Job 26-31
Young's Literal Translation
26 And Job answereth and saith: --
2 What -- thou hast helped the powerless, Saved an arm not strong!
3 What -- thou hast given counsel to the unwise, And wise plans in abundance made known.
4 With whom hast thou declared words? And whose breath came forth from thee?
5 The Rephaim are formed, Beneath the waters, also their inhabitants.
6 Naked [is] Sheol over-against Him, And there is no covering to destruction.
7 Stretching out the north over desolation, Hanging the earth upon nothing,
8 Binding up the waters in His thick clouds, And the cloud is not rent under them.
9 Taking hold of the face of the throne, Spreading over it His cloud.
10 A limit He hath placed on the waters, Unto the boundary of light with darkness.
11 Pillars of the heavens do tremble, And they wonder because of His rebuke.
12 By His power He hath quieted the sea, And by His understanding smitten the proud.
13 By His Spirit the heavens He beautified, Formed hath His hand the fleeing serpent.
14 Lo, these [are] the borders of His way, And how little a matter is heard of Him, And the thunder of His might Who doth understand?
27 And Job addeth to lift up his simile, and saith: --
2 God liveth! He turned aside my judgment, And the Mighty -- He made my soul bitter.
3 For all the while my breath [is] in me, And the spirit of God in my nostrils.
4 My lips do not speak perverseness, And my tongue doth not utter deceit.
5 Pollution to me -- if I justify you, Till I expire I turn not aside mine integrity from me.
6 On my righteousness I have laid hold, And I do not let it go, My heart doth not reproach me while I live.
7 As the wicked is my enemy, And my withstander as the perverse.
8 For what [is] the hope of the profane, When He doth cut off? When God doth cast off his soul?
9 His cry doth God hear, When distress cometh on him?
10 On the Mighty doth he delight himself? Call God at all times?
11 I shew you by the hand of God, That which [is] with the Mighty I hide not.
12 Lo, ye -- all of you -- have seen, And why [is] this -- ye are altogether vain?
13 This [is] the portion of wicked man with God, And the inheritance of terrible ones From the Mighty they receive.
14 If his sons multiply -- for them [is] a sword. And his offspring [are] not satisfied [with] bread.
15 His remnant in death are buried, And his widows do not weep.
16 If he heap up as dust silver, And as clay prepare clothing,
17 He prepareth -- and the righteous putteth [it] on, And the silver the innocent doth apportion.
18 He hath built as a moth his house, And as a booth a watchman hath made.
19 Rich he lieth down, and he is not gathered, His eyes he hath opened, and he is not.
20 Overtake him as waters do terrors, By night stolen him away hath a whirlwind.
21 Take him up doth an east wind, and he goeth, And it frighteneth him from his place,
22 And it casteth at him, and doth not spare, From its hand he diligently fleeth.
23 It clappeth at him its hands, And it hisseth at him from his place.
28 Surely there is for silver a source, And a place for the gold they refine;
2 Iron from the dust is taken, And [from] the firm stone brass.
3 An end hath he set to darkness, And to all perfection he is searching, A stone of darkness and death-shade.
4 A stream hath broken out from a sojourner, Those forgotten of the foot, They were low, from man they wandered.
5 The earth! from it cometh forth bread, And its under-part is turned like fire.
6 A place of the sapphire [are] its stones, And it hath dust of gold.
7 A path -- not known it hath a ravenous fowl, Nor scorched it hath an eye of the kite,
8 Nor trodden it have the sons of pride, Not passed over it hath the fierce lion.
9 Against the flint he sent forth his hand, He overturned from the root mountains.
10 Among rocks, brooks he hath cleaved, And every precious thing hath his eye seen.
11 From overflowing floods he hath bound, And the hidden thing bringeth out [to] light.
12 And the wisdom -- whence is it found? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
13 Man hath not known its arrangement, Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep hath said, `It [is] not in me,' And the sea hath said, `It is not with me.'
