Job 24–31

24Why doesn’t God set a time for judging,

a day of justice for those who serve him?

²People move boundary stones to get more land;

they steal sheep and put them with their own flocks.

³They take donkeys that belong to orphans,

and keep a widow’s ox till she pays her debts.

⁴They prevent the poor from getting their rights

and force the needy to run and hide.

⁵So the poor, like wild donkeys,

search for food in the dry wilderness;

nowhere else can they find food for their children.

⁶They have to harvest fields they don’t own,^x

and gather grapes in the vineyards of the wicked.

⁷At night they sleep with

nothing to cover them, nothing to keep them from the cold.

⁸They are drenched by the rain that falls on the mountains,

and they huddle beside the rocks for shelter.

⁹Evil people make slaves of fatherless infants

and take the children of the poor in payment for debts.

¹⁰But the poor must go out with no clothes to protect them;

they must go hungry while harvesting wheat.

¹¹They press olives for oil, and grapes for wine,

but they themselves are thirsty.

¹²In the cities the wounded and dying cry out,

but God ignores their prayers.

¹³There are those who reject the light;

they don’t understand it or go where it leads.

¹⁴At dawn the murderer gets up

and goes out to kill the poor,

and at night he steals.

¹⁵The adulterer waits for twilight to come;

he covers his face so that no one can see him.

¹⁶At night thieves break into houses,

but by day they hide and avoid the light.

¹⁷They fear the light of day,

but darkness holds no terror for them.

^y

¹⁸The wicked are swept away by floods,

and the land they own is under God’s curse;

they no longer go to work in their vineyards.

¹⁹As snow vanishes in heat and drought,

so sinners vanish from the land of the living.

²⁰Not even their mothers remember them now;

they are eaten by worms and destroyed like fallen trees.

²¹That happens because they ill-treated widows

and showed no kindness to childless women.

²²God, in his strength, destroys the mighty;

God acts—and the wicked die.

²³God may let them live secure,

but keeps an eye on them all the time.

²⁴For a while the wicked prosper,

but then they wither like weeds,

like ears of corn that have been cut off.

²⁵Can anyone deny that this is so? Can anyone prove that my words are not true?

25God is powerful; all must stand in awe of him;

he keeps his heavenly kingdom in peace.

³Can anyone count the angels who serve him?

Is there any place where God’s light does not shine?

⁴Can anyone be righteous or pure in God’s sight?

⁵In his eyes even the moon is not bright,

nor the stars pure.

⁶Then what about a human being, that worm, that insect?

What is a human life worth in God’s eyes?

26What a fine help you are to me—

poor, weak man that I am!

³You give such good advice

and share your knowledge with a fool like me!

⁴Who do you think will hear all your words?

Who inspired you to speak like this?

^z

⁵The spirits of the dead tremble

in the waters under the earth.

⁶The world of the dead lies open to God;

no covering shields it from his sight.

⁷God stretched out the northern sky

and hung the earth in empty space.

⁸It is God who fills the clouds with water

and keeps them from bursting with the weight.

⁹He hides the full moon behind a cloud.

¹⁰He divided light from darkness

by a circle drawn on the face of the sea.

¹¹When he threatens the pillars that hold up the sky,

they shake and tremble with fear.

¹²It is his strength that conquered the sea;^a

by his skill he destroyed the monster Rahab.^b

¹³It is his breath that made the sky clear,

and his hand that killed the escaping monster.^c

¹⁴But these are only hints of his power,

only the whispers that we have heard.

Who can know how truly great God is?

27I swear by the living Almighty God,

who refuses me justice and makes my life bitter-

³as long as God gives me breath,

⁴my lips will never say anything evil,

my tongue will never tell a lie.

⁵I will never say that you men are right;

I will insist on my innocence to my dying day.

⁶I will never give up my claim to be right;

my conscience is clear.

⁷May all who oppose me and fight against me

be punished like the wicked and the unrighteous.

⁸What hope is there for the godless

in the hour when God demands their life?

⁹When trouble comes, will God hear their cries?

¹⁰They should have desired the joy he gives;

they should have constantly prayed to him.

¹¹Let me teach you how great is God’s power,

and explain what Almighty God has planned.

¹²But no, after all, you have seen for yourselves;

so why do you talk such nonsense?

^d

¹³This is how Almighty God

punishes wicked, violent people.

¹⁴They may have many sons,

but all will be killed in war;

their children never have enough to eat.

¹⁵Those who survive will die from disease,

and even their widows will not mourn their death.

¹⁶The wicked may have too much silver to count

and more clothes than anyone needs;

¹⁷but some good person will wear the clothes,

and some honest person will get the silver.

¹⁸The wicked build houses like a spider’s web^e

or like the hut of a slave guarding the fields.

