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.

Chapter 30

Job’s Present State Is Humiliating

1 “But now those younger than I amock me,

Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

2 “Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?

Vigor had perished from them.

3 “From want and famine they are gaunt

Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,

4 Who pluck 1mallow by the bushes,

And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.

5 “They are driven from the community;

They shout against them as against a thief,

6 So that they dwell in dreadful 1valleys,

In holes of the earth and of the rocks.

7 “Among the bushes they 1cry out;

Under the nettles they are gathered together.

8 “1Fools, even 2those without a name,

They were scourged from the land.

9 “And now I have become their 1ataunt,

I have even become a bbyword to them.

10 “They abhor me and stand aloof from me,

And they do not 1refrain from aspitting at my face.

11 “Because 1He has loosed 2His 3bowstring and aafflicted me,

They have cast off bthe bridle before me.

12 “On the right hand their 1brood arises;

They athrust aside my feet band build up against me their ways of destruction.

13 “They abreak up my path,

They profit 1from my destruction;

No one restrains them.

14 “As through a wide breach they come,

1Amid the tempest they roll on.

15 “aTerrors are turned against me;

They pursue my 1honor as the wind,

And my 2prosperity has passed away blike a cloud.

16 “And now amy soul is poured out 1within me;

Days of affliction have seized me.

17 “At night it pierces amy bones 1within me,

And my gnawing pains take no rest.

18 “By a great force my garment is adistorted;

It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19 “He has cast me into the amire,

And I have become like dust and ashes.

20 “I acry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;

I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.

21 “You have 1become cruel to me;

With the might of Your hand You apersecute me.

22 “You alift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;

And You dissolve me in a storm.

23 “For I know that You awill bring me to death

And to the bhouse of meeting for all living.

24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,

Or in his disaster therefore acry out for help?

25 “Have I not awept for the 1one whose life is hard?

Was not my soul grieved for bthe needy?

26 “When I aexpected good, then evil came;

When I waited for light, bthen darkness came.

27 “1I am seething awithin and cannot relax;

Days of affliction confront me.

28 “I go about 1amourning without comfort;

I stand up in the assembly and bcry out for help.

29 “I have become a brother to ajackals

And a companion of ostriches.

30 “My askin turns black 1on me,

And my bbones burn with 2fever.

31 “Therefore my aharp 1is turned to mourning,

And my flute to the sound of those who weep.