Job 28-30

New International Version

¹² But where can wisdom be found?^(R)
    Where does understanding dwell?^(S)
13 No mortal comprehends its worth;^(T)
    it cannot be found in the land of the living.^(U)
14 The deep^(V) says, “It is not in me”;
    the sea^(W) says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
    nor can its price be weighed out in silver.^(X)
16 It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,^(Y)
    with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^(Z)
17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,^(AA)
    nor can it be had for jewels of gold.^(AB)
18 Coral^(AC) and jasper^(AD) are not worthy of mention;
    the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.^(AE)
19 The topaz^(AF) of Cush^(AG) cannot compare with it;
    it cannot be bought with pure gold.^(AH)

²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from?
    Where does understanding dwell?^(AI)
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
    concealed even from the birds in the sky.^(AJ)
22 Destruction^[b](AK) and Death^(AL) say,
    “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
²³ God understands the way to it
    and he alone^(AM) knows where it dwells,^(AN)
24 for he views the ends of the earth^(AO)
    and sees everything under the heavens.^(AP)
25 When he established the force of the wind
    and measured out the waters,^(AQ)
26 when he made a decree for the rain^(AR)
    and a path for the thunderstorm,^(AS)
27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
    he confirmed it and tested it.^(AT)
28 And he said to the human race,
    “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
    and to shun evil^(AU) is understanding.”^(AV)

² “How I long for the months gone by,^(AX)
    for the days when God watched over me,^(AY)
3 when his lamp shone on my head
    and by his light I walked through darkness!^(AZ)
4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,
    when God’s intimate friendship^(BA) blessed my house,^(BB)
5 when the Almighty was still with me
    and my children^(BC) were around me,^(BD)
6 when my path was drenched with cream^(BE)
    and the rock^(BF) poured out for me streams of olive oil.^(BG)

⁷ “When I went to the gate^(BH) of the city
    and took my seat in the public square,
⁸ the young men saw me and stepped aside^(BI)
    and the old men rose to their feet;^(BJ)
9 the chief men refrained from speaking^(BK)
    and covered their mouths with their hands;^(BL)
10 the voices of the nobles were hushed,^(BM)
    and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.^(BN)
11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,
    and those who saw me commended me,^(BO)
12 because I rescued the poor^(BP) who cried for help,
    and the fatherless^(BQ) who had none to assist them.^(BR)
13 The one who was dying blessed me;^(BS)
    I made the widow’s^(BT) heart sing.
¹⁴ I put on righteousness^(BU) as my clothing;
    justice was my robe and my turban.^(BV)
15 I was eyes^(BW) to the blind
    and feet to the lame.^(BX)
16 I was a father to the needy;^(BY)
    I took up the case^(BZ) of the stranger.^(CA)
17 I broke the fangs of the wicked
    and snatched the victims^(CB) from their teeth.^(CC)

¹⁸ “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,
    my days as numerous as the grains of sand.^(CD)
19 My roots will reach to the water,^(CE)
    and the dew will lie all night on my branches.^(CF)
20 My glory will not fade;^(CG)
    the bow^(CH) will be ever new in my hand.’^(CI)

²¹ “People listened to me expectantly,
    waiting in silence for my counsel.^(CJ)
22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;^(CK)
    my words fell gently on their ears.^(CL)
23 They waited for me as for showers
    and drank in my words as the spring rain.^(CM)
24 When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;
    the light of my face^(CN) was precious to them.^[c](CO)
25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;^(CP)
    I dwelt as a king^(CQ) among his troops;
    I was like one who comforts mourners.^(CR)

30 “But now they mock me,^(CS)
    men younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
    to put with my sheep dogs.^(CT)
2 Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,
    since their vigor had gone from them?
³ Haggard from want and hunger,
    they roamed^[d] the parched land^(CU)
    in desolate wastelands^(CV) at night.^(CW)
4 In the brush they gathered salt herbs,^(CX)
    and their food^[e] was the root of the broom bush.^(CY)
5 They were banished from human society,
    shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶ They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,
    among the rocks and in holes in the ground.^(CZ)
7 They brayed^(DA) among the bushes^(DB)
    and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸ A base and nameless brood,^(DC)
    they were driven out of the land.^(DD)

⁹ “And now those young men mock me^(DE) in song;^(DF)
    I have become a byword^(DG) among them.
¹⁰ They detest me^(DH) and keep their distance;
    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.^(DI)
11 Now that God has unstrung my bow^(DJ) and afflicted me,^(DK)
    they throw off restraint^(DL) in my presence.
¹² On my right^(DM) the tribe^[f] attacks;
    they lay snares^(DN) for my feet,^(DO)
    they build their siege ramps against me.^(DP)
13 They break up my road;^(DQ)
    they succeed in destroying me.^(DR)
    ‘No one can help him,’ they say.
¹⁴ They advance as through a gaping breach;^(DS)
    amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵ Terrors^(DT) overwhelm me;^(DU)
    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,
    my safety vanishes like a cloud.^(DV)

¹⁶ “And now my life ebbs away;^(DW)
    days of suffering grip me.^(DX)
17 Night pierces my bones;
    my gnawing pains never rest.^(DY)
18 In his great power^(DZ) God becomes like clothing to me^[g];
    he binds me like the neck of my garment.
¹⁹ He throws me into the mud,^(EA)
    and I am reduced to dust and ashes.^(EB)

²⁰ “I cry out to you,^(EC) God, but you do not answer;^(ED)
    I stand up, but you merely look at me.
²¹ You turn on me ruthlessly;^(EE)
    with the might of your hand^(EF) you attack me.^(EG)
22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;^(EH)
    you toss me about in the storm.^(EI)
23 I know you will bring me down to death,^(EJ)
    to the place appointed for all the living.^(EK)

²⁴ “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man^(EL)
    when he cries for help in his distress.^(EM)
25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?^(EN)
    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?^(EO)
26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;
    when I looked for light, then came darkness.^(EP)
27 The churning inside me never stops;^(EQ)
    days of suffering confront me.^(ER)
28 I go about blackened,^(ES) but not by the sun;
    I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.^(ET)
29 I have become a brother of jackals,^(EU)
    a companion of owls.^(EV)
30 My skin grows black^(EW) and peels;^(EX)
    my body burns with fever.^(EY)
31 My lyre is tuned to mourning,^(EZ)
    and my pipe^(FA) to the sound of wailing.