Job 9
9
Job's Inability to Answer God
1Then Job answered and said,
2I know it is so of a truth:
but how should man be just with God?
3If he will contend with him,
he cannot answer him one of a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength:
who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
5which removeth the mountains, and they know not;
which overturneth them in his anger;
6which shaketh the earth out of her place,
and the pillars thereof tremble;
7which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;
and sealeth up the stars;
8which alone spreadeth out the heavens,
and treadeth upon the waves of the sea;
9 #
Job 38.31; Amos 5.8. which maketh Arctu´rus, Ori´on, and Plei´ades,
and the chambers of the south;
10which doeth great things past finding out;
yea, and wonders without number.
11Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not:
he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
12Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him?
Who will say unto him, What doest thou?
13 If God will not withdraw his anger,
the proud helpers do stoop under him.
14How much less shall I answer him,
and choose out my words to reason with him?
15whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer,
but I would make supplication to my judge.
16If I had called, and he had answered me;
yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
17For he breaketh me with a tempest,
and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
18He will not suffer me to take my breath,
but filleth me with bitterness.
19If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong:
and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
20If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me:
if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul:
I would despise my life.
22This is one thing, therefore I said it,
He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
23If the scourge slay suddenly,
he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked:
he covereth the faces of the judges thereof;
if not, where, and who is he?
25Now my days are swifter than a post:
they flee away, they see no good.
26They are passed away as the swift ships:
as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
27If I say, I will forget my complaint,
I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself;
28I am afraid of all my sorrows,
I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
29 If I be wicked,
why then labor I in vain?
30If I wash myself with snow water,
and make my hands never so clean;
31yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch,
and mine own clothes shall abhor me.
32For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him,
and we should come together in judgment.
33Neither is there any daysman betwixt us,
that might lay his hand upon us both.
34Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not his fear terrify me:
35 then would I speak, and not fear him;
but it is not so with me.
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Job 9: KJVAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Job 9
9
1Job replied, 2“Yes, I know all that! But how can anyone be right before God? 3If you wanted to argue with God, God could ask a thousand questions that no one could answer. 4God is so wise and so powerful that no one could challenge him and win.
5God moves the mountains suddenly; he overturns them in his anger.#9:5. Referring to earthquakes. 6He shakes the earth, making its foundations quake. 7He is the one who can command the sun not to rise and the stars not to shine. 8He alone is the one who stretches out the heavens and walks on the waves of the sea. 9He made the constellations of the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars of the southern sky. 10He is the one who does incredible things that are beyond our understanding, marvelous things that are uncountable.
11But when he passes by me, I don't see him; when he moves on, he is invisible to me. 12If he takes away,#9:12. “Takes away.” This may refer to “taking away” through death. The verb here means “snatches” and occurs nowhere else in the Bible. who can prevent him? Who is going to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’ 13God does not restrain his anger; he crushes Rahab's helpers#9:13. Rahab is thought to refer to a mythical sea monster, and its helpers those who assist in destruction and causing chaos. underfoot.
14So how much less could I answer God, or choose my words to argue with him! 15Even though I'm right,#9:15. Or “innocent.” I can't answer him. I must plead for mercy from my judge. 16Even if I called him to come and he responded, I don't believe he would listen to me.
17He pounds me with the winds of a storm; he wounds me time and again, without giving a reason. 18He doesn't give me a chance even to catch my breath; instead he fills my life with bitter suffering. 19If it's a question of strength, then God is the strongest. If it's a question of justice, then who will set a time for my case?#9:19. Or “who will take him to court?” 20Even though I am right, my own mouth would condemn me; even though I am innocent, he would prove me wrong. 21I am innocent! I don't care what happens to me. I hate my life! 22That's why I say, ‘It makes no difference to God. He destroys both the innocent and the wicked.’ 23When disaster#9:23. Literally, “scourge.” strikes suddenly he mocks the despair of the innocent. 24The earth has been handed over to the wicked; he blinds the eyes of the judges#9:24. Meaning that there is no justice.—if it's not him who does this, then who is it? 25The days of my life race by like a runner, rushing past without me seeing any happiness. 26They pass by like fast sailing ships, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27If I said to myself, ‘I will forget my complaints; I will stop crying and be happy,’ 28I would still be terrified at all my suffering because you, God, will not say I'm innocent. 29Since I'm condemned, what's the point in arguing? 30Even if I wash myself with pure mountain water and clean my hands with soap, 31you would toss me into a slime pit so that even my own clothes would hate me! 32For God is not a mortal being like me, I can't defend myself or take him to court. 33If only there was an arbitrator#9:33. Literally, “judge.” who could bring us both together! 34I wish God would stop beating me with his rod and terrifying me! 35Then I could speak up without being afraid—but since I am, I can't!”#9:35. Literally, “for I am not so in myself.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com