Job on God's Sovereignty and His Complaint (part 1)
Job 9:1-10:9
1Then Job answered and said,2Truly I know that it is so; yet how can a human be justified with God?3If one wished to contend with him, he would not answer him once in a thousand.4Wise in heart and strong in strength—who has hardened himself against him and prospered?5He who removes mountains, and they do not know it, who overturns them in his anger;6who shakes the earth from its place, and its pillars shudder;7who commands the sun, and it does not rise, and seals up the stars;8who alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the high places of the sea;9who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south;10who does great things past searching out, and wonders without number.11Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, and I do not perceive him.12Look, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'13God will not turn back his anger; beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow down.14How much less shall I answer him and choose my words with him?15Though I am in the right, I cannot answer; I must plead for mercy from my judge.16If I call and he answers me, I do not believe that he listens to my voice.17For he bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.18He will not let me regain my breath, but he fills me with bitterness.19If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty; if of justice, who can summon me?20Though I am righteous, my mouth condemns me; though I am blameless, he declares me crooked.21I am blameless; I do not know myself; I loathe my life.22It is one thing; therefore I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'23If a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of its judges. If it is not so, then who is he?25My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.26They pass by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops upon its prey.27If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will leave my face and be cheerful,'28I am afraid of all my pains; I know that you will not acquit me.29I am guilty; why then do I labor in vain?30If I wash myself with snow water and cleanse my hands with lye,31then you plunge me into the pit, and my own garments abhor me.32For he is not a man as I am, that I might answer him, that we might come together in judgment.33There is no arbiter between us who might lay his hand upon us both.34Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his terror terrify me.35Then I would speak and not fear him, for I know that I am not so with myself.
Chapter 10
1My soul is weary of life; I will give free rein to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.2I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend with me.'3Does it please you to oppress, to spurn the toil of your hands, while you shine upon the counsel of the wicked?4Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as a human sees?5Are your days like the days of a human, or your years like the days of a man,6that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin?7You know that I am not wicked, and that there is no one who can deliver me from your hand.8Your hands shaped me and made me altogether round about, and now you destroy me.9Remember, I pray, that you made me like clay, and that you will return me to dust.