Job 9-10

Job 9 New King James Version (NKJV)

Job: There Is No Mediator

9 Then Job answered and said:

² “Truly I know it is so,
But how can a man be righteous before God?
³ If one wished to contend with Him,
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
⁴ God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
⁵ He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger;
⁶ He shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;
⁷ He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
He seals off the stars;
⁸ He alone spreads out the heavens,
And treads on the waves of the sea;
⁹ He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
¹⁰ He does great things past finding out,
Yes, wonders without number.
¹¹ If He goes by me, I do not see Him;
If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
¹² If He takes away, who can hinder Him?
Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
¹³ God will not withdraw His anger,
The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

¹⁴ “How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words to reason with Him?
¹⁵ For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;
I would beg mercy of my Judge.
¹⁶ If I called and He answered me,
I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
¹⁷ For He crushes me with a tempest,
And multiplies my wounds without cause.
¹⁸ He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills me with bitterness.
¹⁹ If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
²⁰ Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

²¹ “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;
I despise my life.
²² It is all one thing;
Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
²³ If the scourge slays suddenly,
He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
²⁴ The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, who else could it be?

²⁵ “Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.
²⁶ They pass by like swift ships,
Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
²⁷ If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
²⁸ I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.
²⁹ If I am condemned,
Why then do I labor in vain?
³⁰ If I wash myself with snow water,
And cleanse my hands with soap,
³¹ Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes will abhor me.

³² “For He is not a man, as I am,
That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
³³ Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.
³⁴ Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
³⁵ Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me.

 

Job 10 New King James Version (NKJV)

Job: I Would Plead with God

10 “My soul loathes my life;
I will give free course to my complaint,
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
² I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Show me why You contend with me.
³ Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,
That You should despise the work of Your hands,
And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
⁴ Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as man sees?
⁵ Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?
Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,
⁶ That You should seek for my iniquity
And search out my sin,
⁷ Although You know that I am not wicked,
And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

⁸ ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
⁹ Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?
¹⁰ Did You not pour me out like milk,
And curdle me like cheese,
¹¹ Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
¹² You have granted me life and favor,
And Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³ ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;
I know that this was with You:
¹⁴ If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
¹⁵ If I am wicked, woe to me;
Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am full of disgrace;
See my misery!
¹⁶ If my head is exalted,
You hunt me like a fierce lion,
And again You show Yourself awesome against me.
¹⁷ You renew Your witnesses against me,
And increase Your indignation toward me;
Changes and war are ever with me.

¹⁸ ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
¹⁹ I would have been as though I had not been.
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
²⁰ Are not my days few?
Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
²¹ Before I go to the place from which I shall not return,
To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
²² A land as dark as darkness itself,
As the shadow of death, without any order,
Where even the light is like darkness.’ ”