111 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
111 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
Job Replies: There Is No Arbiter
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# Chapter 9
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1. Then Job answered and said:
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2. "Truly I know that it is so:
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But how can a man be in the right before God?
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3. If one wished to contend with him,
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one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
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4. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength--
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who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?--
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5. he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
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when he overturns them in his anger,
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6. who shakes the earth out of its place,
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and its pillars tremble;
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7. who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
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who seals up the stars;
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8. who alone stretched out the heavens
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and trampled the waves of the sea;
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9. who made the Bear and Orion,
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the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
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10. who does great things beyond searching out,
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and marvelous things beyond number.
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11. Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
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he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
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12. Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
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Who will say to him, 'What are you doing?'
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13. "God will not turn back his anger;
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beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
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14. How then can I answer him,
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choosing my words with him?
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15. Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
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I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
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16. If I summoned him 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 let me get my breath,
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but fills me with bitterness.
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19. If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
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If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
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20. Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
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though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
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21. I am blameless; I regard not myself;
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I loathe my life.
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22. It is all one; therefore I say,
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'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
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23. When disaster brings sudden death,
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he mocks at the calamity 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 then is it?
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25. "My days are swifter than a runner;
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they flee away; they see no good.
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26. They go by like skiffs of reed,
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like an eagle swooping on the 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 be of good cheer,'
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28. I become afraid of all my suffering,
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for I know you will not hold me innocent.
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29. I shall be condemned;
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why then do I labor in vain?
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30. If I wash myself with snow
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and cleanse my hands with lye,
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31. yet you will plunge me into a 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, that I might answer him,
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that we should come to trial together.
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33. There is no arbiter between us,
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who might lay his hand on us both.
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34. Let him take his rod away from me,
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and let not dread of him terrify me.
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35. Then I would speak without fear of him,
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for I am not so in myself.
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