Passage

Job 9

Book: Job · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Then Job answered and said, 2. Of a truth I know that it is so: But how can man be just with God? 3. If he be pleased to contend with him, He cannot answer him one of a thousand. 4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered?, 5. Him that removeth the mountains, and they know it not, When he overturneth them in his anger; 6. That shaketh the earth out of its place, And the pillars thereof tremble; 7. That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And sealeth up the stars; 8. That alone stretcheth out the heavens, And treadeth upon the waves of the sea; 9. That maketh the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; 10. That doeth great things past finding out, Yea, marvellous things without number. 11. Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: He passeth on also, but I perceive him not. 12. Behold, he seizeth the prey, who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou? 13. God will not withdraw his anger; The helpers of Rahab do stoop under him. 14. How much less shall I answer him, And choose out my words to reason with him? 15. Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer; I would make supplication to my judge. 16. If I had called, and he had answered me, Yet would I not believe that he hearkened unto my voice. 17. For he breaketh me with a tempest, And multiplieth my wounds without cause. 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath, But filleth me with bitterness. 19. If we speak of strength, lo, he is mighty! And if of justice, Who, saith he, will summon me? 20. Though I be righteous, mine own mouth shall condemn me: Though I be perfect, it shall prove me perverse. 21. I am perfect; I regard not myself; I despise my life. 22. It is all one; therefore I say, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 23. If the scourge slay suddenly, He will mock at the trial of the innocent. 24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covereth the faces of the judges thereof: If it be not he, who then is it? 25. Now my days are swifter than a post: They flee away, they see no good, 26. They are passed away as the swift ships; As the eagle that swoopeth on the prey. 27. If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance, and be of good cheer; 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 29. I shall be condemned; Why then do I labor in vain? 30. If I wash myself with snow water, And make my hands never so clean; 31. Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch, And mine own clothes shall abhor me. 32. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, That we should come together in judgment. 33. There is no umpire betwixt us, That might lay his hand upon us both. 34. Let him take his rod away from me, And let not his terror make me afraid: 35. Then would I speak, and not fear him; For I am not so in myself." (Job 9:1-35, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Then Job answered, 2. “Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God? 3. If he is pleased to contend with him, he can’t answer him one time in a thousand. 4. God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him, and prospered? 5. He removes the mountains, and they don’t know it, when he overturns them in his anger. 6. He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble. 7. He commands the sun, and it doesn’t rise, and seals up the stars. 8. He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea. 9. He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south. 10. He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number. 11. Behold, he goes by me, and I don’t see him. He passes on also, but I don’t perceive him. 12. Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’ 13. “God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him. 14. How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him? 15. Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn’t answer him. I would make supplication to my judge. 16. If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn’t believe that he listened to my voice. 17. For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause. 18. He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness. 19. If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’ 20. Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse. 21. I am blameless. I don’t respect myself. I despise my life. 22. “It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked. 23. If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock 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 not he, then who is it? 25. “Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good. 26. They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey. 27. If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;’ 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me innocent. 29. I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain? 30. If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, 31. yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me. 32. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment. 33. There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both. 34. Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid; 35. then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in myself." (Job 9:1-35, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Then Job answered and said, 2. I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? ^{with God: or, before God?} 3. If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. 4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? 5. Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. 6. Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. 7. Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. 8. Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. ^{waves: Heb. heights} 9. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. ^{Arcturus: Heb. Ash, Cesil, and Cimah} 10. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number. 11. Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not. 12. Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou? ^{hinder: Heb. turn him away?} 13. If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him. ^{proud: Heb. helpers of pride, or, strength} 14. How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him? 15. Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge. 16. If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice. 17. For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. 18. He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness. 19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead? 20. If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. 21. Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life. 22. This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 23. If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent. 24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he? 25. Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good. 26. They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey. ^{swift: or, ships of Ebeh: Heb. ships of desire} 27. If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself: 28. I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 29. If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? 30. If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; 31. Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. ^{abhor: or, make me to be abhorred} 32. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. 33. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both. ^{any: Heb. one that should argue} ^{daysman: or, umpire} 34. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: 35. Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me. ^{it is: Heb. I am not so with myself}" (Job 9:1-35, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And Job answereth and saith:, 2. Truly I have known that [it is] so, And what, is man righteous with God? 3. If he delight to strive with Him, He doth not answer him one of a thousand. 4. Wise in heart and strong in power, Who hath hardened toward Him and is at peace? 5. Who is removing mountains, And they have not known, Who hath overturned them in His anger. 6. Who is shaking earth from its place, And its pillars move themselves. 7. Who is speaking to the sun, and it riseth not, And the stars He sealeth up. 8. Stretching out the heavens by Himself, And treading on the heights of the sea, 9. Making Osh, Kesil, and Kimah, And the inner chambers of the south. 10. Doing great things till there is no searching, And wonderful, till there is no numbering. 11. Lo, He goeth over by me, and I see not, And He passeth on, and I attend not to it. 12. Lo, He snatches away, who bringeth it back? Who saith unto Him, 'What dost Thou?' 13. God doth not turn back His anger, Under Him bowed have proud helpers. 14. How much less do I, I answer Him? Choose out my words with Him? 15. Whom, though I were righteous, I answer not, For my judgment I make supplication. 16. Though I had called and He answereth me, I do not believe that He giveth ear [to] my voice. 17. Because with a tempest He bruiseth me, And hath multiplied my wounds for nought. 18. He permitteth me not to refresh my spirit, But filleth me with bitter things. 19. If of power, lo, the Strong One; And if of judgment, who doth convene me? 20. If I be righteous, Mine mouth doth declare me wicked, Perfect I am!, it declareth me perverse. 21. Perfect I am!, I know not my soul, I despise my life. 22. It is the same thing, therefore I said, 'The perfect and the wicked He is consuming.' 23. If a scourge doth put to death suddenly, At the trial of the innocent He laugheth. 24. Earth hath been given Into the hand of the wicked one. The face of its judges he covereth, If not, where, who [is] he? 25. My days have been swifter than a runner, They have fled, they have not seen good, 26. They have passed on with ships of reed, As an eagle darteth on food. 27. Though I say, 'I forget my talking, I forsake my corner, and I brighten up!' 28. I have been afraid of all my griefs, I have known that Thou dost not acquit me. 29. I, I am become wicked; why [is] this? [In] vain I labour. 30. If I have washed myself with snow-water, And purified with soap my hands, 31. Then in corruption Thou dost dip me, And my garments have abominated me. 32. But if a man like myself, I answer him, We come together into judgment. 33. If there were between us an umpire, He doth place his hand on us both. 34. He doth turn aside from off me his rod, And His terror doth not make me afraid, 35. I speak, and do not fear Him, But I am not right with myself." (Job 9:1-35, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.