Job 24-28 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Job 24

 ¹ Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? ^(A)
    Why do those who know Him never see His days?

    ² The wicked displace boundary markers.
    They steal a flock and provide pasture for [it].

    ³ They drive away the donkeys [owned] by the fatherless ^(B)
    and take the widow's ox as collateral.

    ⁴ They push the needy off the road;
    the poor of the land are forced into hiding. ^(C)

    ⁵ Like wild donkeys in the desert,
    the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
    the wilderness provides nourishment for their children.

    ⁶ They gather their fodder in the field
    and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

    ⁷ Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
    having no covering against the cold. ^(D)

    ⁸ Drenched by mountain rains,
    they huddle against ^[a] the rocks, shelterless.

    ⁹ The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
    the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral. ^[b]

    ¹⁰ Without clothing, they wander about naked.
    They carry sheaves but go hungry. ^(E)

    ¹¹ They crush olives in their presses; ^[c]
    they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.

    ¹² From the city, men ^[d] groan;
    the mortally wounded cry for help,
    yet God pays no attention to this crime. ^(F)

    ¹³ The wicked are those who rebel against the light.
    They do not recognize its ways
    or stay on its paths.

    ¹⁴ The murderer rises at dawn
    to kill the poor and needy,
    and by night he becomes a thief.

    ¹⁵ The adulterer's eye watches for twilight,
    thinking: No eye will see me,
    he covers [his] face.

    ¹⁶ In the dark they break ^[e] into houses;
    by day they lock themselves in, ^[f]
    never experiencing the light.

    ¹⁷ For the morning is like death's shadow to them.
    Surely they are familiar with the terrors of death's shadow!

    ¹⁸ They float ^[g] on the surface of the water.
    Their section of the land is cursed,
    so that they never go to [their] vineyards.

    ¹⁹ As dry ground and heat snatch away the melted snow,
    so Sheol ^(G) [steals] those who have sinned.

    ²⁰ The womb forgets them;
    worms feed on them;
    they are remembered ^(H) no more.
    So injustice is broken like a tree.

    ²¹ They prey on ^[h] the barren, childless woman
    and do not deal kindly with the widow.

    ²² Yet God drags away ^[i] the mighty by His power;
    when He rises up, they have no assurance of life.

    ²³ He gives them a sense of security, so they can rely [on it], ^(I)
    but His eyes ^(J) [watch] over their ways.

    ²⁴ They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone;
    they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else. ^[j]
    They wither like heads of grain. ^(K)

    ²⁵ If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar ^(L)
    and show that my speech is worthless?

Job 25

Bildad Speaks

 ¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

    ² Dominion and dread ^(M) belong to Him,
    the One who establishes harmony in the heavens. ^[k]

    ³ Can His troops be numbered?
    Does His light not shine on everyone?

    ⁴ How can a person be justified before God? ^(N)
    How can one born of woman be pure? ^(O)

    ⁵ If even the moon does not shine
    and the stars are not pure in His sight, ^(P)

    ⁶ how much less man, who is a maggot,
    and the son of man, who is a worm! ^(Q)

Job 26

Job's Reply to Bildad

 ¹ Then Job answered:

    ² How you have helped ^(R) the powerless
    and delivered the arm that is weak!

    ³ How you have counseled the unwise ^(S)
    and thoroughly explained [the path to] success!

    ⁴ Who did you speak these words to?
    Whose breath came out of your [mouth]?

    ⁵ The departed spirits tremble
    beneath the waters and [all] that inhabit them. ^(T)

    ⁶ Sheol ^(U) is naked before God,
    and Abaddon ^(V) has no covering. ^(W)

    ⁷ He stretches the northern [skies] over empty space;
    He hangs the earth on nothing.

    ⁸ He enfolds the waters in His clouds,
    yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight. ^(X)

    ⁹ He obscures the view of [His] throne,
    spreading His cloud over it.

    ¹⁰ He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters ^(Y)
    at the boundary between light and darkness.

    ¹¹ The pillars [that hold up] the sky tremble,
    astounded at His rebuke. ^(Z)

    ¹² By His power He stirred ^(AA) the sea,
    and by His understanding He crushed Rahab. ^(AB)

    ¹³ By His breath the heavens gained their beauty;
    His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. ^{(AC) [l]}

    ¹⁴ These are but the fringes of His ways;
    how faint is the word we hear of Him!
    Who can understand His mighty thunder?

Job 27

 ¹ Job continued his discourse, saying:

    ² As God lives, who has deprived me of justice, ^(AD)
    and the Almighty who has made me bitter, ^(AE)

    ³ as long as my breath is still in me
    and the breath from God remains in my nostrils, ^(AF)

    ⁴ my lips will not speak unjustly,
    and my tongue will not utter deceit.

