1Then Job replied:2‘How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!3What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!4Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?5‘The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.6The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction[1] lies uncovered.7He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.8He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.9He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.10He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.11The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.12By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.13By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.14And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?’
Job 26
English Standard Version
Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable
1Then Job answered and said:2“How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! (Ge 49:24; Isa 40:29; Ho 7:15)3How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! (Ps 73:24; Jas 1:5)4With whose help have you uttered words, and whose breath has come out from you? (Ge 2:7)5The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. (Ps 88:10)6Sheol is naked before God,[1] and Abaddon has no covering. (Ps 139:8; Pr 15:11; Re 9:11)7He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. (Ge 1:2; Job 9:8)8He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. (Pr 30:4)9He covers the face of the full moon[2] and spreads over it his cloud. (Job 36:29)10He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. (Job 38:8; Ps 33:7; Pr 8:29; Jer 5:22)11The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. (Job 9:6; Ps 75:3; Ps 104:7)12By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab. (Job 9:13; Isa 51:15; Jer 31:35)13By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. (Ps 33:6; Isa 27:1)14Behold, 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 4:12; Job 40:19)