JobChapter 9

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¹Then Job answered: ²"Yes, I know that this is true.
But how can a human be right before God? ³If someone wanted to argue with God,
he could not answer him once in a thousand times. ⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has fought against him and come out well? ⁵He moves mountains before they know it.
He turns them over in his anger. ⁶He shakes the earth out of its place.
He makes its pillars tremble. ⁷He tells the sun not to shine.
He shuts away the stars. ⁸He alone spreads out the skies.
He walks on the waves of the sea. ⁹He made the Bear and Orion.
He made the Pleiades and the star groups of the south. ¹⁰He does great things that no one can figure out.
He does more wonders than anyone can count. ¹¹If he passed by me, I would not see him.
If he moved along, I would not know it was him. ¹²If he takes something away, who can stop him?
Who would dare ask him, 'What are you doing?' ¹³God does not hold back his anger.
Even the helpers of Rahab bow down in fear under him.a ¹⁴So how can I answer him?
How can I choose words to argue with him? ¹⁵For even if I were in the right, I could not answer him.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy. ¹⁶Suppose I called him to court and he answered me.
I still don't believe he would listen to me. ¹⁷For he would crush me with a storm.
He would add to my wounds for no reason. ¹⁸He does not let me catch my breath.
He fills me with bitter pain. ¹⁹If it is a contest of strength, he is truly mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can call him to court? ²⁰Even if I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me.
If I were without blame, it would say I was guilty. ²¹I am without blame, but I don't care about myself.
I hate my own life. ²²It is all the same. So I say,
'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' ²³When a plague brings sudden death,
he laughs at the despair of the innocent. ²⁴The earth is handed over to the wicked.
He covers the eyes of its judges.
If he is not the one doing it, then who is? ²⁵My days go by faster than a runner.
They fly away without seeing anything good. ²⁶They glide by like boats made of papyrus.
They are like an eagle diving down on its prey. ²⁷If I say, 'I will forget my complaint.
I will change the look on my face and smile,' ²⁸I would still be afraid of all my suffering.
I know you will not find me innocent. ²⁹I am already found guilty.
So why should I work so hard for nothing? ³⁰If I washed myself with snow
and cleaned my hands with strong soap, ³¹then you would throw me into the pit.
Even my own clothes would hate me. ³²For God is not a man like me, so that I could answer him.
We can't go to court together. ³³There is no mediator to stand between us.
There is no one to put his hand on us both. ³⁴Let God take his rod away from me.
Then his terror will no longer scare me. ³⁵Then I would speak without being afraid of him.
But as things are now, I am on my own."