Beginning
24 “I wish God All-Powerful would set a time for judging.
People who know God look for such a day, but they do not see it.
2 Wicked people take other people’s land.
They steal flocks of sheep and take them to new pastures.
3 They chase away the orphan’s donkey.
And they take the widow’s ox when she cannot pay what she owes.
4 They push needy people off the path.
So all the poor people of the land hide from them.
5 The poor become like wild donkeys in the desert.
They go about their job of finding food.
The desert gives them food for their children.
6 They gather hay and straw in the fields.
And they pick up leftover grapes from the evil man’s vineyard.
7 They spend the night naked, because they have no clothes.
They have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
8 They are soaked from mountain rains.
They stay near the large rocks because they have no shelter.
9 The child who has no father is grabbed from its mother’s breast.
They take a poor mother’s baby to pay for what she owes.
10 So the poor go around naked because they have no clothes.
They carry bundles of grain for evil people, but they still go hungry.
11 They crush olives to get oil.
And they crush grapes in the winepresses, but they still are thirsty.
12 Dying people groan in the city.
People who are injured cry out for help.
But God accuses no one of doing wrong.
13 “There are people who fight against the light.
God’s ways are strange to them.
And they do not stay in the lighted path.
14 When the light of day is gone, the murderer gets up.
He kills poor and needy people.
At night he goes about like a thief.
15 The person who is guilty of adultery watches for the night.
He thinks, ‘No one will see me.’
And he keeps his face covered.
16 In the dark, evil people break into houses.
But in the daytime they shut themselves up in their own houses.
They want nothing to do with the light.
17 Darkness is like morning to all these evil people.
They make friends with the terrors of darkness.
18 “They are like foam floating on the water.
Their part of the land is cursed.
No one uses the road that goes by their vineyards.
19 Heat and dryness quickly take away the melted snow.
In the same way, the place for the dead quickly takes away those who have sinned.
20 The evil person’s mother will even forget him.
The worms will eat his body.
He will no longer be remembered.
So wickedness is broken in pieces like a stick.
21 These evil men are unfair to women who cannot have children.
And they show no kindness to widows.
22 God drags away strong men by his power.
But even though they seem strong, they do not know how long they will live.
23 God may let these evil people feel safe.
But he is watching their ways.
24 For a little while they are important, and then they are gone.
They are made unimportant and gathered up like everyone else.
They are cut off like the tops of stalks of grain.
25 If this is not true, who can prove I am wrong?
And who can show that my words are worth nothing?”
Bildad Answers
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “God rules and must be honored.
He set up order in his high heaven.
3 No one can count God’s armies.
His light shines on all people.
4 So no man can be good in the presence of God.
No one born to a woman can be pure.
5 Even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure in his eyes.
6 Man is much less! He is like an insect.
He is only a worm!”
Job Answers Bildad
26 Then Job answered:
2 “You are no help to a person who has no strength!
You have given no help to one whose arm is weak!
3 You have given advice to me as if I had no wisdom!
This is not great wisdom you have shown!
4 Who has helped you say these words?
And where did you get these words you speak?
5 “The spirits of the dead beneath the waters shake.
And so do those that live in the waters.
6 Death is naked before God.
Destruction is uncovered before him.
7 God stretches the northern sky out over empty space.
And he hangs the earth on nothing.
8 God wraps up the waters in his thick clouds.
But the clouds do not break under the weight of the water.
9 God covers the face of the full moon.
He spreads his clouds over it.
10 God draws the horizon like a circle on the water
at the place where light and darkness meet.
11 Heaven’s foundations shake
when he thunders at them.
12 God’s power controls the sea.
By his wisdom he destroyed Rahab, the sea monster.
13 God breathes, and the sky becomes clear.
God’s hand stabs the gliding snake.
14 And these are only a small part of God’s works.
We only hear a small whisper of him.
So who can understand God’s thundering power?”
