VerseAI

NIV

Job 9

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