Online Bible

Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man

Then Job answered and said,

2 “Yes, I know it is true.But how can a mortal ^aman be right before God?3 “If one should want to ^acontend or dispute with Him,He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.4 “God is ^awise in heart and ^bmighty in strength;Who has ever ^cdefied or challenged Him and remained unharmed?5 “It is God ^awho removes the mountains, and they do not know it,When He overturns them in His anger;6 Who ^ashakes the earth out of its place,And its ^bpillars tremble;7 Who commands the ^asun, and it does not shine;Who seals up the stars from view;8 Who alone ^astretches out the heavensAnd ^btramples down the ¹waves of the sea;9 Who made the constellations the ^aBear, Orion, and the Pleiades,And the vast starry ^bspaces of the south;10 Who ^adoes great things, beyond understanding, unfathomable,Yes, marvelous and wondrous things without number.11 “Behold, He passes by me, and ^aI do not see Him;He moves past me, but I do not perceive Him.12 “Behold, He snatches away; who can ^arestrain or turn Him back?Who will say to Him, ‘^bWhat are You doing?’

13 “God will not turn back His anger;The proud helpers of ^aRahab the arrogant monster of the sea bow under Him.14 “How can ^aI answer Him and plead my case,Choosing my words to reason with Him?15 “For ^athough I were righteous, I could not answer.I must ^bappeal for mercy to my Opponent and Judge.16 “If I called and He answered me,I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.17 “For He ^abruises me with a tempestAnd multiplies my wounds without cause.18 “He will ^anot allow me to catch my breath,But fills and saturates me with ^bbitterness.19 “If it is a matter of strength and power, ^abehold, He is mighty!And if of justice, who can summon and challenge Him?20 “^aThough I am innocent and in the right, my own mouth would ^bpronounce me guilty;Though I am blameless, He would denounce me as guilty.21 “Though I am ^ablameless,I do not care about myself;I ^bdespise my life.22 “It is all one; therefore I say,‘He ^adestroys both the blameless and the wicked.’23 “When His scourge kills suddenly,He ^amocks at the despair of the innocent.24 “The earth ^ais given into the hands of the wicked;He ^bcovers the faces of its judges so that they are blind to justice.If it is not He, then who is it that is responsible for all this injustice?

25 “Now ^amy days are swifter than a runner;They vanish, ^bthey see no good.26 “They pass by like the swift ^aboats made of reeds,Like an ^beagle that swoops down on its prey.27 “If I say, ‘I will forget ^amy complaint,I will leave off my sad appearance, and be cheerful and brighten up,’28 I am ^aafraid of all my pains and worries yet to come;I know that ^bYou will not acquit me and leave me unpunished.29 “I am ^aaccounted wicked and held guilty;Why then should I labor in vain to appear innocent?30 “If I were to ^awash myself with snowAnd cleanse ^bmy hands with lye,31 You would still plunge me into the pit,And my own clothes would hate me and refuse to cover my foul body.32 “For ^aGod is not a mere man, as I am, that ^bI may answer Him,That we may go to court and judgment together.33 “There is no ^aarbitrator between us,Who could lay his hand upon us both would that there were. 1+@Tim 2:534 “Let Him ^atake His rod away from me,And let not the dread and fear of Him terrify me.35 “Then ^aI would speak my defense and not fear Him;But I am not like that in myself.

Job Says There Is No Arbitrator between God and Man

Then Job ¹answered,

2 “In truth I know that this is so;But how can a ^aman be in the right ¹before God?3 “If one wished to ^adispute with Him,He could not answer Him once in a thousand times.4 “^aWise in heart and ^bmighty in strength,Who has ¹^cdefied Him ²without harm?5 “^aIt is God who removes the mountains, they know not how,When He overturns them in His anger;6 Who ^ashakes the earth out of its place,And its ^bpillars tremble;7 Who commands the ^asun ¹not to shine,And sets a seal upon the stars;8 Who alone ^astretches out the heavensAnd ¹^btramples down the waves of the sea;9 Who makes the ^aBear, Orion and the Pleiades,And the ^bchambers of the south;10 Who ^adoes great things, ¹unfathomable,And wondrous works without number.11 “Were He to pass by me, ^aI would not see Him;Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.12 “Were He to snatch away, who could ^arestrain Him?Who could say to Him, ‘^bWhat are You doing?’

13 “God will not turn back His anger;Beneath Him crouch the helpers of ^aRahab.14 “How then can ^aI ¹answer Him,And choose my words ²before Him?15 “For ^athough I were right, I could not ¹answer;I would have to ^bimplore the mercy of my judge.16 “If I called and He answered me,I could not believe that He was listening to my voice.17 “For He ^abruises me with a tempestAnd multiplies my wounds without cause.18 “He will ^anot allow me to get my breath,But saturates me with ^bbitterness.19 “If it is a matter of power, ^abehold, He is the strong one!And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon ¹Him?20 “^aThough I am righteous, my mouth will ^bcondemn me;Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty.21 “I am ^aguiltless;I do not take notice of myself;I ^bdespise my life.22 “It is all one; therefore I say,‘He ^adestroys the guiltless and the wicked.’23 “If the scourge kills suddenly,He ^amocks the despair of the innocent.24 “The earth ^ais given into the hand of the wicked;He ^bcovers the faces of its judges.If it is not He, then who is it?

25 “Now ^amy days are swifter than a runner;They flee away, ^bthey see no good.26 “They slip by like ^areed boats,Like an ^beagle that swoops on ¹its prey.27 “Though I say, ‘I will forget ^amy complaint,I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful,’28 I am ^aafraid of all my pains,I know that ^bYou will not acquit me.29 “I am accounted ^awicked,Why then should I toil in vain?30 “If I should ^awash myself with snowAnd cleanse ^bmy hands with lye,31 Yet You would plunge me into the pit,And my own clothes would abhor me.32 “For ^aHe is not a man as I am that ^bI may answer Him,That we may go to ¹court together.33 “There is no ^aumpire between us,Who may lay his hand upon us both.34 “Let Him ^aremove His rod from me,And let not dread of Him terrify me.35 “Then I ^awould speak and not fear Him;But I am not like that in myself.