Job: There Is No Mediator
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Truly I know
it is so,
But how can a
a man be
b righteous before God?
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3 If one wished to
1 contend with Him,
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
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4 a God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened
himself against Him and prospered?
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5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger;
6 He
a shakes the earth out of its place,
And its
b pillars tremble;
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7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
He seals off the stars;
8 a He alone spreads out the heavens,
And
1 treads on the waves of the sea;
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9 a He made
1 the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
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10 a He does great things past finding out,
Yes, wonders without number.
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11 a If He goes by me, I do not see
Him; If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
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12 a If He takes away,
1 who can hinder Him?
Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
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13 God will not withdraw His anger,
a The allies of
1 the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.
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14 “How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words
to reason with Him?
15 a For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;
I would beg mercy of my Judge.
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16 If I called and He answered me,
I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
17 For He crushes me with a tempest,
And multiplies my wounds
a without cause.
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18 He will not allow me to catch my breath,
But fills me with bitterness.
19 If
it is a matter of strength, indeed
He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day
in court?
20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
Though I
were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
21 “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;
I despise my life.
22 It
is all one
thing; Therefore I say,
a ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
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New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
