Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhitei replied:

2 “Dominion and awe belong to God;j

he establishes order in the heights of heaven.k

3 Can his forces be numbered?

On whom does his light not rise?l

4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?

How can one born of woman be pure?m

5 If even the moonn is not bright

and the stars are not pure in his eyes,o

6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—

a human being,p who is only a worm!”q

Job

26 Then Job replied:

2 “How you have helped the powerless!r

How you have saved the arm that is feeble!s

3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!

And what great insightt you have displayed!

4 Who has helped you utter these words?

And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?u

5 “The dead are in deep anguish,v

those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

6 The realm of the deadw is naked before God;

Destructiona x lies uncovered.y

7 He spreads out the northern skiesz over empty space;

he suspends the earth over nothing.a

8 He wraps up the watersb in his clouds,c

yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

9 He covers the face of the full moon,

spreading his cloudsd over it.

10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waterse

for a boundary between light and darkness.f

11 The pillars of the heavens quake,g

aghast at his rebuke.

12 By his power he churned up the sea;h

by his wisdomi he cut Rahabj to pieces.

13 By his breath the skiesk became fair;

his hand pierced the gliding serpent.l

14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;

how faint the whisperm we hear of him!n

Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”o

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:p

2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,q

the Almighty,r who has made my life bitter,s

3 as long as I have life within me,

the breath of Godt in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not say anything wicked,

and my tongue will not utter lies.u

5 I will never admit you are in the right;

till I die, I will not deny my integrity.v

6 I will maintain my innocencew and never let go of it;

my consciencex will not reproach me as long as I live.y

7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,z

my adversarya like the unjust!

8 For what hope have the godlessb when they are cut off,

when God takes away their life?c

9 Does God listen to their cry

when distress comes upon them?d

10 Will they find delight in the Almighty?e

Will they call on God at all times?

11 “I will teach you about the power of God;

the waysf of the Almighty I will not conceal.g

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:h

14 However many his children,i their fate is the sword;j

his offspring will never have enough to eat.k

15 The plague will bury those who survive him,

and their widows will not weep for them.l

16 Though he heaps up silver like dustm

and clothes like piles of clay,n

17 what he lays upo the righteous will wear,p

and the innocent will divide his silver.q

18 The houser he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,s

like a hutt made by a watchman.

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

when he opens his eyes, all is gone.v

20 Terrorsw overtake him like a flood;x

a tempest snatches him away in the night.y

21 The east windz carries him off, and he is gone;a

it sweeps him out of his place.b

22 It hurls itself against him without mercyc

as he flees headlongd from its power.e

23 It claps its handsf in derision

and hisses him out of his place.”g