    ⁵ I will never affirm that you are right.
    I will maintain my integrity ^{(AG) [m]} until I die.

    ⁶ I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
    My conscience ^(AH) will not accuse [me] as long as I live!

    ⁷ May my enemy be like the wicked
    and my opponent like the unjust.

    ⁸ For what hope does the godless man ^(AI) have when he is cut off,
    when God takes away his life? ^(AJ)

    ⁹ Will God hear his cry
    when distress comes on him?

    ¹⁰ Will he delight ^(AK) in the Almighty?
    Will he call on God at all times?

    ¹¹ I will teach you about God's power.
    I will not conceal what the Almighty has planned. ^[n]

    ¹² All of you have seen [this] for yourselves,
    why do you keep up this empty talk? ^(AL)

    ¹³ This is a wicked man's lot ^(AM) from God,
    the inheritance the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

    ¹⁴ Even if his children increase, they are destined for the sword;
    his descendants will never have enough food.

    ¹⁵ Those who survive him will be buried by the plague,
    yet their widows will not weep [for them]. ^(AN)

    ¹⁶ Though he piles up silver like dust
    and heaps up a wardrobe like clay—

    ¹⁷ he may heap [it] up, but the righteous will wear [it],
    and the innocent will divide up his silver. ^(AO)

    ¹⁸ The house he built is like a moth's [cocoon]
    or a booth set up by a watchman. ^(AP)

    ¹⁹ He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;
    when he opens his eyes, it is gone.

    ²⁰ Terrors overtake him like a flood; ^(AQ)
    a storm ^(AR) wind sweeps him away at night.

    ²¹ An east wind picks him up, and he is gone;
    it carries him away from his place.

    ²² It blasts at him without mercy,
    while he flees desperately from its grasp.

    ²³ It claps ^(AS) its hands at him
    and scorns him from its place.

   

Job 28

Job's Hymn to Wisdom

 ¹ Surely there is a mine for silver
    and a place where gold is refined.

    ² Iron is taken from the ground,
    and copper is smelted from ore.

    ³ A miner puts an end to the darkness;
    he probes ^[o] the deepest recesses
    for ore in the gloomy darkness.

    ⁴ He cuts a shaft far from human habitation,
    [in places] unknown to those who walk above ground. ^[p]
    Suspended far away from people,
    the miners swing back and forth.

    ⁵ Food may come from the earth,
    but below the surface the earth is transformed as by fire.

    ⁶ Its rocks are a source of sapphire, ^{(AT) [q]}
    containing flecks of gold.

    ⁷ No bird of prey knows that path;
    no falcon's eye has seen it.

    ⁸ Proud beasts have never walked on it;
    no lion has ever prowled over it.

    ⁹ The miner strikes the flint
    and transforms the mountains at [their] foundations.

    ¹⁰ He cuts out channels in the rocks,
    and his eyes spot every treasure.

    ¹¹ He dams up the streams from flowing ^[r]
    so that he may bring to light what is hidden.

    ¹² But where can wisdom ^(AU) be found,
    and where is understanding located?

    ¹³ No man can know its value, ^[s]
    since it cannot be found in the land of the living.

    ¹⁴ The ocean depths say, "It's not in me,"
    while the sea declares, "I don't have it." ^(AV)

    ¹⁵ Gold cannot be exchanged for it,
    and silver cannot be weighed out for its price.

    ¹⁶ Wisdom cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, ^(AW)
    in precious onyx or sapphire. ^{(AX) [t]}

    ¹⁷ Gold and glass do not compare with it,
    and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it. ^(AY)

    ¹⁸ Coral and quartz are not worth mentioning.
    The price of wisdom is beyond pearls.

    ¹⁹ Topaz from Cush cannot compare with it,
    and it cannot be valued in pure gold.

    ²⁰ Where then does wisdom come from,
    and where is understanding located?

    ²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing
    and concealed from the birds of the sky.

    ²² Abaddon and Death ^(AZ) say,
    "We have heard news of it with our ears."

    ²³ But God understands the way to wisdom,
    and He knows its location.

    ²⁴ For He looks to the ends of the earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.

    ²⁵ When God fixed the weight of the wind
    and limited the water by measure, ^(BA)

    ²⁶ when He established a limit ^[u] for the rain ^(BB)
    and a path for the lightning,

    ²⁷ He considered wisdom and evaluated it;
    He established it and examined it.

    ²⁸ He said to mankind,
    "Look! The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
    and to turn from evil is understanding." ^(BC)