Job 9 / 42
- 1Then Job replied:
- 2"Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God?
- 3Though one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
- 4His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
- 5He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
- 6He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
- 7He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
- 8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
- 9He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
- 10He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
- 11When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
- 12If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
- 13God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
- 14"How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?
- 15Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
- 16Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
- 17He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.
- 18He would not let me regain my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.
- 19If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him ?
- 20Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
- 21"Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
- 22It is all the same; that is why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
- 23When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
- 24When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?
- 25"My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
- 26They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.
- 27If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,'
- 28I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
- 29Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?
- 30Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda,
- 31you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.
- 32"He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.
- 33If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,
- 34someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.
- 35Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.