26
Job Speaks: My Friends Have Offered Useless Advice
1 Then Job replied ⌞to his friends⌟,
2 “You have helped the person who has no power
and saved the arm that isn’t strong.
3 You have advised the person who has no wisdom
and offered so much assistance.
4 To whom have you spoken ⌞these⌟ words,
and whose spirit has spoken through you?
God’s Power over Creation
5 “The souls of the dead tremble beneath the water,
and so do the creatures living there.
6 Sheol is naked in God’s presence,
and Abaddon has no clothing.
7 “He stretches out his heavens* over empty space.
He hangs the earth on nothing whatsoever.
8 He holds the water in his thick clouds,
and the clouds don’t ⌞even⌟ split under its ⌞weight⌟.
9 He covers his throne†
by spreading his cloud over it.
10 He marks the horizon on the surface of the water
at the boundary where light meets dark.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astonished when he yells at them.
12 With his power he calmed the sea.
With his insight he killed Rahab ⌞the sea monster⌟.
13 With his wind the sky was cleared.
With his hand he stabbed the fleeing snake.
14 “These are only glimpses of what he does.
We ⌞only⌟ hear a whisper of him!
Who can understand the thunder of his power?”
* 26:7 Or “the north.” † 26:9 Or “the face of the moon.”