Job 28–30

¹Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine; ²Iron from the dust is taken, And from the firm stone brass. ³An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, A stone of darkness and death-shade. ⁴A stream hath broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, from man they wandered. ⁵The earth! from it cometh forth bread, And its under-part is turned like fire. ⁶A place of the sapphire are its stones, And it hath dust of gold. ⁷A path—not known it hath a ravenous fowl, Nor scorched it hath an eye of the kite, ⁸Nor trodden it have the sons of pride, Not passed over it hath the fierce lion. ⁹Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains. ¹⁰Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen. ¹¹From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth out to light. ¹²And the wisdom—whence is it found? And where is this, the place of understanding? ¹³Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The deep hath said, ‘It is not in me,’ And the sea hath said, ‘It is not with me.’ ¹⁵Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed—its price. ¹⁶It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire, ¹⁷Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor is its exchange a vessel of fine gold. ¹⁸Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom is above rubies. ¹⁹Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued.

²⁰And the wisdom—whence doth it come? And where is this, the place of understanding? ²¹It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden. ²²Destruction and death have said: ‘With our ears we have heard its fame.’ ²³God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place. ²⁴For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see, ²⁵To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure. ²⁶In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices, ²⁷Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out, ²⁸And He saith to man:—‘Lo, fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to turn from evil is understanding.’

Chapter 29

¹And Job addeth to lift up his simile, and saith:— ²Who doth make me as in months past, As in the days of God’s preserving me? ³In His causing His lamp to shine on my head, By His light I walk through darkness. ⁴As I have been in days of my maturity, And the counsel of God upon my tent. ⁵When yet the Mighty One is with me. Round about me—my young ones, ⁶When washing my goings with butter, And the firm rock is with me rivulets of oil.

⁷When I go out to the gate by the city, In a broad place I prepare my seat. ⁸Seen me have youths, and they, been hidden, And the aged have risen—they stood up. ⁹Princes have kept in words, And a hand they place on their mouth. ¹⁰The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved. ¹¹For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth to me. ¹²For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper. ¹³The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing. ¹⁴Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice. ¹⁵Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame am I. ¹⁶A father I am to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out. ¹⁷And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.

¹⁸And I say, ‘With my nest I expire, And as the sand I multiply days.’ ¹⁹My root is open unto the waters, And dew doth lodge on my branch. ²⁰My honour is fresh with me, And my bow in my hand is renewed. ²¹To me they have hearkened, Yea, they wait, and are silent for my counsel. ²²After my word they change not, And on them doth my speech drop, ²³And they wait as for rain for me, And their mouth they have opened wide As for the latter rain. ²⁴I laugh unto them—they give no credence, And the light of my face cause not to fall. ²⁵I choose their way, and sit head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When mourners he doth comfort.

Chapter 30

¹And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock. ²Also—the power of their hands, why is it to me? On them hath old age perished. ³With want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste, ⁴Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots is their food. ⁵From the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief), ⁶In a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts. ⁷Among shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together. ⁸Sons of folly—even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land. ⁹And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword. ¹⁰They have abominated me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit. ¹¹Because His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away. ¹²On the right hand doth a brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity. ¹³They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, ‘He hath no helper.’ ¹⁴As a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.

¹⁵He hath turned against me terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my safety passed away. ¹⁶And now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction. ¹⁷At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down. ¹⁸By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me. ¹⁹Casting me into mire, And I am become like dust and ashes. ²⁰I cry unto Thee, And Thou dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me. ²¹Thou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppressest me. ²²Thou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest—Thou levellest me. ²³For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, And to the house appointed for all living. ²⁴Surely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety. ²⁵Did not I weep for him whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy. ²⁶When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh. ²⁷My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction. ²⁸Mourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry. ²⁹A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich. ³⁰My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat, ³¹And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.

Chapter 31