Job 23-29
Christian Standard Bible
Job’s Reply to Eliphaz
23 Then Job answered:
2 Today also my complaint is bitter.[a](A)
His[b] hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 If only I knew how to find him,
so that I could go to his throne.
4 I would plead my case before him(B)
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn how[c] he would answer me;
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he prosecute(C) me forcefully?
No, he would certainly pay attention to me.
7 Then an upright man could reason(D) with him,
and I would escape from my Judge[d](E) forever.
8 If I go east, he is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.(F)
9 When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him;
when he turns south, I cannot find him.
10 Yet he knows the way I have taken;[e]
when he has tested me,(G) I will emerge as pure gold.
11 My feet have followed in his tracks;
I have kept to his way(H) and not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commands from his lips;
I have treasured[f] the words(I) from his mouth
more than my daily food.
13 But he is unchangeable; who can oppose him?
He does what he desires.(J)
14 He will certainly accomplish what he has decreed for me,
and he has many more things like these in mind.[g]
15 Therefore I am terrified(K) in his presence;
when I consider this, I am afraid of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;(L)
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I am not destroyed[h] by the darkness,(M)
by the thick darkness that covers my face.
24 Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment?(N)
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(O)
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.(P)
5 Like wild donkeys in the wilderness,
the poor go out to their task of foraging for food;
the desert 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.(Q)
8 Drenched by mountain rains,
they huddle against[i] the rocks, shelterless.
9 The fatherless infant is snatched from the breast;
the nursing child of the poor is seized as collateral.[j]
10 Without clothing, they wander about naked.
They carry sheaves but go hungry.(R)
11 They crush olives in their presses;[k]
they tread the winepresses, but go thirsty.
12 From the city, men[l] groan;
the mortally wounded cry for help,
yet God pays no attention to this crime.(S)
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,”
and he covers his face.
16 In the dark they break[m] into houses;
by day they lock themselves in,[n]
never experiencing the light.
17 For the morning is like darkness to them.
Surely they are familiar with the terrors of darkness!
18 They float[o] 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(T) steals those who have sinned.
20 The womb forgets them;
worms feed on them;
they are remembered(U) no more.
So injustice is broken like a tree.
21 They prey on[p] the childless woman who is unable to conceive,
and do not deal kindly with the widow.
22 Yet God drags away[q] 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,(V)
but his eyes(W) watch over their ways.
24 They are exalted for a moment, then gone;
they are brought low and shrivel up like everything else.[r]
They wither like heads of grain.(X)
25 If this is not true, then who can prove me a liar(Y)
and show that my speech is worthless?
Bildad Speaks
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 Dominion and dread(Z) belong to him,
the one who establishes harmony in his heights.
3 Can his troops be numbered?
Does his light not shine on everyone?
4 How can a human be justified before God?(AA)
How can one born of woman be pure?(AB)
5 If even the moon does not shine
and the stars are not pure in his sight,(AC)
6 how much less a human, who is a maggot,
a son of man,[s] who is a worm!(AD)
Job’s Reply to Bildad
26 Then Job answered:
2 How you have helped(AE) the powerless
and delivered the arm that is weak!
3 How you have counseled the unwise(AF)
and abundantly provided insight!
4 With whom did you speak these words?
Whose breath came out of your mouth?
5 The departed spirits tremble
beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.(AG)
6 Sheol(AH) is naked before God,
and Abaddon(AI) has no covering.(AJ)
7 He stretches the northern skies over empty space;
he hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He wraps up the water in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight.(AK)
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(AL)
at the boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars that hold up the sky tremble,
astounded at his rebuke.(AM)
12 By his power he stirred(AN) the sea,
and by his understanding he crushed Rahab.(AO)
13 By his breath the heavens gained their beauty;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.[t](AP)
14 These are but the fringes of his ways;
how faint is the word we hear of him!
Who can understand his mighty thunder?
27 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 As God lives, who has deprived me of justice,(AQ)
and the Almighty who has made me bitter,(AR)
3 as long as my breath is still in me
and the breath from God remains in my nostrils,(AS)
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[u](AT) until I die.
6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let it go.
My conscience(AU) 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 person(AV) have when he is cut off,
when God takes away his life?(AW)
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes on him?
