Job 24-28 (English Standard Version)

Job 24

 ¹"Why are^(A) not times of judgment^(B) kept by the Almighty,
   and why do those who know him never see his^(C) days?
²Some move^(D) landmarks;
   they seize flocks and pasture them.
³They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
   they^(E) take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
⁴They^(F) thrust the poor off the road;
   the poor of the earth^(G) all hide themselves.
⁵Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert
   the poor^[a](H) go out to their toil,^(I) seeking game;
   the wasteland yields food for their children.
⁶They gather their^[b] fodder in the field,
   and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
⁷They^(J) lie all night naked, without clothing,
   and have no covering in the cold.
⁸They are wet with the rain of the mountains
   and^(K) cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
⁹(There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast,
   and they take a pledge against the poor.)
¹⁰They go about naked, without clothing;
   hungry, they^(L) carry the sheaves;
¹¹among the olive rows of the wicked^[c] they make oil;
   they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
¹²From out of the city the dying groan,
   and the soul of^(M) the wounded cries for help;
   yet God charges no one with^(N) wrong.

 ¹³"There are those who rebel^(O) against the light,
   who are not acquainted with its ways,
   and do not stay in its paths.
¹⁴The murderer rises before it is light,
   that he^(P) may kill the poor and needy,
   and in the night he is like a thief.
¹⁵The eye of the adulterer also waits for^(Q) the twilight,
   saying, 'No^(R) eye will see me';
   and he veils his face.
¹⁶In the dark they^(S) dig through houses;
   by day they shut themselves up;
   they do not know the light.
¹⁷For^(T) deep darkness is morning to all of them;
   for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

 ¹⁸"You say,^(U) 'Swift are they on the face of the waters;
   their portion is cursed in the land;
   no treader turns toward their vineyards.
¹⁹Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters;
   so does^(V) Sheol those who have sinned.
²⁰The womb forgets them;
   the worm finds them sweet;
they are^(W) no longer remembered,
   so wickedness is broken like^(X) a tree.'

 ²¹"They wrong the barren, childless woman,
   and do no good to the widow.
²²Yet God^[d] prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
   they rise up when they despair of life.
²³He gives them security, and they are supported,
   and his^(Y) eyes are upon their ways.
²⁴They are exalted^(Z) a little while, and then^(AA) are gone;
   they are brought low and gathered up like all others;
   they are^(AB) cut off like the heads of grain.
²⁵If it is^(AC) not so, who will prove me a liar
   and show that there is nothing in what I say?"

Job 25

Bildad Speaks: Man Cannot Be Righteous

 ¹Then^(AD) Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
 ²"Dominion and fear are with God;^[e]
   he makes peace in his high heaven.
³Is there any number to his^(AE) armies?
   Upon whom does his^(AF) light not arise?
⁴How then can man be^(AG) in the right before God?
   How can he who is^(AH) born of woman be^(AI) pure?
⁵Behold, even the moon is not bright,
   and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
^6(AJ) how much less man, who is^(AK) a maggot,
   and^(AL) the son of man, who is a worm!"

Job 26

Job Replies: God’s Majesty Is Unsearchable

 ¹Then Job answered and said:
 ²"How you have^(AM) helped him who has no power!
   How you have saved^(AN) the arm that has no strength!
³How you have^(AO) counseled him who has no wisdom,
   and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
⁴With whose help have you uttered words,
   and whose breath^(AP) has come out from you?
⁵The^(AQ) dead tremble
   under the waters and their inhabitants.
⁶Sheol is^(AR) naked before God,^[f]
   and^(AS) Abaddon has no covering.
⁷He^(AT) stretches out the north over^(AU) the void
   and hangs the earth on nothing.
⁸He^(AV) binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
   and the cloud is not split open under them.
⁹He covers the face of the full moon^[g]
   and^(AW) spreads over it his cloud.
¹⁰He has inscribed^(AX) a circle on the face of the waters
   at the boundary between light and darkness.
^11(AY) The pillars of heaven tremble
   and are astounded at his^(AZ) rebuke.
¹²By his power he^(BA) stilled the sea;
   by his understanding he shattered^(BB) Rahab.
^13(BC) By his wind the heavens were made fair;
   his hand pierced^(BD) the fleeing serpent.
¹⁴Behold, these are but the outskirts of his^(BE) ways,
   and how small^(BF) a whisper do we hear of him!
   But the thunder of his power who can understand?"

