Job 28–30

Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found

28There is a mine for silver

and a place where gold is refined.^h

²Iron is taken from the earth,

and copper is smelted from ore.ⁱ

³Mortals put an end to the darkness;^j

they search out the farthest recesses

for ore in the blackest darkness.^k

⁴Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,^l

in places untouched by human feet;

far from other people they dangle and sway.

⁵The earth, from which food comes,^m

is transformed below as by fire;

⁶lapis lazuliⁿ comes from its rocks,

and its dust contains nuggets of gold.^o

⁷No bird of prey knows that hidden path,

no falcon’s eye has seen it.^p

⁸Proud beasts^q do not set foot on it,

and no lion prowls there.^r

⁹People assault the flinty rock^s with their hands

and lay bare the roots of the mountains.^t

¹⁰They tunnel through the rock;^u

their eyes see all its treasures.^v

¹¹They search^a the sources of the rivers^w

and bring hidden things^x to light.

¹²But where can wisdom be found?^y

Where does understanding dwell?^z

¹³No mortal comprehends its worth;^a

it cannot be found in the land of the living.^b

¹⁴The deep^c says, “It is not in me”;

the sea^d says, “It is not with me.”

¹⁵It cannot be bought with the finest gold,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.^e

¹⁶It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,^f

with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^g

¹⁷Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,^h

nor can it be had for jewels of gold.ⁱ

¹⁸Coral^j and jasper^k are not worthy of mention;

the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.^l

¹⁹The topaz^m of Cushⁿ cannot compare with it;

it cannot be bought with pure gold.^o

²⁰Where then does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding dwell?^p

²¹It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

concealed even from the birds in the sky.^q

²²Destruction^br and Death^s say,

“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”

²³God understands the way to it

and he alone^t knows where it dwells,^u

²⁴for he views the ends of the earth^v

and sees everything under the heavens.^w

²⁵When he established the force of the wind

and measured out the waters,^x

²⁶when he made a decree for the rain^y

and a path for the thunderstorm,^z

²⁷then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;

he confirmed it and tested it.^a

²⁸And he said to the human race,

“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

and to shun evil^b is understanding.”^c

Job’s Final Defense

29Job continued his discourse:^d

²“How I long for the months gone by,^e

for the days when God watched over me,^f

³when his lamp shone on my head

and by his light I walked through darkness!^g

⁴Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,

when God’s intimate friendship^h blessed my house,ⁱ

⁵when the Almighty was still with me

and my children^j were around me,^k

⁶when my path was drenched with cream^l

and the rock^m poured out for me streams of olive oil.ⁿ

⁷“When I went to the gate^o of the city

and took my seat in the public square,

⁸the young men saw me and stepped aside^p

and the old men rose to their feet;^q

⁹the chief men refrained from speaking^r

and covered their mouths with their hands;^s

¹⁰the voices of the nobles were hushed,^t

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

¹¹Whoever heard me spoke well of me,

and those who saw me commended me,^v

¹²because I rescued the poor^w who cried for help,

and the fatherless^x who had none to assist them.^y

¹³The one who was dying blessed me;^z

I made the widow’s^a heart sing.

¹⁴I put on righteousness^b as my clothing;

justice was my robe and my turban.^c

¹⁵I was eyes^d to the blind

and feet to the lame.^e

¹⁶I was a father to the needy;^f

I took up the case^g of the stranger.^h

¹⁷I 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

¹⁹My roots will reach to the water,^l

and the dew will lie all night on my branches.^m

²⁰My glory will not fade;ⁿ

the bow^o will be ever new in my hand.’^p

²¹“People listened to me expectantly,

waiting in silence for my counsel.^q

²²After I had spoken, they spoke no more;^r

my words fell gently on their ears.^s

²³They waited for me as for showers

and drank in my words as the spring rain.^t

²⁴When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;

the light of my face^u was precious to them.^av

²⁵I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;^w

I dwelt as a king^x 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

²Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,

since their vigor had gone from them?

³Haggard from want and hunger,

they roamed^a the parched land^b

in desolate wastelands^c at night.^d

⁴In the brush they gathered salt herbs,^e

and their food^b was the root of the broom bush.^f

⁵They were banished from human society,

shouted at as if they were thieves.

⁶They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,

among the rocks and in holes in the ground.^g

⁷They brayed^h among the bushesⁱ

and huddled in the undergrowth.

⁸A base and nameless brood,^j

they were driven out of the land.^k

⁹“And now those young men mock me^l in song;^m

I have become a bywordⁿ among them.

¹⁰They detest me^o and keep their distance;

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

¹¹Now that God has unstrung my bow^q and afflicted me,^r

they throw off restraint^s in my presence.

¹²On my right^t the tribe^c attacks;

they lay snares^u for my feet,^v

they build their siege ramps against me.^w

¹³They break up my road;^x

they succeed in destroying me.^y

‘No one can help him,’ they say.

¹⁴They advance as through a gaping breach;^z

amid the ruins they come rolling in.

¹⁵Terrors^a overwhelm me;^b

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

¹⁷Night pierces my bones;

my gnawing pains never rest.^f

¹⁸In his great power^g God becomes like clothing to me^d;

he binds me like the neck of my garment.

¹⁹He 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.

²¹You turn on me ruthlessly;^l

with the might of your hand^m you attack me.ⁿ

²²You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;^o

you toss me about in the storm.^p

²³I 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 man^s

when he cries for help in his distress.^t

²⁵Have I not wept for those in trouble?^u

Has not my soul grieved for the poor?^v

²⁶Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, then came darkness.^w

²⁷The churning inside me never stops;^x

days of suffering confront me.^y

²⁸I go about blackened,^z but not by the sun;

I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^a

²⁹I have become a brother of jackals,^b

a companion of owls.^c

³⁰My skin grows black^d and peels;^e

my body burns with fever.^f

³¹My lyre is tuned to mourning,^g

and my pipe^h to the sound of wailing.