Job 26–27

Chapter 26

Job Rebukes Bildad

¹Then Job ¹responded,

²“What a help you are to ^1athe weak!

How you have saved the arm ^bwithout strength!

³“What counsel you have given to one without wisdom!

What helpful insight you have abundantly ¹provided!

⁴“To whom have you uttered words?

And whose ¹spirit was expressed through you?

The Greatness of God

⁵“The ^1adeparted spirits tremble

Under the waters and their inhabitants.

⁶“Naked is ^1aSheol before Him,

And ^2bAbaddon has no covering.

⁷“He ^astretches out the north over empty space

And hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸“He ^awraps up the waters in His clouds,

And the cloud does not burst under them.

⁹“He ^1aobscures the face of the ²full moon

And spreads His cloud over it.

¹⁰“He has inscribed a ^acircle on the surface of the waters

At the ^bboundary of light and darkness.

¹¹“The pillars of heaven tremble

And are amazed at His rebuke.

¹²“He ^aquieted the sea with His power,

And by His ^bunderstanding He shattered ^cRahab.

¹³“By His breath the ^aheavens are ¹cleared;

His hand has pierced ^bthe fleeing serpent.

¹⁴“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;

And how faint ^aa word we hear of Him!

But His mighty ^bthunder, who can understand?”

Chapter 27

Job Affirms His Righteousness

¹Then Job ¹continued his ^adiscourse and said,

²“As God lives, ^awho has taken away my right,

And the Almighty, ^bwho has embittered my soul,

³For as long as ¹life is in me,

And the ^2abreath of God is in my nostrils,

⁴My lips certainly will not speak unjustly,

Nor will ^amy tongue mutter deceit.

⁵“Far be it from me that I should declare you right;

Till I die ^aI will not put away my integrity from me.

⁶“I ^ahold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.

My heart does not reproach any of my days.

The State of the Godless

⁷“May my enemy be as the wicked

And ¹my opponent as the unjust.

⁸“For what is ^athe hope of the godless ¹when he is cut off,

When God requires ^bhis ²life?

⁹“Will God ^ahear his cry

When ^bdistress comes upon him?

¹⁰“Will he take ^adelight in the Almighty?

Will he call on God at all times?

¹¹“I will instruct you in the ¹power of God;

What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

¹²“Behold, all of you have seen it;

Why then do you ¹act foolishly?

¹³“This is ^athe portion of a wicked man from God,

And the inheritance which ^btyrants receive from the Almighty.

¹⁴“Though his sons are many, ¹they are destined ^afor the sword;

And his ^bdescendants will not be satisfied with bread.

¹⁵“His survivors will be buried because of the plague,

And ¹their ^awidows will not be able to weep.

¹⁶“Though he piles up silver like dust

And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,

¹⁷He may prepare it, ^abut the just will wear it

And the innocent will divide the silver.

¹⁸“He has built his ^ahouse like the ¹spider’s web,

Or as a hut which the watchman has made.

¹⁹“He lies down rich, but never ¹again;

He opens his eyes, and ^ait is no longer.

²⁰“^aTerrors overtake him like a flood;

A tempest steals him away ^bin the night.

²¹“The east ^awind carries him away, and he is gone,

For it whirls him ^baway from his place.

²²“For it will hurl at him ^awithout sparing;

He will surely try to ^bflee from its ¹power.

²³“Men will clap their hands at him

And will ^ahiss him from his place.