Job 9
1 Then Job answered and said,
Then Job replied,
2 I know it to be so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?
“Yes, I certainly know that [much of] what you said is true. But (how can anyone say to God, ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it?’/no one can say to God ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it.’) [RHQ]
3 If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one time out of a thousand.
If someone wanted to argue with God [about that], God could ask him 1,000 questions, and that person would not be able to answer any of them!
4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
5 Who removeth the mountains, and they know not: who overturneth them in his anger.
He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
6 Who shaketh the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
7 Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
8 Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
9 Who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
He put in their places [the clusters/groups of stars that are called] The Dipper/Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars in the southern sky.
10 Who doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say to him, What doest thou?
If he [wants to] snatch something away, no one [RHQ] can hinder him; no one dares to ask him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [RHQ]
13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
14 How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.
Even though I (would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong), I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.
16 If I had called, and he had answered me; yet I would not believe that he had hearkened to my voice.
If I summoned him to [come to the courtroom] and he said that he would come, I would not believe that he would pay attention to what I would say.
17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 He will not allow me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?
If I would try to (wrestle with/fight against) him, [there is no way that I could defeat him, ] [because] he is stronger than I am. If I would request him to appear in court, there is no one who could [RHQ] force him to go there.
20 If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, that also shall prove me perverse.
Even though I was innocent, what I would say would cause him to say that I must be punished [MTY]; even though I had not done anything wrong, he would prove that I am guilty.
21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.
But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
23 If the scourge shall slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of its judges; if not, where, and who is he?
God has allowed wicked people to control [what happens in] the world. [It is as though] he has caused judges to be blindfolded, [with the result that they cannot judge fairly]. If it is not God who has put wicked people in control, who has done it?
25 Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
“My days go by very quickly, like a fast runner; [it is as though] they run away, and nothing good happens to me on those days.
26 They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
My life goes by very rapidly, like a boat made from reeds sailing swiftly, or like an eagle that swoops down to seize a small animal.
27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
If I smile and say [to God], ‘I will forget what I am complaining about; I will stop looking sad and try to be cheerful/happy,’
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
29 If I am wicked, why then do I labour in vain?
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
30 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
31 Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall abhor me.
he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
“God is not a human, as I am, so there is no way that I could answer him [to prove that I am innocent] if we went together to have a trial [in a courtroom].
33 Neither is there any mediator between us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
34 Let him take away his rod from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
35 Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.
If he did that, I would declare [that I am innocent] without being afraid of him, because I know that I really have not [done what is wrong like God thinks that I have].”
