Job 9
New Catholic Bible
Job’s Second Response[a]
Chapter 9
The Irresistible Power of God.[b] 1 Job then answered with these words:
2 “Indeed, I realize that this is true,
but how can anyone claim to be righteous before God?
3 If someone wished to debate with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand.
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who then has resisted him and remained unscathed?
5 “He moves mountains without their realizing it
and overturns them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth out of its place,
and makes its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals up the light of the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and tramples upon the waves of the sea.
9 He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades[c] and the constellations of the South.
10 “God performs deeds that are beyond understanding
and marvels that cannot be numbered.
11 If he passes near me, I do not see him;
he moves on, imperceptible to me.
12 If he snatches something away, who can stop him?
Who will dare to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not relent in his wrath;
the servants of Rahab lie prostrate at his feet.
Even If I Am Innocent, How Can I Answer God?[d]
14 “How then can I possibly reply to him
or devise arguments to counter him?
15 Even if I am innocent, how can I answer him?
I can only plead that he have mercy on me.
16 “Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe that he would listen to what I said.
17 He might crush me in a tempest
and multiply my wounds without cause.
18 He might leave me no opportunity to regain my breath
and fill me with bitterness.
19 “If it is a contest of strength,
I cannot compete with him.
If it is a matter of judgment,
who can summon him to present his evidence?
20 Even though I am innocent,
my own mouth might condemn me.
Even though I am blameless,
he might prove me guilty.
21 But am I without blame?
I am no longer certain.
Life itself I despise.
22 “It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the innocent and the wicked.’
23 When a deadly scourge suddenly appears,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 When the earth is given into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds the eyes of its judges.[e]
If it is not he who does so,
then who else is responsible?
There Is No Arbiter To Judge between God and Me
25 “My days pass more swiftly than a runner;
they fly away without any experience of happiness.
26 They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping upon its prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaints,
I will put on a cheerful face instead of a sad countenance,’
28 I will still dread my sufferings,
for I know that you will not hold me innocent.
29 “If I am to be condemned as guilty,
why then should I struggle in vain?
30 If I should wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 you would plunge me into a dung-filled ditch
so that even my clothes would abhor me.
32 “For God is not a man like me,
someone before whom I can plead my case
or whom I can confront in a court.
33 There is no arbiter to judge between us
with the power to render a verdict,
34 someone who could remove God’s rod from me
so that I would not shrink from him in terror.
35 Then I would speak out without fear of him,
for I know I am not what I am thought to be.
Footnotes
- Job 9:1 Far from denying the justice of God, Job proclaims it in his turn, but he will focus attention on the mystery of this justice by emphasizing the fearful power of the Creator and his seeming hostility to the human beings who have come from his own hands.
- Job 9:1 This first hymn to God the Creator emphasizes the nothingness of human beings. The Book of Job shows a liking for these grandiose visions in which we find the ancient cosmology reflected: earth is like a building set on pillars that reach down into the abyss (v. 6); in the firmament God has set constellations that cannot all be identified with certainty (v. 9).
- Job 9:9 Bear . . . Orion . . . Pleiades: three constellations, whose creation by God was evidence of his overwhelming might. They reappear in Job 38:31-32, and the last two are found in Am 5:8.
- Job 9:14 Hounded by the desire to obtain justice, Job would like to come before God. But the heavy burden of the trial leads him to have doubts both about his own virtue and about the justice of God.
- Job 9:24 Blindfolds the eyes of [the earth’s] judges: in our day, we portray Lady Justice as wearing a blindfold, meaning that she will be an impartial judge. Job accused God of blindfolding the judges of his time so that they would be oblivious to both crimes and innocence.
Job 9
Segond 21
Intervention n° 3 de Job
9 Job prit la parole et dit:
2 «C’est vrai, je sais bien que telle est la situation.
Comment l'homme pourrait-il être juste devant Dieu?
3 Si l’homme voulait contester avec Dieu,
il ne pourrait même pas lui donner une seule réponse sur mille.
4 C’est à lui qu’appartiennent la sagesse et la toute-puissance.
Qui lui a déjà résisté sans subir de dommage?
5 »C’est lui qui déplace les montagnes à l’improviste,
qui les bouleverse dans sa colère.
6 Il fait trembler la terre sur elle-même,
et ses piliers sont ébranlés.
7 Il donne ses ordres au soleil, et le soleil ne paraît pas;
il verrouille le ciel autour des étoiles.
8 Tout seul, il déploie le ciel,
il marche sur les hauteurs de la mer.
9 Il a fait la Grande Ourse, Orion et les Pléiades,
ainsi que les constellations du sud.
10 C’est lui l’auteur de grandeurs qu’il est impossible d’explorer,
de merveilles si nombreuses qu’il est impossible de les compter.
11 »S’il passe près de moi, je ne le vois pas;
s’il disparaît, je ne m’en aperçois pas.
12 S'il arrache, qui s'y opposera?
Qui lui dira: ‘Que fais-tu?’
13 Dieu ne retire pas sa colère;
devant lui les appuis de l’orgueilleux s’effondrent.
14 »Et moi, comment pourrais-je lui répondre?
Quels mots pourrais-je choisir pour argumenter avec lui?
15 Même si je suis juste, je ne répondrai pas.
Je ne peux qu'implorer la grâce de mon juge.
16 Même si je faisais appel à lui et qu’il me réponde,
je ne croirais pas qu'il m’a écouté,
17 puisqu’il m'assaille par une tempête
et multiplie sans raison mes blessures.
18 Il ne me laisse pas reprendre mon souffle,
tant il me rassasie d'amertume. 19 Si je veux recourir à la force, voici qu’il est tout-puissant!
Si c’est au droit, qui me fera comparaître?
20 Même si je suis juste, ma bouche me condamnera;
même si je suis intègre, elle me déclarera coupable.
21 »Suis-je intègre? Je ne le sais pas moi-même.
Je suis dégoûté de mon existence.
22 Qu'importe après tout? En effet, j'ose le dire,
il extermine l'homme intègre aussi bien que le méchant. 23 Si un fléau donne subitement la mort,
il se moque de la détresse des innocents.
24 La terre est livrée entre les mains du méchant:
il aveugle ses juges.
Si ce n'est pas lui, qui est-ce donc?
25 »Plus rapides qu'un coureur, mes jours
prennent la fuite sans avoir vu le bonheur.
26 Ils filent comme des barques de jonc,
pareils à l'aigle qui fonce sur sa proie.
27 Si je dis: ‘Je veux oublier ma plainte,
laisser ma tristesse, reprendre courage’,
28 je reste effrayé par toutes mes douleurs.
»Je sais que tu ne me considéreras pas comme innocent.
29 C’est moi qui serai jugé coupable.
Pourquoi me fatiguer inutilement?
30 Si je me lavais dans la neige,
si je purifiais mes mains avec du savon,
31 tu me plongerais dans la boue
et mes habits m'auraient en horreur.
32 »Dieu n'est pas un homme comme moi, pour que je lui réponde,
pour que nous allions ensemble en justice.
33 Il n'y a pas entre nous de médiateur
qui pose sa main sur nous deux.
34 Qu'il retire son bâton de dessus moi,
que ses terreurs ne me tourmentent plus!
35 Alors je parlerai sans avoir peur de lui,
mais ce n’est pas le cas et je reste seul avec moi-même.
Job 9
King James Version
9 Then Job answered and said,
2 I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
5 Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
10 Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
16 If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
18 He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
20 If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
23 If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29 If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
33 Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
Version Segond 21 Copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève