Job 28–30

Job’s 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 ^xthe 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. ^y

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 sapphire, ^za

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 strikes the flint

and transforms the mountains at their foundations.

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 ^cbe found,

and where is understanding located?

¹³No man can know its value, ^d

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.” ^e

¹⁵Gold cannot be exchanged for it,

and silver cannot be weighed out for its price.

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

in precious onyx or sapphire. ^gh

¹⁷Gold and glass do not compare with it,

and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it. ⁱ

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 ^jsay,

“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 limited the water by measure, ^k

²⁶when He established a limit ^lfor the rain ^m

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 is this: wisdom.

And to turn from evil is understanding.” ⁿ

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! ^o

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

when God’s friendship ^prested on my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me,

⁶when my feet were bathed in cream

and the rock ^qpoured out streams of oil for me!

⁷When I went out to the city gate ^r

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. ^s

¹⁰The noblemen’s voices were hushed,

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

¹¹When they heard me, they blessed me,

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

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

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

¹³The dying man blessed me,

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.

¹⁴I clothed myself in righteousness, ^w

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. ^x

¹⁶I was a father to the needy,

and I examined the case of the stranger.

¹⁷I shattered the fangs of the unjust ^y

and snatched the prey from his teeth.

¹⁸So I thought: I will die in my own nest

and multiply my days as the sand. ^z

¹⁹My roots will have access to water, ^a

and the dew will rest on my branches all night.

²⁰My strength will be refreshed within me,

and my bow will be renewed in my hand. ^b

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. ^c

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 ^dthe 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 ^eme,

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 ^fgamong the shrubs,

and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

⁵They were expelled 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 ^hmen, without even a name.

They were forced to leave the land.

⁹Now I am mocked by their songs; ⁱ

I have become an object of scorn to them.

¹⁰They despise me and keep their distance from me; ^j

they do not hesitate to spit ^kin my face.

¹¹Because God has loosened my ^lbowstring and oppressed me,

they have cast off restraint in my presence. ^m

¹²The rabble ⁿrise up at my right;

they trap ^omy feet

and construct their siege ramp ^pagainst 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 ^tare 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 my eyes,

and days of suffering ^uhave seized me.

¹⁷Night pierces my bones,

but my gnawing pains never rest. ^v

¹⁸My clothing is distorted with great force;

He chokes me by the neck of my garment. ^w

¹⁹He throws me into the mud,

and I have become like dust and ashes. ^x

²⁰I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; ^y

when I stand up, You merely look at me.

²¹You have turned against me with cruelty;

You harass ^zme with Your strong hand.

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

You scatter me in the storm. ^a

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

the place ^bappointed for all who live.

²⁴Yet no one would stretch out his hand

against a ruined man ^c

when he cries out to him for help

because of his distress. ^d

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

Has my soul not grieved for the needy? ^e

²⁶But when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, darkness ^fcame.

²⁷I am churning within ^gand cannot rest;

days of suffering confront me.

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

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, ⁱ

and my bones burn with fever. ^j

³¹My lyre is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping. ^k