Job 28:1--31:40

III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)

No Known Road to Wisdom

28:1 “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.

No Price Can Buy Wisdom

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.

God Alone Has Wisdom

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 Condition

29:1 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.

Job’s Benevolence

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.

Job’s Confidence

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.’

Job’s Reputation

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.

Job’s Present Misery

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.

Job’s Indignities

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.

Job’s Despondency

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.

The Contrast With the Past

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.

Job Vindicates Himself

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 –

Job’s Appeal

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.

Job’s Final Solemn Oath

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.