Berean Standard Bible

Job 9:16-35

16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.17For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.18He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.19If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him1?20Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.2

21Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself;I despise my own life.22It is all the same, and so I say,‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’23When the scourge brings sudden death,He mocks the despair of the innocent.24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;He blindfolds its judges.If it is not He, then who is it?

25My days are swifter than a runner;they flee without seeing good.26They sweep by like boats of papyrus,like an eagle swooping down on its prey.27If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaintand change my expression and smile,’28I would still dread all my sufferings;I know that You will not acquit me.29Since I am already found guilty,why should I labor in vain?30If I should wash myself with snow3and cleanse my hands with lye,31then You would plunge me into the pit,and even my own clothes would despise me.

32For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,that we can take each other to court.33Nor is there a mediator between us,to lay his hand upon us both.34Let Him remove His rod from me,so that His terror will no longer frighten me.35Then I would speak without fear of Him.But as it is, I am on my own.

Read all of Job 9

Notes

1. Job 9:19 See LXX; Hebrew me ↩
2. Job 9:20 Or He would declare me guilty ↩
3. Job 9:30 Or soap ↩

Notes

Commentaries on Job 9