Job 28-30

1“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

2Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.

3Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness.

4Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

5Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

6Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold.

7No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

8Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it.

9The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base.

10He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.

11He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.

12But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

13No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living.

14The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’

15It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.

17Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.

18Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

19Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.

20From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?

21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.

22Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

23But God understands its way, and He knows its place.

24For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

25When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,

26when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,

27then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.

28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

1And Job continued his discourse:

2“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,

3when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,

4when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

5when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

6when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

7When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,

8the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

9The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

10The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

11For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

12because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

13The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

14I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

15I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.

16I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

17I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

18So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.

19My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

20My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

21Men listened to me with expectation, waiting silently for my counsel.

22After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.

23They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.

24If I smiled at them, they did not believe it; the light of my countenance was precious.

25I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

1“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

2What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them?

3Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

4They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

5They were banished from among men, shouted at like thieves,

6so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

7They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.

8A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.

9And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.

10They abhor me and keep far from me; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

11Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.

12The rabble arises at my right; they lay snares for my feet and build siege ramps against me.

13They tear up my path; they profit from my destruction, with no one to restrain them.

14They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.

15Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

16And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction grip me.

17Night pierces my bones, and my gnawing pains never rest.

18With great force He grasps my garment; He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.

19He throws me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

20I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer; when I stand up, You merely look at me.

21You have ruthlessly turned on me; You oppose me with Your strong hand.

22You snatch me up into the wind and drive me before it; You toss me about in the storm.

23Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.

24Yet no one stretches out his hand against a ruined man when he cries for help in his distress.

25Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?

26But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.

27I am churning within and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me.

28I go about blackened, but not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.

30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.

31My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.