Job 25:1–31:40
25 Then Bildad the Shuhitei replied:
2 “Dominion and awe belong to God;j
he establishes order in the heights of heaven.k
On whom does his light not rise?l
4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?m
5 If even the moonn is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes,o
6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
a human being,p who is only a worm!”q
26 Then Job replied:
2 “How you have helped the powerless!r
How you have saved the arm that is feeble!s
3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
And what great insightt you have displayed!
4 Who has helped you utter these words?
And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?u
5 “The dead are in deep anguish,v
those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6 The realm of the deadw is naked before God;
Destructiona x lies uncovered.y
7 He spreads out the northern skiesz over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.a
8 He wraps up the watersb in his clouds,c
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his cloudsd over it.
10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waterse
for a boundary between light and darkness.f
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,g
aghast at his rebuke.
12 By his power he churned up the sea;h
by his wisdomi he cut Rahabj to pieces.
13 By his breath the skiesk became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.l
14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisperm we hear of him!n
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”o
Job’s Final Word to His Friends
27 And Job continued his discourse:p
2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,q
the Almighty,r who has made my life bitter,s
3 as long as I have life within me,
the breath of Godt in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not say anything wicked,
and my tongue will not utter lies.u
5 I will never admit you are in the right;
till I die, I will not deny my integrity.v
6 I will maintain my innocencew and never let go of it;
my consciencex will not reproach me as long as I live.y
7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,z
my adversarya like the unjust!
8 For what hope have the godlessb when they are cut off,
when God takes away their life?c
9 Does God listen to their cry
when distress comes upon them?d
10 Will they find delight in the Almighty?e
Will they call on God at all times?
11 “I will teach you about the power of God;
the waysf of the Almighty I will not conceal.g
12 You have all seen this yourselves.
Why then this meaningless talk?
13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,
the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:h
14 However many his children,i their fate is the sword;j
his offspring will never have enough to eat.k
15 The plague will bury those who survive him,
and their widows will not weep for them.l
16 Though he heaps up silver like dustm
and clothes like piles of clay,n
17 what he lays upo the righteous will wear,p
and the innocent will divide his silver.q
18 The houser he builds is like a moth’s cocoon,s
like a hutt made by a watchman.
19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;u
when he opens his eyes, all is gone.v
20 Terrorsw overtake him like a flood;x
a tempest snatches him away in the night.y
21 The east windz carries him off, and he is gone;a
it sweeps him out of his place.b
22 It hurls itself against him without mercyc
as he flees headlongd from its power.e
23 It claps its handsf in derision
and hisses him out of his place.”g
Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found
28 There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.h
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.i
3 Mortals put an end to the darkness;j
they search out the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.k
4 Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,l
in places untouched by human feet;
far from other people they dangle and sway.
5 The earth, from which food comes,m
is transformed below as by fire;
6 lapis lazulin comes from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.o
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.p
8 Proud beastsq do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.r
9 People assault the flinty rocks with their hands
and lay bare the roots of the mountains.t
10 They tunnel through the rock;u
their eyes see all its treasures.v
11 They searcha the sources of the riversw
and bring hidden thingsx to light.
12 But where can wisdom be found?y
Where does understanding dwell?z
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;a
it cannot be found in the land of the living.b
14 The deepc says, “It is not in me”;
the sead says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.e
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,f
with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.g
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,h
nor can it be had for jewels of gold.i
18 Coralj and jasperk are not worthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.l
19 The topazm of Cushn cannot compare with it;
it cannot be bought with pure gold.o
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?p
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.q
22 Destructionb r and Deaths say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
23 God understands the way to it
and he alonet knows where it dwells,u
24 for he views the ends of the earthv
and sees everything under the heavens.w
25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,x
26 when he made a decree for the rainy
and a path for the thunderstorm,z
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.a
28 And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evilb is understanding.”c
29 Job continued his discourse:d
2 “How I long for the months gone by,e
for the days when God watched over me,f
3 when his lamp shone on my head
and by his light I walked through darkness!g
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
when God’s intimate friendshiph blessed my house,i
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my childrenj were around me,k
6 when my path was drenched with creaml
and the rockm poured out for me streams of olive oil.n
7 “When I went to the gateo of the city
and took my seat in the public square,
8 the young men saw me and stepped asidep
and the old men rose to their feet;q
9 the chief men refrained from speakingr
and covered their mouths with their hands;s
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,t
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.u
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me commended me,v
12 because I rescued the poorw who cried for help,
and the fatherlessx who had none to assist them.y
13 The one who was dying blessed me;z
I made the widow’sa heart sing.
14 I put on righteousnessb as my clothing;
justice was my robe and my turban.c
15 I was eyesd to the blind
and feet to the lame.e
16 I was a father to the needy;f
I took up the caseg of the stranger.h
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
and snatched the victimsi from their teeth.j
18 “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.k
19 My roots will reach to the water,l
and the dew will lie all night on my branches.m
20 My glory will not fade;n
the bowo will be ever new in my hand.’p
21 “People listened to me expectantly,
waiting in silence for my counsel.q
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;r
my words fell gently on their ears.s
23 They waited for me as for showers
and drank in my words as the spring rain.t
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
the light of my faceu was precious to them.a v
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;w
I dwelt as a kingx among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.y
30 “But now they mock me,z
men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to put with my sheep dogs.a
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
since their vigor had gone from them?
3 Haggard from want and hunger,
they roameda the parched landb
in desolate wastelandsc at night.d
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,e
and their foodb was the root of the broom bush.f
5 They were banished from human society,
shouted at as if they were thieves.
6 They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
among the rocks and in holes in the ground.g
7 They brayedh among the bushesi
and huddled in the undergrowth.
8 A base and nameless brood,j
they were driven out of the land.k
9 “And now those young men mock mel in song;m
I have become a bywordn among them.
10 They detest meo and keep their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.p
11 Now that God has unstrung my bowq and afflicted me,r
they throw off restraints in my presence.
12 On my rightt the tribec attacks;
they lay snaresu for my feet,v
they build their siege ramps against me.w
13 They break up my road;x
they succeed in destroying me.y
‘No one can help him,’ they say.
14 They advance as through a gaping breach;z
amid the ruins they come rolling in.
my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
my safety vanishes like a cloud.c
16 “And now my life ebbs away;d
days of suffering grip me.e
my gnawing pains never rest.f
18 In his great powerg God becomes like clothing to med;
he binds me like the neck of my garment.
19 He throws me into the mud,h
and I am reduced to dust and ashes.i
20 “I cry out to you,j God, but you do not answer;k
I stand up, but you merely look at me.
21 You turn on me ruthlessly;l
with the might of your handm you attack me.n
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;o
you toss me about in the storm.p
23 I know you will bring me down to death,q
to the place appointed for all the living.r
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken mans
when he cries for help in his distress.t
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?u
Has not my soul