24:1 “Why are times not appointed by 1 the Almighty? 2
Why do those who know him not see his days?
24:2 Men 3 move boundary stones;
they seize the flock and pasture them. 4
24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;
they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
24:4 They turn the needy from the pathway,
and the poor of the land hide themselves together. 5
24:5 Like 6 wild donkeys in the desert
they 7 go out to their labor, 8
seeking diligently for food;
the wasteland provides 9 food for them
and for their children.
24:6 They reap fodder 10 in the field,
and glean 11 in the vineyard of the wicked.
24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;
they have no covering against the cold.
24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains
and huddle 12 in the rocks because they lack shelter.
24:9 The fatherless child is snatched 13 from the breast, 14
the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. 15
24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. 16
24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; 17
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. 18
24:12 From the city the dying 19 groan,
and the wounded 20 cry out for help,
but God charges no one with wrongdoing. 21
24:13 There are those 22 who rebel against the light;
they do not know its ways
and they do not stay on its paths.
24:14 Before daybreak 23 the murderer rises up;
he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is 24 like a thief. 25
24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,
thinking, 26 ‘No eye can see me,’
and covers his face with a mask.
24:16 In the dark the robber 27 breaks into houses, 28
but by day they shut themselves in; 29
they do not know the light. 30
24:17 For all of them, 31 the morning is to them
like deep darkness;
they are friends with the terrors of darkness.
24:18 32 “You say, 33 ‘He is foam 34 on the face of the waters; 35
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard. 36
24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away
the melted snow; 37
so the grave 38 takes away those who have sinned. 39
24:20 The womb 40 forgets him,
the worm feasts on him,
no longer will he be remembered.
Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.
24:21 He preys on 41 the barren and childless woman, 42
and does not treat the widow well.
24:22 But God 43 drags off the mighty by his power;
when God 44 rises up against him, he has no faith in his life. 45
24:23 God 46 may let them rest in a feeling of security, 47
but he is constantly watching 48 all their ways. 49
24:24 They are exalted for a little while,
and then they are gone, 50
they are brought low 51 like all others,
and gathered in, 52
and like a head of grain they are cut off.’ 53
24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?” 54
25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
25:2 “Dominion 56 and awesome might 57 belong to 58 God;
he establishes peace in his heights. 59
25:3 Can his armies be numbered? 60
On whom does his light 61 not rise?
25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure? 62
25:5 If even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, 63
25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot 64 –
a son of man, who is only a worm!”
26:1 Then Job replied:
26:2 “How you have helped 66 the powerless! 67
How you have saved the person who has no strength! 68
26:3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly 69 revealed your insight!
26:4 To whom 70 did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? 71
26:5 “The dead 73 tremble 74 –
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them. 75
26:6 The underworld 76 is naked before God; 77
the place of destruction lies uncovered. 78
26:7 He spreads out the northern skies 79 over empty space; 80
he suspends the earth on nothing. 81
26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
26:9 He conceals 82 the face of the full moon, 83
shrouding it with his clouds.
26:10 He marks out the horizon 84 on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
26:11 The pillars 85 of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke. 86
26:12 By his power he stills 87 the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster 88 to pieces. 89
26:13 By his breath 90 the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 91
26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! 92
How faint is the whisper 93 we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”
27:1 And Job took up his discourse again: 94
27:2 “As surely as God lives, 95 who has denied me justice, 96
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter 97 –
27:3 for while 98 my spirit 99 is still in me,
and the breath from God is in my nostrils,
27:4 my 100 lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will whisper 101 no deceit.
27:5 I will never 102 declare that you three 103 are in the right;
until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
27:6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience 104 will not reproach me
for as long as I live. 105
27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, 106
my adversary 107 like the unrighteous. 108
27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, 109
when God takes away his life? 110
27:9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress overtakes him?
27:10 Will he find delight 111 in the Almighty?
Will he call out to God at all times?
27:11 I will teach you 112 about the power 113 of God;
What is on the Almighty’s mind 114 I will not conceal.
27:12 If you yourselves have all seen this,
Why in the world 115 do you continue this meaningless talk? 116
27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man
allotted by God, 117
the inheritance that evildoers receive
from the Almighty.
27:14 If his children increase – it is for the sword! 118
His offspring never have enough to eat. 119
27:15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague, 120
and their 121 widows do not mourn for them.
27:16 If he piles up silver like dust
and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,
27:17 what he stores up 122 a righteous man will wear,
and an innocent man will inherit his silver.
27:18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon, 123
like a hut 124 that a watchman has made.
27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. 125
When he opens his eyes, it is all gone. 126
27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood; 127
at night a whirlwind carries him off.
27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity 128
as he flees headlong from its power.
27:23 It claps 129 its hands at him in derision
and hisses him away from his place. 130
III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
No Known Road to Wisdom 13128:1 “Surely 132 there is a mine 133 for silver,
and a place where gold is refined. 134
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground, 135
and rock is poured out 136 as copper.
28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness; 137
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness. 138
28:4 Far from where people live 139 he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten, 140
far from other people he dangles and sways. 141
28:5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire; 142
28:6 a place whose stones are sapphires 143
and which contains dust of gold; 144
28:7 a hidden path 145 no bird of prey knows –
no falcon’s 146 eye has spotted it.
28:8 Proud beasts 147 have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
28:9 On the flinty rock man has set to work 148 with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases. 149
28:10 He has cut out channels 150 through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted 151 every precious thing.
28:11 He has searched 152 the sources 153 of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
28:13 Mankind does not know its place; 154
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
28:14 The deep 155 says, ‘It is not with 156 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 157 with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx 158 or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal 159 can be compared with it,
nor can a vase 160 of gold match its worth.
28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price 161 of wisdom is more than pearls. 162
28:19 The topaz of Cush 163 cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from? 164
Where is the place of understanding?
28:21 For 165 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 166 and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’ 167
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 168 the force of the wind
and measured 169 the waters with a gauge.
28:26 When he imposed a limit 170 for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm, 171
28:27 then he looked at wisdom 172 and assessed its value; 173
he established 174 it and examined it closely. 175
28:28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord 176 – that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” 177