Job Chapter 9
1 Job answered:
2 “I know that’s true,
but how can anyone be innocent in God’s sight?
3 If you wanted to dispute with him,
you couldn’t answer him once in a thousand times.
4 He’s so wise and powerful;
who has ever defied him and succeeded?
Job 9:1-4
5 “It’s God that moves mountains;
they don’t know it when he overturns them in his anger.
6 He can shake the earth and make its pillars tremble;
7 he can tell the sun not to rise and the stars not to shine.
8 He alone stretched out the sky
and tramped on the ocean waves.
9 He made the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades,
and constellations in the southern hemisphere.
10 He does great, unimaginable things,
countless amazing deeds.
Job 9:5-10
11 “If he passes by me, I don’t see him;
if he goes by, I can’t sense him.
12 He snatches away; who can stop him?
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God won’t turn away his anger;
Rahab’s helpers cower below him. Job 9:11-13
14 “How then can I answer him
or argue with him?
15 Even if I were innocent, I couldn’t answer him;
I’d have to appeal to my accuser for mercy.
16 If I called and he answered me,
I wouldn’t expect him to pay attention to me.
17 He attacks me with a storm
and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
18 He won’t let me catch my breath,
but saturates me with bitterness.
19 If it’s a matter of power, look at him!
If it’s a matter of justice, who can sue him?
20 Though I’m good, my mouth will condemn me;
though I’m innocent, it’ll pronounce me guilty.
Job 9:14-20
21 “I’m innocent, but it doesn’t matter;
I despise my life.
22 Innocent and guilty are the same to him; so I say,
‘He destroys the innocent with the guilty.’
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks innocent people’s despair.
24 The earth has been turned over to sinners;
he blinds the eyes of judges.
If it’s not him, who is it? Job 9:21-24
25 “Now my days go past faster than a runner;
they hurry away; they don’t see anything good.
26 They slip by like a reed skiff,
like an eagle swooping on prey.
27 If I say, ‘I’ll forget about my complaint;
I’ll leave my sad countenance and be cheerful,’
28 I’m afraid of my sufferings;
I know he won’t declare me innocent.
29 He’ll condemn me anyway;
why should I try for nothing?
30 Even if I wash myself with snow
and clean my hands with lye,
31 he’d still throw me into a pit;
even my clothes would abhor me.
Job 9:25-31
32 “He’s not a mortal like me that I can argue with,
that I could go to court against.
33 There’s no mediator between us
that could hold us apart.
34 Let him take his rod away from me;
don’t let my dread of him terrify me.
35 Then I’d speak without fearing him,
but I can’t do that on my own.
Job 9:32-35