Through My Bible Yr 01 – July 30

Through My Bible – July 30

Job 8:1 – 9:24 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

² How long will you say such things?
How long will the words of your mouth be like a blustery wind?
³ Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
⁴ When your children sinned against him,
he handed them over to the consequences of their rebellion.
⁵ But if you will eagerly seek God
and plead for compassion from the Almighty,
⁶ if you are pure and upright,
then even now he will rouse himself on your behalf,
and he will restore your rightful dwelling place.
⁷ Then, though your beginnings were small,
your final days will be very great!

⁸ Yes, ask the previous generations,
and consider the discoveries of their fathers,
⁹ because we were born only yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are nothing but a shadow.
¹⁰ Aren’t our ancestors the ones who should teach you and inform you,
the ones who brought forth words from their hearts?

¹¹ Does papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Do reeds thrive where there is no water?
¹² While they are still growing and uncut,
they can wither faster than any other plant.
¹³ This is the way it will be for all those who forget God.
The hope of the godless man perishes.
¹⁴ His source of confidence is fragile.
He trusts in something as fragile as a spider’s web.
¹⁵ He leans on his web, but it does not support him.
He grasps it, but it does not hold him up.
¹⁶ He is a thriving plant flourishing in the sunshine,
    spreading its shoots over the garden.
¹⁷ It wraps its roots around a heap of rocks.
It finds a home among the stones.
¹⁸ But if it is uprooted from its place,
that place disowns it, saying, “I have never seen you!”
¹⁹ Yes, the only good thing that comes from this situation is that
    from the dust another plant sprouts. ^[1]

²⁰ Certainly God does not reject a blameless man
or strengthen the hand of evildoers.
²¹ He will again fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with a joyful shout.
²² Your enemies will be clothed with shame,
and the tents of the wicked will be no more.

² Of course I know that this is true.
But how can a man be justified before God?
³ If someone wants to argue with God,
he could not refute one charge out of a thousand. ^[2]
4 God has a wise heart and great power,
so who can resist God and come out of it unharmed?

⁵ God removes mountains from their position,
and they don’t even realize it.
He overturns mountains in his anger.
⁶ He shakes the earth off its foundation.
He causes its pillars to quake.
⁷ He speaks to the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.
⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens.
He treads on the crests of the sea.
⁹ He made the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, ^[3]
and the constellations in the southern sky.
¹⁰ He does great things that are beyond investigation.
He does miracles that are too many to be counted.
¹¹ Though he passes by me, I do not see him.
He moves past me, but I do not detect him.
¹² If he snatches something away, who can make him bring it back?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
¹³ God does not hold back his anger.
Even Rahab’s ^[4] helpers bow down beneath him.
¹⁴ How much less, then, will I be able to answer him?

I want to match words with him,
¹⁵ but even if I am in the right, I cannot answer him.
I can only plead to my judge for grace.
¹⁶ If I called and he responded to me,
I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.
¹⁷ With a violent storm he would crush me,
and he would inflict many wounds on me for no reason.
¹⁸ He would not allow me to catch my breath.
Instead, he would fill me with bitter experiences.
¹⁹ If it is a question of strength, he definitely is the strong one.
If it is a question of jurisdiction, who can summon him? ^[5]
20 Even if I am righteous, my mouth would still condemn me.
If I am blameless, it would pronounce me crooked.
²¹ Although I am blameless, I cannot evaluate ^[6] myself.
I reject my own life.

²² Here is why I say, “It makes no difference.”
Blameless or wicked, he brings them all to the same end.
²³ If a whip suddenly kills people,
he makes fun of ^[7] the despair of the innocent.
²⁴ When a land is handed over to a wicked man,
God blinds the eyes of its judges.
If he is not the one, then who does it?

Footnotes

1. Job 8:19 The line is difficult.
2. Job 9:3 Or God would not answer him one time out of a thousand
3. Job 9:9 The identification of these constellations is uncertain.
4. Job 9:13 Rahab is a sea monster that symbolizes the sea’s power.
5. Job 9:19 The translation him is based on the Greek text. The Hebrew text reads me.
6. Job 9:21 Literally know
7. Job 9:23 Or makes light of