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9:1  Then Job replied. This is what he said:
9:2  ‘The things that you have said are true. But nobody can show God that he is completely good.
9:3  It is not possible to argue with God. God can ask 1,000 questions that we cannot answer.
9:4  God is very wise and he is very powerful. It is impossible to argue against him and win.
9:5  He has the power to move mountains suddenly. When he is angry he can knock them down.
9:6  He shakes the earth, to move it from its proper place. The foundations of the earth shake!
9:7  He may command the sun not to shine during the day. He may stop the stars shining at night.
9:8  God alone put the whole sky in its place. He marches over the waves of the sea.
9:9  He put the groups of stars in their places. He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades. He put the groups of stars in the southern sky.
9:10  He does great things that we cannot understand. He does more wonderful things than we can count.
9:11  When God passes in front of me, I do not see him. If he moves further away, I do not see where he has gone.
9:12  If God decides to take something, nobody can stop him. Nobody can ask him, “What are you doing?”
9:13  If God is angry, he will not stop. He destroys Rahab and the other monsters of the sea.
9:14  So I can never give an answer to God. There are no words that I can use to argue with him.
9:15  Even if I am completely right, I cannot answer him. He is my judge. I can only ask him to be kind to me.
9:16  He might agree to meet with me in court. But I do not believe that he would listen to me.
9:17  He would attack me with a strong storm. He would hurt me even more, for no reason.
9:18  He would not allow me to breathe quietly. Instead, he would make me very upset.
9:19  If I tried to fight God, he is much stronger than I am. And if I ask for justice, who can bring God to court?
9:20  I am right. I have not done anything that is wrong. But my words would say that I am guilty.
9:21  I have not done anything that is wrong. But it does not matter what happens to me. My life is not important to me.
9:22  The same thing happens to good people and to wicked people. So I say, “God destroys people who are not guilty as well as those who are guilty.”
9:23  When disease comes, people may die suddenly. God laughs at good people who suffer like that.
9:24  A wicked man may have power to rule a nation. Then God stops the judges from being fair. It must be God who does that. Who else could it be?
9:25  The days of my life are passing very quickly, like a fast runner. None of my days makes me happy.
9:26  My days go past like a fast boat on a river. They move quickly like an eagle when it flies down to catch its food.
9:27  I may try to be happy and to smile. I may try to forget about my troubles.
9:28  Even then, I will be afraid of all my pain. God, I know that you think I am guilty.
9:29  So, if I am guilty, it is useless to do anything about it.
9:30  I might wash myself with pure water. I might clean my hands with soap.
9:31  But then God would throw me down into a dirty hole. Even my own clothes would be ashamed of me!
9:32  God is not a human, as I am. So I cannot answer him. We cannot argue with each other in court.
9:33  There is nobody who can decide which of us is right. Nobody has authority to judge both of us.
9:34  Nobody can stop God from punishing me. If that were possible, I would not be afraid any more.
9:35  I would speak to God and I would not be afraid. But now I cannot do that.