72 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
72 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 9
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1 Then Job answered and said:
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2 “Truly I know it is so,
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But how can a man be righteous before God?
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3 If one wished to contend with Him,
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He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
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4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
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Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
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5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know
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When He overturns them in His anger;
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6 He shakes the earth out of its place,
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And its pillars tremble;
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7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
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He seals off the stars;
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8 He alone spreads out the heavens,
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And treads on the waves of the sea;
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9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
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And the chambers of the south;
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10 He does great things past finding out,
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Yes, wonders without number.
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11 If He goes by me, I do not see Him;
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If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
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12 If He takes away, who can hinder Him?
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Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
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13 God will not withdraw His anger,
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The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.
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14 “How then can I answer Him,
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And choose my words to reason with Him?
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15 For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;
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I would beg mercy of my Judge.
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16 If I called and He answered me,
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I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
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17 For He crushes me with a tempest,
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And multiplies my wounds without cause.
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18 He will not allow me to catch my breath,
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But fills me with bitterness.
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19 If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
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And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
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20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
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Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
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21 “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;
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I despise my life.
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22 It is all one thing;
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Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
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23 If the scourge slays suddenly,
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He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
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24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
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He covers the faces of its judges.
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If it is not He, who else could it be?
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25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner;
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They flee away, they see no good.
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26 They pass by like swift ships,
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Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
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27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
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I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
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28 I am afraid of all my sufferings;
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I know that You will not hold me innocent.
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29 If I am condemned,
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Why then do I labor in vain?
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30 If I wash myself with snow water,
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And cleanse my hands with soap,
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31 Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
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And my own clothes will abhor me.
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32 “For He is not a man, as I am,
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That I may answer Him,
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And that we should go to court together.
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33 Nor is there any mediator between us,
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Who may lay his hand on us both.
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34 Let Him take His rod away from me,
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And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
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35 Then I would speak and not fear Him,
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But it is not so with me. |