Job 9:16

Modern

If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

Traditional

If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.

Literal

If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He gives ear to my voice—

Latin

Et cum invocantem exaudierit me, non credo quod audierit vocem meam.

Hebrew

English

If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

Job answered Bildad by describing God's universal and legal power. His speech resembles a complex legal case.

It includes:

A summons and response (9:3, 14–16, 19b, 32).
The risk of proving himself guilty (9:20).
A "mediator" (9:33–34).
A question of accusation (9:12).
A legal sentence (9:22).
A declaration of guilt (9:28–30).

Judges 6:13
“Please, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wonders of which our fathers told us, saying, ‘Has not the LORD brought us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”
Psalm 66:18–20
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
Psalm 116:1–2
I love the LORD, for He has heard my voice—my appeal for mercy.
Job 29:24
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.
Acts 12:14–16
When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!”
Psalm 126:1
A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.
Luke 24:41
While they were still in disbelief because of their joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
Exodus 6:9
Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.