Job 9

Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad ¹Then Job spoke again:

²“Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? ³ If someone wanted to take God to court, Or If God wanted to take someone to court. would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? ⁴ For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?

⁵“Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. ⁶ He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. ⁷ If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine. ⁸ He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. ⁹ He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky. ¹⁰ He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles.

¹¹“Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go. ¹² If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ ¹³ And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea Hebrew the helpers of Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature. are crushed beneath his feet.

¹⁴“So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? ¹⁵ Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. ¹⁶ And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me. ¹⁷ For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause. ¹⁸ He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows. ¹⁹ If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court? ²⁰ Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it Or he. would prove me wicked.

²¹“I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life. ²² Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ ²³ When a plague Or disaster. sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent. ²⁴ The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he’s not the one who does it, who is?

²⁵“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness. ²⁶ It disappears like a swift papyrus boat, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. ²⁷ If I decided to forget my complaints, to put away my sad face and be cheerful, ²⁸ I would still dread all the pain, for I know you will not find me innocent, O God. ²⁹ Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what’s the use of trying? ³⁰ Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, ³¹ you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me.

³²“God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. ³³ If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. ³⁴ The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment. ³⁵ Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.