The Shared Word Translation · Study & Discuss
Job 9
How Can a Human Be Right with God?
Then Job answered and said:
“Truly I know that it is so,
but how can a human be right with God?
If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him
one time out of a thousand.
Wise in heart and mighty in strength—
who has hardened himself against him
and come out whole?
He Does Great Things Beyond Searching
He removes mountains, and they do not know it,
when he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals up the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the heights of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades
and the chambers of the south.
He does great things beyond searching,
and wonders without number.
Look, he passes by me, but I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Look, he snatches away—who can turn him back?
Who can say to him,
‘What are you doing?’
How Could I Answer Him?
God will not turn back his anger;
under him the helpers of Rahab bow.
How much less could I answer him
and choose my words with him?
Though I were righteous, I could not answer;
I would plead for mercy from my judge.
If I called and he answered me,
I would not believe
that he listened to my voice.
For he crushes me with a storm
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
He will not let me catch my breath,
but fills me with bitter things.
If it is a matter of strength—look, he is mighty!
And if of justice—who can summon him?
Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I were blameless,
it would declare me crooked.
I Am Blameless, Yet I Despise My Life
I am blameless; I do not know myself.
I despise my life.
It is all one; therefore I say:
he destroys the blameless and the wicked.
If a scourge suddenly kills,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not he, then who is it?
My Days Flee Away
My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
They pass like boats of reed,
like an eagle swooping upon prey.
If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will put away my sad face and be cheerful,’
I become afraid of all my pains;
I know you will not hold me innocent.
I shall be condemned.
Why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
then you would plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes would abhor me.
There Is No Arbiter Between Us
For he is not a man like me, that I might answer him,
that we might come together in judgment.
There is no arbiter between us
who might lay a hand upon us both.
Let him remove his rod from me,
and let his terror not frighten me.
Then I would speak and not fear him,
for in myself I am not so.”