and the guilty.[f]
23 If a calamity[g] causes sudden death,
he’ll mock at the despair of the innocent.
24 A land is given into the hands of a wicked person;[h]
he covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not God,[i] then who is it?”
Job Argues that God Won’t Acquit Him
25 “My days pass faster than a runner;
but they pass quickly without seeing anything good.
26 They pass by like a ship made of reeds,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27 If I were to say, ‘Let me forget my complaint,’
change[j] the expression on[k] my face, and look cheerful,
28 then I still dread all of my suffering;
I know you still won’t acquit me.
29 I will be condemned,
so why should I wear myself out with this futility?
30 “If I wash myself with water from snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 you’ll still drop me into the Pit,[l]
and my own clothes will despise me.
32 He’s not a man like me,
so that I can answer him,
or that we can enter into litigation[m] with one another.
33 There is not yet a mediator between us,
who would set his hand on the two of us,
34 removing his rod from me,
and not letting terror of him overwhelm me.
35 Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him,
because I’m not like that inside myself.”
Footnotes
- Job 9:6 Lit. place
- Job 9:7 Lit. rise
- Job 9:8 Lit. high places
- Job 9:12 The Heb. lacks someone
- Job 9:16 Lit. to my voice
- Job 9:22 Or wicked
- Job 9:23 Or scourge
- Job 9:24 Lit. man
- Job 9:24 Lit. he
- Job 9:27 Lit. forsake
- Job 9:27 The Heb. lacks the expression on
- Job 9:31 I.e. the place of punishment in the afterlife
- Job 9:32 Lit. controversy
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