27 And Job continued speaking:
2 “As surely as God lives, he has taken away my rights.
God All-Powerful has made me unhappy.
3 As long as I am alive
and God’s breath of life is in my nose,
4 My lips will not speak evil.
And my tongue will not tell a lie.
5 I will never agree you are right.
Until I die, I will never stop saying I was innocent.
6 I will hold tightly to the right things I said.
My sense of right and wrong does not bother me at all.
7 “Let my enemies be like evil people.
Let them be like those who are not fair!
8 What hope does a wicked person have when he dies?
He has no hope when God takes his life away.
9 God will not listen to his cry
when trouble comes to him.
10 He will not find joy in God All-Powerful,
even though he calls out to God all the time.
11 “I will teach you about the power of God.
I will not hide the ways of God All-Powerful.
12 You have all seen this yourselves.
So why are we having all this talk that means nothing?
13 “Here is what God has planned for evil people.
This is what cruel people will get from God All-Powerful:
14 They may have many children, but the sword will kill them.
The children who are left will never have enough to eat.
15 Then they will die and be buried.
And the widows will not even cry for them.
16 The evil person may heap up silver like piles of dirt.
He may have so many clothes they are like piles of clay.
17 But good people will wear what the evil person has gathered.
And those who are not guilty of wrong will divide up his silver.
18 The house the evil person builds is like a spider’s web.
It is like a hut that a guard builds.
19 The evil person is rich when he goes to bed, but he is rich for the last time.
When he opens his eyes, everything is gone.
20 Fears come over him like a flood.
A storm snatches him away in the night.
21 The east wind will carry him away, and then he is gone.
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 The wind will hit the evil person without mercy
as he tries to run away from its power.
23 It will be as if the wind is clapping its hands at him.
It will whistle at him as he runs from his place.
28 “There are mines where people dig silver.
And there are places where gold is made pure.
2 Iron is taken out of the ground.
And copper is melted out of rocks.
3 Miners bring light into the mines.
They search even the deepest parts of the mines.
They look for metal in places of thick darkness.
4 Miners dig a tunnel far away from where people live.
They dig it where people never go.
They work far away from people, swinging and swaying from ropes.
5 Food grows on top of the earth.
But below ground things are changed as if by fire.
6 Sapphires are found in rocks.
And the dust of the earth contains gold.
7 No hawk knows the path.
The falcon has not seen it.
8 Proud animals have not walked on this path.
And no lions cross over it.
9 Men hit the rocks of flint.
They dig away at the bottom of the mountains.
10 Miners cut tunnels through the rock.
They see all the treasures there.
11 They search the places where rivers begin.
And they bring things hidden there out into the light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found.
Where does understanding live?
13 People do not understand the value of wisdom.
It cannot be found among living people.
14 The deep ocean says, ‘It’s not in me.’
The sea says, ‘It’s not in me.’
15 Wisdom cannot be bought with the best gold.
Its cost cannot be weighed in silver.
16 Wisdom cannot be bought with fine gold.
It cannot be bought with valuable onyx or sapphire gems.
17 Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom.
And you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not even worth talking about.
The price of wisdom is much greater than rubies.
19 The topaz from Cush cannot compare to wisdom.
It cannot even be bought with the purest gold.
20 “So from where does wisdom come?
And where does understanding live?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing.
It is hidden even from the birds of the air.
22 The places of destruction and death say,
‘We have only heard reports about it.’
23 God understands the way to wisdom.
And he is the only one who knows where it lives.
24 This is because God sees to the farthest parts of the earth.
And he sees everything under the heavens.
25 Wisdom began when God gave power to the wind.
It was when he measured the water and put limits on it.
26 It was when God made rules for the rain.
And he set a path for a thunderstorm to follow.
27 Then God looked at wisdom and decided its worth.
He set wisdom up and tested it.
28 Then he said to man,
‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom,
and to stay away from evil is understanding.’”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.