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Job 28-30
New International Version
Job 28-30
New International Version
Interlude: Where Wisdom Is Found
28 There is a mine for silver
and a place where gold is refined.(A)
2 Iron is taken from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.(B)
3 Mortals put an end to the darkness;(C)
they search out the farthest recesses
for ore in the blackest darkness.(D)
4 Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,(E)
in places untouched by human feet;
far from other people they dangle and sway.
5 The earth, from which food comes,(F)
is transformed below as by fire;
6 lapis lazuli(G) comes from its rocks,
and its dust contains nuggets of gold.(H)
7 No bird of prey knows that hidden path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it.(I)
8 Proud beasts(J) do not set foot on it,
and no lion prowls there.(K)
9 People assault the flinty rock(L) with their hands
and lay bare the roots of the mountains.(M)
10 They tunnel through the rock;(N)
their eyes see all its treasures.(O)
11 They search[a] the sources of the rivers(P)
and bring hidden things(Q) to light.
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)
Job’s Final Defense
29 Job continued his discourse:(AW)
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.
Footnotes
- Job 28:11 Septuagint, Aquila and Vulgate; Hebrew They dam up
- Job 28:22 Hebrew Abaddon
- Job 29:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Job 30:3 Or gnawed
- Job 30:4 Or fuel
- Job 30:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Job 30:18 Hebrew; Septuagint power he grasps my clothing
Job 28-30
King James Version
Job 28-30
King James Version
28 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone.
3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire.
6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold.
7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen:
8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.
9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots.
10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing.
11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light.
12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
29 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:
12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.
13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.
20 My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.
21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
22 After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
23 And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain.
24 If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.
30 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste.
4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
5 They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;)
6 To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.
9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.
13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.
14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.
21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.
22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.
23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
New International Version (NIV) 
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