Job: There is no mediator
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“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?
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If one wished to contend with God,(a) he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
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God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
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He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.
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He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.
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He commands the sun not to shine;(b) He seals off the stars.
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He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
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He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
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He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.
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Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.
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If He takes away,(c) who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’
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God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
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How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?
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For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
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If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.
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For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.
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He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.
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If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him (d)?
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Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.(e)
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Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
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It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
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When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.
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The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
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My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.
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They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
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If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’
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I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.
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Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?
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If I should wash myself with snow (f) and cleanse my hands with lye,
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then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.
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For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.
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Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
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Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.
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Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.
Footnotes