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Bildad speaks a third time[a]

25 Then Bildad, the man from Shuah, replied. This is what he said:

‘God rules everything
    and we should be afraid of his great power.
In heaven above he causes there to be peace.
The number of angels in his armies are too many to count.
    His light shines over everyone.
No human is righteous when he stands in front of God.
    He cannot be pure.
When God looks at the moon and the stars,
    they do not seem to be pure and bright.
So when God looks at us humans,
    we do not seem important to him.
To him, we are as useless as worms.’

Footnotes

  1. 25:1 In this chapter, Bildad tells Job that God is great and powerful. So we cannot do anything to help God. This does not answer Job's questions about all his troubles.

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite(A) replied:

“Dominion and awe belong to God;(B)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.(C)
Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?(D)
How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?(E)
If even the moon(F) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,(G)
how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,(H) who is only a worm!”(I)