III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
No Known Road to Wisdom28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place where gold is refined.
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground,
and rock is poured out as copper.
28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness;
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness.
28:4 Far from where people live he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten,
far from other people he dangles and sways.
28:5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire;
28:6 a place whose stones are sapphires
and which contains dust of gold;
28:7 a hidden path no bird of prey knows –
no falcon’s eye has spotted it.
28:8 Proud beasts have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
28:9 On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases.
28:10 He has cut out channels through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted every precious thing.
28:11 He has searched the sources of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
28:13 Mankind does not know its place;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
28:14 The deep says, ‘It is not with me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it,
nor can a vase of gold match its worth.
28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price of wisdom is more than pearls.
28:19 The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
28:21 For it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
28:22 Destruction and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’
28:23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
28:25 When he made the force of the wind
and measured the waters with a gauge.
28:26 When he imposed a limit for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
28:27 then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value;
he established it and examined it closely.
28:28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)
Job Recalls His Former Condition29:1 Then Job continued his speech:
29:2 “O that I could be as I was
in the months now gone,
in the days when God watched over me,
29:3 when he caused his lamp
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked through darkness;
29:4 just as I was in my most productive time,
when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,
29:5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me;
29:6 when my steps were bathed with butter
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!
29:7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square,
29:8 the young men would see me and step aside,
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
29:9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me,
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who had no one to assist him;
29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;
29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me,
my just dealing was like a robe and a turban;
29:15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
29:16 I was a father to the needy,
and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
29:17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
29:19 My roots reach the water,
and the dew lies on my branches all night long.
29:20 My glory will always be fresh in me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
29:21 “People listened to me and waited silently;
they kept silent for my advice.
29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;
my words fell on them drop by drop.
29:23 They waited for me as people wait for the rain,
and they opened their mouths
as for the spring rains.
29:24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;
and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.
29:25 I chose the way for them
and sat as their chief;
I lived like a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.
30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much
to put with my sheep dogs.
30:2 Moreover, the strength of their hands –
what use was it to me?
Men whose strength had perished;
30:3 gaunt with want and hunger,
they would gnaw the parched land,
in former time desolate and waste.
30:4 By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes,
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
30:5 They were banished from the community –
people shouted at them
like they would shout at thieves –
30:6 so that they had to live
in the dry stream beds,
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
30:7 They brayed like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together under the nettles.
30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people,
they were driven out of the land with whips.
30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword among them.
30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
30:11 Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence.
30:12 On my right the young rabble rise up;
they drive me from place to place,
and build up siege ramps against me.
30:13 They destroy my path;
they succeed in destroying me
without anyone assisting them.
30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash they come rolling in.
30:15 Terrors are turned loose on me;
they drive away my honor like the wind,
and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.
30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me;
days of suffering take hold of me.
30:17 Night pierces my bones;
my gnawing pains never cease.
30:18 With great power God grasps my clothing;
he binds me like the collar of my tunic.
30:19 He has flung me into the mud,
and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
30:20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me;
I stand up, and you only look at me.
30:21 You have become cruel to me;
with the strength of your hand you attack me.
30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;
you toss me about in the storm.
30:23 I know that you are bringing me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.
30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand
against a broken man
when he cries for help in his distress.
30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate?
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;
when I expected light, then darkness came.
30:27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;
the days of my affliction confront me.
30:28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;
in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
30:29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches.
30:30 My skin has turned dark on me;
my body is hot with fever.
30:31 My harp is used for mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.
31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty on high?
31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,
and disaster for those who work iniquity?
31:4 Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
31:5 If I have walked in falsehood,
and if my foot has hastened to deceit –
31:6 let him weigh me with honest scales;
then God will discover my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes,
or if anything has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow and let another eat,
and let my crops be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her.
31:11 For I would have committed a shameful act,
an iniquity to be judged.
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,
and it would uproot all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;
when he intervenes,
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,
and from my mother’s womb
I guided the widow!
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,
31:21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court,
31:22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,
let my arm be broken off at the socket.
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me,
and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
31:26 if I looked at the sun when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,
31:28 then this also would be iniquity to be judged,
for I would have been false to God above.
31:29 If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy
or exulted because calamity found him –
31:30 I have not even permitted my mouth to sin
by asking for his life through a curse –
31:31 if the members of my household have never said,
‘If only there were someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’ –
31:32 But no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler –
31:33 if I have covered my transgressions as men do,
by hiding iniquity in my heart,
31:34 because I was terrified of the great multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors –
31:35 “If only I had someone to hear me!
Here is my signature –
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment
that my accuser had written.
31:36 Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder,
I would bind it on me like a crown;
31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
31:38 “If my land cried out against me
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying,
or caused the death of its owners,
31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!”
The words of Job are ended.