Job 25-27
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Bildad Speaks
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 Dominion and dread(A) belong to Him,
the One who establishes harmony in the heavens.[a]
3 Can His troops be numbered?
Does His light not shine on everyone?
4 How can a person be justified before God?(B)
How can one born of woman be pure?(C)
5 If even the moon does not shine
and the stars are not pure in His sight,(D)
6 how much less man, who is a maggot,
and the son of man, who is a worm!(E)
Job’s Reply to Bildad
26 Then Job answered:
2 How you have helped(F) the powerless
and delivered the arm that is weak!
3 How you have counseled the unwise(G)
and thoroughly explained the path to success!
4 Who did you speak these words to?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?
5 The departed spirits tremble
beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.(H)
6 Sheol(I) is naked before God,
and Abaddon(J) has no covering.(K)
7 He stretches the northern skies over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in His clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight.(L)
9 He obscures the view of His throne,
spreading His cloud over it.
10 He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters(M)
at the boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,
astounded at His rebuke.(N)
12 By His power He stirred(O) the sea,
and by His understanding He crushed Rahab.(P)
13 By His breath the heavens gained their beauty;
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[b](Q)
14 These are but the fringes of His ways;
how faint is the word we hear of Him!
Who can understand His mighty thunder?
27 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,(R)
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,(S)
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,(T)
4 my lips will not speak unjustly,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 I will never affirm that you are right.
I will maintain my integrity[c](U) until I die.
6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience(V) will not accuse me as long as I live!
7 May my enemy be like the wicked
and my opponent like the unjust.
8 For what hope does the godless man(W) have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?(X)
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes on him?
10 Will he delight(Y) in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 I will teach you about God’s power.
I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned.[d]
12 All of you have seen this for yourselves,
why do you keep up this empty talk?(Z)
13 This is a wicked man’s lot(AA) from God,
the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
14 Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;
his descendants will never have enough food.
15 Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
yet their widows will not weep for them.(AB)
16 Though he piles up silver like dust
and heaps up a wardrobe like clay—
17 he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide up his silver.(AC)
18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon
or a booth set up by a watchman.(AD)
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
when he opens his eyes, it is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;(AE)
a storm(AF) wind sweeps him away at night.
21 An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;
it carries him away from his place.
22 It blasts at him without mercy,
while he flees desperately from its grasp.
23 It claps(AG) its hands at him
and scorns him from its place.
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