Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
1Then Job answered: | 1This was Job's response: |
2Yes, I know what you've said is true, but how can a person be justified before God? | 2"Indeed, I'm fully aware that this is so, but how can a person become right with God? |
3If one wanted to take him to court, he could not answer God once in a thousand times. | 3If one were to seek to argue with him, he won't be able to answer him even once in a thousand times. |
4God is wise and all-powerful. Who has opposed him and come out unharmed? | 4He is wise in heart and strong in will— who can be stubborn against him and succeed? |
5He removes mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in his anger. | 5"He removes mountains without their knowledge, overthrowing them in his anger. |
6He shakes the earth from its place so that its pillars tremble. | 6He shakes the earth from its orbit, so that its foundations shudder. |
7He commands the sun not to shine and seals off the stars. | 7He commands the sun so that it doesn't shine and seals up the stars. |
8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. | 8He alone spreads out the heavens, he walks on the waves of the sea. |
9He makes the stars: the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky. | 9He created Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the southern constellations. |
10He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. | 10He does great things that cannot be explained, and awesome deeds that cannot be counted. |
11If he passed by me, I wouldn't see him; if he went by, I wouldn't recognize him. | 11"If he were to pass near me, I wouldn't notice; if he moves by, I wouldn't perceive him. |
12If he snatches something, who can stop him? Who can ask him, "What are you doing?" | 12Indeed, if he snatches someone away, who could restrain him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?' |
13God does not hold back his anger; Rahab's assistants cringe in fear beneath him! | 13"God doesn't restrain his anger. Rahab's assistants are humiliated under him. |
14How then can I answer him or choose my arguments against him? | 14So how am I to answer him, choosing what I am to say to him? |
15Even if I were in the right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. | 15Even if I'm in the right, I cannot answer him. I can only appeal for mercy. |
16If I summoned him and he answered me, I do not believe he would pay attention to what I said. | 16"Were I to be summoned, and he were to answer me, I wouldn't even believe that he was listening to what I have to say. |
17He batters me with a whirlwind and multiplies my wounds without cause. | 17For he crushes me with a storm, and keeps on wounding me for no reason. |
18He doesn't let me catch my breath but fills me with bitter experiences. | 18He won't let me catch my breath; instead, he fills me with bitterness. |
19If it is a matter of strength, look, he is the powerful one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? | 19"Is this a contest of strength? He is obviously stronger! Is this a matter of justice? Who can sue him? |
20Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty. | 20Though I'm in the right, my own mouth will condemn me; though I'm blameless, he'll pronounce me as guilty. |
21Though I am blameless, I no longer care about myself; I renounce my life. | 21"I'm blameless; I don't know myself; I despise my life. |
22It is all the same. Therefore I say, "He destroys both the blameless and the wicked." | 22I say it's all the same— he destroys both the blameless and the guilty. |
23When catastrophe brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent. | 23If a calamity causes sudden death, he'll mock at the despair of the innocent. |
24The earth is handed over to the wicked; he blindfolds its judges. If it isn't he, then who is it? | 24A land is given into the hands of a wicked person; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not God, then who is it?" |
25My days fly by faster than a runner; they flee without seeing any good. | 25"My days pass faster than a runner; but they pass quickly without seeing anything good. |
26They sweep by like boats made of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. | 26They pass by like a ship made of reeds, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. |
27If I said, "I will forget my complaint, change my expression, and smile," | 27If I were to say, 'Let me forget my complaint,' change the expression on my face, and look cheerful, |
28I would still live in terror of all my pains. I know you will not acquit me. | 28then I still dread all of my suffering; I know you still won't acquit me. |
29Since I will be found guilty, why should I struggle in vain? | 29I will be condemned, so why should I wear myself out with this futility? |
30If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, | 30"If I wash myself with water from snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, |
31then you dip me in a pit of mud, and my own clothes despise me! | 31you'll still drop me into the Pit, and my own clothes will despise me. |
32For he is not a man like me, that I can answer him, that we can take each other to court. | 32He's not a man like me, so that I can answer him, or that we can enter into litigation with one another. |
33There is no mediator between us, to lay his hand on both of us. | 33There is not yet a mediator between us, who would set his hand on the two of us, |
34Let him take his rod away from me so his terror will no longer frighten me. | 34removing his rod from me, and not letting terror of him overwhelm me. |
35Then I would speak and not fear him. But that is not the case; I am on my own. | 35Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him, because I'm not like that inside myself." |
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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