ESV - Job Chapter 9 to 11

9 9:1 Then Job answered and said:

²“Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? ³If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. ⁴He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?— ⁵he who removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his anger, ⁶who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; ⁷who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; ⁸who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; ⁹who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; ¹⁰who does great things beyond searching out, and marvelous things beyond number. ¹¹Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. ¹²Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

¹³“God will not turn back his anger; beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab. ¹⁴How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? ¹⁵Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.^[1]¹⁶If I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. ¹⁷For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause; ¹⁸he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. ¹⁹If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?^[2]²⁰Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. ²¹I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life. ²²It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys both the blameless and the wicked. ²³When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity[3] of the innocent. ²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges— if it is not he, who then is it?

²⁵“My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good. ²⁶They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey. ²⁷If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’ ²⁸I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent. ²⁹I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain? ³⁰If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. ³²For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. ³³There is no^[4]arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both. ³⁴Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread of him terrify me. ³⁵Then I would speak without fear of him, for I am not so in myself.

[1] Or to my judge [2] Compare Septuagint; Hebrew me [3] The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain [4] Or Would that there were an

10 Job Continues: A Plea to God

10:1 “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. ²I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. ³Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked? ⁴Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees? ⁵Are your days as the days of man, or your years as a man’s years, ⁶that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, ⁷although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand? ⁸Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. ⁹Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? ¹⁰Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? ¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. ¹²You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. ¹³Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. ¹⁴If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. ¹⁵If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction. ¹⁶And were my head lifted up,[5] you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me. ¹⁷You renew your witnesses against me and increase your vexation toward me; you bring fresh troops against me.

¹⁸“Why did you bring me out from the womb? Would that I had died before any eye had seen me ¹⁹and were as though I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. ²⁰Are not my days few? Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer ²¹before I go—and I shall not return— to the land of darkness and deep shadow, ²²the land of gloom like thick darkness, like deep shadow without any order, where light is as thick darkness.”

[5] Hebrew lacks my head

11Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

²“Should a multitude of words go unanswered, and a man full of talk be judged right? ³Should your babble silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you? ⁴For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s[6] eyes.’ ⁵But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, ⁶and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding.^[7]Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

⁷“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? ⁸It is higher than heaven[8]—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? ⁹Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. ¹⁰If he passes through and imprisons and summons the court, who can turn him back? ¹¹For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? ¹²But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man!

¹³“If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him. ¹⁴If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents. ¹⁵Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear. ¹⁶You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. ¹⁷And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. ¹⁸And you will feel secure, because there is hope; you will look around and take your rest in security. ¹⁹You will lie down, and none will make you afraid; many will court your favor. ²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to breathe their last.”

[6] Hebrew your [7] The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [8] Hebrew the heights of heaven