¹⁹One last time^f they will lie down rich,

and when they wake up, they will find their wealth gone.

²⁰Terror will strike like a sudden flood;

a wind in the night will blow them away;

²¹the east wind will sweep them from their homes;

²²it will blow down on them without pity

while they try their best to escape.

²³The wind howls at them as they run,

frightening them with destructive power.^g

In Praise of Wisdom

28There are mines where silver is dug;

There are places where gold is refined.

²Miners dig iron out of the ground

And melt copper out of the stones.

³They explore the deepest darkness.

They search the depths of the earth

And dig for rocks in the darkness.

⁴Far from where anyone lives

Or human feet ever travel,

They dig the shafts of mines.

There they work in loneliness,

Clinging to ropes in the pits.

⁵Food grows out of the earth,

But underneath the same earth

All is torn up and crushed.

⁶The stones of the earth contain sapphires,

And its dust contains gold.

⁷No hawk sees the roads to the mines,

And no vulture ever flies over them.

⁸No lion or other fierce beast

Ever travels those lonely roads.

⁹Miners dig the hardest rocks,

Dig mountains away at their base.

¹⁰As they tunnel through the rocks,

They discover precious stones.

¹¹They dig to the sources of^h rivers

And bring to light what is hidden.

¹²But where can wisdom be found?

Where can we learn to understand?

¹³Wisdom is not to be found among mortals;

No one knows its true value.

¹⁴The depths of the oceans and seas

Say that wisdom is not found there.

¹⁵It cannot be bought with silver or gold.

¹⁶The finest gold and jewels

Cannot equal its value.

¹⁷It is worth more than gold,

Than a gold vase or finest glass.

¹⁸The value of wisdom is more

Than coral or crystal or rubies.

¹⁹The finest topaz and the purest gold

Cannot compare with the value of wisdom.

²⁰Where, then, is the source of wisdom?

Where can we learn to understand?

²¹No living creature can see it,

Not even a bird in flight.

²²Even death and destruction

Admit they have heard only rumours.

²³God alone knows the way,

Knows the place where wisdom is found,

²⁴Because he sees the ends of the earth,

Sees everything under the sky.

²⁵When God gave the wind its power

And determined the size of the sea;

²⁶When God decided where the rain would fall,

And the path that the thunderclouds travel;

²⁷It was then he saw wisdom and tested its worth—

He gave it his approval.

^28*God said to human beings,

“To be wise, you must have reverence for the Lord.

To understand, you must turn from evil.”

Job’s Final Statement of His Case

29Job began speaking again.

²If only my life could once again

be as it was when God watched over me.

³God was always with me then

and gave me light as I walked through the darkness.

⁴Those were the days when I was prosperous,

and the friendship of God protected my home.

⁵Almighty God was with me then,

and I was surrounded by all my children.

⁶My cows and goats gave plenty of milk,

and my olive trees grew in the rockiest soil.

⁷Whenever the city elders met

and I took my place among them,

⁸young men stepped aside as soon as they saw me,

and old men stood up to show me respect.

⁹The leaders of the people would stop talking;

¹⁰even the most important men kept silent.

¹¹Everyone who saw me or heard of me

had good things to say about what I had done.

¹²When the poor cried out, I helped them;

I gave help to orphans who had nowhere to turn.

¹³Those who were in deepest misery praised me,

and I helped widows find security.

¹⁴I have always acted justly and fairly.

¹⁵I was eyes for the blind,

and feet for the lame.

¹⁶I was like a father to the poor

and took the side of strangers in trouble.

¹⁷I destroyed the power of cruel men

and rescued their victims.

¹⁸I always expected to live a long life

and to die at home in comfort.

¹⁹I was like a tree whose roots always have water

and whose branches are wet with dew.

²⁰Everyone was always praising me,

and my strength never failed me.

²¹When I gave advice, people were silent

and listened carefully to what I said;

²²they had nothing to add when I had finished.

My words sank in like drops of rain;

²³everyone welcomed them

just as farmers welcome rain in spring.

²⁴I smiled on them when they had lost confidence;

my cheerful face encouraged them.

²⁵I took charge and made the decisions;

I led them as a king leads his troops,

and gave them comfort in their despair.

30But men younger than I am make fun of me now!

Their fathers have always been so worthless

that I wouldn’t let them help my dogs guard sheep.

²They were a bunch of worn-out men,

too weak to do any work for me.

³They were so poor and hungry

that they would gnaw dry roots—

at night, in wild, desolate places.

⁴They pulled up the plants of the desert and ate them,

even the tasteless roots of the broom tree!

⁵Everyone drove them away with shouts,

as if they were shouting at thieves.

⁶They had to live in caves,

in holes dug in the sides of cliffs.

⁷Out in the…