Job 25–26

Bildad Answers

25Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

²“God rules and he must be honored;

he set up order in his high heaven.

³No one can count God’s armies.

His light shines on all people.

⁴So no one can be good in the presence of God,

and no one born to a woman can be pure.

⁵Even the moon is not bright

and the stars are not pure in his eyes.

⁶People are much less! They are like insects.

They are only worms!”

Job Answers Bildad

26Then Job answered:

²“You are no help to the helpless!

You have not aided the weak!

³Your advice lacks wisdom!

You have shown little understanding!

⁴Who has helped you say these words?

And where did you get these ideas?

⁵“The spirits of the dead tremble,

those who are beneath and in the waters.

⁶Death is naked before God;

destruction is uncovered before him.

⁷God stretches the northern sky out over empty space

and hangs the earth on nothing.

⁸He wraps up the waters in his thick clouds,

but the clouds do not break under their weight.

⁹He covers the face of the moon,

spreading his clouds over it.

¹⁰He draws the horizon like a circle on the water

at the place where light and darkness meet.

¹¹Heaven’s foundations shake

when he thunders at them.

¹²With his power he quiets the sea;

by his wisdom he destroys Rahab, the sea monster.

¹³He breathes, and the sky clears.

His hand stabs the fleeing snake.

¹⁴And these are only a small part of God’s works.

We only hear a small whisper of him.

Who could understand God’s thundering power?”