15 Gold is not given for it, Nor is silver weighed -- its price.
16 It is not valued with pure gold of Ophir, With precious onyx and sapphire,
17 Not equal it do gold and crystal, Nor [is] its exchange a vessel of fine gold.
18 Corals and pearl are not remembered, The acquisition of wisdom [is] above rubies.
19 Not equal it doth the topaz of Cush, With pure gold it is not valued.
20 And the wisdom -- whence doth it come? And where [is] this, the place of understanding?
21 It hath been hid from the eyes of all living. And from the fowl of the heavens It hath been hidden.
22 Destruction and death have said: `With our ears we have heard its fame.'
23 God hath understood its way, And He hath known its place.
24 For He to the ends of the earth doth look, Under the whole heavens He doth see,
25 To make for the wind a weight, And the waters He meted out in measure.
26 In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices,
27 Then He hath seen and declareth it, He hath prepared it, and also searched it out,
28 And He saith to man: -- `Lo, fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom, And to turn from evil [is] understanding.'
29 And Job addeth to lift up his simile, and saith: --
2 Who doth make me as [in] months past, As [in] the days of God's preserving me?
3 In His causing His lamp to shine on my head, By His light I walk [through] darkness.
4 As I have been in days of my maturity, And the counsel of God upon my tent.
5 When yet the Mighty One [is] with me. Round about me -- my young ones,
6 When washing my goings with butter, And the firm rock [is] with me rivulets of oil.
7 When I go out to the gate by the city, In a broad place I prepare my seat.
8 Seen me have youths, and they, been hidden, And the aged have risen -- they stood up.
9 Princes have kept in words, And a hand they place on their mouth.
10 The voice of leaders hath been hidden, And their tongue to the palate hath cleaved.
11 For the ear heard, and declareth me happy, And the eye hath seen, and testifieth [to] me.
12 For I deliver the afflicted who is crying, And the fatherless who hath no helper.
13 The blessing of the perishing cometh on me, And the heart of the widow I cause to sing.
14 Righteousness I have put on, and it clotheth me, As a robe and a diadem my justice.
15 Eyes I have been to the blind, And feet to the lame [am] I.
16 A father I [am] to the needy, And the cause I have not known I search out.
17 And I break the jaw-teeth of the perverse, And from his teeth I cast away prey.
18 And I say, `With my nest I expire, And as the sand I multiply days.'
19 My root is open unto the waters, And dew doth lodge on my branch.
20 My honour [is] fresh with me, And my bow in my hand is renewed.
21 To me they have hearkened, Yea, they wait, and are silent for my counsel.
22 After my word they change not, And on them doth my speech drop,
23 And they wait as [for] rain for me, And their mouth they have opened wide [As] for the latter rain.
24 I laugh unto them -- they give no credence, And the light of my face cause not to fall.
25 I choose their way, and sit head, And I dwell as a king in a troop, When mourners he doth comfort.
30 And now, laughed at me, Have the younger in days than I, Whose fathers I have loathed to set With the dogs of my flock.
2 Also -- the power of their hands, why [is it] to me? On them hath old age perished.
3 With want and with famine gloomy, Those fleeing to a dry place, Formerly a desolation and waste,
4 Those cropping mallows near a shrub, And broom-roots [is] their food.
5 From the midst they are cast out, (They shout against them as a thief),
6 In a frightful place of valleys to dwell, Holes of earth and clefts.
7 Among shrubs they do groan, Under nettles they are gathered together.
8 Sons of folly -- even sons without name, They have been smitten from the land.
9 And now, their song I have been, And I am to them for a byword.
10 They have abominated me, They have kept far from me, And from before me have not spared to spit.
11 Because His cord He loosed and afflicteth me, And the bridle from before me, They have cast away.
12 On the right hand doth a brood arise, My feet they have cast away, And they raise up against me, Their paths of calamity.
13 They have broken down my path, By my calamity they profit, `He hath no helper.'
14 As a wide breach they come, Under the desolation have rolled themselves.
15 He hath turned against me terrors, It pursueth as the wind mine abundance, And as a thick cloud, Hath my safety passed away.
