Job 9-12

New American Standard Bible

Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Mankind

9 Then Job responded,

²“In truth I know that this is so;
But how can a ^(A)person be in the right with God?
³If one wished to ^(B)dispute with Him,
He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
⁴^(C)Wise in heart and ^(D)mighty in strength,
Who has ^[a]^(E)defied Him ^[b]without harm?
⁵^(F)It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know how,
When He overturns them in His anger.
⁶It is He who ^(G)shakes the earth from its place,
And its ^(H)pillars tremble;
⁷Who commands the ^(I)sun ^[c]not to shine,
And puts a seal on the stars;
⁸Who alone ^(J)stretches out the heavens,
And ^[d]^(K)tramples down the waves of the sea;
⁹Who makes the ^(L)Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the ^[e]^(M)constellations of the south.
¹⁰It is He who ^(N)does great things, ^[f]the unfathomable,
And wondrous works without number.
¹¹If He were to pass by me, ^(O)I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
¹²If He were to snatch away, who could ^(P)restrain Him?
Who could say to Him, ‘^(Q)What are You doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back His anger;
Beneath Him the helpers of ^[g]^(R)Rahab cower.
¹⁴How then can ^(S)I ^[h]answer Him,
And choose my words ^[i]before Him?
¹⁵For ^(T)though I were right, I could not ^[j]answer;
I would have to ^(U)implore the mercy of my Judge.
¹⁶If I called and He answered me,
I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.
¹⁷For He ^(V)bruises me with a storm
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
¹⁸He will ^(W)not allow me to get my breath,
But He saturates me with ^(X)bitterness.
¹⁹If it is a matter of power, ^(Y)behold, He is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon ^[k]Him?
²⁰^(Z)Though I am righteous, my mouth will ^(AA)condemn me;
Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.
²¹I am ^(AB)guiltless;
I do not take notice of myself;
I ^(AC)reject my life.
²²It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He ^(AD)destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’
²³If the whip kills suddenly,
He ^(AE)mocks the despair of the innocent.
²⁴The earth ^(AF)is handed over to the wicked;
He ^(AG)covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵“Now ^(AH)my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, ^(AI)they see no good.
²⁶They slip by like ^(AJ)reed boats,
Like an ^(AK)eagle that swoops on ^[l]its prey.
²⁷Though I say, ‘I will forget ^(AL)my complaint,
I will ^[m]put my face in order and be cheerful,’
²⁸I am ^(AM)afraid of all my pains,
I know that ^(AN)You will not acquit me.
²⁹I am ^(AO)guilty,
Why then should I struggle in vain?
³⁰If I ^(AP)washed myself with snow,
And cleansed ^(AQ)my hands with lye,
³¹Then You would plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes would loathe me.
³²For ^(AR)He is not a man, as I am, that ^(AS)I may answer Him—
That we may go to ^[n]court together!
³³There is no ^(AT)arbitrator between us,
Who can place his hand upon us both.
³⁴Let Him ^(AU)remove His rod from me,
And let not the dread of Him terrify me.
³⁵Then I ^(AV)would speak and not fear Him;
But I am not like that in myself.

Job Despairs of God’s Dealings

10 “^[o]^(AW)I am disgusted with my own life;
I will express ^(AX)my complaint freely;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
²I will say to God, ‘^(AY)Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.
³Is it ^[p]right for You indeed to ^(AZ)oppress,
To reject ^(BA)the work of Your hands,
And ^[q]to look favorably on ^(BB)the plan of the wicked?
⁴Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You ^(BC)see as mankind sees?
⁵Are Your days like the days of a mortal,
Or ^(BD)Your years like a man’s year,
⁶That ^(BE)You should search for my guilt
And carefully seek my sin?
⁷According to Your knowledge ^(BF)I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is ^(BG)no one to save me from Your hand.

⁸‘^(BH)Your hands fashioned and made me ^[r]altogether,
^(BI)Yet would You destroy me?
⁹Remember that You have made me as ^(BJ)clay;
Yet would You ^(BK)turn me into dust again?
¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And intertwine me with bones and tendons?
¹²You have ^(BL)granted me life and ^[s]goodness;
And Your care has guarded my spirit.
¹³Yet You have concealed ^(BM)these things in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
¹⁴If I have sinned, You will ^(BN)take note of me,
And ^(BO)will not acquit me of my guilt.
¹⁵If ^(BP)I am wicked, woe to me!
But if ^(BQ)I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am full of shame, and ^[t]conscious of my misery.
¹⁶And should my head be high, ^(BR)You would hunt me like a lion;
And You would show Your ^(BS)power against me again.
¹⁷You renew ^(BT)Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
^[u]^(BU)Hardship after hardship is with me.

