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v1
Then ^[Hebrew “And”] Job answered and said,
v2
“Truly I know that it is so, but ^[Hebrew “and”] how can a human being be just before God?
v3
If he wants to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
v4
He is wise in ^[Hebrew “of”] heart and mighty in ^[Hebrew “of”] strength; who has resisted him and succeeded? ^[Literally “he succeeded”]
v5
“He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how, who overturns them in his anger.
v6
He is the one who shakes the earth from its place, and its pillars tremble.
v7
He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise, and he seals up the stars. ^[Literally “and behind the stars he seals up”]
v8
He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
v9
He is the one who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
v10
He is the one who does great things beyond understanding ^[Literally “until there is not understanding”] and marvelous things beyond number. ^[Literally “until there is not number”]
v11
“If ^[Literally “Look”] he passes by me, I would not see him; ^[Literally “and I would not see”] and if he should move on, I would not recognize him. ^[Literally “and I would not recognize him”]
v12
If ^[Literally “Look”] he would snatch away, who could turn him? Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?‘
v13
God will not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
v14
How much less ^[Literally “Also for”] can I myself ^[Emphatic personal pronoun] answer him? How can I choose my words with him,
v15
whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous? From ^[Hebrew “To”] my judge I must implore grace.
v16
If I summon him, and he should answer me, I do not believe that he will listen to my voice—
v17
who crushes me with a tempest and multiplies ^[Hebrew “he multiplies”] my wounds without cause.
v18
He will not allow me to catch ^[Literally “return,” or “regain”] my breath; rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
v19
If it is a matter of ^[Literally “for”; see NASB, NIV, NET] strength, look, he is mighty. But ^[Hebrew “And”] if it is a matter of ^[Literally “for”; NASB, NIV, NET, NRSV] justice, who can summon me? ^[Or “arraign me”]
v20
Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; even though I am blameless, yet ^[Hebrew “and”] it would pronounce me guilty.
v21
“I am blameless; I do not care about myself; ^[Perhaps the meaning is “but it makes no difference to me” (NLT)] I loathe my life.
v22
It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.‘
v23
When the whip ^[Or “scourge”] kills suddenly, he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
v24
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the face of its judge— if it is not he, then who is it?
v25
“And my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they do not see good.
v26
They go by like papyrus skiffs, like an eagle swoops down on its prey.
v27
Though ^[Or “If”] I say, ^[Literally “my saying”] ‘I will forget my complaint; I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,‘
v28
I become afraid of all my sufferings; I know that you do not consider me innocent.
v29
If I shall be declared guilty, why then should I labor in vain?
v30
If I wash myself with soap, ^[Or “with snow,” or “in snow”] and I cleanse my hands with lye,
v31
then you plunge me into the slime pit, and my clothes abhor me.
v32
“For ^[Or the emphatic “Indeed”] he is not a mortal like me that I can answer him, that we can come to trial together. ^[Literally “we come together in the justice,” or “we come together in the judgment”]
v33
There is no arbiter between us that he might lay his hand on both of us.
v34
May he remove his rod from me, and let his dread not terrify me;
v35
then I would speak and not fear him, ^[Hebrew “and I will not fear him”] for in myself I am not fearful. ^[Literally “not so I with me”]