Job 25-27

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

² “Dominion and fear are with God;^[a]
    he makes peace in his high heaven.^(A)
3 Is there any number to his armies?
    Upon whom does his light not arise?^(B)
4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(C)
5 If even the moon is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his sight,^(D)
6 how much less a mortal, who is a maggot,
    and a human being, who is a worm!”^(E)

² “How you have helped one who has no power!
    How you have assisted the arm that has no strength!^(F)
3 How you have counseled one who has no wisdom
    and given much good advice!
⁴ With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose spirit has come forth from you?
⁵ The shades below tremble,
    the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶ Sheol is naked before God,
    and Abaddon has no covering.^(G)
7 He stretches out Zaphon^[b] over the void
    and hangs the earth upon nothing.^(H)
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not torn open by them.^(I)
9 He covers the face of the full moon
    and spreads over it his cloud.^(J)
10 He has described a circle on the face of the waters,
    at the boundary between light and darkness.^(K)
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his rebuke.
¹² By his power he stilled the Sea;
    by his understanding he struck down Rahab.^(L)
13 By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.^(M)
14 These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways,
    and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”^(N)

² “As God lives, who has taken away my right,
    and the Almighty,^[c] who has made my soul bitter,^(P)
3 as long as my breath is in me
    and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak falsehood,
    and my tongue will not utter deceit.^(Q)
5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;
    until I die I will not put away my integrity from me.^(R)
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
    my heart will not reproach me as long as I live.^(S)

⁷ “May my enemy be like the wicked,
    and may my opponent be like the unrighteous.
⁸ For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts them off,
    when God takes away their lives?^(T)
9 Will God hear their cry
    when trouble comes upon them?^(U)
10 Will they take delight in the Almighty?^[d]
    Will they call upon God at all times?^(V)
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
    that which is with the Almighty^[e] I will not conceal.
¹² All of you have seen it yourselves;
    why then have you become altogether vain?

¹³ “This is the portion of the wicked with God
    and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty:^[f](W)
14 If their children are multiplied, it is for the sword,
    and their offspring have not enough to eat.^(X)
15 Those who survive them the pestilence buries,
    and their widows make no lamentation.^(Y)
16 Though they heap up silver like dust
    and pile up clothing like clay,^(Z)
17 they may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
    and the innocent will divide the silver.^(AA)
18 They build their houses like nests,
    like booths made by sentinels of the vineyard.
¹⁹ They go to bed with wealth but will do so no more;
    they open their eyes, and it is gone.^(AB)
20 Terrors overtake them like a flood;
    in the night a whirlwind carries them off.^(AC)
21 The east wind lifts them up, and they are gone;
    it sweeps them out of their place.^(AD)
22 It^[g] hurls at them without pity;
    they flee from its^[h] power in headlong flight.^(AE)
23 It^[i] claps its^[j] hands at them
    and hisses at them from its^[k] place.^(AF)