Job 26

1 Then Job answered and said,

2 How hast thou helped him that is without power! How hast thou saved the arm that hath no strength!

3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom, And plentifully declared sound knowledge!

4 To whom hast thou uttered words? And whose spirit came forth from thee?

5 They that are deceased tremble Beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.

6 Sheol is naked before God, And Abaddon hath no covering.

7 He stretcheth out the north over empty space, And hangeth the earth upon nothing.

8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; And the cloud is not rent under them.

9 He incloseth the face of his throne, And spreadeth his cloud upon it.

10 He hath described a boundary upon the face of the waters, Unto the confines of light and darkness.

11 The pillars of heaven tremble And are astonished at his rebuke.

12 He stirreth up the sea with his power, And by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab.

13 By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.

14 Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways: And how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?

JOB 26

Job's Reply to Bildad

You Have Really Been Helpful

1 Job said:

2 You have really been helpful
to someone weak and weary.

3 You have given great advice
and wonderful wisdom
to someone truly in need.

4 How can anyone possibly speak
with such understanding?

5 Remember the terrible trembling
of those in the world of the dead
below the mighty ocean.

6 Nothing in that land
of death and destruction
is hidden from God,

7 who hung the northern sky
and suspended the earth
on empty space.

8 God stores water in clouds,
but they don't burst,

9 and he wraps them around
the face of the moon.

10 On the surface of the ocean,
God has drawn a boundary line
between light and darkness.

11 And columns supporting the sky
tremble at his command.

12 By his power and wisdom,
God conquered the force
of the mighty ocean.t

13 The heavens became bright
when he breathed,
and the escaping sea monstert
died at his hands.

14 These things are merely a whisper
of God's power at work.
How little we would understand
if this whisper
ever turned into thunder!