Job 25-27 New International Version

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite^(A) replied:

²“Dominion and awe belong to God;^(B)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(C)
³Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?^(D)
⁴How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(E)
⁵If even the moon^(F) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(G)
⁶how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,^(H) who is only a worm!”^(I)

Job

26 Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless!^(J)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(K)
³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight^(L) you have displayed!
⁴Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(M)

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish,^(N)
    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶The realm of the dead^(O) is naked before God;
    Destruction^[a]^(P) lies uncovered.^(Q)
⁷He spreads out the northern skies^(R) over empty space;
    he suspends the earth over nothing.^(S)
⁸He wraps up the waters^(T) in his clouds,^(U)
    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
⁹He covers the face of the full moon,
    spreading his clouds^(V) over it.
¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters^(W)
    for a boundary between light and darkness.^(X)
¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake,^(Y)
    aghast at his rebuke.
¹²By his power he churned up the sea;^(Z)
    by his wisdom^(AA) he cut Rahab^(AB) to pieces.
¹³By his breath the skies^(AC) became fair;
    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.^(AD)
¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
    how faint the whisper^(AE) we hear of him!^(AF)
    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”^(AG)

Job’s Final Word to His Friends

27 And Job continued his discourse:^(AH)

²“As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,^(AI)
    the Almighty,^(AJ) who has made my life bitter,^(AK)
³as long as I have life within me,
    the breath of God^(AL) in my nostrils,
⁴my lips will not say anything wicked,
    and my tongue will not utter lies.^(AM)
⁵I will never admit you are in the right;
    till I die, I will not deny my integrity.^(AN)
⁶I will maintain my innocence^(AO) and never let go of it;
    my conscience^(AP) will not reproach me as long as I live.^(AQ)

⁷“May my enemy be like the wicked,^(AR)
    my adversary^(AS) like the unjust!
⁸For what hope have the godless^(AT) when they are cut off,
    when God takes away their life?^(AU)
⁹Does God listen to their cry
    when distress comes upon them?^(AV)
¹⁰Will they find delight in the Almighty?^(AW)
    Will they call on God at all times?

¹¹“I will teach you about the power of God;
the ways^(AX) of the Almighty I will not conceal.^(AY)
¹²You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?

¹³“Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:^(AZ)
¹⁴However many his children,^(BA) their fate is the sword;^(BB)
    his offspring will never have enough to eat.^(BC)
¹⁵The plague will bury those who survive him,
    and their widows will not weep for them.^(BD)
¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust^(BE)
    and clothes like piles of clay,^(BF)
¹⁷what he lays up^(BG) the righteous will wear,^(BH)
    and the innocent will divide his silver.^(BI)
¹⁸The house^(BJ) he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,^(BK)
    like a hut^(BL) made by a watchman.
¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;^(BM)
    when he opens his eyes, all is gone.^(BN)
²⁰Terrors^(BO) overtake him like a flood;^(BP)
    a tempest snatches him away in the night.^(BQ)
²¹The east wind^(BR) carries him off, and he is gone;^(BS)
    it sweeps him out of his place.^(BT)
²²It hurls itself against him without mercy^(BU)
    as he flees headlong^(BV) from its power.^(BW)
²³It claps its hands^(BX) in derision
    and hisses him out of his place.”^(BY)