• Job Replies There Is No Adjudicator

  • 1 Then Job answered and said,
  • 2 “In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God?
  • 3 “If one desired to contend with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.
  • 4 “Wise in heart and mighty in power, Who has stiffened his neck against Him and been at peace?
  • 5 “God is the One who removes the mountains, they know not how, When He overturns them in His anger;
  • 6 The One who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble;
  • 7 The One who says for the sun not to shine, And sets a seal upon the stars;
  • 8 Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea;
  • 9 Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;
  • 10 Who does great things, unsearchable, And wondrous works, innumerable.
  • 11 “Were He to sweep by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
  • 12 “Were He to snatch away, who could turn Him back? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
  • 13 “God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.
  • 14 “How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him?
  • 15 “For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to plead for the grace of my judge.
  • 16 “If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was giving ear to my voice.
  • 17 “For He bruises me with a tempest And multiplies my wounds without cause.
  • 18 “He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness.
  • 19 “If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the mighty one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can make Him testify?
  • 20 “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am blameless, He will declare me perverse.
  • 21 “I am blameless; I do not know my soul; I reject my life.
  • 22 “It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He consumes the blameless and the wicked.’
  • 23 “If the scourge puts to death suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
  • 24 “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
  • 25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away; they do not see good.
  • 26 “They sweep by like reed boats, Like an eagle that swoops on its food.
  • 27 “Though I say, ‘I will forget my musing, I will forsake my sad countenance and be cheerful,’
  • 28 I am afraid of all my pains; I know that You will not acquit me.
  • 29 “I am accounted wicked; Why then should I toil in vain?
  • 30 “If I should wash myself with snow And cleanse my hands with lye,
  • 31 Yet You would plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes would abhor me.
  • 32 “For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, That we may go to court for judgment together.
  • 33 “There is no adjudicator between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both.
  • 34 “Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not dread of Him terrify me.
  • 35 “Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.