Job 28-30
Legacy Standard Bible
Where Can Wisdom Be Found?
28 “[a]Surely there is a [b]mine for silver,
And a place [c]where they refine for gold.
2 Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
And (A)to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in thick darkness and shadow of death.
4 He [d]sinks a shaft far from [e]habitation,
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 overturned as fire.
6 Its rocks are the [f]source 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 [g]proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 He sends his hand forth to the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the [h]base.
10 He breaks out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11 He dams up the streams from [i]flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
12 “But (B)where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 (C)Man does not know its worth,
And it is not 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 (D)Pure gold cannot be given in place of 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 (E)Gold or glass cannot meet its worth,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
18 Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of (F)wisdom is above that of pearls.
19 The topaz of [j]Ethiopia cannot meet its worth,
Nor can it be valued in (G)pure gold.
20 (H)Where 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 [k](I)Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23 “(J)God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 For He (K)looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
25 When He set (L)weight to the wind
And (M)meted out the waters by measure,
26 When He set a (N)limit for the rain
And a course for the (O)thunderbolt,
27 Then He saw it and recounted it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28 So He said to man, ‘Behold, the (P)fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
Job Continues His Discourse
29 And Job continued to lift up his [l](Q)discourse and said,
2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God (R)kept me,
3 When (S)His lamp shone over my head,
And (T)by His light I walked through darkness,
4 As I was in [m]the prime of my days,
When the (U)intimate counsel with God was over my tent,
5 When [n]the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me,
6 When my steps were bathed in (V)butter,
And the (W)rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 When I went out to (X)the gate of the city,
When I [o]took my seat in the square,
8 The young men saw me and hid,
And the old men arose and stood.
9 The princes (Y)stopped talking
And (Z)put their hands on their mouths;
10 The voice of the nobles was (AA)hidden away,
And their (AB)tongue clung to their palate.
11 For (AC)the ear heard, and it called me blessed,
And the eye saw, and it gave witness of me,
12 Because I provided escape for (AD)the afflicted who cried for help,
And the (AE)orphan who had no helper.
13 The blessing of the one (AF)ready to perish came upon me,
And I made the (AG)widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 I (AH)clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was (AI)eyes to the blind
And feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to (AJ)the needy,
And I searched out the case which I did not know.
17 I (AK)broke the fangs of the unjust
And snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 Then I [p]said, ‘I will breathe my last [q]in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 My (AL)root is spread out to the waters,
And (AM)dew lies all night on my branch.
20 My glory is ever new with me,
And my (AN)bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 “To me (AO)they listened and waited,
And kept silent for my counsel.
22 After my words they did not (AP)speak again,
And (AQ)my speech dropped on them.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
And opened their mouth as for the [r]late rain.
24 I laughed with them as they could not believe it,
And the light of my face they did not cast down.
25 I chose a way for them and sat as (AR)chief,
And dwelt as their head among the troops,
As one who (AS)comforted the mourners.
30 “But now those younger than I (AT)laugh at me,
Whose fathers I rejected even 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 destruction and desolation,
4 Who pluck [s]mallow by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom tree.
5 They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they dwell in the slopes of the [t]valleys,
In holes of the dust and of the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they [u]cry out;
Under the nettles they are gathered together.
8 [v]Wicked fools, even [w]those without a name,
They were scourged from the land.
9 “And now I have become their mocking (AU)song;
I have even become a (AV)taunting word to them.
10 They abhor me and keep a distance from me,
And they do not [x]hold back from (AW)spitting at my face.
11 Because [y]He has loosed [z]His [aa]bowstring and (AX)afflicted me,
They have thrust aside (AY)their bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their [ab]brood arises;
They (AZ)thrust aside my feet (BA)and build up against me their ways to disaster.
13 They (BB)break up my path;
They profit [ac]from my destruction;
They have no helper.
14 As through a wide breach they come,
[ad]Amid the storm they roll on.
15 (BC)Terrors are turned against me;
They pursue my nobility as the wind,
And my hope for salvation has passed away (BD)like a cloud.
16 “And now (BE)my soul is poured out [ae]within me;
Days of affliction have seized me.
17 At night it pierces (BF)my bones [af]within me,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18 By a great force my garment is (BG)distorted;
It seizes me about as the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the (BH)mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I (BI)cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You carefully consider how to be against me.
21 You have [ag]become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You (BJ)hunted me down.
22 You (BK)lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;
And You melt me away in a storm.
23 For I know that You (BL)will bring me to death
And to the (BM)house of meeting for all living.
24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand,
Or, in his upheaval, is there a (BN)cry for help because of them?
25 Have I not (BO)wept for the [ah]one whose life is hard?
Was not my soul grieved for (BP)the needy?
26 When I (BQ)hoped for good, then evil came;
When I waited for light, (BR)then thick darkness came.
27 [ai]I am boiling (BS)within and cannot be silent;
Days of affliction confront me.
28 I go about (BT)darkened but not by the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and (BU)cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to (BV)jackals
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My (BW)skin turns black [aj]on me,
And my (BX)bones burn with [ak]fever.
31 Therefore my (BY)harp [al]is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
Footnotes
- Job 28:1 Or For
- Job 28:1 Or source
- Job 28:1 Lit for gold they refine
- Job 28:4 Lit breaks open
- Job 28:4 Lit sojourning
- Job 28:6 Or place
- Job 28:8 Lit sons of pride
- Job 28:9 Lit roots
- Job 28:11 Lit weeping
- Job 28:19 Or Cush, cf. Gen 10:6
- Job 28:22 Lit The realm of destruction
- Job 29:1 Lit proverb
- Job 29:4 Lit the days of my autumn
- Job 29:5 Heb Shaddai
- Job 29:7 Lit set up
- Job 29:18 Or thought
- Job 29:18 Lit with
- Job 29:23 Spring
- Job 30:4 Plant of the salt marshes
- Job 30:6 Or wadis
- Job 30:7 Or bray
- Job 30:8 Lit Sons of fools
- Job 30:8 Lit sons
- Job 30:10 Lit withhold spit from my face
- Job 30:11 Or they
- Job 30:11 Some mss my
- Job 30:11 Or cord
- Job 30:12 Possibly sprout, offspring
- Job 30:13 Lit for
- Job 30:14 Lit Under
- Job 30:16 Lit upon
- Job 30:17 Lit from upon
- Job 30:21 Lit turned to be
- Job 30:25 Lit hard of day
- Job 30:27 Lit My inward parts are boiling
- Job 30:30 Lit from upon
- Job 30:30 Lit heat
- Job 30:31 Lit becomes
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