Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad
1 ThenHebrew "And" Job answered and said,
2 "Truly I know that it is so,
butHebrew "and" how can a human being be just before God?
3 If he wants to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise inHebrew "of" heart and mighty inHebrew "of" strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?Literally "he succeeded"
5 "He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how,
who overturns them in his anger.
6 He is the one who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
7 He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.Literally "and behind the stars he seals up"
8 He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens
and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
9 He is the one who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He is the one who does great things beyond understandingLiterally "until there is not understanding"
and marvelous things beyond number.Literally "until there is not number"
11 "IfLiterally "Look" he passes by me, I would not see him;Literally "and I would not see"
and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.Literally "and I would not recognize him"
12 IfLiterally "Look" he would snatch away, who could turn him?
Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.
14 How much lessLiterally "Also for" can I myselfEmphatic personal pronoun answer him?
How can I choose my words with him,
15 whom I cannot answer, even though I am righteous?
FromHebrew "To" my judge I must implore grace.
16 If I summon him, and he should answer me,
I do not believe that he will listen to my voice—
17 who crushes me with a tempest
and multipliesHebrew "he multiplies" my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to catchLiterally "return," or "regain" my breath;
rather, he will fill me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter ofLiterally "for"; see NASB, NIV, NET strength, look, he is mighty.
ButHebrew "And" if it is a matter ofLiterally "for"; NASB, NIV, NET, NRSV justice, who can summon me?Or "arraign me"
20 Even though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me;
even though I am blameless, yetHebrew "and" it would pronounce me guilty.
21 "I am blameless; I do not care about myself;Perhaps the meaning is "but it makes no difference to me" (NLT)
I loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When the whipOr "scourge" kills suddenly,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the face of its judge—
if it is not he, then who is it?
25 "And my days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they do not see good.
26 They go by like papyrus skiffs,
like an eagle swoops down on its prey.
27 ThoughOr "If" I say,Literally "my saying" ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will change my expression, and I will rejoice,’
28 I become afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that you do not consider me innocent.
29 If I shall be declared guilty,
why then should I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with soap,Or "with snow," or "in snow"
and I cleanse my hands with lye,
31 then you plunge me into the slime pit,
and my clothes abhor me.
32 "ForOr the emphatic "Indeed" he is not a mortal like me that I can answer him,
that we can come to trial together.Literally "we come together in the justice," or "we come together in the judgment"
33 There is no arbiter between us
that he might lay his hand on both of us.
34 May he remove his rod from me,
and let his dread not terrify me;
35 then I would speak and not fear him,Hebrew "and I will not fear him"
for in myself I am not fearful.Literally "not so I with me"
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