Chapter 26

Job Rebukes Bildad

1 Then Job 1responded,

2 “What a help you are to 1athe weak!

How you have saved the arm bwithout strength!

3 “What counsel you have given to one without wisdom!

What helpful insight you have abundantly 1provided!

4 “To whom have you uttered words?

And whose 1spirit was expressed through you?

The Greatness of God

5 “The 1adeparted spirits tremble

Under the waters and their inhabitants.

6 “Naked is 1aSheol before Him,

And 2bAbaddon has no covering.

7 “He astretches out the north over empty space

And hangs the earth on nothing.

8 “He awraps up the waters in His clouds,

And the cloud does not burst under them.

9 “He 1aobscures the face of the 2full moon

And spreads His cloud over it.

10 “He has inscribed a acircle on the surface of the waters

At the bboundary of light and darkness.

11 “The pillars of heaven tremble

And are amazed at His rebuke.

12 “He aquieted the sea with His power,

And by His bunderstanding He shattered cRahab.

13 “By His breath the aheavens are 1cleared;

His hand has pierced bthe fleeing serpent.

14 “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;

And how faint aa word we hear of Him!

But His mighty bthunder, who can understand?”

Chapter 27

Job Affirms His Righteousness

1 Then Job 1continued his adiscourse and said,

2 “As God lives, awho has taken away my right,

And the Almighty, bwho has embittered my soul,

3 For as long as 1life is in me,

And the 2abreath of God is in my nostrils,

4 My lips certainly will not speak unjustly,

Nor will amy tongue mutter deceit.

5 “Far be it from me that I should declare you right;

Till I die aI will not put away my integrity from me.

6 “I ahold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.

My heart does not reproach any of my days.

The State of the Godless

7 “May my enemy be as the wicked

And 1my opponent as the unjust.

8 “For what is athe hope of the godless 1when he is cut off,

When God requires bhis 2life?

9 “Will God ahear his cry

When bdistress comes upon him?

10 “Will he take adelight in the Almighty?

Will he call on God at all times?

11 “I will instruct you in the 1power of God;

What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.

12 “Behold, all of you have seen it;

Why then do you 1act foolishly?

13 “This is athe portion of a wicked man from God,

And the inheritance which btyrants receive from the Almighty.

14 “Though his sons are many, 1they are destined afor the sword;

And his bdescendants will not be satisfied with bread.

15 “His survivors will be buried because of the plague,

And 1their awidows will not be able to weep.

16 “Though he piles up silver like dust

And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,

17 He may prepare it, abut the just will wear it

And the innocent will divide the silver.

18 “He has built his ahouse like the 1spider’s web,

Or as a hut which the watchman has made.

19 “He lies down rich, but never 1again;

He opens his eyes, and ait is no longer.

20 “aTerrors overtake him like a flood;

A tempest steals him away bin the night.

21 “The east awind carries him away, and he is gone,

For it whirls him baway from his place.

22 “For it will hurl at him awithout sparing;

He will surely try to bflee from its 1power.

23 “Men will clap their hands at him

And will ahiss him from his place.

Chapter 28

Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures

1 “Surely there is a 1mine for silver

And a place 2where they refine gold.

2 “Iron is taken from the dust,

And copper is smelted from rock.

3 “Man puts an end to darkness,

And ato the farthest limit he searches out

The rock in gloom and deep shadow.

4 “He 1sinks a shaft far from 2habitation,

Forgotten by the foot;

They hang and swing to and fro far from men.

5 “The earth, from it comes food,

And underneath it is turned up as fire.

6 “Its rocks are the 1source of sapphires,

And its dust contains gold.

7 “The path no bird of prey knows,

Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.

8 “The 1proud beasts have not trodden it,

Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

9 “He puts his hand on the flint;

He overturns the mountains at the 1base.

10 “He hews out channels through the rocks,

And his eye sees anything precious.

11 “He dams up the streams from 1flowing,

And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

12 “But awhere can wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

13 “aMan does not know its value,

Nor is it found in the land of the living.

14 “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;

And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

15 “aPure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

16 “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,

In precious onyx, or sapphire.

17 “aGold or glass cannot equal it,

Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

18 “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;

And the acquisition of awisdom is above that of pearls.

19 “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,

Nor can it be valued in apure gold.

20 “aWhere then does wisdom come from?

And where is the place of understanding?

21 “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living

And concealed from the birds of the sky.

22 “1aAbaddon and Death say,

‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

23 “aGod understands its way,

And He knows its place.

24 “For He alooks to the ends of the earth

And sees everything under the heavens.

25 “When He imparted aweight to the wind

And bmeted out the waters by measure,

26 When He set a alimit for the rain

And a course for the bthunderbolt,

27 Then He saw it and declared it;

He established it and also searched it out.

28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the afear of the Lord, that is wisdom;

And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

Chapter 29

Job’s Past Was Glorious

1 And Job again took up his adiscourse and said,

2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by,

As in the days when God awatched over me;

3 When aHis lamp shone over my head,

And bby His light I walked through darkness;

4 As I was in 1the prime of my days,

When the 2afriendship of God was over my tent;

5 When 1the Almighty was yet with me,

And my children were around me;

6 When my steps were bathed in abutter,

And the brock poured out for me streams of oil!

7 “When I went out to athe gate of the city,

When I 1took my seat in the square,

8 The young men saw me and hid themselves,

And the old men arose and stood.

9 “The princes astopped talking

And bput their hands on their mouths;

10 The voice of the nobles was 1ahushed,

And their btongue stuck to their palate.

11 “For when athe ear heard, it called me blessed,

And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me,

12 Because I delivered athe poor who cried for help,

And the borphan who had no helper.

13 “The blessing of the one aready to perish came upon me,

And I made the bwidow’s heart sing for joy.

14 “I aput on righteousness, and it clothed me;

My justice was like a robe and a turban.

15 “I was aeyes to the blind

And feet to the lame.

16 “I was a father to athe needy,

And I investigated the case which I did not know.

17 “I abroke the jaws of the wicked

And snatched the prey from his teeth.

18 “Then I 1thought, ‘I shall die 2in my nest,

And I shall multiply my days as the sand.

19 ‘My aroot is spread out to the waters,

And bdew lies all night on my branch.

20 ‘My glory is ever new with me,

And my abow is renewed in my hand.’

21 “To me athey listened and waited,

And kept silent for my counsel.

22 “After my words they did not aspeak again,

And bmy speech dropped on them.

23 “They waited for me as for the rain,

And opened their mouth as for the spring rain.

24 “I smiled on them when they did not believe,

And the light of my face they did not cast down.

25 “I chose a way for them and sat as achief,

And dwelt as a king among the troops,

As one who bcomforted the mourners.