Job 26–27

Job’s Reply to Bildad

26Then Job answered:

²How you have helped ^sthe powerless

and delivered the arm that is weak!

³How you have counseled the unwise ^t

and thoroughly explained the path to success!

⁴Who did you speak these words to?

Whose breath came out of your mouth?

⁵The departed spirits tremble

beneath the waters and all that inhabit them. ^u

⁶Sheol ^vis naked before God,

and Abaddon ^whas no covering. ^x

⁷He stretches the northern skies over empty space;

He hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸He wraps up the waters in His clouds,

yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight. ^y

⁹He obscures the view of His throne,

spreading His cloud over it.

¹⁰He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters ^z

at the boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,

astounded at His rebuke. ^a

¹²By His power He stirred ^bthe sea,

and by His understanding He crushed Rahab. ^c

¹³By His breath the heavens gained their beauty;

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. ^de

¹⁴These are but the fringes of His ways;

how faint is the word we hear of Him!

Who can understand His mighty thunder?

27Job continued his discourse, saying:

²As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, ^f

and the Almighty who has made me bitter, ^g

³as long as my breath is still in me

and the breath from God remains in my nostrils, ^h

⁴my lips will not speak unjustly,

and my tongue will not utter deceit.

⁵I will never affirm that you are right.

I will maintain my integrity ^ijuntil I die.

⁶I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.

My conscience ^kwill not accuse me as long as I live!

⁷May my enemy be like the wicked

and my opponent like the unjust.

⁸For what hope does the godless man ^lhave when he is cut off,

when God takes away his life? ^m

⁹Will God hear his cry

when distress comes on him?

¹⁰Will he delight ⁿin the Almighty?

Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹I will teach you about God’s power.

I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned. ^o

¹²All of you have seen this for yourselves,

why do you keep up this empty talk? ^p

¹³This is a wicked man’s lot ^qfrom God,

the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;

his descendants will never have enough food.

¹⁵Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,

yet their widows will not weep for them. ^r

¹⁶Though he piles up silver like dust

and heaps up a wardrobe like clay—

¹⁷he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,

and the innocent will divide up his silver. ^s

¹⁸The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon

or a booth set up by a watchman. ^t

¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;

when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

²⁰Terrors overtake him like a flood; ^u

a storm ^vwind sweeps him away at night.

²¹An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;

it carries him away from his place.

²²It blasts at him without mercy,

while he flees desperately from its grasp.

²³It claps ^wits hands at him

and scorns him from its place.