Job’s Reply to Bildad
1Then Job answered:
2Yes, I know what you’ve said is true,
he could not answer God9:3 Or court, God would not answer him once in a thousand times.9:3 Jb 9:14; 37:19; 40:2
Who has opposed him and come out unharmed?
5He removes mountains without their knowledge,
6He shakes the earth from its place
so that its pillars tremble.
7He commands the sun not to shine
8He alone stretches out the heavens9:8 Ps 104:2–3; Is 40:22; 44:24
and treads on the waves of the sea.9:8 Or and walks on the back of the sea god
9He makes the stars: the Bear,9:9 Or Aldebaran Orion,
the Pleiades,9:9 Jb 38:31–32; Is 40:26; Am 5:8 and the constellations9:9 Or chambers of the southern sky.
10He does great and unsearchable things,
if he went by, I wouldn’t recognize him.
12If he snatches something, who can stop9:12 Or dissuade him?
13God does not hold back his anger;
14How then can I answer him
or choose my arguments against him?
15Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
16If I summoned him and he answered me,
I do not believe he would pay attention to what I said.
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18He doesn’t let me catch my breath
but fills me with bitter experiences.
if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.
21Though I am blameless,
I no longer care about myself;
22It is all the same. Therefore I say,
“He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.”9:22 Jb 3:19; Ec 9:2–3; Is 14:3–11
23When catastrophe9:23 Or whip; Hb obscure brings sudden death,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24The earth9:24 Or land is handed over to the wicked;
If it isn’t he, then who is it?
25My days fly by faster than a runner;9:25 = a royal messenger9:25 2Sm 18:19–33; 1Kg 1:5; Est 3:13,15
26They sweep by like boats made of papyrus,
27If I said, “I will forget my complaint,
change my expression, and smile,”
why should I struggle in vain?
30If I wash myself with snow,
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31then you dip me in a pit of mud,
and my own clothes despise me!
that we can take each other to court.
33There is no mediator between us,
to lay his hand on both of us.
34Let him take his rod away from me
35Then I would speak and not fear him.
But that is not the case; I am on my own.
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
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