约伯记 9
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
約伯承認 神的智慧與能力
9 約伯回答說：
2 “我實在知道是這樣，
但是，人在 神面前怎能算為公義呢？
3 人若願意與他辯論，
連千分之一也答不出來。
4 他心裡有智慧，而且有極大的能力，
有誰對他剛硬而平安無事呢？
5 他在怒中移山翻岡；
山岡卻不知道；
6 他使大地震動離開本處，
大地的柱子就搖撼；
7 他吩咐太陽，太陽就不上升，
又封閉眾星；
8 他獨自鋪開蒼天，
步行在海浪之上；
9 他造北斗與參星，
昴星和南方的星座；
10 他所行的大事無法測度，
所行的奇事不可勝數。
11 他行過我身邊，我卻看不見；
他掠過去，我竟不覺察。
12 他奪取，誰能攔阻他？
誰敢問他：‘你幹甚麼？’
人受苦難不一定因為罪
13 神必不抑制他的怒氣，
海怪拉哈伯的助手都俯伏在他以下。
14 何況我呢？我怎敢回答他，
措辭與他辯論呢？
15 即使我有理，也不敢回答，
只向那審判我的求憐憫；
16 即使我呼求，他也回答我，
我還是不信他會垂聽我的聲音。
17 他用暴風傷害我，
無緣無故加添我的創傷。
18 他不讓我喘一口氣，
卻使我飽嘗苦楚。
19 若論力量，他多麼強大，
若論訴訟，他說：‘誰能把我傳來？’
20 即使我有理，我的口還是定我有罪；
即使我完全，我的口還是判我乖謬。
21 我雖然完全，卻不顧我自己，
倒厭惡我的生命。
22 所以我說，善惡都是一樣，
完全人和惡人，他都滅盡。
23 災禍忽然把人殺害的時候，
他就必嘲笑無辜人的遭遇。
24 全世界交在惡人的手中，
他蒙蔽世上審判官的臉，
如果不是他，那麼是誰呢？
25 我的日子過得比信差還快，
飛快逝去，不見福樂。
26 我的日子消逝有如快船，
好像俯衝猛撲食物的鷹。
27 我若說：‘我要忘記我的苦情，
要除去愁容，面露喜樂。’
28 我就懼怕我的一切痛苦，
因為我知道你必不以我為無辜。
29 我既然被定為有罪，
又何必徒然勞苦呢？
30 我若用雪水洗淨我的身，
又用鹼水潔淨我的手，
31 你還是把我扔入坑中，
連我的衣服也憎惡我。
32 他不像我是個人，
使我可以答他，讓我們一起對簿公堂。
33 我倆之間並沒有仲裁者，
能夠按手在我們雙方身上。
34 願他使他的刑杖離開我，
願他可畏的威嚴不驚嚇我，
35 我就說話，也不怕他，
因為我本身並不是這種人。”
Job 9
New Catholic Bible
Job’s Second Response[a]
Chapter 9
The Irresistible Power of God.[b] 1 Job then answered with these words:
2 “Indeed, I realize that this is true,
but how can anyone claim to be righteous before God?
3 If someone wished to debate with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand.
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who then has resisted him and remained unscathed?
5 “He moves mountains without their realizing it
and overturns them in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth out of its place,
and makes its pillars tremble.
7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
he seals up the light of the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens
and tramples upon the waves of the sea.
9 He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades[c] and the constellations of the South.
10 “God performs deeds that are beyond understanding
and marvels that cannot be numbered.
11 If he passes near me, I do not see him;
he moves on, imperceptible to me.
12 If he snatches something away, who can stop him?
Who will dare to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not relent in his wrath;
the servants of Rahab lie prostrate at his feet.
Even If I Am Innocent, How Can I Answer God?[d]
14 “How then can I possibly reply to him
or devise arguments to counter him?
15 Even if I am innocent, how can I answer him?
I can only plead that he have mercy on me.
16 “Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe that he would listen to what I said.
17 He might crush me in a tempest
and multiply my wounds without cause.
18 He might leave me no opportunity to regain my breath
and fill me with bitterness.
19 “If it is a contest of strength,
I cannot compete with him.
If it is a matter of judgment,
who can summon him to present his evidence?
20 Even though I am innocent,
my own mouth might condemn me.
Even though I am blameless,
he might prove me guilty.
21 But am I without blame?
I am no longer certain.
Life itself I despise.
22 “It is all the same; that is why I say,
‘He destroys both the innocent and the wicked.’
23 When a deadly scourge suddenly appears,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 When the earth is given into the hands of the wicked,
he blindfolds the eyes of its judges.[e]
If it is not he who does so,
then who else is responsible?
There Is No Arbiter To Judge between God and Me
25 “My days pass more swiftly than a runner;
they fly away without any experience of happiness.
26 They skim past like boats of papyrus,
like an eagle swooping upon its prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaints,
I will put on a cheerful face instead of a sad countenance,’
28 I will still dread my sufferings,
for I know that you will not hold me innocent.
29 “If I am to be condemned as guilty,
why then should I struggle in vain?
30 If I should wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 you would plunge me into a dung-filled ditch
so that even my clothes would abhor me.
32 “For God is not a man like me,
someone before whom I can plead my case
or whom I can confront in a court.
33 There is no arbiter to judge between us
with the power to render a verdict,
34 someone who could remove God’s rod from me
so that I would not shrink from him in terror.
35 Then I would speak out without fear of him,
for I know I am not what I am thought to be.
Footnotes
- Job 9:1 Far from denying the justice of God, Job proclaims it in his turn, but he will focus attention on the mystery of this justice by emphasizing the fearful power of the Creator and his seeming hostility to the human beings who have come from his own hands.
- Job 9:1 This first hymn to God the Creator emphasizes the nothingness of human beings. The Book of Job shows a liking for these grandiose visions in which we find the ancient cosmology reflected: earth is like a building set on pillars that reach down into the abyss (v. 6); in the firmament God has set constellations that cannot all be identified with certainty (v. 9).
- Job 9:9 Bear . . . Orion . . . Pleiades: three constellations, whose creation by God was evidence of his overwhelming might. They reappear in Job 38:31-32, and the last two are found in Am 5:8.
- Job 9:14 Hounded by the desire to obtain justice, Job would like to come before God. But the heavy burden of the trial leads him to have doubts both about his own virtue and about the justice of God.
- Job 9:24 Blindfolds the eyes of [the earth’s] judges: in our day, we portray Lady Justice as wearing a blindfold, meaning that she will be an impartial judge. Job accused God of blindfolding the judges of his time so that they would be oblivious to both crimes and innocence.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
