< 約伯記 9 >
2 我真知道是這樣; 但人在上帝面前怎能成為義呢?
“Yes, I certainly know that [much of] what you said is true. But (how can anyone say to God, ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it?’/no one can say to God ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it.’) [RHQ]
If someone wanted to argue with God [about that], God could ask him 1,000 questions, and that person would not be able to answer any of them!
4 他心裏有智慧,且大有能力。 誰向上帝剛硬而得亨通呢?
God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
[Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
He put in their places [the clusters/groups of stars that are called] The Dipper/Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars in the southern sky.
Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
11 他從我旁邊經過,我卻不看見; 他在我面前行走,我倒不知覺。
He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
If he [wants to] snatch something away, no one [RHQ] can hinder him; no one dares to ask him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [RHQ]
13 上帝必不收回他的怒氣; 扶助拉哈伯的,屈身在他以下。
God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
14 既是這樣,我怎敢回答他, 怎敢選擇言語與他辯論呢?
“So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
15 我雖有義,也不回答他, 只要向那審判我的懇求。
Even though I (would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong), I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.
16 我若呼籲,他應允我; 我仍不信他真聽我的聲音。
If I summoned him to [come to the courtroom] and he said that he would come, I would not believe that he would pay attention to what I would say.
He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
18 我就是喘一口氣,他都不容, 倒使我滿心苦惱。
[It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
19 若論力量,他真有能力! 若論審判,他說誰能將我傳來呢?
If I would try to (wrestle with/fight against) him, [there is no way that I could defeat him, ] [because] he is stronger than I am. If I would request him to appear in court, there is no one who could [RHQ] force him to go there.
20 我雖有義,自己的口要定我為有罪; 我雖完全,我口必顯我為彎曲。
Even though I was innocent, what I would say would cause him to say that I must be punished [MTY]; even though I had not done anything wrong, he would prove that I am guilty.
“I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
22 善惡無分,都是一樣; 所以我說,完全人和惡人,他都滅絕。
But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
24 世界交在惡人手中; 蒙蔽世界審判官的臉, 若不是他,是誰呢?
God has allowed wicked people to control [what happens in] the world. [It is as though] he has caused judges to be blindfolded, [with the result that they cannot judge fairly]. If it is not God who has put wicked people in control, who has done it?
25 我的日子比跑信的更快, 急速過去,不見福樂。
“My days go by very quickly, like a fast runner; [it is as though] they run away, and nothing good happens to me on those days.
My life goes by very rapidly, like a boat made from reeds sailing swiftly, or like an eagle that swoops down to seize a small animal.
27 我若說:我要忘記我的哀情, 除去我的愁容,心中暢快;
If I smile and say [to God], ‘I will forget what I am complaining about; I will stop looking sad and try to be cheerful/happy,’
then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
32 他本不像我是人,使我可以回答他, 又使我們可以同聽審判。
“God is not a human, as I am, so there is no way that I could answer him [to prove that I am innocent] if we went together to have a trial [in a courtroom].
There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
If he did that, I would declare [that I am innocent] without being afraid of him, because I know that I really have not [done what is wrong like God thinks that I have].”