# Job 9 (New King James Version)
Job: There Is No Mediator

##### Chapter 9
###### 1 Then Job answered and said:

###### 2 "Truly I know _it is_ so,  
But how can a man be righteous before God?  

###### 3 If one wished to contend with Him,  
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.  

###### 4 _God is_ wise in heart and mighty in strength.  
Who has hardened _himself_ against Him and prospered?  

###### 5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know  
When He overturns them in His anger;  

###### 6 He shakes the earth out of its place,  
And its pillars tremble;  

###### 7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;  
He seals off the stars;  

###### 8 He alone spreads out the heavens,  
And treads on the waves of the sea;  

###### 9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,  
And the chambers of the south;  

###### 10 He does great things past finding out,  
Yes, wonders without number.  

###### 11 If He goes by me, I do not see _Him;_  
If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;  

###### 12 If He takes away, who can hinder Him?  
Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?'  

###### 13 God will not withdraw His anger,  
The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

###### 14 "How then can I answer Him,  
_And_ choose my words _to reason_ with Him?  

###### 15 For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;  
I would beg mercy of my Judge.  

###### 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 without cause.  

###### 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, 'He destroys the blameless and the wicked.'  

###### 23 If the scourge slays suddenly,  
He laughs at the plight 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,_ who else could it be?

###### 25 "Now my days are swifter than a runner;  
They flee away, they see no good.  

###### 26 They pass by like swift ships,  
Like an eagle swooping on its prey.  

###### 27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint,  
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,'  

###### 28 I am afraid of all my sufferings;  
I know that You will not hold me innocent.  

###### 29 _If_ I am condemned,  
Why then do I labor in vain?  

###### 30 If I wash myself with snow water,  
And cleanse my hands with soap,  

###### 31 Yet You will plunge me into the pit,  
And my own clothes will abhor me.

###### 32 "For _He is_ not a man, as I _am,_  
_That_ I may answer Him,  
_And that_ we should go to court together.  

###### 33 Nor is there any mediator between us,  
_Who_ may lay his hand on us both.  

###### 34 Let Him take His rod away from me,  
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.  

###### 35 _Then_ I would speak and not fear Him,  
But it is not so with me.