| Holman Christian Standard Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Then Job answered: | 1Then Job answered: |
| 2Yes, I know what you've said is true, but how can a person be justified before God? | 2"Truly, I know that this is so. But how can a human be just before God? |
| 3If one wanted to take Him to court, he could not answer God once in a thousand times. | 3If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand. |
| 4God is wise and all-powerful. Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed? | 4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength--who has resisted him and remained safe? |
| 5He removes mountains without their knowledge, overturning them in His anger. | 5He who removes mountains suddenly, who overturns them in his anger; |
| 6He shakes the earth from its place so that its pillars tremble. | 6he who shakes the earth out of its place so that its pillars tremble; |
| 7He commands the sun not to shine and seals off the stars. | 7he who commands the sun and it does not shine and seals up the stars; |
| 8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. | 8he alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea; |
| 9He makes the stars: the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky. | 9he makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky; |
| 10He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. | 10he does great and unsearchable things, and wonderful things without number. |
| 11If He passes by me, I wouldn't see Him; if He goes right by, I wouldn't recognize Him. | 11If he passes by me, I cannot see him, if he goes by, I cannot perceive him. |
| 12If He snatches something, who can stop Him? Who can ask Him, "What are You doing?" | 12If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him, 'What are you doing?' |
| 13God does not hold back His anger; Rahab's assistants cringe in fear beneath Him! | 13God does not restrain his anger; under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed. |
| 14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? | 14"How much less, then, can I answer him and choose my words to argue with him! |
| 15Even if I were in the right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. | 15Although I am innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my judge for mercy. |
| 16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said. | 16If I summoned him, and he answered me, I would not believe that he would be listening to my voice-- |
| 17He batters me with a whirlwind and multiplies my wounds without cause. | 17he who crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds for no reason. |
| 18He doesn't let me catch my breath but soaks me with bitter experiences. | 18He does not allow me to recover my breath, for he fills me with bitterness. |
| 19If it is a matter of strength, look, He is the Mighty One! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? | 19If it is a matter of strength, most certainly he is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, he will say, 'Who will summon me?' |
| 20Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty. | 20Although I am innocent, my mouth would condemn me; although I am blameless, it would declare me perverse. |
| 21Though I am blameless, I no longer care about myself; I renounce my life. | 21I am blameless. I do not know myself. I despise my life. |
| 22It is all the same. Therefore I say, "He destroys both the blameless and the wicked." | 22"It is all one! That is why I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the guilty.' |
| 23When disaster brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. | 23If a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks at the despair of the innocent. |
| 24The earth is handed over to the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it isn't He, then who is it? | 24If a land has been given into the hand of a wicked man, he covers the faces of its judges; if it is not he, then who is it? |
| 25My days fly by faster than a runner; they flee without seeing any good. | 25"My days are swifter than a runner, they speed by without seeing happiness. |
| 26They sweep by like boats made of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. | 26They glide by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops down on its prey. |
| 27If I said, "I will forget my complaint, change my expression, and smile," | 27If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression and be cheerful,' |
| 28I would still live in terror of all my pains. I know You will not acquit me. | 28I dread all my sufferings, for I know that you do not hold me blameless. |
| 29Since I will be found guilty, why should I labor in vain? | 29If I am guilty, why then weary myself in vain? |
| 30If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, | 30If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands clean with lye, |
| 31then You dip me in a pit of mud, and my own clothes despise me! | 31then you plunge me into a slimy pit and my own clothes abhor me. |
| 32For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court. | 32For he is not a human being like I am, that I might answer him, that we might come together in judgment. |
| 33There is no one to judge between us, to lay his hand on both of us. | 33Nor is there an arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both, |
| 34Let Him take His rod away from me so His terror will no longer frighten me. | 34who would take his rod away from me so that his terror would not make me afraid. |
| 35Then I would speak and not fear Him. But that is not the case; I am on my own. | 35Then would I speak and not fear him, but it is not so with me. |
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