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
Job’s Reply
1Job replied,
2“I’m sure that what you have said is true.
But how can human beings prove to God they are not guilty?
3They might wish to argue with him.
But they couldn’t answer him
even once in a thousand times.
4His wisdom is deep. His power is great.
No one opposes him and comes away unharmed.
5He moves mountains, and they don’t even know it.
When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
6He shakes the earth loose from its place.
He makes its pillars tremble.
7When he tells the sun not to shine, it doesn’t.
He turns off the light of the stars.
8He’s the only one who can spread out the heavens.
He alone can walk on the waves of the ocean.
9He made the Big Dipper and Orion.
He created the Pleiades and the southern stars.
10He does wonderful things that can’t be understood.
He does miracles that can’t even be counted.
11When he passes by me, I can’t see him.
When he goes past me, I can’t recognize him.
12If he takes something, who can stop him?
Who would dare to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
13God doesn’t hold back his anger.
Even the helpers of the sea monster Rahab
bowed in fear at his feet.
14“So how can I disagree with God?
How can I possibly argue with him?
15Even if I hadn’t done anything wrong,
I couldn’t answer him.
I could only beg my Judge to have mercy on me.
16Suppose I called out to him and he answered.
I don’t believe he’d listen to me.
17He would send a storm to crush me.
He’d increase my wounds without any reason.
18He wouldn’t let me catch my breath.
He’d make my life very bitter.
19If it’s a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it’s a matter of being fair,
who would dare to bring charges against him?
20Even if I hadn’t sinned, what I said would prove me guilty.
Even if I were honest, my words would show that I’m wrong.
21“Even though I’m honest,
I’m not concerned about myself.
I hate my own life.
22It all amounts to the same thing. That’s why I say,
‘God destroys honest people and sinful people alike.’
23Suppose a plague brings sudden death.
Then he laughs when those who haven’t sinned lose hope.
24Suppose a nation falls into the power of sinful people.
Then God makes its judges blind to the truth.
If he isn’t the one doing it, who is?
25“God, my days race by like a runner.
They fly away without seeing any joy.
26They speed along like papyrus boats.
They are like eagles swooping down on their food.
27Suppose I say, ‘I’ll forget about all my problems.
I’ll change my frown into a smile.’
28Then I’d still be afraid I’d go on suffering.
That’s because I know you would say
I had done something wrong.
29In fact, you have already said I’m guilty.
So why should I struggle without any reason?
30Suppose I clean myself with soap.
Suppose I wash my hands with cleanser.
31Even then you would throw me into a muddy pit.
And even my clothes would hate me.
32“God isn’t a mere human being like me. I can’t answer him.
We can’t take each other to court.
33I wish someone would settle matters between us.
I wish someone would bring us together.
34I wish someone would keep God from punishing me.
Then his terror wouldn’t frighten me anymore.
35I would speak up without being afraid of him.
But as things stand now, I can’t do that.
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