Amplified Bible
Job 9:20
20Though I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty; Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.
Job 9:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
- New International Version (NIV)Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
Context of Job 9:20
18He will not allow me to catch my breath, But fills and saturates me with bitterness. 19If it is a matter of strength and power, behold, He is mighty! And if of justice, who can summon and challenge Him? 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. 22It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’
Read all of Job 9Job 9:20 word by word
אִם־אֶ֭צְדָּק פִּ֣י יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי תָּֽם־אָ֝֗נִי וַֽיַּעְקְשֵֽׁנִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 9:20
- Job 9:2“Yes, I know it is true. But how can a mortal man be right before God?
- Job 4:17‘Can [mortal] man be just before God or be more righteous than He? Can a man be pure before his Maker or be more cleansed than He?
- Job 32:1So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes [and could not be persuaded otherwise by them].
- Psalms 130:3If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly, O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?
- Psalms 143:2And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous or justified.
- Luke 10:29But he, wishing to justify and vindicate himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Luke 16:15So He said to them, “You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts [your thoughts, your desires, your secrets]; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
- Job 15:5For your guilt teaches your mouth, And you choose [to speak] the language of the crafty and cunning.
- Job 34:35‘Job speaks without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom and insight.
- Job 35:16Job uselessly opens his mouth And multiplies words without knowledge [drawing the worthless conclusion that the righteous have no more advantage than the wicked].”
- Proverbs 10:19When there are many words, transgression and offense are unavoidable, But he who controls his lips and keeps thoughtful silence is wise.
- Isaiah 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am ruined, Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
- Matthew 12:36But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak.
- James 3:2For we all stumble and sin in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says [never saying the wrong thing], he is a perfect man [fully developed in character, without serious flaws], able to bridle his whole body and rein in his entire nature [taming his human faults and weaknesses].
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God [with reverence] and abstained from and turned away from evil [because he honored God].
- Philippians 3:12Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.
Commentaries on Job 9:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20If I justify myself - God must have some reason for his conduct towards me; I therefore do not pretend to justify myself; the attempt to do it would be an insult to his majesty and justice. Though I am conscious of none of the crimes of which you accuse me; and know not why he contends with me; yet he must have some reason, and that reason he does not choose to explain.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me - That is, referring still to the form of a judicial trial, if I should undertake to manage my own cause, I should lay myself open to condemnation even in my argument on the subject, and should show that I was far from the perfection which I had undertaken to maintain. By passionate expressions; by the language of complaint and murmuring; by a want of suitable reverence; by showing my ignorance of the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 Job is still righteous in his own eyes, ch. 32:1, and this answer, though it sets forth the power and majesty of God, implies that the question between the afflicted and the Lord of providence, is a question of might, and not of right; and we begin to discover the evil fruits of pride and of a self-righteous spirit. Job begins to manifest a disposition to condemn God, that he may justify himself, for which he is afterwards reproved. Still Job…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-35Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case. It includes: A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32). The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20). A "mediator" (9:33–34). A question of accusation (9:12). A legal sentence (9:22). A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. it--(Job 15:6; Lu 19:22); or "He," God.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 9:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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