Job 9 - 10 — Legacy Standard Bible

Job Replies There Is No Adjudicator

9Then Job answered and said,

²“In truth I know that this is so;But how can a ^aman be in the right ¹before God?³“If one desired to ^acontend with Him,He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.⁴“^aWise in heart and ^bmighty in power,Who has ^cstiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?⁵“^aGod is the One who removes the mountains, they know not how,When He overturns them in His anger;⁶The One who ^ashakes the earth out of its place,And its ^bpillars tremble;⁷The One who says for the ^asun ¹not to shine,And sets a seal upon the stars;⁸Who alone ^astretches out the heavens,And ¹^,^btramples down the waves of the sea;⁹Who makes the ^aBear, Orion, and the Pleiades,And the ^bchambers of the south;¹⁰Who ^adoes great things, unsearchable,And wondrous works, innumerable.¹¹“Were He to sweep by me, ^aI would not see Him;Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.¹²“Were He to snatch away, who could ^aturn Him back?Who could say to Him, ‘^bWhat are You doing?’¹³“God will not turn back His anger;Beneath Him crouch the helpers of ^aRahab.¹⁴“How then can ^aI ¹answer Him,And choose my words ²before Him?¹⁵“For ^athough I were right, I could not ¹answer;I would have to ^bplead for the grace of my judge.¹⁶“If I called and He answered me,I could not believe that He was giving ear to my voice.¹⁷“For He ^abruises me with a tempestAnd multiplies my wounds without cause.¹⁸“He will ^anot allow me to get my breath,But saturates me with ^bbitterness.¹⁹“If it is a matter of power, ^abehold, He is the mighty one!And if it is a matter of justice, who can make ¹Him testify?²⁰“^aThough I am righteous, my mouth will ^bcondemn me;Though I am blameless, He will declare me perverse.²¹“I am ^ablameless;I do not know my soul;I ^breject my life.²²“It is all one; therefore I say,‘He ^aconsumes the blameless and the wicked.’²³“If the scourge puts to death suddenly,He ^amocks the despair of the innocent.²⁴“The earth ^ais given into the hand of the wicked;He ^bcovers the faces of its judges.If it is not He, then who is it?²⁵“Now ^amy days are swifter than a runner;They flee away; ^bthey do not see good.²⁶“They sweep by like ^areed boats,Like an ^beagle that swoops on its food.²⁷“Though I say, ‘I will forget ^amy musing,I will forsake my sad countenance and be cheerful,’²⁸I am ^aafraid of all my pains;I know that ^bYou will not acquit me.²⁹“I am accounted ^awicked;Why then should I toil in vain?³⁰“If I should ^awash myself with snowAnd cleanse ^bmy hands with lye,³¹Yet You would plunge me into the pit,And my own clothes would abhor me.³²“For ^aHe is not a man as I am that ^bI may answer Him,That we may go to court for judgment together.³³“There is no ^aadjudicator between us,Who may lay his hand upon us both.³⁴“Let Him ^aremove His rod from me,And let not dread of Him terrify me.³⁵“Then I ^awould speak and not fear Him;But I am not like that in myself.

Job Cries Out to God

10“^aMy soul is loathed by my life;I will abandon all restraint in myself to ^bmy complaint;I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.²“I will say to God, ‘^aDo not account me as wicked;Let me know why You contend with me.³‘Is it good to You that You ^aoppress,That You reject ^bthe labor of Your hands,And ¹cause ^cthe counsel of the wicked to shine forth?⁴‘Have You eyes of flesh?Or do You ^asee as a mortal man sees?⁵‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal man,Or ^aYour years as man’s years,⁶That ^aYou should seek for my guiltAnd search after my sin?⁷‘According to Your knowledge ^aI am indeed not wicked,Yet there is ^bno ¹deliverer from Your hand.⁸‘^aYour hands fashioned and made me ¹altogether,^bAnd would You swallow me up?⁹‘Remember now, that You have made me as ^aclay;And would You ^bturn me into dust again?¹⁰‘Did You not pour me out like milkAnd curdle me like cheese,¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh,And knit me together with bones and sinews?¹²‘You have ^amade alongside me life and lovingkindness;And Your care has kept my spirit.¹³‘Yet ^athese things You have concealed in Your heart;I know that this is within You:¹⁴If I sin, then You would ^atake note of meAnd ^bwould not acquit me of my guilt.¹⁵‘If ^aI am wicked, woe to me!And ^bif I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.I am sated with disgrace—so see my misery!¹⁶‘Should my head be set on high, ^aYou would hunt me like a lion;And again You would show Your ^bwonders against me.¹⁷‘You renew ^aYour witnesses against meAnd increase Your vexation toward me;¹^,^bHardship after hardship is with me.¹⁸‘^aWhy then have You brought me out of the womb?Would that I had breathed my last and no eye had seen me!¹⁹‘I should have been as though I had not been,Carried from womb to tomb.’²⁰“Would He not cease ^afor a few of my days?¹^,^bWithdraw from me that I may have a little cheer²¹Before I go—^aand I shall not return—^bTo the land of darkness and ^cshadow of death,²²The land of utter gloom as the thick darkness itself,Of the shadow of death, without order,And which shines as the thick darkness.”