Job 28–30

A HYMN TO WISDOM

28Surely there is a mine for silver

and a place where gold is refined.

²Iron is taken from the ground,

and copper is smelted from ore.

³A miner puts an end to the darkness;

he probes^A the deepest recesses

for ore in the gloomy darkness.

⁴He cuts a shaft far from human habitation,

in places unknown to those who walk above ground.

Suspended far away from people,

the miners swing back and forth.

⁵Food may come from the earth,

but below the surface the earth is transformed as by fire.

⁶Its rocks are a source of lapis lazuli,^a

containing flecks of gold.

⁷No bird of prey knows that path;

no falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud beasts have never walked on it;

no lion has ever prowled over it.

⁹The miner uses a flint tool

and turns up ore from the root of the mountains.

¹⁰He cuts out channels in the rocks,

and his eyes spot every treasure.

¹¹He dams up the streams from flowing^B

so that he may bring to light what is hidden.

¹²But where can wisdom^b be found,

and where is understanding located?

¹³No one can know its value,^C

since it cannot be found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The ocean depths say, “It’s not in me,”

while the sea declares, “I don’t have it.”^c

¹⁵Gold cannot be exchanged for it,

and silver cannot be weighed out for its price.

¹⁶Wisdom cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,^d

in precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^e

¹⁷Gold and glass do not compare with it,

and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.^f

¹⁸Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning.

The price of wisdom is beyond pearls.

¹⁹Topaz from Cush cannot compare with it,

and it cannot be valued in pure gold.

²⁰Where then does wisdom come from,

and where is understanding located?

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing

and concealed from the birds of the sky.

²²Abaddon and Death^g say,

“We have heard news of it with our ears.”

²³But God understands the way to wisdom,

and he knows its location.

²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

²⁵When God fixed the weight of the wind

and distributed the water by measure,^h

²⁶when he established a limit^A for the rainⁱ

and a path for the lightning,

²⁷he considered wisdom and evaluated it;

he established it and examined it.

²⁸He said to mankind,

“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom.

And to turn from evil is understanding.”^j

JOB’S FINAL CLAIM OF INNOCENCE

29Job continued his discourse, saying:

²If only I could be as in months gone by,

in the days when God watched over me,

³when his lamp shone above my head,

and I walked through darkness by his light!^k

⁴I would be as I was in the days of my youth

when God’s friendship^l rested on my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me,

⁶when my feet were bathed in curds

and the rock^m poured out streams of oil for me!

⁷When I went out to the city gateⁿ

and took my seat in the town square,

⁸the young men saw me and withdrew,

while older men stood to their feet.

⁹City officials stopped talking

and covered their mouths with their hands.^a

¹⁰The noblemen’s voices were hushed,

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.^b

¹¹When they heard me, they blessed me,

and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.^B

¹²For I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.^c

¹³The dying blessed me,

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.

¹⁴I clothed myself in righteousness,^d

and it enveloped me;

my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind

and feet to the lame.^e

¹⁶I was a father to the needy,

and I examined the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust^f

and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought, “I will die in my own nest

and multiply my days as the sand.^C

¹⁹My roots will have access to water,^g

and the dew will rest on my branches all night.

²⁰My whole being will be refreshed within me,

and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”^h

²¹Men listened to me with expectation,

waiting silently for my advice.

²²After a word from me they did not speak again;

my speech settled on them like dew.ⁱ

²³They waited for me as for the rain

and opened their mouths as for spring showers.

²⁴If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it;

they were thrilled at^A the light of my countenance.

²⁵I directed their course and presided as chief.

I lived as a king among his troops,

like one who comforts those who mourn.

30But now they mock^j me,

men younger than I am,

whose fathers I would have refused to put

with my sheep dogs.

²What use to me was the strength of their hands?

Their vigor had left them.

³Emaciated from poverty and hunger,

they gnawed the dry land,

the desolate wasteland by night.

⁴They plucked mallow^Bk among the shrubs,

and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

⁵They were banished from human society;

people shouted at them as if they were thieves.

⁶They are living on the slopes of the wadis,

among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

⁷They bray among the shrubs;

they huddle beneath the thistles.

⁸Foolish^l men, without even a name.

They were forced to leave the land.

⁹Now I am mocked by their songs;^m

I have become an object of scorn to them.

¹⁰They despise me and keep their distance from me;ⁿ

they do not hesitate to spit^o in my face.

¹¹Because God has loosened my^C bowstring and oppressed me,

they have cast off restraint in my presence.^p

¹²The rabble^D rise up at my right;

they trap^E my feet

and construct their siege ramp^F against me.^q

¹³They tear up my path;

they contribute to my destruction,^r

without anyone to help them.

¹⁴They advance as through a gaping breach;

they keep rolling in through the ruins.^s

¹⁵Terrors^a are turned loose against me;

they chase my dignity away like the wind,

and my prosperity has passed by like a cloud.

¹⁶Now my life is poured out before me,

and days of suffering^b have seized me.

¹⁷Night pierces my bones,

but my gnawing pains never rest.^c

¹⁸My clothing is distorted with great force;

he chokes me by the neck of my garment.^A

¹⁹He throws me into the mud,

and I have become like dust and ashes.^d

²⁰I cry out to you for help, but you do not answer me;^e

when I stand up, you merely look at me.

²¹You have turned against me with cruelty;

you harass^f me with your strong hand.

²²You lift me up on the wind and make me ride it;

you scatter me in the storm.^g

²³Yes, I know that you will lead me to death—

the place^h appointed for all who live.

²⁴Yet no one would stretch out his hand

against a ruined person^B

when he cries out to him for help

because of his distress.ⁱ

²⁵Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times?

Has my soul not grieved for the needy?^j

²⁶But when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, darkness^k came.

²⁷I am churning within^C and cannot rest;

days of suffering confront me.

²⁸I walk about blackened, but not by the sun.^D

I stood in the assembly and cried out for help.

²⁹I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches.

³⁰My skin blackens and flakes off,^E

and my bones burn with fever.^l

³¹My lyre is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.^m