9:1 Then Job replied:
9:2 “Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?
9:3 Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
9:4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
9:5 He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
9:6 He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
9:7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
9:9 He is the Maker of the Bear* and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. / *Or of Leo
9:10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
9:11 When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
9:12 If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
9:13 God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
9:14 “How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?
9:15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
9:16 Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
9:17 He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.
9:18 He would not let me catch my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.
9:19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him*? / *See Septuagint; Hebrew me.
9:20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
9:21 “Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
9:22 It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
9:23 When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
9:24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?
9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
9:26 They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.
9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,’
9:28 I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
9:29 Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?
9:30 Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with cleansing powder,
9:31 you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.
9:32 “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.
9:33 If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together,
9:34 someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.
9:35 Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.