9:1 Then Job answered:
9:2 “Truly, 2 I know that this is so.
But how 3 can a human 4 be just before 5 God? 6
9:3 If someone wishes 7 to contend 8 with him,
he cannot answer 9 him one time in a thousand.
9:4 He is wise in heart 10 and mighty 11 in strength 12 –
who has resisted 13 him and remained safe? 14
9:5 He who removes mountains suddenly, 15
who overturns them in his anger; 16
9:6 he who shakes the earth out of its place 17
so that its pillars tremble; 18
9:7 he who commands the sun and 19 it does not shine 20
and seals up 21 the stars;
9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads 22 on the waves of the sea; 23
9:9 he makes the Bear, 24 Orion, 25 and the Pleiades, 26
and the constellations of the southern sky; 27
9:10 he does great and unsearchable things, 28
and wonderful things without number.
9:11 If 29 he passes by me, I cannot see 30 him, 31
if he goes by, I cannot perceive him. 32
9:12 If he snatches away, 33 who can turn him back? 34
Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
9:13 God does not restrain his anger; 35
under him the helpers of Rahab 36 lie crushed. 37
9:14 “How much less, 38 then, can I answer him 39
and choose my words 40 to argue 41 with 42 him! 43
9:15 Although 44 I am innocent, 45
I could not answer him; 46
I could only plead 47 with my judge 48 for mercy.
9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me, 49
I would not believe 50
that he would be listening to my voice –
9:17 he who 51 crushes 52 me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds for no reason. 53
9:18 He does not allow 54 me to recover 55 my breath,
for he fills 56 me with bitterness.
9:19 If it is a matter of strength, 57
most certainly 58 he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ 59
9:20 Although I am innocent, 60
my mouth 61 would condemn me; 62
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse. 63
9:21 I am blameless. 64 I do not know myself. 65
I despise my life.
9:22 “It is all one! 66 That is why I say, 67
‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
9:23 If a scourge brings sudden death, 68
he mocks 69 at the despair 70 of the innocent. 71
9:24 If a land 72 has been given
into the hand of a wicked man, 73
he covers 74 the faces of its judges; 75
if it is not he, then who is it? 76
9:25 “My days 77 are swifter than a runner, 78
they speed by without seeing happiness.
9:26 They glide by 79 like reed 80 boats,
like an eagle that swoops 81 down on its prey. 82
9:27 If I say, 83 ‘I will 84 forget my complaint,
I will change my expression 85 and be cheerful,’ 86
9:28 I dread 87 all my sufferings, 88
for 89 I know that you do not hold me blameless. 90
9:29 If I am guilty, 91
why then 92 weary myself 93 in vain? 94
9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, 95
and make my hands clean with lye, 96
9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit 97
and my own clothes abhor me.
9:32 For he 98 is not a human being like I am,
that 99 I might answer him,
that we might come 100 together in judgment.
9:33 Nor is there an arbiter 101 between us,
who 102 might lay 103 his hand on us both, 104
9:34 who 105 would take his 106 rod 107 away from me
so that his terror 108 would not make me afraid.
9:35 Then 109 would I speak and not fear him,
but it is not so with me. 110