Job’s Reply to Bildad

Then Job answered:

Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
but how can a person be justified before God?(A)
If one wanted to take(B) Him to court,
he could not answer God[a] once in a thousand times.(C)
God is wise(D) and all-powerful.
Who has opposed Him and come out unharmed?
He removes mountains without their knowledge,
overturning them in His anger.(E)
He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.
He commands the sun not to shine
and seals off the stars.(F)
He alone stretches out the heavens(G)
and treads on the waves of the sea.[b]
He makes the stars: the Bear,[c] Orion,
the Pleiades,(H) and the constellations[d] of the southern sky.
10 He does great and unsearchable things,
wonders without number.(I)
11 If He passes by me, I wouldn’t see Him;(J)
if He goes right by, I wouldn’t recognize Him.
12 If He snatches something, who can stop[e] Him?
Who can ask Him, “What are You doing?”(K)
13 God does not hold back His anger;
Rahab’s(L) assistants cringe in fear beneath Him!

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Footnotes

  1. Job 9:3 Or court, God would not answer him
  2. Job 9:8 Or and walks on the back of the sea god
  3. Job 9:9 Or Aldebaran
  4. Job 9:9 Or chambers
  5. Job 9:12 Or dissuade

Job’s Third Speech: A Response to Bildad

Then[a] Job answered and said,

“Truly I know that it is so,
but[b] how can a human being be just before God?
If he wants to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
He is wise in[c] heart and mighty in[d] strength;
who has resisted him and succeeded?[e]
He is the one who moves mountains, and they do not know how,
who overturns them in his anger.
He is the one who shakes the earth from its place,
and its pillars tremble.
He is the one who commands the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.[f]
He is the one who alone stretches out the heavens
and who tramples on the waves of the sea.
He is the one who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
10 He is the one who does great things beyond understanding[g]
and marvelous things beyond number.[h]
11 If[i] he passes by me, I would not see him;[j]
and if he should move on, I would not recognize him.[k]
12 If[l] he would snatch away, who could turn him?
Who could say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him the helpers of Rahab bow.

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Footnotes

  1. Job 9:1 Hebrew “And”
  2. Job 9:2 Hebrew “and”
  3. Job 9:4 Hebrew “of”
  4. Job 9:4 Hebrew “of”
  5. Job 9:4 Literally “he succeeded”
  6. Job 9:7 Literally “and behind the stars he seals up”
  7. Job 9:10 Literally “until there is not understanding”
  8. Job 9:10 Literally “until there is not number”
  9. Job 9:11 Literally “Look”
  10. Job 9:11 Literally “and I would not see”
  11. Job 9:11 Literally “and I would not recognize him”
  12. Job 9:12 Literally “Look”