Job 24–31

24“Why doesn’t the Mighty One set a time for judging sinful people?

Why do those who know him have to keep waiting for that day?

²People move their neighbor’s boundary stones.

They steal their neighbor’s flocks.

³They take away the donkeys

that belong to children whose fathers have died.

They take a widow’s ox until she has paid what she owes.

⁴They push those who are needy out of their way.

They force all of the poor people in the land to go into hiding.

⁵The poor are like wild donkeys in the desert.

They have to go around looking for food.

The dry and empty land provides the only food for their children.

⁶The poor go to the fields and get a little grain.

They gather up what is left in the vineyards of sinners.

⁷The poor don’t have any clothes. So they spend the night naked.

They don’t have anything to cover themselves in the cold.

⁸They are soaked by mountain rains.

They hug the rocks because they don’t have anything to keep them warm.

⁹Children whose fathers have died

are torn away from their mothers.

A poor person’s baby is taken away to pay back what is owed.

¹⁰The poor don’t have any clothes. They go around naked.

They carry bundles of grain, but they still go hungry.

¹¹They work very hard as they crush olives.

They stomp on grapes in winepresses,

but they are still thirsty.

¹²The groans of those who are dying are heard from the city.

Those who are wounded cry out for help.

But God doesn’t charge anyone with doing what is wrong.

¹³“Some people hate it when daylight comes.

In the daytime they never walk outside.

¹⁴When daylight is gone, murderers get up.

They kill poor people and those who are in need.

In the night they sneak around like robbers.

¹⁵Those who commit adultery wait until the sun goes down.

They think, ‘No one will see us.’

They keep their faces hidden.

¹⁶In the dark, people break into houses.

But by day they shut themselves in.

They don’t want anything to do with the light.

¹⁷The deepest darkness is like morning to them.

The terrors of darkness are their friends.

¹⁸“But sinners are like bubbles on the surface of water.

Their share of the land is under God’s curse.

So no one goes to their vineyards.

¹⁹Melted snow disappears when the air is hot and dry.

And sinners disappear when they go down into their graves.

²⁰Even their mothers forget them.

The worms in their graves eat them up.

No one remembers sinful people anymore.

They are cut down like trees.

²¹They mistreat women who aren’t able to have children.

They aren’t kind to widows.

²²But God is powerful.

He even drags away people who are strong.

When he rises up against them,

they can never be sure they are safe.

²³God might let them rest and feel secure.

But his eyes see how they live.

²⁴For a little while they are honored.

Then they are gone.

They are brought low.

And they die like everyone else.

They are cut off like heads of grain.

²⁵“Who can prove that what I’m saying is wrong?

Who can prove that my words aren’t true?”

The Third Speech of Bildad

25Then Bildad the Shuhite replied,

²“God is King. He should be feared.

He establishes peace in the highest parts of heaven.

³Can anyone count his troops?

Is there anyone his light doesn’t shine on?

⁴How can human beings be right with God?

How can mere people really be pure?

⁵Even the moon isn’t bright

and the stars aren’t pure in God’s eyes.

⁶So how about human beings? They are like maggots.

How about mere people? They are like worms.”

Job’s Reply

26Job replied,

²“Bildad, you haven’t helped people who aren’t strong!

You haven’t saved people who are weak!

³You haven’t offered advice to those who aren’t wise!

In fact, you haven’t understood anything at all!

⁴Who helped you say those 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.

⁶Death is naked in the sight of God.

The Grave lies open in front of him.

⁷He spreads out the northern skies over empty space.

He hangs the earth over nothing.

⁸He wraps up water in his clouds.

They are heavy, but they don’t burst.

⁹He covers the face of the full moon.

He spreads his clouds over it.

¹⁰He marks out the place where the sky meets the sea.

He marks out the boundary between light and darkness.

¹¹The pillars of the heavens shake.

They are terrified when his anger blazes out.

¹²With his power he stirred up the oceans.

In his wisdom he cut the sea monster Rahab to pieces.

¹³His breath made the skies bright and clear.

His hand wounded the serpent that glides through the sea.

¹⁴Those 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?”

27Job continued to speak. He said,

²“God hasn’t treated me fairly.

The Mighty One has made my spirit bitter.

You can be sure that God lives.

And here’s something else you can be sure of.

³As long as I have life

and God gives me breath,

⁴my mouth won’t say evil things.

