Job 27-28
Complete Jewish Bible
27 Iyov continued his speech:
2 “I swear by the living God,
who is denying me justice,
and by Shaddai,
who deals with me so bitterly,
3 that as long my life remains in me
and God’s breath is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak unrighteousness,
or my tongue utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me to say you are right;
I will keep my integrity till the day I die.
6 I hold to my righteousness; I won’t let it go;
my heart will not shame me as long as I live.
7 “May my enemy meet the doom of the wicked;
my foe the fate of the unrighteous.
8 For what hope does the godless have from his gain
when God takes away his life?
9 Will God hear his cry
when trouble comes upon him?
10 Will he take delight in Shaddai
and always call on God?
11 “I am teaching you how God uses his power,
not hiding what Shaddai is doing.
12 Look, you all can see for yourselves;
so why are you talking such empty nonsense?
13 “This is God’s reward for the wicked man,
the heritage oppressors receive from Shaddai:
14 if his sons become many, they go to the sword;
and his children never have enough to eat.
15 Those of his who remain are buried by plague,
and their widows do not weep.
16 Even if he piles up silver like dust
and stores away clothing [in mounds] like clay —
17 he may collect it, but the just will wear it,
and the upright divide up the silver.
18 He builds his house weak as a spider’s web,
as flimsy as a watchman’s shack.
19 He may lie down rich, but his wealth yields nothing;
when he opens his eyes, it isn’t there.
20 Terrors overtake him like a flood;
at night a whirlwind steals him away.
21 The east wind carries him off, and he’s gone;
it sweeps him far from his place.
22 Yes, it hurls itself at him, sparing nothing;
he does all he can to flee from its power.
23 [People] clap their hands at him in derision
and hiss him out of his home.
28 “There are mines for silver
and places where gold is refined;
2 iron is extracted from the earth,
and copper is smelted from ore.
3 Miners conquer the darkness
and dig as far in as they can,
to the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
4 There where no one lives, they break open a shaft;
the feet passing over are oblivious to them;
far from people, suspended in space,
they swing to and fro.
5 “While the earth is [peacefully] yielding bread,
underneath, it is being convulsed as if by fire;
6 its rocks have veins of sapphire,
and there are flecks of gold.
7 Birds of prey don’t know that path,
no falcon’s eye has seen it,
8 the proud beasts have never set foot on it,
no lion has ever passed over it.
9 “[The miner] attacks the flint,
overturns mountains at their roots,
10 and cuts out galleries in the rock,
all the while watching for something of value.
11 He dams up streams to keep them from flooding,
and brings what was hidden out into the light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found?
Where is the source of understanding?
13 No one knows its value,
and it can’t be found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
15 It can’t be obtained with gold,
nor can silver be weighed out to buy it.
16 It can’t be purchased with choice gold from Ofir,
or with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor glass can be compared with it;
nor can it be exchanged for a bowl of fine gold,
18 let alone coral or crystal;
for indeed, the price of wisdom is above that of pearls.
19 It can’t be compared with Ethiopian topaz,
and it can’t be valued with pure gold.
20 “So where does wisdom come from?
where is the source of understanding,
21 inasmuch as it is hidden from the eyes of all living
and kept secret from the birds flying around in the sky?
22 Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor about it with our ears.’
23 “God understands its way,
and he knows its place.
24 For he can see to the ends of the earth
and view everything under heaven.
25 When he determined the force of the wind
and parceled out water by measure,
26 when he made a law for the rain
and cleared a path for the thunderbolts;
27 then he saw [wisdom] and declared it,
yes, he set it up and searched it out.
28 And to human beings he said,
‘Look, fear of Adonai is wisdom!
Shunning evil is understanding!’”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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