Bildad: How Can Man Be Righteous?

25 Then aBildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “Dominion and fear belong to Him;

He makes peace in His high places.

3 1Is there any number to His armies?

Upon whom does bHis light not rise?

4 cHow then can man be righteous before God?

Or how can he be dpure who is born of a woman?

5 If even the moon does not shine,

And the stars are not pure in His esight,

6 How much less man, who is fa maggot,

And a son of man, who is a worm?”

Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty

26 But Job answered and said:

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 one who has no wisdom?

And how have you declared sound advice to many?

4 To whom have you uttered words?

And whose spirit came from you?

5 “The dead tremble,

Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.

6 aSheol is naked before Him,

And Destruction has no covering.

7 bHe stretches out the north over empty space;

He hangs the earth on nothing.

8 cHe binds up the water in His thick clouds,

Yet the clouds 1are not broken under it.

9 He covers the face of His throne,

And spreads His cloud over it.

10 dHe drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,

At the boundary of light and darkness.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble,

And are 2astonished at His rebuke.

12 eHe stirs up the sea with His power,

And by His understanding He breaks up 3the storm.

13 fBy His Spirit He adorned the heavens;

His hand pierced gthe fleeing serpent.

14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,

And how small a whisper we hear of Him!

But the thunder of His power who can understand?”

Job Maintains His Integrity

27 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:

2 “As God lives, awho has taken away my justice,

And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

3 As long as my breath is in me,

And the breath of God in my nostrils,

4 My lips will not speak wickedness,

Nor my tongue utter deceit.

5 Far be it from me

That I should say you are right;

Till I die bI will not put away my integrity from me.

6 My righteousness I chold fast, and will not let it go;

dMy heart shall not 1reproach me as long as I live.

7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,

And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.

8 eFor what is the hope of the hypocrite,

Though he may gain much,

If God takes away his life?

9 fWill God hear his cry

When trouble comes upon him?

10 gWill he delight himself in the Almighty?

Will he always call on God?

11 “I will teach you 2about the hand of God;

What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

12 Surely all of you have seen it;

Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?

13 “This his the portion of a wicked man with God,

And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:

14 iIf his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;

And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death,

And jtheir 3widows shall not weep,

16 Though he heaps up silver like dust,

And piles up clothing like clay—

17 He may pile it up, but kthe just will wear it,

And the innocent will divide the silver.

18 He builds his house like a 4moth,

lLike a 5booth which a watchman makes.

19 The rich man will lie down,

6But not be gathered up;

He opens his eyes,

And he is mno more.

20 nTerrors overtake him like a flood;

A tempest steals him away in the night.

21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;

It sweeps him out of his place.

22 It hurls against him and does not ospare;

He flees desperately from its 7power.

23 Men shall clap their hands at him,

And shall hiss him out of his place.

Job’s Discourse on Wisdom

28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,

And a place where gold is refined.

2 Iron is taken from the 1earth,

And copper is smelted from ore.

3 Man puts an end to darkness,

And searches every recess

For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.

4 He breaks open a shaft away from people;

In places forgotten by feet

They hang far away from men;

They swing to and fro.

5 As for the earth, from it comes bread,

But underneath it is turned up as by fire;

6 Its stones are the source of sapphires,

And it contains gold dust.

7 That path no bird knows,

Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.

8 The 2proud lions have not trodden it,

Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

9 He puts his hand on the flint;

He overturns the mountains 3at the roots.

10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,

And his eye sees every precious thing.

11 He dams up the streams from trickling;

What is hidden he brings forth to light.

12 “But awhere can wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13 Man does not know its bvalue,

Nor is it found in the land of the living.

14 cThe deep says, ‘It is not in me’;

And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15 It dcannot be purchased for gold,

Nor can silver be weighed for its price.

16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,

In precious onyx or sapphire.

17 Neither egold nor crystal can equal it,

Nor can it be exchanged for 4jewelry of fine gold.

18 No mention shall be made of 5coral or quartz,

For the price of wisdom is above frubies.

19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

Nor can it be valued in pure ggold.

20 “From hwhere then does wisdom come?

And where is the place of understanding?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,

And concealed from the birds of the 6air.

22 iDestruction 7and Death say,

‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’

23 God understands its way,

And He knows its place.

24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,

And jsees under the whole heavens,

25 kTo establish a weight for the wind,

And apportion the waters by measure.

26 When He lmade a law for the rain,

And a path for the thunderbolt,

27 Then He saw 8wisdom and declared it;

He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.

28 And to man He said,

‘Behold, mthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

Job’s Summary Defense

29 Job further continued his discourse, and said:

2 “Oh, that I were as in months apast,

As in the days when God bwatched over me;

3 cWhen His lamp shone upon my head,

And when by His light I walked through darkness;

4 Just as I was in the days of my prime,

When dthe friendly counsel of God was over my tent;

5 When the Almighty was yet with me,

When my children were around me;

6 When emy steps were bathed with 1cream,

And fthe rock poured out rivers of oil for me!

7 “When I went out to the gate by the city,

When I took my seat in the open square,

8 The young men saw me and hid,

And the aged arose and stood;

9 The princes refrained from talking,

And gput their hand on their mouth;

10 The voice of nobles was hushed,

And their htongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

11 When the ear heard, then it blessed me,

And when the eye saw, then it approved me;

12 Because iI delivered the poor who cried out,

The fatherless and the one who had no helper.

13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me,

And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

14 jI put on righteousness, and it clothed me;

My justice was like a robe and a turban.

15 I was keyes to the blind,

And I was feet to the lame.

16 I was a father to the poor,

And lI searched out the case that I did not know.

17 I broke mthe fangs of the wicked,

And plucked the victim from his teeth.

18 “Then I said, n‘I shall die in my nest,

And multiply my days as the sand.

19 oMy root is spread out pto the waters,

And the dew lies all night on my branch.

20 My glory is fresh within me,

And my qbow is renewed in my hand.’

21 “Men listened to me and waited,

And kept silence for my counsel.

22 After my words they did not speak again,

And my speech settled on them as dew.

23 They waited for me as for the rain,

And they opened their mouth wide as for rthe spring rain.

24 If I mocked at them, they did not believe it,

And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

25 I chose the way for them, and sat as chief;

So I dwelt as a king in the army,

As one who comforts mourners.