Job 9-12

1Then Job answered:

2“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?

5He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.

6He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.

7He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.

8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

9He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.

11Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.

12If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

13God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?

15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

17For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.

18He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.

19If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

20Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

21Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

22It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

25My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.

26They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

27If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’

28I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.

29Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?

30If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,

31then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.

32For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.

33Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.

34Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

35Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.

1“I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

3Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?

4Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees?

5Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a man,

6that You should seek my iniquity and search out my sin—

7though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?

8Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?

9Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?

10Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?

11You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.

12You have granted me life and loving devotion, and Your care has preserved my spirit.

13Yet You concealed these things in Your heart, and I know that this was in Your mind:

14If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.

15If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.

16Should I hold my head high, You would hunt me like a lion, and again display Your power against me.

17You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave.

18Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!

19If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

20Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,

21before I go—never to return— to a land of darkness and gloom,

22to a land of utter darkness, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.”

1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2“Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a speaker be vindicated?

3Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke?

4You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’

5But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,

6and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

7Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

8They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

9Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

10If He comes along to imprison you, or convenes a court, who can stop Him?

11Surely He knows the deceit of men. If He sees iniquity, does He not take note?

12But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

13As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,

14if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents,

15then indeed you will lift up your face without blemish; you will stand firm and unafraid.

16For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.

17Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

18You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.

19You will lie down without fear, and many will court your favor.

20But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”

1Then Job answered:

2“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!

3But I also have a mind; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?

4I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

5The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

6The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure— those who carry their god in their hands.

7But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.

8Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.

9Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

10The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

11Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes its food?

12Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

13Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

14What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.

15If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

16True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

17He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.

18He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

19He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.

20He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

21He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

22He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.

23He makes nations great and destroys them; He enlarges nations, then disperses them.

24He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

25They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.