Job 9:1
Then Job answered:
Job 9:2
“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
Job 9:3
If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
Job 9:4
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
Job 9:5
He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.
Job 9:6
He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.
Job 9:7
He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.
Job 9:8
He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
Job 9:9
He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
Job 9:10
He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
Job 9:11
Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
Job 9:12
If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
Job 9:13
God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
Job 9:14
How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?
Job 9:15
For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
Job 9:16
If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.
Job 9:17
For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
Job 9:18
He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.
Job 9:19
If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?
Job 9:20
Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.
Job 9:21
Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
Job 9:22
It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
Job 9:23
When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
Job 9:24
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
Job 9:25
My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.
Job 9:26
They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
Job 9:27
If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’
Job 9:28
I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.
Job 9:29
Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?
Job 9:30
If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,
Job 9:31
then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.
Job 9:32
For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
Job 9:33
Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
Job 9:34
Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
Job 9:35
Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.