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Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable

26 But Job answered:

“How have you helped him who is without power?
    How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
How have you counseled him who has no wisdom?
    And how have you plentifully declared sound knowledge?
To whom have you uttered words?
    And whose breath came from you?

“The departed spirits tremble under the waters,
    and their inhabitants.
The underworld is naked before Him,
    and destruction has no covering.
He stretches out the north over empty space,
    He hangs the earth upon nothing.
He binds up the waters in His thick clouds,
    and the cloud is not broken under them.
He covers the face of the full moon
    and spreads His cloud over it.
10 He has circled the waters with boundaries,
    until the day and night come to an end.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
    and are astonished at His reproof.
12 He divides the sea with His power,
    and by His understanding He strikes through the proud.
13 By His breath He has made fair the heavens;
    His hand has formed the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed, these are but a part of His ways,
    and how small a whisper we hear of Him!
    But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

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 thoroughly explained the path to success!
Who did you speak these words to?
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 waters in His clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath their 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. Job 26:13 = Leviathan