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Bildad Says Man Is Inferior

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,


“Dominion and awe belong to God;
He establishes peace and order in His high places.

“Is there any number to His [vast celestial] armies?
And upon whom does His light not rise?

“How then can man be justified and righteous with God?
Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?(A)

“Behold, even the moon has no brightness [compared to God’s majesty and glory]
And the stars are not pure in His sight,

How much less man, that maggot,
And the son of man, that worm!”

Job Rebukes Bildad

26 But Job answered and said,


“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!
How you have saved the arm that is without strength!

“How you have counseled the one who has no wisdom!
And how abundantly you have provided sound wisdom and helpful insight!

“To whom have you uttered [these] words?
And whose spirit [inspired what] came forth from you?

The Greatness of God


“The spirits of the dead tremble
Underneath the waters and their inhabitants.

“Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) is naked before God,
And Abaddon (the place of destruction) has no covering [from His eyes].

It is He who spreads out the north over emptiness
And [a]hangs the earth on nothing.

“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once],
And the cloud does not burst under them.

“He covers the face of the [b]full moon
And spreads His cloud over it.
10 
“He has inscribed a circular limit (the horizon) on the face of the waters
At the boundary between light and darkness.
11 
“The pillars of the heavens tremble
And are terrified at His rebuke.
12 
“He stirred up the sea by His power,
And by His understanding He smashed [proud] [c]Rahab.
13 
“By His breath the heavens are cleared;
His hand has pierced the [swiftly] fleeing serpent.(B)
14 
“Yet these are just the fringes of His ways [mere samples of His power],
The faintest whisper of His voice!
Who can contemplate the thunder of His [full] mighty power?”

Job Affirms His Righteousness

27 Job continued his discourse and said,


“As God lives, who has taken away my right and denied me justice,
And the Almighty, who has caused bitterness and grief for my soul,

As long as my life is within me,
And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,

My lips will not speak unjustly,
Nor will my tongue utter deceit.

“Far be it from me that I should admit you are right [in your accusations against me];
Until I die, I will not remove my integrity from me.

“I hold fast my uprightness and my right standing with God and I will not let them go;
My heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

The State of the Godless


“May my enemy be as the wicked,
And he who rises up against me be as the unrighteous (unjust).

“For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world],
When God takes his life?

“Will God hear his cry
When trouble and distress come upon him?
10 
“Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 
“I will teach you regarding the hand (power) of God;
I will not conceal what is with the Almighty [God’s actual treatment of the wicked].
12 
“Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you act vainly and foolishly [cherishing worthless concepts]?

13 
“This [which I am about to explain] is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which tyrants and oppressors receive from the Almighty:
14 
“Though his children are many, they are destined for the sword;
And his descendants will not have sufficient bread.
15 
“Those who survive him will be buried because of the plague,
And [their] widows will not be able to weep.
16 
“Though he heaps up silver like dust
And piles up clothing like clay,
17 
He may prepare it, but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 
“He builds his house like a spider’s web,
Like a (temporary) hut which a watchman makes.
19 
“He lies down rich, but never will again;
He opens his eyes, and it is gone.
20 
“Terrors overtake him like a [suddenly rising] flood;
A windstorm steals him away in the night.
21 
“The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 
“For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;
He flees in haste from its power.
23 
“People will clap their hands at him [to mock and ridicule him]
And hiss him out of his place.

Footnotes

  1. Job 26:7 Job reveals a remarkable understanding of God’s power and His amazing universe.
  2. Job 26:9 Or throne.
  3. Job 26:12 I.e. a legendary and horrifying sea monster.

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