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Job 9 (CEV)

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¹ Job said: ² What you say is true. No human is innocent in the sight of God. ³ Not once in a thousand times could we win our case if we took him to court. ⁴ God is wise and powerful-- who could possibly oppose him and win? ⁵ When God becomes angry, he can move mountains before they even know it. ⁶ God can shake the earth loose from its foundations ⁷ or command the sun and stars to hold back their light. ⁸ God alone stretched out the sky, stepped on the sea, ⁹ and set the stars in place-- the Big Dipper and Orion, the Pleiades and the stars in the southern sky. ¹⁰ Of all the miracles God works, we cannot understand a one. ¹¹ God walks right past me, without making a sound. ¹² And if he grabs something, who can stop him or raise a question? ¹³ When God showed his anger, the servants of the sea monster fell at his feet. ¹⁴ How, then, could I possibly argue my case with God? ¹⁵ Even though I am innocent, I can only beg for mercy. ¹⁶ And if God came into court when I called him, he would not hear my case. ¹⁷ He would strike me with a storm and increase my injuries for no reason at all. ¹⁸ Before I could get my breath, my miseries would multiply. ¹⁹ God is much stronger than I am, and who would call me into court to give me justice? ²⁰ Even if I were innocent, God would prove me wrong. ²¹ I am not guilty, but I no longer care what happens to me. ²² What difference does it make? God destroys the innocent along with the guilty. ²³ When a good person dies a sudden death, God sits back and laughs. ²⁴ And who else but God blindfolds the judges, then lets the wicked take over the earth? ²⁵ My life is speeding by, without a hope of happiness. ²⁶ Each day passes swifter than a sailing ship or an eagle swooping down. ²⁷ Sometimes I try to be cheerful and to stop complaining, ²⁸ but my sufferings frighten me, because I know that God still considers me guilty. ²⁹ So what's the use of trying to prove my innocence? ³⁰ Even if I washed myself with the strongest soap, ³¹ God would throw me into a pit of stinking slime, leaving me disgusting to my clothes. ³² God isn't a mere human like me. I can't put him on trial. ³³ Who could possibly judge between the two of us? ³⁴ Can someone snatch away the stick God carries to frighten me? ³⁵ Then I could speak up without fear of him, but for now, I cannot speak.