Job 9:1-21 ▼

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 I know well that it is so; but how can anyone be in the right before God?

3 Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained whole?

5 He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger.

6 He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble.

7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise; he seals up the stars.

8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the back of the sea.

9 He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;

10 He does things great and unsearchable, things marvelous and innumerable.

11 Should he come near me, I do not see him; should he pass by, I am not aware of him;

12 Should he seize me forcibly, who can resist? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

13 He is God and he does not relent; the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.

14 How then could I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him!

15 Even though I were right, I could not answer, but should rather beg for what was due me.

16 If I appealed to him and he answered me, I could not believe that he would listen to me;

17 With a storm he might overwhelm me, and multiply my wounds for nothing;

18 He would not allow me to draw breath, but might fill me with bitter griefs.

19 If it be a question of strength, he is mighty; or of judgment, who will call him to account?

20 Though I were right, my own mouth might condemn me; were I innocent, it might put me in the wrong.

21 I am innocent, but I cannot know it; I despise my life.