² “God is King. He should be feared.
    He establishes peace in the highest parts of heaven.
³ Can anyone count his troops?
    Is there anyone his light doesn’t shine on?
⁴ How can human beings be right with God?
    How can mere people really be pure?
⁵ Even the moon isn’t bright
    and the stars aren’t pure in God’s eyes.
⁶ So how about human beings? They are like maggots.
    How about mere people? They are like worms.”

² “Bildad, you haven’t helped people who aren’t strong!
    You haven’t saved people who are weak!
³ You haven’t offered advice to those who aren’t wise!
    In fact, you haven’t understood anything at all!
⁴ Who helped you say these things?
    Whose spirit was speaking through you?

⁵ “The spirits of the dead are suffering greatly.
    So are those that are under the waters.
    And so are all those that live in them.
⁶ The place of the dead is naked in the sight of God.
    The grave lies open in front of him.
⁷ He spreads out the northern skies over empty space.
    He hangs the earth over nothing.
⁸ He wraps up water in his clouds.
    They are heavy, but they don’t burst.
⁹ He covers the face of the full moon.
    He spreads his clouds over it.
¹⁰ He marks out the place where the sky meets the sea.
    He marks out the boundary between light and darkness.
¹¹ The pillars of the heavens shake.
    They are terrified when his anger blazes out.
¹² With his power he stirred up the oceans.
    In his wisdom he cut the sea monster Rahab to pieces.
¹³ His breath made the skies bright and clear.
    His hand wounded the serpent that glides through the sea.
¹⁴ Those are only on the edges of what he does.
    They are only the soft whispers that we hear from him.
    So who can understand how very powerful he is?”

² “God hasn’t treated me fairly.
    The Mighty One has made my life bitter.
You can be sure that God lives.
    And here’s something else you can be sure of.
³ As long as I have life
    and God gives me breath,
⁴ my mouth won’t say evil things.
    My lips won’t tell lies.
⁵ I’ll never admit you people are right.
    Until I die, I’ll say I’m telling the truth.
⁶ I’ll continue to say I’m right.
    I’ll never let go of that.
    I won’t blame myself as long as I live.

⁷ “May my enemies suffer like sinful people!
    May my attackers be punished like those who aren’t fair!
⁸ What hope do ungodly people have when their lives are cut short?
    What hope do they have when God takes away their lives?
⁹ God won’t listen to their cry
    when trouble comes on them.
¹⁰ They won’t take delight in the Mighty One.
    They’ll never call out to God.

¹¹ “I’ll teach all of you about God’s power.
    I won’t hide the things the Mighty One does.
¹² You have seen those things yourselves.
    So why do you continue your useless talk?

¹³ “Here’s what God does to sinful people.
    Here’s what those who are mean receive from the Mighty One.
¹⁴ All their children will be killed by swords.
    They’ll never have enough to eat.
¹⁵ A plague will kill those who are left alive.
    The widows of sinful men
    won’t even weep over their own children.
¹⁶ Sinners might store up silver like dust
    and clothes like piles of clay.
¹⁷ But people who do what is right will wear those clothes.
    People who haven’t done anything wrong
    will divide up that silver.
¹⁸ The house an evil person builds is like a moth’s cocoon.
    It’s like a hut that’s made by someone on guard duty.
¹⁹ Sinful people lie down wealthy, but their wealth is taken away.
    When they open their eyes, everything is gone.
²⁰ Terrors sweep over them like a flood.
    A storm takes them away during the night.
²¹ The east wind carries them off, and they are gone.
    It sweeps them out of their houses.
²² It blows against them without mercy.
    They try to escape from its power.
²³ It claps its hands and makes fun of them.
    It hisses them out of their houses.”