Job 9

9 ¹ Then Job answered: ² "Truly I know that this is so. But how can a mortal be righteous before God? ³ If one wished to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. ⁴ He is wise in heart and mighty in strength — who has ever defied him and come through unharmed? ⁵ He removes mountains before they know it, overturning them in his anger. ⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble. ⁷ He commands the sun, and it does not rise; he seals up the stars. ⁸ He alone stretched out the heavens and tramples the waves of the sea. ⁹ He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky. ¹⁰ He does great things beyond fathoming, marvelous things beyond number. ¹¹ Look — he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. ¹² If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?' ¹³ God will not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of the sea monster Rahab lay crushed. ^a a v13 Rahab here is not the woman of Jericho but an ancient name for the chaos-monster of the sea — a poetic image of every power that resists God. ¹⁴ How much less can I answer him, or choose my words to argue with him? ¹⁵ Though I were in the right, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my judge for mercy. ¹⁶ If I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. ¹⁷ For he crushes me with a storm and multiplies my wounds without cause. ¹⁸ He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. ¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, he is the mighty one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon him to court? ²⁰ Though I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. ²¹ I am blameless; I no longer care about myself; I despise my own life. ²² It is all the same; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. ²³ When sudden disaster brings death, he mocks the despair of the innocent. ²⁴ The earth is handed over to the wicked; he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who? ²⁵ My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. ²⁶ They skim past like boats of reed, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. ²⁷ If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put aside my gloomy face and be cheerful,' ²⁸ I dread all my pains, for I know you will not declare me innocent. ²⁹ I will be condemned; why then should I labor in vain? ³⁰ If I washed myself with snow and cleansed my hands with lye, ³¹ yet you would plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would loathe me. ³² For he is not a man like me, that I could answer him, that we could go to court together. ³³ There is no mediator between us, who could lay his hand on us both. ^b b v33 Job aches for someone who could stand between him and God — a mediator who could lay a hand on both. The longing finds its answer in Jesus, the one mediator between God and people (1 Tim 2:5). ³⁴ Let him take his rod away from me, and let the dread of him no longer terrify me. ³⁵ Then I would speak without fearing him; but as it is, I am not free to do so.