Job 26–27

Job’s Ninth Speech: A Response to Bildad

26Then^a Job answered and said,

²“How you^b have helped one who has no power!^c

How you^d have assisted the arm that has no strength!^e

³How you^f have advised one who has no wisdom!^g

And what sound wisdom you^h have made known in abundance!ⁱ

⁴With whose help^j have you^k uttered words,

and whose breath has come forth from you?^l

⁵“The spirits of the dead tremble

below the waters and their inhabitants.

⁶Sheol is naked before him,

and there is no covering for Abaddon.

⁷He stretches out the north over emptiness;

he hangs the earth over nothing.^m

⁸He ties up the water in its clouds,

and the cloud is not torn open beneath it.ⁿ

⁹He covers the face of the full moon;^o

he spreads his cloud over it.

¹⁰He has described a circle^p on the face of the water

between light and darkness.^q

¹¹“The pillars of heaven tremble,

and they are astounded at his rebuke.

¹²By his power he stilled the sea,

and by his understanding he struck down Rahab.

¹³By his breath the heavens were made clear;^r

his hand pierced the fleeing snake.

¹⁴Look, these are the outer fringes of his ways,

and how faint is the word^s that we hear of him!

But^t who can understand the thunder of his power?”

Job Continues His Final Speech

27Then^a Job again took up his discourse and said,

²“As God lives,^b he has removed my justice,

and Shaddai has made my inner self^c bitter.

³For as long as^d my breath is in me,

and the spirit of God is in my nose,

⁴my lips surely will not speak falseness,

and my tongue surely will not utter deceit.

⁵Far be it from me that I would say that you^e are right;^f

until I pass away, I will not put away from me my blamelessness.

⁶I hold fast to my righteousness, and I will not let it go;

my heart will not blame any of my days.

⁷“Let my enemy be like the wicked

and my opponent like the unrighteous,

⁸for what is the hope of the godless when he cuts them off,

when God takes away his life?

⁹Will God hear his cry of distress

when distress comes upon him?

¹⁰Or, in Shaddai will he find delight?

Will he call upon God at all times?

¹¹“I will teach you^g about^h God’s hand;

I will not conceal that which is with Shaddai.

¹²Look, you all have seen,

and why in the worldⁱ have you become altogether vain?^j

¹³“This is the portion of the wicked human being with God,

and they receive from Shaddai the inheritance of the ruthless.

¹⁴If their children multiply, it is for the sword,

and his offspring do not have enough to eat.^k

¹⁵Their^l survivors are buried through^m the plague,

and theirⁿ widows do not weep.

¹⁶If he heaps up silver like the dust

and fashions clothing like the clay,

¹⁷he makes it ready, and the righteous will wear it,

and the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸“He builds his house like the moth,

and like a booth that a watchman has made.

¹⁹He goes to bed with wealth, but^o he will do so no more;^p

he opens his eyes, and it is gone.^q

²⁰Terrors overtake him like the water;

a storm wind carries him off in the night.

²¹The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone,

and it sweeps him away from his place.

²²And it hurls at him, and it has no compassion;

he will quickly flee from its power.

²³It claps its hands over him,

and it hisses at him from its place.