Job’s Reply to Bildad

26 Then Job answered:

How you have helped(A) the powerless
and delivered the arm that is weak!
How you have counseled the unwise(B)
and abundantly provided insight!
With whom did you speak these words?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?

The departed spirits tremble
beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.(C)
Sheol(D) is naked before God,
and Abaddon(E) has no covering.(F)

He stretches the northern skies over empty space;
he hangs the earth on nothing.
He wraps up the water in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight.(G)
He obscures the view of his throne,
spreading his cloud over it.
10 He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters(H)
at the boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,
astounded at his rebuke.(I)
12 By his power he stirred(J) the sea,
and by his understanding he crushed Rahab.(K)

13 By his breath the heavens gained their beauty;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[a](L)
14 These are but the fringes of his ways;
how faint is the word we hear of him!
Who can understand his mighty thunder?

Footnotes

  1. 26:13 = Leviathan

Job Replies: God's Majesty Is Unsearchable

26 Then Job answered and said:

“How you have (A)helped him who has no power!
    How you have saved (B)the arm that has no strength!
How you have (C)counseled him who has no wisdom,
    and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
With whose help have you uttered words,
    and whose breath (D)has come out from you?
The (E)dead tremble
    under the waters and their inhabitants.
Sheol is (F)naked before God,[a]
    and (G)Abaddon has no covering.
He (H)stretches out the north over (I)the void
    and hangs the earth on nothing.
He (J)binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not split open under them.
He covers the face of the full moon[b]
    and (K)spreads over it his cloud.
10 He has inscribed (L)a circle on the face of the waters
    at the boundary between light and darkness.
11 (M)The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astounded at his (N)rebuke.
12 By his power he (O)stilled the sea;
    by his understanding he shattered (P)Rahab.
13 (Q)By his wind the heavens were made fair;
    his hand pierced (R)the fleeing serpent.
14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his (S)ways,
    and how small (T)a whisper do we hear of him!
    But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

Footnotes

  1. Job 26:6 Hebrew him
  2. Job 26:9 Or his throne