Job 9

Chapter 9

Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad

1 Then Job spoke again:
2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle.
But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?3 If someone wanted to take God to court,t
would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?4 For God is so wise and so mighty.
Who has ever challenged him successfully?5 “Without warning, he moves the mountains,
overturning them in his anger.6 He shakes the earth from its place,
and its foundations tremble.7 If he commands it, the sun won’t rise
and the stars won’t shine.8 He alone has spread out the heavens
and marches on the waves of the sea.9 He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.10 He does great things too marvelous to understand.
He performs countless miracles.11 “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him.
When he moves by, I do not see him go.12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him?
Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’13 And God does not restrain his anger.
Even the monsters of the seat are crushed beneath his feet.14 “So who am I, that I should try to answer God
or even reason with him?15 Even if I were right, I would have no defense.
I could only plead for mercy.16 And even if I summoned him and he responded,
I’m not sure he would listen to me.17 For he attacks me with a storm
and repeatedly wounds me without cause.18 He will not let me catch my breath,
but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.19 If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one.
If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court?20 Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty.
Though I am blameless, itt would prove me wicked.21 “I am innocent,
but it makes no difference to me—
I despise my life.22 Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God.
That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’23 When a plaguet sweeps through,
he laughs at the death of the innocent.24 The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked,
and God blinds the eyes of the judges.
If he’s not the one who does it, who is?25 “My life passes more swiftly than a runner.
It flees away without a glimpse of happiness.26 It disappears like a swift papyrus boat,
like an eagle swooping down on its prey.27 If I decided to forget my complaints,
to put away my sad face and be cheerful,28 I would still dread all the pain,
for I know you will not find me innocent, O God.29 Whatever happens, I will be found guilty.
So what’s the use of trying?30 Even if I were to wash myself with soap
and clean my hands with lye,31 you would plunge me into a muddy ditch,
and my own filthy clothing would hate me.32 “God is not a mortal like me,
so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial.33 If only there were a mediator between us,
someone who could bring us together.34 The mediator could make God stop beating me,
and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment.35 Then I could speak to him without fear,
but I cannot do that in my own strength.

JOB 9

Job's Reply to Bildad

What You Say Is True

1 Job said:

2  t What you say is true.
No human is innocent
in the sight of God.

3 Not once in a thousand times
could we win our case
if we took him to court.

4 God is wise and powerful—
who could possibly
oppose him and win?

5 When God becomes angry,
he can move mountains
before they even know it.

6 God can shake the earth loose
from its foundations

7  t or command the sun and stars
to hold back their light.

8 God alone stretched out the sky,
stepped on the sea, t

9  t and set the stars in place—
the Big Dipper and Orion,
the Pleiades and the stars
in the southern sky.

10 Of all the miracles God works,
we cannot understand a one.

11 God walks right past me,
without making a sound.

12 And if he grabs something,
who can stop him
or raise a question?

13 When God showed his anger,
the servants of the sea monstert
fell at his feet.

14 How, then, could I possibly
argue my case with God?

Though I Am Innocent

15 Even though I am innocent,
I can only beg for mercy.

16 And if God came into court
when I called him,
he would not hear my case.

17 He would strike me with a stormt
and increase my injuries
for no reason at all.

18 Before I could get my breath,
my miseries would multiply.

19 God is much stronger than I am,
and who would call me into court
to give me justice?

20 Even if I were innocent,
God would prove me wrong.t

21 I am not guilty,
but I no longer care
what happens to me.

22 What difference does it make?
God destroys the innocent
along with the guilty.

23 When a good person dies
a sudden death,
God sits back and laughs.

24 And who else but God
blindfolds the judges,
then lets the wicked
take over the earth?

My Life Is Speeding By

25 My life is speeding by,
without a hope of happiness.

26 Each day passes swifter
than a sailing ship
or an eagle swooping down.

27 Sometimes I try to be cheerful
and to stop complaining,

28 but my sufferings frighten me,
because I know that God
still considers me guilty.

29 So what's the use of trying
to prove my innocence?

30 Even if I washed myself
with the strongest soap,

31 God would throw me into a pit
of stinking slime, leaving me
disgusting to my clothes.

32 God isn't a mere human like me.
I can't put him on trial.

33 Who could possibly judge
between the two of us?

34 Can someone snatch away
the stick God carries
to frighten me?

35 Then I could speak up
without fear of him,
but for now, I cannot speak.t