Job 27-28
New American Standard Bible 1995
Job Affirms His Righteousness
27 Then Job [a]continued his (A)discourse and said,
2 “As God lives, (B)who has taken away my right,
And the Almighty, (C)who has embittered my soul,
3 For as long as [b]life is in me,
And the [c](D)breath of God is in my nostrils,
4 My lips certainly will not speak unjustly,
Nor will (E)my tongue mutter deceit.
5 “Far be it from me that I should declare you right;
Till I die (F)I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 “I (G)hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go.
My heart does not reproach any of my days.
The State of the Godless
7 “May my enemy be as the wicked
And [d]my opponent as the unjust.
8 “For what is (H)the hope of the godless [e]when he is cut off,
When God requires (I)his [f]life?
9 “Will God (J)hear his cry
When (K)distress comes upon him?
10 “Will he take (L)delight in the Almighty?
Will he call on God at all times?
11 “I will instruct you in the [g]power of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12 “Behold, all of you have seen it;
Why then do you [h]act foolishly?
13 “This is (M)the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the inheritance which (N)tyrants receive from the Almighty.
14 “Though his sons are many, [i]they are destined (O)for the sword;
And his (P)descendants will not be satisfied with bread.
15 “His survivors will be buried because of the plague,
And [j]their (Q)widows will not be able to weep.
16 “Though he piles up silver like dust
And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay,
17 He may prepare it, (R)but the just will wear it
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18 “He has built his (S)house like the [k]spider’s web,
Or as a hut which the watchman has made.
19 “He lies down rich, but never [l]again;
He opens his eyes, and (T)it is no longer.
20 “(U)Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away (V)in the night.
21 “The east (W)wind carries him away, and he is gone,
For it whirls him (X)away from his place.
22 “For it will hurl at him (Y)without sparing;
He will surely try to (Z)flee from its [m]power.
23 “Men will clap their hands at him
And will (AA)hiss him from his place.
Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures
28 “Surely there is a [n]mine for silver
And a place [o]where they refine gold.
2 “Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3 “Man puts an end to darkness,
And (AB)to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4 “He [p]sinks a shaft far from [q]habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
5 “The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
6 “Its rocks are the [r]source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7 “The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
8 “The [s]proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
9 “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the [t]base.
10 “He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11 “He dams up the streams from [u]flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.
The Search for Wisdom Is Harder
12 “But (AC)where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 “(AD)Man does not know its value,
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 “(AE)Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
16 “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
17 “(AF)Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
18 “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of (AG)wisdom is above that of pearls.
19 “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in (AH)pure gold.
20 “(AI)Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 “[v](AJ)Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23 “(AK)God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 “For He (AL)looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
25 “When He imparted (AM)weight to the wind
And (AN)meted out the waters by measure,
26 When He set a (AO)limit for the rain
And a course for the (AP)thunderbolt,
27 Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the (AQ)fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”
Footnotes
- Job 27:1 Or again took up
- Job 27:3 Lit breath
- Job 27:3 Or spirit
- Job 27:7 Lit he who rises up against me
- Job 27:8 Or though he gains
- Job 27:8 Lit soul
- Job 27:11 Lit hand
- Job 27:12 Or speak vanity
- Job 27:14 Lit the sword is for them
- Job 27:15 So ancient versions; Heb his
- Job 27:18 So ancient versions; Heb moth
- Job 27:19 So ancient versions; Heb will be gathered
- Job 27:22 Lit hand
- Job 28:1 Or source
- Job 28:1 Lit for gold they refine
- Job 28:4 Lit breaks open
- Job 28:4 Lit sojourning
- Job 28:6 Or place
- Job 28:8 Lit sons of pride
- Job 28:9 Lit roots
- Job 28:11 Lit weeping
- Job 28:22 I.e. Destruction
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
