Job 9
9
Job's Reply to Bildad
What You Say Is True
1Job said:
2 #
Job 4.17. What you say is true.
No human is innocent
in the sight of God.
3Not once in a thousand times
could we win our case
if we took him to court.
4God is wise and powerful—
who could possibly
oppose him and win?
5When God becomes angry,
he can move mountains
before they even know it.
6God can shake the earth loose
from its foundations
7 #
Ba 3.34,35. or command the sun and stars
to hold back their light.
8God alone stretched out the sky,
stepped on the sea,#9.8 sea: Or “sea monster” (see verse 13 and the note there).
9 #
Job 38.31; Am 5.8. and set the stars in place—
the Big Dipper and Orion,
the Pleiades and the stars
in the southern sky.
10Of all the miracles God works,
we cannot understand a one.
11God walks right past me,
without making a sound.
12And if he grabs something,
who can stop him
or raise a question?
13When God showed his anger,
the servants of the sea monster#9.13 the sea monster: The Hebrew text has “Rahab,” which was some kind of sea monster with supernatural powers (see the notes at 3.8 and 26.12).
fell at his feet.
14How, then, could I possibly
argue my case with God?
Though I Am Innocent
15Even though I am innocent,
I can only beg for mercy.
16And if God came into court
when I called him,
he would not hear my case.
17He would strike me with a storm#9.17 strike … storm: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and increase my injuries
for no reason at all.
18Before I could get my breath,
my miseries would multiply.
19God is much stronger than I am,
and who would call me into court
to give me justice?
20Even if I were innocent,
God would prove me wrong.#9.20 God … wrong: Or “my own words would prove me wrong.”
21I am not guilty,
but I no longer care
what happens to me.
22What difference does it make?
God destroys the innocent
along with the guilty.
23When a good person dies
a sudden death,
God sits back and laughs.
24And who else but God
blindfolds the judges,
then lets the wicked
take over the earth?
My Life Is Speeding By
25My life is speeding by,
without a hope of happiness.
26Each day passes swifter
than a sailing ship
or an eagle swooping down.
27Sometimes I try to be cheerful
and to stop complaining,
28but my sufferings frighten me,
because I know that God
still considers me guilty.
29So what's the use of trying
to prove my innocence?
30Even if I washed myself
with the strongest soap,
31God would throw me into a pit
of stinking slime, leaving me
disgusting to my clothes.
32God isn't a mere human like me.
I can't put him on trial.
33Who could possibly judge
between the two of us?
34Can someone snatch away
the stick God carries
to frighten me?
35Then I could speak up
without fear of him,
but for now, I cannot speak.#9.35 but … speak: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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Job 9: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Job 9
9
Job: There Is No Mediator
1Then Job answered and said:
2“Truly I know it is so,
But how can a #(Job 4:17; 15:14–16; Ps. 143:2; Rom. 3:20)man be #(Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38)righteous before God?
3If one wished to contend with Him,
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
4#Job 36:5God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
5He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger;
6He #Is. 2:19, 21; Hag. 2:6; Heb. 12:26shakes the earth out of its place,
And its #Job 26:11pillars tremble;
7He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
He seals off the stars;
8#Gen. 1:6; Job 37:18; Ps. 104:2, 3; Is. 40:22He alone spreads out the heavens,
And treads on the waves of the sea;
9#Gen. 1:16; Job 38:31; Amos 5:8He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
10#Job 5:9He does great things past finding out,
Yes, wonders without number.
11#(Job 23:8, 9; 35:14)If He goes by me, I do not see Him;
If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
12#(Is. 45:9; Dan. 4:35; Rom. 9:20)If He takes away, who can hinder Him?
Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
13God will not withdraw His anger,
#Job 26:12The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.
14“How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words to reason with Him?
15#Job 10:15; 23:1–7For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;
I would beg mercy of my Judge.
16If I called and He answered me,
I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
17For He crushes me with a tempest,
And multiplies my wounds #Job 2:3without cause.
18He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills me with bitterness.
19If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
20Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
21“I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;
I despise my life.
22It is all one thing;
Therefore I say, #(Eccl. 9:2, 3); Ezek. 21:3‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
23If the scourge slays suddenly,
He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, who else could it be?
25“Now #Job 7:6, 7my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.
26They pass by like swift ships,
#Job 39:29; Hab. 1:8Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
27#Job 7:13If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
28#Ps. 119:120I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You #Ex. 20:7will not hold me innocent.
29If I am condemned,
Why then do I labor in vain?
30#(Jer. 2:22)If I wash myself with snow water,
And cleanse my hands with soap,
31Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes will abhor me.
32“For #Eccl. 6:10; (Is. 45:9; Jer. 49:19; Rom. 9:20)He is not a man, as I am,
That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
33#(1 Sam. 2:25); Job 9:19; Is. 1:18Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.
34#Job 13:20, 21; Ps. 39:10Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
35Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.