Job 9

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

In response to his friends, Job acknowledges that a mortal cannot be righteous before God or contend with His supreme wisdom and immense power. He describes God's control over nature, moving mountains, shaking the earth, controlling the heavenly bodies, and performing unsearchable wonders. Job states that even if he were blameless, he could not answer God or question His actions, noting that God destroys both the blameless and the wicked while the earth is given to the wicked. He laments that his days pass swiftly in suffering and concludes that trying to wash away his guilt is useless because God is not a mortal and there is no mediator between them.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Then Job answered: ²“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? ³If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. ⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered? ⁵He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger. ⁶He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble. ⁷He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars. ⁸He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. ⁹He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. ¹⁰He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number. ¹¹Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him. ¹²If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’ ¹³God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him. ¹⁴How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? ¹⁵For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. ¹⁶If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice. ¹⁷For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause. ¹⁸He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness. ¹⁹If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him ? ²⁰Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty. ²¹Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. ²²It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ ²³When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. ²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it? ²⁵My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good. ²⁶They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. ²⁷If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’ ²⁸I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me. ²⁹Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain? ³⁰If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me. ³²For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court. ³³Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both. ³⁴Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me. ³⁵Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.