My lips won’t tell lies.

⁵I’ll never admit you people are right.

Until I die, I’ll say I’m telling the truth.

⁶I’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!

⁸What hope do ungodly people have when their lives are cut off?

What hope do they have when God takes away their lives?

⁹God won’t listen to their cry

when trouble comes on them.

¹⁰They 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.

¹²You 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.

¹⁴All of their children will be killed with swords.

They’ll never have enough to eat.

¹⁵A plague will kill those who are left alive.

The widows of sinful men

won’t even sob over their own children.

¹⁶Sinners might store up silver like dust

and clothes like piles of clay.

¹⁷But people who do what is right will wear those clothes.

People who haven’t done anything wrong

will divide up that silver.

¹⁸The house an evil person builds is like a moth’s cocoon.

It’s like a hut that’s made by someone on guard duty.

¹⁹Sinful people lie down wealthy, but their wealth is taken away.

When they open their eyes, everything is gone.

²⁰Terrors sweep over them like a flood.

A storm takes them away during the night.

²¹The east wind carries them off, and they are gone.

It sweeps them out of their houses.

²²It blows against them without mercy.

They try to escape from its power.

²³It claps its hands and makes fun of them.

It hisses them out of their houses.

28“There are mines where silver is found.

There are places where gold is purified.

²Iron is taken out of the earth.

Copper is melted down from ore.

³A miner lights up the darkness.

He searches for ore in the deepest pits.

He looks for it in the blackest darkness.

⁴Far from where people live he cuts a tunnel.

He does it in places where others don’t go.

Far away from people he swings back and forth on ropes.

⁵Food grows on the surface of the earth.

But far below, the earth is changed as if by fire.

⁶Sapphires are taken from its rocks.

Its dust contains nuggets of gold.

⁷No bird knows the miner’s hidden path.

No falcon’s eye has seen it.

⁸Proud animals don’t walk on it.

Lions don’t prowl there.

⁹The miner attacks the hardest rock.

His strong hands uncover the base of the mountains.

¹⁰He tunnels through the rock.

His eyes see all of its treasures.

¹¹He searches the places where the rivers begin.

He brings hidden things out into the light.

¹²“And where can wisdom be found?

Where does understanding live?

¹³No one knows how much it’s worth.

It can’t be found anywhere in the world.

¹⁴The ocean says, ‘It’s not in me.’

The sea says, ‘It’s not here either.’

¹⁵It can’t be bought with the finest gold.

Its price can’t be weighed out in silver.

¹⁶It can’t be bought with gold from Ophir.

It can’t be bought with priceless onyx or sapphires.

¹⁷Gold or crystal can’t compare with it.

It can’t be bought with jewels made of gold.

¹⁸Don’t bother to talk about coral and jasper.

Wisdom is worth far more than rubies.

¹⁹A topaz from Cush can’t compare with it.

It can’t be bought with the purest gold.

²⁰“So where does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding live?

²¹It’s hidden from the eyes of every living thing.

Even the birds of the air can’t find it.

²²Death and the Grave say,

‘Only reports about it have reached our ears.’

²³But God understands the way to it.

He’s the only one who knows where it lives.

²⁴He sees from one end of the earth to the other.

He views everything in the world.

²⁵He made the mighty wind.

He measured out the waters.

²⁶He gave orders for the rain to fall.

He made paths for the thunderstorms.

²⁷Then he looked at wisdom and set its price.

He established it and put it to the test.

²⁸He said to human beings,

‘Have respect for me. That will prove you are wise.

Avoid evil. That will show you have understanding.’ ”

29Job continued to speak. He said,

²“How I long for the good old days!

That’s when God watched over me.

³The light of his lamp shone on me.

I walked through darkness by his light.

⁴Those were the best days of my life.

That’s when God’s friendship blessed my house.

⁵The Mighty One was still with me.

My children were all around me.

⁶The path in front of me was like sweet cream.

It was as if the rock poured out olive oil for me.

⁷“In those days I went to the city gate.

I took my seat as a member of the council.

⁸Young people who saw me stepped to one side.

Old people stood up as I approached.

⁹The leaders stopped speaking.

They covered their mouths with their hands.

¹⁰The voices of the nobles became quiet.

Their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

¹¹Everyone who heard me said good things about me.

Those who saw me honored me.

¹²That’s because I saved poor people who cried out for help.

I…