Job 26:1-14

  • Job’s reply (1-14)

    • ‘How you have helped the powerless!’ (1-4)

    • ‘God suspends the earth upon nothing’ (7)

    • ‘Just the fringes of God’s ways’ (14)

26  Job said in reply:   “How you have helped the one with no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!+   What great advice you have given to the one lacking wisdom!+ How freely* you have revealed your practical wisdom!*   To whom are you trying to speak,And who inspired you to say such things?*   Those who are powerless in death tremble;They are even lower than the waters and their inhabitants.   The Grave* is naked in front of God,*+And the place of destruction* lies uncovered.   He stretches out the northern sky* over empty space,*+Suspending the earth upon nothing;   He wraps up the waters in his clouds,+So that the clouds do not burst under their weight;   He shuts off the view of his throne,Spreading out his cloud over it.+ 10  He marks out the horizon* on the surface of the waters;+He makes a boundary between light and darkness. 11  The very pillars of heaven shake;They are stunned by his rebuke. 12  He stirs up the sea with his power,+And by his understanding he breaks the sea monster* to pieces.+ 13  With his breath* he makes the skies clear;His hand pierces the elusive* serpent. 14  Look! These are just the fringes of his ways;+Only a faint whisper has been heard of him! So who can understand his mighty thunder?”+

Footnotes

Or “abundantly.”
Or “common sense.”
Lit., “And whose breath (spirit) has come out from you?”
Or “Sheol,” that is, the common grave of mankind. See Glossary.
Lit., “him.”
Or “And Abaddon.”
Lit., “emptiness.”
Lit., “the north.”
Lit., “a circle.”
Lit., “Rahab.”
Or “wind.”
Or “gliding.”