Job’s Reply to Bildad

1Then Job answered:

2How you have helped a the powerless

and delivered the arm that is weak!

3How you have counseled the unwise b

and thoroughly explained the path to success!

4Who did you speak these words to?

Whose breath came out of your mouth?

5The departed spirits tremble

beneath the waters and all that inhabit them. c

6^•Sheol d is naked before God,

and ^•Abaddon e has no covering. f

7He stretches the northern skies over empty space;

He hangs the earth on nothing.

8He wraps up the waters in His clouds,

yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight. g

9He obscures the view of His throne,

spreading His cloud over it.

10He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters h

at the boundary between light and darkness.

11The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,

astounded at His rebuke. i

12By His power He stirred j the sea,

and by His understanding He crushed ^•Rahab. k

13By His breath the heavens gained their beauty;

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. l  m

14These are but the fringes of His ways;

how faint is the word we hear of Him!

Who can understand His mighty thunder?