Through My Bible Yr 01 – August 07

Through My Bible – August 07

Job 25 – 27 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

² The power to rule and to inspire fear belongs to him.
He makes peace on high.
³ Can anyone count his troops?
Is there anyone on whom his light does not rise?
⁴ How then can a man be righteous with God?
How can one born of a woman be pure?
⁵ If even the moon does not shine brightly for him,
and if the stars are not pure in his eyes,
⁶ how much less a man, who is a maggot,
and a son of man, who is a worm?

² How marvelously you have helped the helpless!
How wonderfully you have saved the arm that has no strength!
³ What great advice you have given to the one who lacks wisdom!
What great insight you have revealed!
⁴ Who helped you proclaim these words?
Whose breath ^[1] came out of your mouth?
⁵ The spirits of the dead writhe in pain underneath the waters,
along with all those who dwell there.
⁶ Hell ^[2] is naked before God,
and there is nowhere to hide in the place of destruction. ^[3]

⁷ He stretches out the northern sky across the emptiness.
He suspends the earth on nothing.
⁸ He encloses water in his clouds,
but the clouds are not broken apart by its weight.
⁹ He dims the face of the full moon by veiling it with his clouds.
¹⁰ He drew a circle around the surface of the waters.
It marks the boundary of light and darkness.
¹¹ The pillars of the heavens shake.
They are stunned by his rebuke.
¹² By his power he calmed ^[4] the sea.
By his understanding he smashed Rahab. ^[5]
13 By his breath the skies became beautiful.
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. ^[6]

¹⁴ But all these are just the fringe of his ways!
How faint a whisper we hear of him!
Who understands his power, which is displayed in the thunder?

² As God lives, he has deprived me of justice.
The Almighty has made my life ^[8] bitter.
³ Yes, as long as the breath of life is still in me,
as long as the breath from God is still in my nostrils,
⁴ my lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will not murmur deception.
⁵ May I be cursed if I ever admit you are right.
Until I die, I will never deny my integrity.
⁶ I have held tight to my righteousness,
and I will not let it go.
My conscience ^[9] will not accuse me as long as I live.

⁷ May my enemy be like the wicked.
May the one who rises up against me be like the unjust.
⁸ For what hope is there for a godless person when God cuts him off,
when God takes away his life?
⁹ Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰ Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?

¹¹ I will teach you about the hand of God.
I will not hide what the Almighty is doing.
¹² Listen, all of you have observed this.
So why do you continue to spew forth such worthless vapor?

¹³ This is the allotment a wicked man receives from God,
the inheritance that tyrants receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴ Although his children are many, they are sent to the sword.
His offspring will not be satisfied with bread.
¹⁵ Those who survive will be buried by a plague.
They will be buried, and their widows will not weep.
¹⁶ Though the wicked man piles up silver like dust,
and he accumulates clothing like mounds of clay,
¹⁷ the righteous will wear what he accumulated,
and the innocent will divide his silver.
¹⁸ He has built a house, but it will be like a moth’s cocoon,
like a shack that a watchman has put up.
¹⁹ He goes to bed as a rich man,
but his wealth does not remain.
He opens his eyes, and it is all gone.
²⁰ Terrors sweep over him like floodwaters.
At night, a strong wind carries him away.
²¹ The east wind lifts him up, and off he goes.
It blows him away from his place.
²² It hurls itself at him, and it does not spare him.
He flees from its power as fast as he can.
²³ It mockingly claps its hands at him
and drives him from his place with hissing.

Footnotes

1. Job 26:4 Or spirit
2. Job 26:6 Or the grave or death. The Hebrew reads sheol.
3. Job 26:6 Hebrew abaddon
4. Job 26:12 Or stirred up
5. Job 26:12 Rahab is a monster that symbolizes the power of the sea.
6. Job 26:13 Perhaps this name for Leviathan here refers to a constellation like Draco, the dragon.
7. Job 27:1 The words after a pause are not in the Hebrew text, but this is the location for Zophar’s third turn to speak. Zophar, however, sits in silence, and the debate comes to an end. The next speaker to respond to Job will be Elihu son of Barakel, beginning at 32:5.
8. Job 27:2 Or soul
9. Job 27:6 Literally heart