June 9

Job 9:1 — 12:25

9  And Job proceeded to answer and say:

 2 “For a fact I do know that it is so.

          But how can mortal man be in the right in a case with God?

 3 If he should find delight in contending with him,

          He cannot answer him once out of a thousand.

 4 He is wise in heart and strong in power.

          Who can show stubbornness to him and come off uninjured?

 5 He is moving mountains away, so that people do not even know [of them],

          He who has overthrown them in his anger.

 6 He is making the earth go quaking from its place,

          So that its very pillars shudder.

 7 He is saying to the sun that it should not shine forth,

          And around stars he puts a seal,

 8 Stretching out the heavens by himself

          And treading upon the high waves of the sea;

 9 Making the Ash constellation, the Kesil constellation,

          And the Kimah constellation and the interior rooms of the South;

10 Doing great things unsearchable,

          And wonderful things without number.

11 Look! He passes by me and I do not see [him],

          And he moves on and I do not discern him.

12 Look! He snatches away. Who can resist him?

          Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13 God himself will not turn back his anger;

          Beneath him the helpers of a stormer must bow down.

14 How much more so in case I myself answer him!

          I will choose my words with him,

15 Whom I would not answer, even though I were really in the right.

          Of my opponent-at-law I would implore favor.

16 If I called him, would he answer me?

          I do not believe that he would give ear to my voice;

17 Who with a storm bruises me

          And certainly makes my wounds many for no reason.

18 He will not grant me my taking of a fresh breath,

          For he keeps glutting me with bitter things.

19 If in power anyone is strong, there [he is];

          And if in justice [anyone is strong], O that I may be summoned!

20 If I were in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me wicked;

          Were I blameless, then he would declare me crooked.

21 Were I blameless, I would not know my soul;

          I would refuse my life.

22 One thing there is. That is why I do say,

          ‘One blameless, also a wicked one, he is bringing to their end.’

23 If a flash flood itself should cause death suddenly,

          At the very despair of the innocent ones he would mock.

24 Earth itself has been given into the hand of the wicked one;

          The face of its judges he covers.

          If not, who, then, is it?

25 Also my own days have become swifter than a runner;

          They have run away, they will certainly not see good.

26 They have moved on like reed boats,

          Like an eagle that darts to and fro for something to eat.

27 If I have said, ‘Let me forget my concern,

          Let me alter my countenance and brighten up,’

28 I have been scared of all my pains;

          I do know that you will not hold me innocent.

29 I myself am to become wicked.

          Why is it that I toil merely in vain?

30 If I actually washed myself in snow water,

          And I actually cleansed my hands in potash,

31 Then in a pit you would dip me,

          And my garments would certainly detest me.

32 For he is not a man like me [that] I should answer him,

          That we should come together in judgment.

33 There exists no person to decide between us,

          That he should put his hand upon both of us.

34 Let him remove his rod from upon me,

          And his frightfulness, let it not terrify me.

35 Let me speak and not be afraid of him,

          For I am not so disposed in myself.
 

10 “My soul certainly feels a loathing toward my life.

          I will give vent to my concern about myself.

          I will speak in the bitterness of my soul!

 2 I shall say to God, ‘Do not pronounce me wicked.

          Cause me to know why it is that you are contending with me.

 3 Is it good for you that you should do wrong,

          That you should reject [the product of] the hard work of your hands,

          And that upon the counsel of wicked ones you should actually beam?

 4 Do you have eyes of flesh,

          Or is it as a mortal man sees that you see?

 5 Are your days like the days of mortal man,

          Or your years just like the days of an able-bodied man,

 6 That you should try to find my error

          And for my sin you should keep looking?

 7 This in spite of your own knowledge that I am not in the wrong,

          And there is no one delivering out of your own hand?

 8 Your own hands have shaped me so that they made me

          In entirety round about, and yet you would swallow me up.

 9 Remember, please, that out of clay you have made me

          And to dust you will make me return.

10 Did you not proceed to pour me out as milk itself

          And like cheese to curdle me?

11 With skin and flesh you proceeded to clothe me

          And with bones and sinews to weave me together.

12 Life and loving-kindness you have worked with me;

          And your own care has guarded my spirit.

13 And these things you have concealed in your heart.

          I well know that these things are with you.

14 If I have sinned and you have kept watching me

          And of my error you do not hold me innocent;

15 If I am actually in the wrong, too bad for me!

          And [if] I am actually in the right, I may not raise my head,

          Glutted with dishonor and saturated with affliction.

16 And [if] it acts haughtily, like a young lion you will hunt for me,

          And you will again show yourself marvelous in my case.

17 You will bring forth new witnesses of yours in front of me,

          And you will make your vexation with me greater;

          Hardship after hardship is with me.

