Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man

1Then Job answered and said,

2“Yes, I know it is true.

But how can a mortal man be right before God?

3“If one should want to contend or dispute with Him,

He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.

4“God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;

Who has [ever] defied or challenged Him and remained unharmed?

5“It is God who removes the mountains, and they do not know it,

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 shine;

Who seals up the stars [from view];

8Who alone stretches out the heavens

And tramples down the [a]waves of the sea;

9Who made [the constellations] the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the [vast starry] spaces of the south;

10Who does great things, [beyond understanding,] unfathomable,

Yes, marvelous and wondrous things without number.

11“Behold, He passes by me, and I do not see Him;

He moves past me, but I do not perceive Him.

12“Behold, He snatches away; who can restrain or turn Him back?

Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

13“God will not turn back His anger;

The [proud] helpers of Rahab [the arrogant monster of the sea] bow under Him.

14“How can I answer Him [and plead my case],

Choosing my words [to reason] with Him?

15“For though I were righteous, I could not answer.

I must appeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge.

16“If I called and He answered me,

I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.

17“For He bruises me with a tempest

And multiplies my wounds without cause.

18“He will not allow me to catch my breath,

But fills and saturates me with bitterness.

19“If it is a matter of strength and power, behold, He is mighty!

And if of justice, who can summon and challenge Him?

20“Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty;

Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.

21“[Though] I am blameless,

I do not care about myself;

I despise my life.

22“It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’

23“When [His] scourge kills suddenly,

He mocks at the despair of the innocent.

24“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;

He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].

If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

25“Now my days are swifter than a runner;

They vanish, they see no good.

26“They pass by like the [swift] boats made of reeds,

Like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

27“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will leave off my sad appearance, and be cheerful and brighten up,’

28I am afraid of all my pains and worries [yet to come];

I know that You will not acquit me and leave me unpunished.

29“I am accounted wicked and held guilty;

Why then should I labor in vain [to appear innocent]?

30“If I were to wash myself with snow

And cleanse my hands with lye,

31You would still plunge me into the pit,

And my own clothes would hate me [and refuse to cover my foul body].

32“For God is not a [mere] man, as I am, that I may answer Him,

That we may go to court and judgment together.

33“There is no arbitrator between us,

Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].

34“Let Him take His rod away from me,

And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.

35“Then I would speak [my defense] and not fear Him;

But I am not like that in myself.