Job 9

9:1

Then Job answered:

9:2

“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

9:3

If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

9:4

God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?

9:5

He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.

9:6

He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.

9:7

He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.

9:8

He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

9:9

He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

9:10

He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.

9:11

Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.

9:12

If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

9:13

God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

9:14

How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?

9:15

For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

9:16

If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

9:17

For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.

9:18

He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.

9:19

If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

9:20

Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

9:21

Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

9:22

It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

9:23

When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

9:24

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

9:25

My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.

9:26

They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

9:27

If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’

9:28

I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.

9:29

Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?

9:30

If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,

9:31

then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.

9:32

For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.

9:33

Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.

9:34

Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

9:35

Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.