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Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures

28 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
And a place where they refine gold.

“Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper is smelted from the stone ore.

Man puts an end to darkness [by bringing in a light],
And to the farthest bounds he searches out
The rock buried in gloom and deep shadow.

“He breaks open (mine) shafts far away from where people live,
[In places] forgotten by the [human] foot;
They dangle [in the mines] and hang away from men.

“[As for] the earth, out of it comes food,
But underneath [its surface, down deep] it is turned over as fire.

“Its stones are the bed of sapphires;
It holds dust of gold.

“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,
And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.

“The proud beasts [and their young] have not walked on it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

“Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock;
He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].
10 
“He cuts out channels and passages among the rocks;
And his eye sees every precious thing.
11 
“Man dams up the streams from flowing [so that they do not trickle into the mine],
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

12 
“But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 
“Man does not know the value of it;
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 
“The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 
“It cannot be obtained for pure gold,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16 
“It cannot be valued in [terms of] the gold of Ophir,
In the precious onyx or beryl, or the sapphire.
17 
“Gold and glass cannot equal wisdom,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
18 
“No mention of coral and crystal can be made;
For the possession of wisdom is even above [that of] rubies or pearls.
19 
“The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 
“From where then does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 
“It is hidden from the eyes of all the living
And concealed from the birds of the heavens.
22 
“Abaddon (the place of destruction) and Death say,
‘We have [only] heard a report of it with our ears.’

23 
“God understands the way [to wisdom]
And He knows its place [for wisdom is with God alone].
24 
“For He looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
25 
“When He gave weight and pressure to the wind
And allotted the waters by measure,
26 
When He made a limit for the rain
And a way for the thunderbolt,
27 
Then He saw wisdom and declared it;
He established it and searched it out.
28 
“But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

Job’s Past Was Glorious

29 And Job again took up his discussion and said,


“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
As in the days when God watched over me,(A)

When His lamp shone upon my head
And by His light I walked through darkness;

As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship and counsel of God were over my tent,

When [a]the Almighty was still with me
And my boys were around me,

When my steps [through rich pastures] were washed with butter and cream [from my livestock],
And the rock poured out for me streams of oil [from my olive groves].

“When I went out to the gate of the city,
When I took my seat [as a city father] in the square,

The young men saw me and hid themselves,
The aged arose and stood [respectfully];

The princes stopped talking
And put their hands on their mouths;
10 
The voices of the nobles were hushed,
And their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 
“For when an ear heard [my name mentioned], it called me happy and fortunate;
And when an eye saw [me], it testified for me [approvingly],
12 
Because I rescued the poor who cried for help,
And the orphan who had no helper.
13 
“The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 
“I put on [b]righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a turban!
15 
“I was eyes to the blind
And I was feet to the lame.
16 
“I was a father to the needy;
I investigated the case I did not know [and assured justice].
17 
“And I smashed the jaws of the wicked
And snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 
“Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest,
And I shall multiply my days as the sand.
19 
‘My root is spread out and open to the waters,
And the dew lies all night upon my branch.
20 
‘My glory and honor are fresh in me [being constantly renewed],
And my bow gains [ever] new strength in my hand.’

21 
“They listened to me and waited
And kept silent for my counsel.
22 
“After I spoke, they did not speak again,
And my speech dropped upon them [like a refreshing shower].
23 
“They waited for me [and for my words] as for the rain,
And they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
24 
“I smiled at them when they did not believe,
And they did not diminish the light of my face.
25 
“I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And dwelt as a king among his soldiers,
As one who comforts mourners.

Footnotes

  1. Job 29:5 Heb Shaddai.
  2. Job 29:14 Blameless and upright as Job had been—and God had so pronounced him—his misunderstood afflictions had caused him to get dangerously off-center. Instead of keeping his mind focused on God and justifying Him, he is giving his whole thought to justifying himself. Instead of humility there is self-righteousness. In this chapter he uses pronouns referring to himself fifty times. But when he was able to see himself as God saw him, he loathed himself and repented “in dust and ashes” (42:6).

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