¹⁸‘^(BV)Why then did You bring me out of the womb?
If only I had died and no eye had seen me!
¹⁹I should have been as though I had not been,
Brought from womb to tomb.’
²⁰Would He not leave ^(BW)my few days alone?
^[v]^(BX)Withdraw from me so that I may have a little cheerfulness
²¹Before I go—^(BY)and I shall not return—
^(BZ)To the land of darkness and ^(CA)deep shadow,
²²The land of utter gloom like darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And it shines like darkness.”

Zophar Rebukes Job

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite responded,

²“Shall a multitude of words go unanswered,
And a ^(CB)talkative man be acquitted?
³Shall your boasts silence people?
And will you ^(CC)scoff, and no one rebuke?
⁴For ^(CD)you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And ^(CE)I am innocent in your eyes.’
⁵But if only God would speak,
And open His lips against you,
⁶And show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom ^[w]^(CF)has two sides.
Know then that God ^[x]forgets part of ^(CG)your guilt.

⁷“^(CH)Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
⁸They are as ^(CI)high as ^[y]the heavens; what can you do?
Deeper than ^[z]^(CJ)Sheol; what can you know?
⁹Its measurement is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea.
¹⁰If He passes by or apprehends people,
Or calls an assembly, ^(CK)who can restrain Him?
¹¹For ^(CL)He knows false people,
And He ^(CM)sees injustice ^[aa]without investigating.
¹²^[ab]^(CN)An idiot will become intelligent
When a ^(CO)wild donkey is born a human.

¹³“^(CP)If you would ^(CQ)direct your heart rightly
And ^(CR)spread out your hands to Him,
¹⁴If wrongdoing is in your hand, ^(CS)put it far away,
And do not let malice dwell in your tents;
¹⁵Then, indeed, you could ^(CT)lift up your face without moral blemish,
And you would be firmly established and ^(CU)not fear.
¹⁶For you would ^(CV)forget your trouble;
Like ^(CW)waters that have passed by, you would remember it.
¹⁷Your ^[ac]life would ^[ad]be ^(CX)brighter than noonday;
Darkness would be like the morning.
¹⁸Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.
¹⁹You would ^(CY)lie down and none would disturb you,
And many would ^[ae]^(CZ)flatter you.
²⁰But the ^(DA)eyes of the wicked will fail,
And ^[af]there will ^(DB)be no escape for them;
And their ^(DC)hope is ^[ag]^(DD)to breathe their last.”

Job Chides His Accusers

12 Then Job responded,

²“Truly then ^(DE)you are the people,
And with you wisdom will die!
³But ^(DF)I have intelligence as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
And ^[ah]who does not know such things as these?
⁴I am a ^(DG)joke to ^[ai]my friends,
The one who called on God and He answered him;
The just and ^(DH)blameless man is a joke.
⁵^[aj]He who is at ease holds disaster in contempt,
As prepared for those whose feet slip.
⁶The ^(DI)tents of the destroyers prosper,
And those who provoke God ^(DJ)are secure,
^[ak]Whom God brings ^(DK)into their power.

⁷“But just ask the animals, and have them teach you;
And the birds of the sky, and have them tell you.
⁸Or speak to the earth, and have it teach you;
And have the fish of the sea tell you.
⁹Who among all these does not know
That ^(DL)the hand of the Lord has done this,
¹⁰^(DM)In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And ^(DN)the breath of all mankind?
¹¹Does ^(DO)the ear not put words to the test,
As the palate ^[al]tastes its food?
¹²Wisdom is with the ^(DP)aged,
And with ^[am]long life comes understanding.

Job Speaks of the Power of God

¹³“^(DQ)Wisdom and ^(DR)might are with Him;
Advice and ^(DS)understanding belong to Him.
¹⁴Behold, He ^(DT)tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He ^[an]^(DU)imprisons a person, and ^[ao]there is no release.
¹⁵Behold, He ^(DV)restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He ^(DW)sends them out, and they ^[ap]inundate the earth.
¹⁶Strength and sound wisdom are with Him.
One who ^(DX)goes astray and one who leads astray belong to Him.
¹⁷He makes ^(DY)advisers walk ^[aq]barefoot
And makes fools of ^(DZ)judges.
¹⁸He ^(EA)undoes the binding of kings,
And ties a loincloth around their waist.
¹⁹He makes priests walk ^[ar]barefoot,
And overthrows ^(EB)the secure ones.
²⁰He deprives the trusted ones of speech,
And ^(EC)takes away the discernment of the elders.
²¹He ^(ED)pours contempt on nobles,
And ^(EE)loosens the belt of the strong.
²²He ^(EF)reveals mysteries from the darkness,
And brings the deep darkness into light.
²³He ^(EG)makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He ^[as]enlarges the nations, then leads them away.
²⁴He ^(EH)deprives the leaders of the earth’s people of ^[at]intelligence
And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
²⁵They ^(EI)grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them ^(EJ)stagger like a drunken person.