10 Will he delight(AX) 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.[v]
12 All of you have seen this for yourselves,
why do you keep up this empty talk?(AY)
13 This is a wicked man’s lot(AZ) 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.(BA)
16 Though he piles up silver like dust
and heaps up fine clothing like clay—
17 he may heap it up, but the righteous will wear it,
and the innocent will divide up his silver.(BB)
18 The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon
or a shelter set up by a watchman.(BC)
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;(BD)
a storm(BE) 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 force.
23 It claps(BF) its hands at him
and scoffs at him from its place.
A Hymn to Wisdom
28 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[w] 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.
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 lapis lazuli,(BG)
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 uses a flint tool
and turns up ore from the root of the mountains.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eyes spot every treasure.
11 He dams up the streams from flowing[x]
so that he may bring to light what is hidden.
12 But where can wisdom(BH) be found,
and where is understanding located?
13 No one can know its value,[y]
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.”(BI)
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,(BJ)
in precious onyx or lapis lazuli.(BK)
17 Gold and glass do not compare with it,
and articles of fine gold cannot be exchanged for it.(BL)
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(BM) 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 distributed the water by measure,(BN)
26 when he established a limit[z] for the rain(BO)
and a path for the lightning,
27 he considered wisdom and evaluated it;
he established it and examined it.
28 He said to mankind,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom.
And to turn from evil is understanding.”(BP)
Job’s Final Claim of Innocence
29 Job continued his discourse, saying:
2 If only I could be as in months gone by,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when his lamp shone above my head,
and I walked through darkness by his light!(BQ)
4 I would be as I was in the days of my youth
when God’s friendship(BR) rested on my tent,
5 when the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 when my feet were bathed in curds
and the rock(BS) poured out streams of oil for me!
7 When I went out to the city gate(BT)
and took my seat in the town square,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew,
while older men stood to their feet.
9 City officials stopped talking
and covered their mouths with their hands.(BU)
10 The noblemen’s voices were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.(BV)
11 When they heard me, they blessed me,
and when they saw me, they spoke well of me.[aa]
12 For I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the fatherless child who had no one to support him.(BW)
13 The dying blessed me,
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice.
14 I clothed myself in righteousness,(BX)
and it enveloped me;
my just decisions were like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.(BY)
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I examined the case of the stranger.
17 I shattered the fangs of the unjust(BZ)
and snatched the prey from his teeth.
18 So I thought, “I will die in my own nest
and multiply my days as the sand.[ab]
19 My roots will have access to water,(CA)
and the dew will rest on my branches all night.
20 My whole being will be refreshed within me,
and my bow will be renewed in my hand.”(CB)
21 Men listened to me with expectation,
waiting silently for my advice.
22 After a word from me they did not speak again;
my speech settled on them like dew.(CC)
23 They waited for me as for the rain
and opened their mouths as for spring showers.
24 If I smiled at them, they couldn’t believe it;
they were thrilled at[ac] the light of my countenance.
25 I directed their course and presided as chief.
I lived as a king among his troops,
like one who comforts those who mourn.
Footnotes
- 23:2 Syr, Tg, Vg; MT reads rebellion
- 23:2 LXX, Syr; MT reads My
- 23:5 Lit the words
- 23:7 Or judgment
- 23:10 Lit way with me
- 23:12 LXX, Vg read treasured in my bosom
- 23:14 Lit these with him
- 23:17 Or silenced
- 24:8 Lit they embrace
- 24:9 Text emended; MT reads breast; they seize collateral against the poor
- 24:11 Lit olives between their rows
- 24:12 One Hb ms, Syr read the dying
- 24:16 Lit dig
- 24:16 Lit they seal for themselves
- 24:18 Lit are insignificant
- 24:21 LXX, Tg read They harm
- 24:22 Or God prolongs the life of
- 24:24 LXX reads like a mallow plant in the heat
- 25:6 Or a mere mortal
- 26:13 = Leviathan
- 27:5 Lit will not remove my integrity from me
- 27:11 Lit what is with the Almighty
- 28:3 Lit probes all
- 28:11 LXX, Vg read He explores the sources of the streams
- 28:13 LXX reads way
- 28:26 Or decree
- 29:11 Lit When an ear heard, it called me blessed, and when an eye saw, it testified for me
- 29:18 Or as the phoenix
- 29:24 Lit they did not cast down
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
