Job Replies: There Is No Mediator
9 Then Job answered:
2 “Truly, I know it is so,
but how can a man be righteous with God?
3 If one would dispute with Him,
he cannot answer Him once in a thousand times.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
5 He who removes mountains, and they know not,
who overturns them in His anger.
6 He who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble.
7 He who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals off the stars.
8 He who alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He who makes the Bear, Orion, and Pleiades,
and the constellations of the south.
10 He who does great things, beyond discovery,
yes, and wonders beyond number.
11 Yes, He would cross before me, and I would not see Him;
He would pass on by, but I would not perceive Him.
12 Yes, He takes away; who can hinder Him?
Who will say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
13 God will not withdraw His anger.
The proud helpers bow down beneath Him.
14 “How, then, can I myself answer Him,
and choose my words to reason with Him?
15 Even if I were righteous I could not answer;
I would plead to my Judge for favor.
16 If I called, and He answered me,
I would not believe that He had listened to my voice.
17 For He crushes me with a storm
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He will not allow me to get 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 set me a time to plead?
20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I were perfect, it would prove me perverse.
21 “Though I were perfect,
I would not know myself;
I would despise my life.
22 It is all one thing; therefore I said,
‘He destroys both the perfect and the wicked.’
23 If the whip kills suddenly,
He will laugh at the trial 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, then who is it?
25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They pass by like reed skiffs,
like an eagle rushing upon its prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint;
I will leave off my sad face and brighten up,’
28 I am afraid of all my sorrows;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.
29 If I am guilty,
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 should answer Him,
and we should come together in judgment.
33 Nor is there a mediator between us,
who may lay his hand upon us both.
34 Let Him take His rod away from me,
and let not dread of Him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him,
but it is not so with me.