16 And now, in me my soul poureth itself out, Seize me do days of affliction.
17 At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.
18 By the abundance of power, Is my clothing changed, As the mouth of my coat it doth gird me.
19 Casting me into mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto Thee, And Thou dost not answer me, I have stood, and Thou dost consider me.
21 Thou art turned to be fierce to me, With the strength of Thy hand, Thou oppresest me.
22 Thou dost lift me up, On the wind Thou dost cause me to ride, And Thou meltest -- Thou levellest me.
23 For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, And [to] the house appointed for all living.
24 Surely not against the heap Doth He send forth the hand, Though in its ruin they have safety.
25 Did not I weep for him whose day is hard? Grieved hath my soul for the needy.
26 When good I expected, then cometh evil, And I wait for light, and darkness cometh.
27 My bowels have boiled, and have not ceased, Gone before me have days of affliction.
28 Mourning I have gone without the sun, I have risen, in an assembly I cry.
29 A brother I have been to dragons, And a companion to daughters of the ostrich.
30 My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,
31 And my harp doth become mourning, And my organ the sound of weeping.
31 A covenant I made for mine eyes, And what -- do I attend to a virgin?
2 And what [is] the portion of God from above? And the inheritance of the Mighty from the heights?
3 Is not calamity to the perverse? And strangeness to workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not He see my ways, And all my steps number?
5 If I have walked with vanity, And my foot doth hasten to deceit,
6 He doth weigh me in righteous balances, And God doth know my integrity.
7 If my step doth turn aside from the way, And after mine eyes hath my heart gone, And to my hands cleaved hath blemish,
8 Let me sow -- and another eat, And my products let be rooted out.
9 If my heart hath been enticed by woman, And by the opening of my neighbour I laid wait,
10 Grind to another let my wife, And over her let others bend.
11 For it [is] a wicked thing, and a judicial iniquity;
12 For a fire it [is], to destruction it consumeth, And among all mine increase doth take root,
13 If I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
14 Then what do I do when God ariseth? And when He doth inspect, What do I answer Him?
15 Did not He that made me in the womb make him? Yea, prepare us in the womb doth One.
16 If I withhold from pleasure the poor, And the eyes of the widow do consume,
17 And I do eat my morsel by myself, And the orphan hath not eat of it,
18 (But from my youth He grew up with me as [with] a father, And from the belly of my mother I am led.)
19 If I see [any] perishing without clothing, And there is no covering to the needy,
20 If his loins have not blessed me, And from the fleece of my sheep He doth not warm himself,
21 If I have waved at the fatherless my hand, When I see in [him] the gate of my court,
22 My shoulder from its blade let fall, And mine arm from the bone be broken.
23 For a dread unto me [is] calamity [from] God, And because of His excellency I am not able.
24 If I have made gold my confidence, And to the pure gold have said, `My trust,'
25 If I rejoice because great [is] my wealth, And because abundance hath my hand found,
26 If I see the light when it shineth, And the precious moon walking,
27 And my heart is enticed in secret, And my hand doth kiss my mouth,
28 It also [is] a judicial iniquity, For I had lied to God above.
29 If I rejoice at the ruin of my hater, And stirred up myself when evil found him,
30 Yea, I have not suffered my mouth to sin, To ask with an oath his life.
31 If not -- say ye, O men of my tent, `O that we had of his flesh, we are not satisfied.'
32 In the street doth not lodge a stranger, My doors to the traveller I open.
33 If I have covered as Adam my transgressions, To hide in my bosom mine iniquity,
34 Because I fear a great multitude, And the contempt of families doth affright me, Then I am silent, I go not out of the opening.
35 Who giveth to me a hearing? lo, my mark. The Mighty One doth answer me, And a bill hath mine adversary written.
36 If not -- on my shoulder I take it up, I bind it a crown on myself.
37 The number of my steps I tell Him, As a leader I approach Him.
38 If against me my land doth cry out, And together its furrows weep,
39 If its strength I consumed without money, And the life of its possessors, I have caused to breathe out,
40 Instead of wheat let a thorn go forth, And instead of barley a useless weed! The words of Job are finished.
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