Job 26-28
New King James Version
Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty
26 But Job answered and said:
2 “How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
4 To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit came from you?
5 “The dead tremble,
Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
6 (A)Sheol is naked before Him,
And Destruction has no covering.
7 (B)He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
8 (C)He binds up the water in His thick clouds,
Yet the clouds [a]are not broken under it.
9 He covers the face of His throne,
And spreads His cloud over it.
10 (D)He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are [b]astonished at His rebuke.
12 (E)He stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up [c]the storm.
13 (F)By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced (G)the fleeing serpent.
14 Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
Job Maintains His Integrity
27 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:
2 “As God lives, (H)who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
3 As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
4 My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die (I)I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I (J)hold fast, and will not let it go;
(K)My heart shall not [d]reproach me as long as I live.
7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
8 (L)For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?
9 (M)Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?
10 (N)Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?
11 “I will teach you [e]about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?
13 “This(O) is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:
14 (P)If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And (Q)their[f] widows shall not weep,
16 Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay—
17 He may pile it up, but (R)the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 He builds his house like a [g]moth,
(S)Like a [h]booth which a watchman makes.
19 The rich man will lie down,
[i]But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is (T)no more.
20 (U)Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
22 It hurls against him and does not (V)spare;
He flees desperately from its [j]power.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.
Job’s Discourse on Wisdom
28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place where gold is refined.
2 Iron is taken from the [k]earth,
And copper is smelted from ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
And searches every recess
For ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from people;
In places forgotten by feet
They hang far away from men;
They swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, from it comes bread,
But underneath it is turned up as by fire;
6 Its stones are the source of sapphires,
And it contains gold dust.
7 That path no bird knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it.
8 The [l]proud lions have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains [m]at the roots.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
And his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams from trickling;
What is hidden he brings forth to light.
12 “But(W) where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its (X)value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 (Y)The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It (Z)cannot be purchased for gold,
Nor can silver be weighed for its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Neither (AA)gold nor crystal can equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for [n]jewelry of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of [o]coral or quartz,
For the price of wisdom is above (AB)rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure (AC)gold.
20 “From(AD) where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
And concealed from the birds of the [p]air.
22 (AE)Destruction[q] and Death say,
‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.’
23 God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth,
And (AF)sees under the whole heavens,
25 (AG)To establish a weight for the wind,
And apportion the waters by measure.
26 When He (AH)made a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt,
27 Then He saw [r]wisdom and declared it;
He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.
28 And to man He said,
‘Behold, (AI)the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”
Footnotes
- Job 26:8 do not break
- Job 26:11 amazed
- Job 26:12 Heb. rahab
- Job 27:6 reprove
- Job 27:11 Or by
- Job 27:15 Lit. his
- Job 27:18 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr. spider (cf. 8:14); Tg. decay
- Job 27:18 Temporary shelter
- Job 27:19 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr. But shall not add (i.e., do it again); Vg. But take away nothing
- Job 27:22 Lit. hand
- Job 28:2 Lit. dust
- Job 28:8 Lit. sons of pride, figurative of the great lions
- Job 28:9 At the base
- Job 28:17 vessels
- Job 28:18 Heb. ramoth
- Job 28:21 heaven
- Job 28:22 Heb. Abaddon
- Job 28:27 Lit. it
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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