Job 9

Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be ^ain the right before God?
3 If one wished to ^bcontend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 He is ^cwise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has ^dhardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
6 who ^eshakes the earth out of its place,
and ^fits pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
8 who alone ^gstretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
9 who ^hmade ⁱthe Bear and ^jOrion,
the Pleiades ^kand the chambers of the south;
10 who does ^lgreat things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
11 Behold, he passes by me, and I ^msee him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
12 Behold, he snatches away; ⁿwho can turn him back?
^oWho will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of ^pRahab.
14 ^qHow then can I ^ranswer him,
choosing my words with him?
15 ^sThough I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must ^tappeal for mercy to my accuser. ^{▼▼Or to my judge}
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds ^vwithout cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of ^wstrength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can ^xsummon him? ^{▼▼Compare Septuagint; Hebrew me}
20 Though I am in the right, ^zmy own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am ^aablameless; I regard not myself;
I ^abloathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He ^acdestroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When ^addisaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain} of the innocent.
24 ^afThe earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he ^agcovers the faces of its judges—
^ahif it is not he, who then is it?
25 “My ^aidays are swifter than ^aja runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like ^akskiffs of reed,
like ^alan eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, ^am‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and ^anbe of good cheer,’
28 I become ^aoafraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not ^aphold me innocent.
29 I shall be ^aqcondemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow
and ^arcleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will ^asabhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should ^atcome to trial together.
33 ^auThere is no ^{▼▼Or Would that there were an} arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
34 ^awLet him take his ^axrod away from me,
and let ^aynot dread of him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.