Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Read the Bible

English Standard Version

Job 9

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Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 "Truly I know that it is so:
    But how can a man be (a)in the right before God?
3 If one wished to (b)contend with him,
    one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 He is (c)wise in heart and mighty in strength
    —who has (d)hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
    when he overturns them in his anger,
6 who (e)shakes the earth out of its place,
    and (f)its pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
    who seals up the stars;
8 who alone (g)stretched out the heavens
    and trampled the waves of the sea;
9 who (h)made (i)the Bear and (j)Orion,
    the Pleiades (k)and the chambers of the south;
10 who does (l)great things beyond searching out,
    and marvelous things beyond number.
11 Behold, he passes by me, and I (m)see him not;
    he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
12 Behold, he snatches away; (n)who can turn him back?
    (o)Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?'

13 "God will not turn back his anger;
    beneath him bowed the helpers of (p)Rahab.
14 (q)How then can I (r)answer him,
    choosing my words with him?
15 (s)Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
    I must (t)appeal for mercy to my accuser.[a]
16 If I summoned him 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 (u)without cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
    but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of (v)strength, behold, he is mighty!
    If it is a matter of justice, who can (w)summon him?[b]
20 Though I am in the right, (x)my own mouth would condemn me;
    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am (y)blameless; I regard not myself;
    I (z)loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
    ‘He (aa)destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
23 When (ab)disaster brings sudden death,
    he mocks at the calamity[c] of the innocent.
24 (ac)The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
    he (ad)covers the faces of its judges—
    (ae)if it is not he, who then is it?

25 "My (af)days are swifter than (ag)a runner;
    they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like (ah)skiffs of reed,
    like (ai)an eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, (aj)‘I will forget my complaint,
    I will put off my sad face, and (ak)be of good cheer,'
28 I become (al)afraid of all my suffering,
    for I know you will not (am)hold me innocent.
29 I shall be (an)condemned;
    why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow
    and (ao)cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,
    and my own clothes will (ap)abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should (aq)come to trial together.
33 (ar)There is no[d] arbiter between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.
34 (as)Let him take his (at)rod away from me,
    and let (au)not dread of him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak without fear of him,
    for I am not so in myself.

 
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