Job 9 - 10 - Legacy Standard Bible

Job 9 - 10

Job Replies There Is No Adjudicator

Then Job answered and said, 2

“In truth I know that this is so;

But how can a man be in the right before God?

If one desired to contend with Him,

He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

Wise in heart and mighty in power,

Who has stiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?

God is the One who removes the mountains, they know not how,

When He overturns them in His anger;

The One who shakes the earth out of its place,

And its pillars tremble;

The One who says for the sun not to shine,

And sets a seal upon the stars;

Who alone stretches out the heavens,

And tramples down the waves of the sea;

Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

Who does great things, unsearchable,

And wondrous works, innumerable.

Were He to sweep by me, I would not see Him;

Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.

Were He to snatch away, who could turn Him back?

Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

“God will not turn back His anger;

Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.

How then can I answer Him,

And choose my words before Him?

For though I were right, I could not answer;

I would have to plead for the grace of my judge.

If I called and He answered me,

I could not believe that He was giving ear to my voice.

For He bruises me with a tempest

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

He will not allow me to get my breath,

But saturates me with bitterness.

If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the mighty one!

And if it is a matter of justice, who can make Him testify?

Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;

Though I am blameless, He will declare me perverse.

I am blameless;

I do not know my soul;

I reject my life.

It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He consumes the blameless and the wicked.’

If the scourge puts to death suddenly,

He mocks the despair of the innocent.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?

“Now my days are swifter than a runner;

They flee away; they do not see good.

They sweep by like reed boats,

Like an eagle that swoops on its food.

Though I say, ‘I will forget my musing,

I will forsake my sad countenance and be cheerful,’

I am afraid of all my pains;

I know that You will not acquit me.

I am accounted wicked;

Why then should I toil in vain?

If I should wash myself with snow

And cleanse my hands with lye,

Yet You would plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes would abhor me.

For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him,

That we may go to court for judgment together.

There is no adjudicator between us,

Who may lay his hand upon us both.

Let Him remove His rod from me,

And let not dread of Him terrify me.

Then I would speak and not fear Him;

But I am not like that in myself.

Job Cries Out to God

“My soul is loathed by my life;

I will abandon all restraint in myself to my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

I will say to God, ‘Do not account me as wicked;

Let me know why You contend with me.

Is it good to You that You oppress,

That You reject the labor of Your hands,

And cause the counsel of the wicked to shine forth?

Have You eyes of flesh?

Or do You see as a mortal man sees?

Are Your days as the days of a mortal man,

Or Your years as man’s years,

That You should seek for my guilt

And search after my sin?

According to Your knowledge I am indeed not wicked,

Yet there is no deliverer from Your hand.

‘Your hands fashioned and made me altogether,

And would You swallow me up?

Remember now, that You have made me as clay;

And would You turn me into dust again?

Did You not pour me out like milk

And curdle me like cheese,

Clothe me with skin and flesh,

And knit me together with bones and sinews?

You have made alongside me life and lovingkindness;

And Your care has kept my spirit.

Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart;

I know that this is within You:

If I sin, then You would take note of me

And would not acquit me of my guilt.

If I am wicked, woe to me!

And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.

I am sated with disgrace—so see my misery!

Should my head be set on high, You would hunt me like a lion;

And again You would show Your wonders against me.

You renew Your witnesses against me

And increase Your vexation toward me;

Hardship after hardship is with me.

‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?

Would that I had breathed my last and no eye had seen me!

I should have been as though I had not been,

Carried from womb to tomb.’

Would He not cease for a few of my days?

Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer

Before I go—and I shall not return—

To the land of darkness and shadow of death,

The land of utter gloom as the thick darkness itself,

Of the shadow of death, without order,

And which shines as the thick darkness.”