| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1This was Job's response: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2"Indeed, I'm fully aware that this is so, but how can a person become right with God? | 2"Truly, I know that this is so. But how can a human be just before God? |
| 3If one were to seek to argue with him, he won't be able to answer him even once in a thousand times. | 3If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand. |
| 4He is wise in heart and strong in will— who can be stubborn against him and succeed? | 4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength--who has resisted him and remained safe? |
| 5"He removes mountains without their knowledge, overthrowing them in his anger. | 5He who removes mountains suddenly, who overturns them in his anger; |
| 6He shakes the earth from its orbit, so that its foundations shudder. | 6he who shakes the earth out of its place so that its pillars tremble; |
| 7He commands the sun so that it doesn't shine and seals up the stars. | 7he who commands the sun and it does not shine and seals up the stars; |
| 8He alone spreads out the heavens, he walks on the waves of the sea. | 8he alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea; |
| 9He created Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the southern constellations. | 9he makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky; |
| 10He does great things that cannot be explained, and awesome deeds that cannot be counted. | 10he does great and unsearchable things, and wonderful things without number. |
| 11"If he were to pass near me, I wouldn't notice; if he moves by, I wouldn't perceive him. | 11If he passes by me, I cannot see him, if he goes by, I cannot perceive him. |
| 12Indeed, if he snatches someone away, who could restrain him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?' | 12If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him, 'What are you doing?' |
| 13"God doesn't restrain his anger. Rahab's assistants are humiliated under him. | 13God does not restrain his anger; under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed. |
| 14So how am I to answer him, choosing what I am to say to him? | 14"How much less, then, can I answer him and choose my words to argue with him! |
| 15Even if I'm in the right, I cannot answer him. I can only appeal for mercy. | 15Although I am innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my judge for mercy. |
| 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. | 16If I summoned him, and he answered me, I would not believe that he would be listening to my voice-- |
| 17For he crushes me with a storm, and keeps on wounding me for no reason. | 17he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason. |
| 18He won't let me catch my breath; instead, he fills me with bitterness. | 18He does not allow me to recover my breath, for he fills me with bitterness. |
| 19"Is this a contest of strength? He is obviously stronger! Is this a matter of justice? Who can sue him? | 19If it is a matter of strength, most certainly he is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, he will say, 'Who will summon me?' |
| 20Though I'm in the right, my own mouth will condemn me; though I'm blameless, he'll pronounce me as guilty. | 20Although I am innocent, my mouth would condemn me; although I am blameless, it would declare me perverse. |
| 21"I'm blameless; I don't know myself; I despise my life. | 21I am blameless. I do not know myself. I despise my life. |
| 22I say it's all the same— he destroys both the blameless and the guilty. | 22"It is all one! That is why I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the guilty.' |
| 23If a calamity causes sudden death, he'll mock at the despair of the innocent. | 23If a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks at the despair of the innocent. |
| 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?" | 24If a land has been given into the hand of a wicked man, he covers the faces of its judges; if it is not he, then who is it? |
| 25"My days pass faster than a runner; but they pass quickly without seeing anything good. | 25"My days are swifter than a runner, they speed by without seeing happiness. |
| 26They pass by like a ship made of reeds, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. | 26They glide by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops down on its prey. |
| 27If I were to say, 'Let me forget my complaint,' change the expression on my face, and look cheerful, | 27If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression and be cheerful,' |
| 28then I still dread all of my suffering; I know you still won't acquit me. | 28I dread all my sufferings, for I know that you do not hold me blameless. |
| 29I will be condemned, so why should I wear myself out with this futility? | 29If I am guilty, why then weary myself in vain? |
| 30"If I wash myself with water from snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, | 30If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands clean with lye, |
| 31you'll still drop me into the Pit, and my own clothes will despise me. | 31then you plunge me into a slimy pit and my own clothes abhor me. |
| 32He's not a man like me, so that I can answer him, or that we can enter into litigation with one another. | 32For he is not a human being like I am, that I might answer him, that we might come together in judgment. |
| 33There is not yet a mediator between us, who would set his hand on the two of us, | 33Nor is there an arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both, |
| 34removing his rod from me, and not letting terror of him overwhelm me. | 34who would take his rod away from me so that his terror would not make me afraid. |
| 35Otherwise, I would speak without being terrified of him, because I'm not like that inside myself." | 35Then would I speak and not fear him, but it is not so with me. |
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