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Job 9
The Message
Job 9
The Message
Job Continues
How Can Mere Mortals Get Right with God?
9 1-13 Job continued by saying:
“So what’s new? I know all this.
The question is, ‘How can mere mortals get right with God?’
If we wanted to bring our case before him,
what chance would we have? Not one in a thousand!
God’s wisdom is so deep, God’s power so immense,
who could take him on and come out in one piece?
He moves mountains before they know what’s happened,
flips them on their heads on a whim.
He gives the earth a good shaking up,
rocks it down to its very foundations.
He tells the sun, ‘Don’t shine,’ and it doesn’t;
he pulls the blinds on the stars.
All by himself he stretches out the heavens
and strides on the waves of the sea.
He designed the Big Dipper and Orion,
the Pleiades and Alpha Centauri.
We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does;
his miracle-surprises can’t be counted.
Somehow, though he moves right in front of me, I don’t see him;
quietly but surely he’s active, and I miss it.
If he steals you blind, who can stop him?
Who’s going to say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
God doesn’t hold back on his anger;
even dragon-bred monsters cringe before him.
14-20 “So how could I ever argue with him,
construct a defense that would influence God?
Even though I’m innocent I could never prove it;
I can only throw myself on the Judge’s mercy.
If I called on God and he himself answered me,
then, and only then, would I believe that he’d heard me.
As it is, he knocks me about from pillar to post,
beating me up, black-and-blue, for no good reason.
He won’t even let me catch my breath,
piles bitterness upon bitterness.
If it’s a question of who’s stronger, he wins, hands down!
If it’s a question of justice, who’ll serve him the subpoena?
Even though innocent, anything I say incriminates me;
blameless as I am, my defense just makes me sound worse.
If God’s Not Responsible, Who Is?
21-24 “Believe me, I’m blameless.
I don’t understand what’s going on.
I hate my life!
Since either way it ends up the same, I can only conclude
that God destroys the good right along with the bad.
When calamity hits and brings sudden death,
he folds his arms, aloof from the despair of the innocent.
He lets the wicked take over running the world,
he installs judges who can’t tell right from wrong.
If he’s not responsible, who is?
25-31 “My time is short—what’s left of my life races off
too fast for me to even glimpse the good.
My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail,
like an eagle plummeting to its prey.
Even if I say, ‘I’ll put all this behind me,
I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,’
All these troubles would still be like grit in my gut
since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.
The verdict has already been handed down—‘Guilty!’—
so what’s the use of protests or appeals?
Even if I scrub myself all over
and wash myself with the strongest soap I can find,
It wouldn’t last—you’d push me into a pigpen, or worse,
so nobody could stand me for the stink.
32-35 “God and I are not equals; I can’t bring a case against him.
We’ll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator
to step in and let me get on with life—
To break God’s death grip on me,
to free me from this terror so I could breathe again.
Then I’d speak up and state my case boldly.
As things stand, there is no way I can do it.”
Job 9
New International Version
Job 9
New International Version
Job
9 Then Job replied:
2 “Indeed, I know that this is true.
But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?(A)
3 Though they wished to dispute with him,(B)
they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.(C)
4 His wisdom(D) is profound, his power is vast.(E)
Who has resisted(F) him and come out unscathed?(G)
5 He moves mountains(H) without their knowing it
and overturns them in his anger.(I)
6 He shakes the earth(J) from its place
and makes its pillars tremble.(K)
7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine;(L)
he seals off the light of the stars.(M)
8 He alone stretches out the heavens(N)
and treads on the waves of the sea.(O)
9 He is the Maker(P) of the Bear[a] and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.(Q)
10 He performs wonders(R) that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.(S)
11 When he passes me, I cannot see him;
when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.(T)
12 If he snatches away, who can stop him?(U)
Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’(V)
13 God does not restrain his anger;(W)
even the cohorts of Rahab(X) cowered at his feet.
14 “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?(Y)
15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;(Z)
I could only plead(AA) with my Judge(AB) for mercy.(AC)
16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.(AD)
17 He would crush me(AE) with a storm(AF)
and multiply(AG) my wounds for no reason.(AH)
18 He would not let me catch my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.(AI)
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!(AJ)
And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him[b]?(AK)
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.(AL)
21 “Although I am blameless,(AM)
I have no concern for myself;(AN)
I despise my own life.(AO)
22 It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’(AP)
23 When a scourge(AQ) brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.(AR)
24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked,(AS)
he blindfolds its judges.(AT)
If it is not he, then who is it?(AU)
25 “My days are swifter than a runner;(AV)
they fly away without a glimpse of joy.(AW)
26 They skim past(AX) like boats of papyrus,(AY)
like eagles swooping down on their prey.(AZ)
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,(BA)
I will change my expression, and smile,’
28 I still dread(BB) all my sufferings,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.(BC)
29 Since I am already found guilty,
why should I struggle in vain?(BD)
30 Even if I washed myself with soap(BE)
and my hands(BF) with cleansing powder,(BG)
31 you would plunge me into a slime pit(BH)
so that even my clothes would detest me.(BI)
32 “He is not a mere mortal(BJ) like me that I might answer him,(BK)
that we might confront each other in court.(BL)
33 If only there were someone to mediate between us,(BM)
someone to bring us together,(BN)
34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,(BO)
so that his terror would frighten me no more.(BP)
35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,(BQ)
but as it now stands with me, I cannot.(BR)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.