18 So why from a womb did you bring me out?

          Could I have expired, that not even an eye could see me,

19 There as though I had not come to be I should have become;

          From the belly to the burial place I should have been brought.’

20 Are not my days few? Let him leave off,

          Let him turn his gaze from me, that I may brighten up a little

21 Before I go away—and I shall not come back—

          To the land of darkness and deep shadow,

22 To the land of obscurity like gloom, of deep shadow

          And disorder, where it beams no more than gloom does.”

11 And Zophar the Naamathite proceeded to answer and say:

 2 “Will a multitude of words go unanswered,

          Or will a mere boaster be in the right?

 3 Will your empty talk itself put men to silence,

          And will you keep deriding without having anyone rebuke [you]?

 4 Also, you say, ‘My instruction is pure,

          And I have proved really clean in your eyes.’

 5 Yet O if only God himself would speak

          And open his lips with you!

 6 Then he would tell you the secrets of wisdom,

          For the things of practical wisdom are manifold.

          Also, you would know that God allows some of your error to be forgotten for you.

 7 Can you find out the deep things of God,

          Or can you find out to the very limit of the Almighty?

 8 It is higher than heaven. What can you accomplish?

          It is deeper than Sheol. What can you know?

 9 It is longer than the earth in measure,

          And broader than the sea.

10 If he moves on and hands [someone] over

          And calls a court, then who can resist him?

11 For he himself well knows men who are untrue.

          When he sees what is hurtful, will he not also show himself attentive?

12 Even a hollow-minded man himself will get good motive

          As soon as an asinine zebra be born a man.

13 If you yourself will really prepare your heart

          And actually spread out your palms to him,

14 If what is hurtful is in your hand, put it far away,

          And let no unrighteousness dwell in your tents.

15 For then you will raise your face without defect

          And you will certainly become established, and you will not fear.

16 For you—you will forget trouble itself;

          As waters that have passed along you will remember [it].

17 And brighter than midday will [your] life’s duration arise;

          Darkness will become like the morning itself.

18 And you will be bound to trust because there exists hope;

          And you will certainly look carefully around—in security you will lie down.

19 And you will indeed stretch yourself out, with no one to make [you] tremble.

          And many people will certainly put you in a gentle mood;

20 And the very eyes of the wicked will fail;

          And a place for flight will certainly perish from them,

          And their hope will be an expiring of the soul.”

12 And Job proceeded to answer and say:

 2 “For a fact YOU men are the people,

          And with YOU wisdom will die out!

 3 I too have a heart as well as YOU.

          I am not inferior to YOU,

          And with whom are there not things like these?

 4 [One who is] a laughingstock to his fellowman I become,

          One calling to God that he should answer him.

          A laughingstock is the righteous, unblamable one.

 5 In thought, the carefree one has contempt for extinction itself;

          It is made ready for those of wobbling feet.

 6 The tents of the despoilers are unworried,

          And the ones enraging God have the safety

          Belonging to one who has brought a god in his hand.

 7 However, ask, please, the domestic animals, and they will instruct you;

          Also the winged creatures of the heavens, and they will tell you.

 8 Or show your concern to the earth, and it will instruct you;

          And the fishes of the sea will declare it to you.

 9 Who among all these does not well know

          That the hand of Jehovah itself has done this,

10 In whose hand is the soul of everyone alive

          And the spirit of all flesh of man?

11 Does not the ear itself test out words

          As the palate tastes food?

12 Is there not wisdom among the aged

          And understanding [in] length of days?

13 With him there are wisdom and mightiness;

          He has counsel and understanding.

14 Look! He tears down, that there may be no building up;

          He makes it shut to man, that it may not be opened up.

15 Look! He puts a restraint upon the waters and they dry up;

          And he sends them, and they change the earth.

16 With him there are strength and practical wisdom;

          To him belong the one making a mistake and the one leading astray;

17 He is making counselors go barefoot,

          And he makes judges themselves go crazy.

18 The bonds of kings he actually loosens,

          And he binds a belt upon their hips.

19 He is making priests walk barefoot,

          And permanently seated ones he subverts;

20 He is removing speech from the faithful ones,

          And the sensibleness of old men he takes away;

21 He is pouring out contempt upon nobles,

          And the girdle of powerful ones he actually weakens;

22 He is uncovering deep things from the darkness,

          And he brings forth to the light deep shadow;

23 Making the nations grow great, that he may destroy them;

          Spreading out the nations, that he may lead them away;

24 Taking away the heart of the head ones of the people of the land,

          That he may make them wander about in an empty place, where there is no way.

25 They grope in darkness, where there is no light,

          That he may make them wander about like a drunken man.