Job 9
Revised Geneva Translation
9 Then Job answered, and said,
2 “I know truly that it is so. For how should man be justified with God?
3 “If he would dispute with Him, he could not answer Him one thing of a thousand.
4 “He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has been fierce against him and has prospered?
5 “He removes the mountains and they do not feel when He overthrows them in His wrath.
6 “He shakes the Earth out of its place, so that its pillars tremble.
7 “He Commands the Sun, and it does not rise. He seals up the stars.
8 “He alone spreads out the heavens and walks upon the height of the sea.
9 “He makes Arcturus, Orion, Pleiades, and the chambers of the South.
10 “He does great things, and unsearchable, indeed, marvelous things, without number.
11 “Lo, when He passes by me, I do not see Him. And when He passes by, I do not perceive Him.
12 “Behold, when He takes away, who can make Him restore it? Who shall say to Him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God will not withdraw His anger. The helpers of the proud stoop under Him.
14 “How shall I answer Him? Or how should I find my words with Him?
15 “For though I were just, yet I could not answer, only make supplication to my Judge.
16 “If I cry and He answers me, I do not believe that He heard my voice.
17 “For He destroys me with a storm, and wounds me without cause.
18 “He will not allow me to take my breath but fills me with bitterness.
19 “If we speak of strength, behold, He is strong. If we speak of judgment, who shall bring me in to plead?
20 “If I should justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me. If I wish to be upright, He shall judge me wicked.
21 “I am upright, yet I do not know my soul. I reject life.
22 “These are the same thing. Therefore, I said, ‘He destroys the upright and the wicked.’
23 “If the scourge should suddenly kill, God will mock 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 Him, then Who?
25 “My days have been more swift than a runner. They have fled, and have seen no good thing.
26 “They have passed as the swiftest ships, and as the eagle that flies to the prey.
27 “If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint. I will cease looking sad and put on a smile,’
28 “then I am afraid of my sorrows, knowing that You will not judge me innocent.
29 “If I am wicked, why do I labor in vain?
30 “If I wash myself with snow water, and purge my hands most clean,
31 “You shall still plunge me into the pit. And my own clothes shall make me filthy.
32 “For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him if we met in court.
33 “Nor is there any umpire that might lay his hand upon us both.
34 “Let Him take His rod away from me. And do not let my fear of Him terrify me.
35 “Then I would speak, and not fear Him. But it is not so with me.
Job 9
EasyEnglish Bible
Job replies to Bildad
9 Then Job replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘The things that you have said are true.
But nobody can show God that he is completely good.
3 It is not possible to argue with God.
God can ask 1,000 questions that we cannot answer.
4 God is very wise and he is very powerful.
It is impossible to argue against him and win.
5 He has the power to move mountains suddenly.
When he is angry he can knock them down.
6 He shakes the earth,
to move it from its proper place.
The foundations of the earth shake!
7 He may command the sun not to shine during the day.
He may stop the stars shining at night.
8 God alone put the whole sky in its place.
He marches over the waves of the sea.
9 He put the groups of stars in their places.
He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades.[a]
He put the groups of stars in the southern sky.
10 He does great things that we cannot understand.
He does more wonderful things than we can count.
11 When God passes in front of me,
I do not see him.
If he moves further away,
I do not see where he has gone.
12 If God decides to take something,
nobody can stop him.
Nobody can ask him, “What are you doing?”
13 If God is angry, he will not stop.
He destroys Rahab and the other monsters of the sea.[b]
14 So I can never give an answer to God.
There are no words that I can use to argue with him.
15 Even if I am completely right,
I cannot answer him.
He is my judge.
I can only ask him to be kind to me.
16 He might agree to meet with me in court.
But I do not believe that he would listen to me.
17 He would attack me with a strong storm.
He would hurt me even more, for no reason.
18 He would not allow me to breathe quietly.
Instead, he would make me very upset.
19 If I tried to fight God,
he is much stronger than I am.
And if I ask for justice,
who can bring God to court?
20 I am right. I have not done anything that is wrong.
But my words would say that I am guilty.
21 I have not done anything that is wrong.
But it does not matter what happens to me.
My life is not important to me.
22 The same thing happens to good people and to wicked people.
So I say, “God destroys people who are not guilty
as well as those who are guilty.”
23 When disease comes, people may die suddenly.
God laughs at good people who suffer like that.
24 A wicked man may have power to rule a nation.
Then God stops the judges from being fair.
It must be God who does that.
Who else could it be?
25 The days of my life are passing very quickly,
like a fast runner.
None of my days makes me happy.
26 My days go past like a fast boat on a river.
They move quickly like an eagle
when it flies down to catch its food.
27 I may try to be happy and to smile.
I may try to forget about my troubles.
28 Even then, I will be afraid of all my pain.
God, I know that you think I am guilty.
29 So, if I am guilty,
it is useless to do anything about it.
30 I might wash myself with pure water.
I might clean my hands with soap.
31 But then God would throw me down into a dirty hole.
Even my own clothes would be ashamed of me!
32 God is not a human, as I am.
So I cannot answer him.
We cannot argue with each other in court.
33 There is nobody who can decide which of us is right.
Nobody has authority to judge both of us.
34 Nobody can stop God from punishing me.
If that were possible, I would not be afraid any more.
35 I would speak to God and I would not be afraid.
But now I cannot do that.
Footnotes
- 9:9 The Bear, Orion and the Pleiades are the names of three groups of stars.
- 9:13 See Isaiah 51:9. Rahab was the name of a great sea monster.
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