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Bildad’s Third Response to Job

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

“God is powerful and dreadful.
    He enforces peace in the heavens.
Who is able to count his heavenly army?
    Doesn’t his light shine on all the earth?
How can a mortal be innocent before God?
    Can anyone born of a woman be pure?
God is more glorious than the moon;
    he shines brighter than the stars.
In comparison, people are maggots;
    we mortals are mere worms.”

Job’s Ninth Speech: A Response to Bildad

26 Then Job spoke again:

“How you have helped the powerless!
    How you have saved the weak!
How you have enlightened my stupidity!
    What wise advice you have offered!
Where have you gotten all these wise sayings?
    Whose spirit speaks through you?

“The dead tremble—
    those who live beneath the waters.
The underworld[a] is naked in God’s presence.
    The place of destruction[b] is uncovered.
God stretches the northern sky over empty space
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
He wraps the rain in his thick clouds,
    and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.
He covers the face of the moon,[c]
    shrouding it with his clouds.
10 He created the horizon when he separated the waters;
    he set the boundary between day and night.
11 The foundations of heaven tremble;
    they shudder at his rebuke.
12 By his power the sea grew calm.
    By his skill he crushed the great sea monster.[d]
13 His Spirit made the heavens beautiful,
    and his power pierced the gliding serpent.
14 These are just the beginning of all that he does,
    merely a whisper of his power.
    Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”

Job’s Final Speech

27 Job continued speaking:

“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights,
    by the Almighty who has embittered my soul—
As long as I live,
    while I have breath from God,
my lips will speak no evil,
    and my tongue will speak no lies.
I will never concede that you are right;
    I will defend my integrity until I die.
I will maintain my innocence without wavering.
    My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

“May my enemy be punished like the wicked,
    my adversary like those who do evil.
For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off
    and takes away their life?
Will God listen to their cry
    when trouble comes upon them?
10 Can they take delight in the Almighty?
    Can they call to God at any time?
11 I will teach you about God’s power.
    I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.
12 But you have seen all this,
    yet you say all these useless things to me.

13 “This is what the wicked will receive from God;
    this is their inheritance from the Almighty.
14 They may have many children,
    but the children will die in war or starve to death.
15 Those who survive will die of a plague,
    and not even their widows will mourn them.

16 “Evil people may have piles of money
    and may store away mounds of clothing.
17 But the righteous will wear that clothing,
    and the innocent will divide that money.
18 The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web,[e]
    as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.
19 The wicked go to bed rich
    but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.
20 Terror overwhelms them like a flood,
    and they are blown away in the storms of the night.
21 The east wind carries them away, and they are gone.
    It sweeps them away.
22 It whirls down on them without mercy.
    They struggle to flee from its power.
23 But everyone jeers at them
    and mocks them.

Footnotes

  1. 26:6a Hebrew Sheol.
  2. 26:6b Hebrew Abaddon.
  3. 26:9 Or covers his throne.
  4. 26:12 Hebrew Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature.
  5. 27:18 As in Greek and Syriac versions (see also 8:14); Hebrew reads a moth.

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite(A) replied:

“Dominion and awe belong to God;(B)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.(C)
Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?(D)
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?(E)
If even the moon(F) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,(G)
how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,(H) who is only a worm!”(I)

Job

26 Then Job replied:

“How you have helped the powerless!(J)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!(K)
What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight(L) you have displayed!
Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?(M)

“The dead are in deep anguish,(N)
    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
The realm of the dead(O) is naked before God;
    Destruction[a](P) lies uncovered.(Q)
He spreads out the northern skies(R) over empty space;
    he suspends the earth over nothing.(S)
He wraps up the waters(T) in his clouds,(U)
    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
He covers the face of the full moon,
    spreading his clouds(V) over it.
10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters(W)
    for a boundary between light and darkness.(X)
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,(Y)
    aghast at his rebuke.
12 By his power he churned up the sea;(Z)
    by his wisdom(AA) he cut Rahab(AB) to pieces.
13 By his breath the skies(AC) became fair;
    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.(AD)
14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
    how faint the whisper(AE) we hear of him!(AF)
    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”(AG)

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:(AH)

“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,(AI)
    the Almighty,(AJ) who has made my life bitter,(AK)
as long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God(AL) in my nostrils,
my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.(AM)
I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.(AN)
I will maintain my innocence(AO) and never let go of it;
    my conscience(AP) will not reproach me as long as I live.(AQ)

“May my enemy be like the wicked,(AR)
    my adversary(AS) like the unjust!
For what hope have the godless(AT) when they are cut off,
    when God takes away their life?(AU)
Does God listen to their cry
    when distress comes upon them?(AV)
10 Will they find delight in the Almighty?(AW)
    Will they call on God at all times?

11 “I will teach you about the power of God;
    the ways(AX) of the Almighty I will not conceal.(AY)
12 You have all seen this yourselves.
    Why then this meaningless talk?

13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:(AZ)
14 However many his children,(BA) their fate is the sword;(BB)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.(BC)
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.(BD)
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust(BE)
    and clothes like piles of clay,(BF)
17 what he lays up(BG) the righteous will wear,(BH)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.(BI)
18 The house(BJ) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,(BK)
    like a hut(BL) made by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;(BM)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.(BN)
20 Terrors(BO) overtake him like a flood;(BP)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.(BQ)
21 The east wind(BR) carries him off, and he is gone;(BS)
    it sweeps him out of his place.(BT)
22 It hurls itself against him without mercy(BU)
    as he flees headlong(BV) from its power.(BW)
23 It claps its hands(BX) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”(BY)

Footnotes

  1. Job 26:6 Hebrew Abaddon