Job 26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 26
Job’s Reply. 1 Then Job answered and said:[a]
2 What help you give to the powerless,
what strength to the feeble arm!
3 How you give counsel to one without wisdom;
how profuse is the advice you offer!
4 With whose help have you uttered those words,
whose breath comes forth from you?(A)
5 The shades[b] beneath writhe in terror,(B)
the waters, and their inhabitants.
6 Naked before him is Sheol,[c]
and Abaddon has no covering.(C)
7 He stretches out Zaphon[d] over the void,
and suspends the earth over nothing at all;
8 He binds up the waters in his clouds,
yet the cloud is not split by their weight;
9 He holds back the appearance of the full moon
by spreading his clouds before it.
10 He has marked out a circle[e] on the surface of the deep(D)
as the boundary of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens tremble
and are stunned at his thunderous rebuke;(E)
12 By his power he stilled Sea,
by his skill he crushed Rahab;[f]
13 By his wind the heavens were made clear,
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[g](F)
14 Lo, these are but the outlines of his ways,
and what a whisper of a word we hear of him:
Who can comprehend the thunder of his power?
Footnotes
- 26:1–14 Perhaps to be read as Job’s reply to Bildad’s short speech.
- 26:5 Shades: the dead in Sheol, the nether world; cf. Ps 88:11; Is 26:14.
- 26:6 Sheol: cf. note on Ps 6:6. Abaddon: Hebrew for “(place of) destruction,” a synonym for nether world; cf. Jb 28:22; Rev 9:11.
- 26:7 Zaphon: lit., “the north,” used here as a synonym for the firmament, the heavens; cf. Is 14:13.
- 26:10 Circle: the horizon of the ocean which serves as the boundary for the activity of light and darkness; cf. Prv 8:27.
- 26:12 Rahab: another name for the primeval sea-monster; see notes on Jb 3:8 and Ps 89:11; cf. also Jb 7:12; 9:13.
- 26:13 The fleeing serpent: the same term occurs in Is 27:1 in apposition to Leviathan; see note on Jb 3:8.
Job 26
World English Bible
26 Then Job answered,
2 “How have you helped him who is without power!
How have you saved the arm that has no strength!
3 How have you counseled him who has no wisdom,
and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
4 To whom have you uttered words?
Whose spirit came out of you?
5 “The departed spirits tremble,
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6 Sheol[a] is naked before God,
and Abaddon[b] has no covering.
7 He stretches out the north over empty space,
and hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not burst under them.
9 He encloses the face of his throne,
and spreads his cloud on it.
10 He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters,
and to the confines of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astonished at his rebuke.
12 He stirs up the sea with his power,
and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab.
13 By his Spirit the heavens are garnished.
His hand has pierced the swift serpent.
14 Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways.
How small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
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