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New International Version |   | |
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| | Job 9:1 | Then Job replied:
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| | Job 9:2 | "Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God?
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| | Job 9:3 | Though one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
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| | Job 9:4 | His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
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| | Job 9:5 | He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
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| | Job 9:6 | He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
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| | Job 9:7 | He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
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| | Job 9:8 | He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
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| | Job 9:9 | He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
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| | Job 9:10 | He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
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| | Job 9:11 | When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
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| | Job 9:12 | If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, `What are you doing?'
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| | Job 9:13 | God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
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| | Job 9:14 | "How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?
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| | Job 9:15 | Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
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| | Job 9:16 | Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
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| | Job 9:17 | He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.
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| | Job 9:18 | He would not let me regain my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.
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| | Job 9:19 | If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him ?
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| | Job 9:20 | Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
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| | Job 9:21 | "Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
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| | Job 9:22 | It is all the same; that is why I say, `He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
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| | Job 9:23 | When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
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| | Job 9:24 | When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?
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| | Job 9:25 | "My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
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| | Job 9:26 | They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.
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| | Job 9:27 | If I say, `I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,'
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| | Job 9:28 | I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
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| | Job 9:29 | Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?
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| | Job 9:30 | Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda,
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| | Job 9:31 | you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.
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| | Job 9:32 | "He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.
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| | Job 9:33 | If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,
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| | Job 9:34 | someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.
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| | Job 9:35 | Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
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