> [[job-08|← Previous]] | [[job-00|TOC]] | [[job-10|Next →]] --- # Job, Chapter 9 ## Chapter 9 **Job’s Second Reply.** 1 Then Job answered and said: ^job-09-1 2 I know well that it is so; ^job-09-2 but how can anyone be in the right before God? 3 Should one wish to contend with him, ^job-09-3 he could not answer him once in a thousand times. 4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; ^job-09-4 who has withstood him and remained whole? 5 He removes the mountains before they know it; ^job-09-5 he overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth out of its place, ^job-09-6 and the pillars beneath it tremble. 7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise; ^job-09-7 he seals up the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens ^job-09-8 and treads upon the back of the sea. 9 He made the Bear and Orion, ^job-09-9 the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; 10 He does things great and unsearchable, ^job-09-10 things marvelous and innumerable. 11 Should he come near me, I do not see him; ^job-09-11 should he pass by, I am not aware of him; 12 Should he seize me forcibly, who can resist? ^job-09-12 Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” 13 He is God and he does not relent; ^job-09-13 the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him. 14 How then could I give him any answer, ^job-09-14 or choose out arguments against him! 15 Even though I were right, I could not answer, ^job-09-15 but should rather beg for what was due me. 16 If I appealed to him and he answered me, ^job-09-16 I could not believe that he would listen to me; 17 With a storm he might overwhelm me, ^job-09-17 and multiply my wounds for nothing; 18 He would not allow me to draw breath, ^job-09-18 but might fill me with bitter griefs. 19 If it be a question of strength, he is mighty; ^job-09-19 or of judgment, who will call him to account? 20 Though I were right, my own mouth might condemn me; ^job-09-20 were I innocent, it might put me in the wrong. 21 I am innocent, but I cannot know it; ^job-09-21 I despise my life. 22 It is all one! therefore I say: ^job-09-22 Both the innocent and the wicked he destroys. 23 When the scourge slays suddenly, ^job-09-23 he scoffs at the despair of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hands of the wicked; ^job-09-24 he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he, who then is it? 25 My days are swifter than a runner, ^job-09-25 they flee away; they see no happiness; 26 They shoot by like skiffs of reed, ^job-09-26 like an eagle swooping upon its prey. 27 If I say: I will forget my complaining, ^job-09-27 I will lay aside my sadness and be of good cheer, 28 Then I am in dread of all my pains; ^job-09-28 I know that you will not hold me innocent. 29 It is I who will be accounted guilty; ^job-09-29 why then should I strive in vain? 30 If I should wash myself with soap ^job-09-30 and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 Yet you would plunge me in the ditch, ^job-09-31 so that my garments would abhor me. 32 For he is not a man like myself, that I should answer him, ^job-09-32 that we should come together in judgment. 33 Would that there were an arbiter between us, ^job-09-33 who could lay his hand upon us both 34 and withdraw his rod from me, ^job-09-34 So that his terrors did not frighten me; 35 that I might speak without being afraid of him. ^job-09-35 Since this is not the case with me, 10:1 I loathe my life. --- \* (9:3) Job begins to explore the possibility of challenging God in a lawsuit, a theme that will recur ([10:2]), but he knows the odds are against him (vv. [12] – [20]). \* (9:13) Rahab: another name for the primeval sea-monster; see notes on [3:8] and [Ps 89:11]; cf. [Jb 7:12]; [26:12]. \* (9:28] – [31) You: refers to God. --- a. (9:6) [Jb 26:11]. b. (9:8) [Ps 104:2]; [Is 40:22]. c. (9:15) [Jb 10:15]. d. (9:20) [Jb 15:6]. e. (9:22) [Eccl 9:2]. f. (9:25) [Jb 7:6]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[job-08|← Previous]] | [[job-00|TOC]] | [[job-10|Next →]]