Job 27

Job Continues: I Will Maintain My Integrity

 ¹And Job again^(BG) took up his discourse, and said:
 ²"As God lives, who has^(BH) taken away my right,
   and the Almighty, who has^(BI) made my soul bitter,
³as long as my breath is in me,
   and^(BJ) the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
⁴my lips will not speak^(BK) falsehood,
   and my tongue will not utter deceit.
⁵Far be it from me to say that you are right;
   till I die I will not put away my^(BL) integrity from me.
⁶I^(BM) hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
   my heart does not^(BN) reproach me for any of my days.

 ⁷"Let my enemy be as the wicked,
   and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
^8(BO) For what is the hope of the godless^(BP) when God cuts him off,
   when God takes away his life?
^9(BQ) Will God hear his cry
   when distress comes upon him?
¹⁰Will he^(BR) take delight in the Almighty?
   Will he call upon God at all times?
¹¹I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
   ^(BS) what is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
¹²Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves;
   why then have you become altogether vain?

 ^13(BT) "This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
   and the heritage that^(BU) oppressors receive from the Almighty:
¹⁴If his^(BV) children are multiplied, it is for^(BW) the sword,
   and his descendants have not enough bread.
¹⁵Those who survive him the pestilence buries,
   and his^(BX) widows do not weep.
¹⁶Though he^(BY) heap up silver like dust,
   and pile up clothing like clay,
¹⁷he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it,
   and^(BZ) the innocent will divide the silver.
¹⁸He builds his^(CA) house like a moth’s,
   like^(CB) a booth that^(CC) a watchman makes.
¹⁹He goes to bed rich, but will^(CD) do so no more;
   he opens his eyes, and^(CE) his wealth is gone.
^20(CF) Terrors overtake him like^(CG) a flood;
   in the night a whirlwind^(CH) carries him off.
^21(CI) The east wind lifts him up and he is gone;
   it^(CJ) sweeps him out of his place.
²²It^[h] hurls at him^(CK) without pity;
   he flees from its^[i] power in headlong flight.
²³It^(CL) claps its hands at him
   and^(CM) hisses at him from its place.

Job 28

Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?

 ¹"Surely there is a mine for silver,
   and a place for gold that they^(CN) refine.
²Iron is taken out of the earth,
   and copper is smelted from the ore.
³Man puts an end to darkness
   and searches out to the farthest limit
   the ore in^(CO) gloom and^(CP) deep darkness.
⁴He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
   they are forgotten by travelers;
   they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
⁵As for the earth,^(CQ) out of it comes bread,
   but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
⁶Its stones are the place of^(CR) sapphires,^[j]
   and it has dust of gold.

 ⁷"That path no bird of prey knows,
   and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
^8(CS) The proud beasts have not trodden it;
   ^(CT) the lion has not passed over it.

 ⁹"Man puts his hand to^(CU) the flinty rock
   and overturns mountains by the roots.
¹⁰He cuts out channels in the rocks,
   and his eye sees every precious thing.
¹¹He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
   and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

 ^12(CV) "But where shall wisdom be found?
   And where is the place of understanding?
¹³Man does not know its worth,
   and it is not found in^(CW) the land of the living.
^14(CX) The deep says, 'It is not in me,'
   and the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
¹⁵It^(CY) cannot be bought for gold,
   and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
¹⁶It cannot be valued in^(CZ) the gold of^(DA) Ophir,
   in precious^(DB) onyx or^(DC) sapphire.
¹⁷Gold and glass cannot equal it,
   nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸No mention shall be made of^(DD) coral or of crystal;
   the price of wisdom is above ^(DE) pearls.
^19(DF) The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
   nor can it be valued in pure gold.

 ²⁰"From where, then, does wisdom come?
   And where is the place of understanding?
²¹It is hidden from the eyes of^(DG) all living
   and concealed from the birds of the air.
^22(DH) Abaddon and Death say,
   'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'

 ^23(DI) "God understands the way to it,
   and he knows its place.
²⁴For he^(DJ) looks to the ends of the earth
   and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵When he^(DK) gave to the wind its weight
   and apportioned the waters by measure,
²⁶when he made a decree for the rain
   and^(DL) a way for the lightning of the thunder,
²⁷then he saw it and declared it;
   he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸And he said to man,'Behold,^(DM) the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
   and to^(DN) turn away from evil is understanding.'"