| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then Job answered: | 1Then Job spoke again: |
| 2“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? | 2“Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? |
| 3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. | 3If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? |
| 4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered? | 4For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully? |
| 5He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger. | 5“Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. |
| 6He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble. | 6He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. |
| 7He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars. | 7If he commands it, the sun won’t rise and the stars won’t shine. |
| 8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. | 8He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. |
| 9He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. | 9He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky. |
| 10He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number. | 10He does great things too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. |
| 11Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him. | 11“Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves by, I do not see him go. |
| 12If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’ | 12If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ |
| 13God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him. | 13And God does not restrain his anger. Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet. |
| 14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him? | 14“So who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? |
| 15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. | 15Even if I were right, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. |
| 16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice. | 16And even if I summoned him and he responded, I’m not sure he would listen to me. |
| 17For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause. | 17For he attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause. |
| 18He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness. | 18He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows. |
| 19If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? | 19If it’s a question of strength, he’s the strong one. If it’s a matter of justice, who dares to summon him to court? |
| 20Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty. | 20Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked. |
| 21Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. | 21“I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me— I despise my life. |
| 22It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ | 22Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That’s why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ |
| 23When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. | 23When a plague sweeps through, he laughs at the death of the innocent. |
| 24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it? | 24The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges. If he’s not the one who does it, who is? |
| 25My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good. | 25“My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away without a glimpse of happiness. |
| 26They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. | 26It disappears like a swift papyrus boat, like an eagle swooping down on its prey. |
| 27If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’ | 27If I decided to forget my complaints, to put away my sad face and be cheerful, |
| 28I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me. | 28I would still dread all the pain, for I know you will not find me innocent, O God. |
| 29Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain? | 29Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what’s the use of trying? |
| 30If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, | 30Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, |
| 31then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me. | 31you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me. |
| 32For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court. | 32“God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. |
| 33Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both. | 33If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. |
| 34Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me. | 34The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment. |
| 35Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own. | 35Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength. |
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