August 7 – Job 9 thru 11 from the Old Testament

Job 9 thru 11 – Job’s Reply to Bildad

9:1 Then Job answered:

9:2 “Truly, I know that this is so.

But how can a human be just before God?

9:3 If someone wishes to contend with him,

he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.

9:4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength –

who has resisted him and remained safe?

9:5 He who removes mountains suddenly,

who overturns them in his anger;

9:6 he who shakes the earth out of its place

so that its pillars tremble;

9:7 he who commands the sun and it does not shine

and seals up the stars;

9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,

and treads on the waves of the sea;

9:9 he makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

and the constellations of the southern sky;

9:10 he does great and unsearchable things,

and wonderful things without number.

9:11 If he passes by me, I cannot see him,

if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

9:12 If he snatches away, who can turn him back?

Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

9:13 God does not restrain his anger;

under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.

The Impossibility of Facing God in Court

9:14 “How much less, then, can I

answer him

and choose my words to argue with him!

9:15 Although I am innocent,

I could not answer him;

I could only plead with my judge for mercy.

9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me,

I would not believe

that he would be listening to my voice –

9:17 he who crushes me with a tempest,

and multiplies my wounds for no reason.

9:18 He does not allow me to recover my breath,

for he fills me with bitterness.

9:19 If it is a matter of strength,

most certainly he is the strong one!

And if it is a matter of justice,

he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’

9:20 Although I am innocent,

my mouth would condemn me;

although I am blameless,

it would declare me perverse.

9:21 I am blameless. I do not know myself.

I despise my life.

Accusation of God’s Justice

9:22 “It is all one! That is why I say,

‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’

9:23 If a scourge brings sudden death,

he mocks at the despair of the innocent.

9:24 If a land has been given

into the hand of a wicked man,

he covers the faces of its judges;

if it is not he, then who is it?

Renewed Complaint

9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner,

they speed by without seeing happiness.

9:26 They glide by like reed boats,

like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.

9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will change my expression and be cheerful,’

9:28 I dread all my sufferings,

for I know that you do not hold me blameless.

9:29 If I am guilty,

why then weary myself in vain?

9:30 If I wash myself with snow water,

and make my hands clean with lye,

9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit

and my own clothes abhor me.

9:32 For he is not a human being like I am,

that I might answer him,

that we might come together in judgment.

9:33 Nor is there an arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both,

9:34 who would take his rod away from me

so that his terror would not make me afraid.

9:35 Then would I speak and not fear him,

but it is not so with me.

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I am weary of my life;

I will complain without restraint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;

tell me why you are contending with me.’

10:3 Is it good for you to oppress,

to despise the work of your hands,

while you smile

on the schemes of the wicked?

Motivations of God

10:4 “Do you have eyes of flesh,

or do you see as a human being sees?

10:5 Are your days like the days of a mortal,

or your years like the years of a mortal,

10:6 that you must search out my iniquity,

and inquire about my sin,

10:7 although you know that I am not guilty,

and that there is no one who can deliver

out of your hand?

Contradictions in God’s Dealings

10:8 “Your hands have shaped me and made me,

but now you destroy me completely.

10:9 Remember that you have made me as with the clay;

will you return me to dust?

10:10 Did you not pour me out like milk,

and curdle me like cheese?

10:11 You clothed me with skin and flesh

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

10:12 You gave me life and favor,

and your intervention watched over my spirit.

 

10:13 “But these things you have concealed in your heart;

I know that this is with you:

10:14 If I sinned, then you would watch me

and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.

10:15 If I am guilty, woe to me,

and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head;

I am full of shame,

and satiated with my affliction.

10:16 If I lift myself up,

you hunt me as a fierce lion,

and again you display your power against me.

10:17 You bring new witnesses against me,

and increase your anger against me;

relief troops come against me.

An Appeal for Relief

10:18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?

I should have died

and no eye would have seen me!

10:19 I should have been as though I had never existed;

I should have been carried

right from the womb to the grave!

10:20 Are not my days few?

Cease, then, and leave me alone,

that I may find a little comfort,

10:21 before I depart, never to return,

to the land of darkness

and the deepest shadow,

10:22 to the land of utter darkness,

like the deepest darkness,

and the deepest shadow and disorder,

where even the light is like darkness.”

Zophar’s First Speech to Job

11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:

11:2 “Should not this abundance of words be answered,

or should this talkative man

be vindicated?

11:3 Will your idle talk reduce people to silence,

and will no one rebuke you when you mock?

11:4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless,

and I am pure in your sight.’

11:5 But if only God would speak,

if only he would open his lips against you,

11:6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom –

for true wisdom has two sides –

so that you would know

that God has forgiven some of your sins.

 

11:7 “Can you discover the essence of God?

Can you find out

the perfection of the Almighty?

11:8 It is higher than the heavens – what can you do?

It is deeper than Sheol – what can you know?

11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth,

and broader than the sea.

11:10 If he comes by and confines you

and convenes a court,

then who can prevent him?

11:11 For he knows deceitful men;

when he sees evil, will he not consider it?

11:12 But an empty man will become wise,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being.

11:13 “As for you, if you prove faithful,

and if you stretch out your hands toward him,

11:14 if iniquity is in your hand – put it far away,

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

11:15 For then you will lift up your face

without blemish;

you will be securely established

and will not fear.

11:16 For you will forget your trouble;

you will remember it

like water that has flowed away.

11:17 And life will be brighter than the noonday;

though there be darkness,

it will be like the morning.

11:18 And you will be secure, because there is hope;

you will be protected

and will take your rest in safety.

11:19 You will lie down with no one to make you afraid,

and many will seek your favor.

11:20 But the eyes of the wicked fail,

and escape eludes them;

their one hope is to breathe their last.”