to Him cannot foresee His actions.a
2People remove boundary-stones;
They carry off flocks and pasture them;
3They lead away the donkeys of the fatherless,
And seize the widow’s bull as a pledge;
4They chase the needy off the roads;
All the poor of the land are forced into hiding.
5Like the wild asses of the wilderness,
They go about their tasks, seeking food;
The wilderness provides each with food for his lads;
6They harvest fodder in the field,
And glean the late grapes in the vineyards of the wicked.
7They pass the night naked for lack of clothing,
They have no covering against the cold;
8They are drenched by the mountain rains,
And huddle against the rock for lack of shelter.
9bThey snatch the fatherless infant from the breast,
And seize the child of the poor as a pledge.
10They go about naked for lack of clothing,
And, hungry, carry sheaves;
11Between rows [of olive trees] they make oil,
And, thirsty, they tread the winepresses.
12Men groan in the city;
The souls of the dying cry out;
Yet God does not regard it as a reproach.
13They are rebels against the light;
They are strangers to its ways,
And do not stay in its path.
14The murderer arises c-in the evening-c
To kill the poor and needy,
And at night he acts the thief.
15The eyes of the adulterer watch for twilight,
Thinking, “No one will glimpse me then.”
He masks his face.
16In the dark they break into houses;
By day they shut themselves in;
They do not know the light.
17For all of them morning is darkness;
It is then that they discern the terror of darkness.
18dMay they be flotsam on the face of the water;
May their portion in the land be cursed;
May none turn aside by way of their vineyards.
19May drought and heat snatch away their snow waters,
And Sheol, those who have sinned.
20May the womb forget him;
May he be sweet to the worms;
May he be no longer remembered;
May wrongdoers be broken like a tree.
21May he consort with a barren woman who bears no child,
Leave his widow deprived of good.
22Though he has the strength to seize bulls,
May he live with no assurance of survival.
23Yet [God] gives him the security on which he relies,
And keeps watch over his affairs.
24Exalted for a while, let them be gone;
Be brought low, and shrivel like mallows,
And wither like the heads of grain.
25Surely no one can confute me,
Or prove that I am wrong.
25 Bildad the Shuhite said in reply:
2Dominion and dread are His;
He imposes peace in His heights.
3Can His troops be numbered?
On whom does His light not shine?
4How can man be in the right before God?
How can one born of woman be cleared of guilt?
5Even the moon is not bright,
And the stars are not pure in His sight.
6How much less man, a worm,
The son-of-man, a maggot.
26 Then Job said in reply:
2You would help without having the strength;
You would deliver with arms that have no power.
3Without having the wisdom, you offer advice
And freely give your counsel.
4To whom have you addressed words?
Whose breath issued from you?
5The shades tremble
Beneath the waters and their denizens.
6Sheol is naked before Him;
Abaddon has no cover.
7He it is who stretched out Zaphona over chaos,
Who suspended earth over emptiness.
8He wrapped up the waters in His clouds;
Yet no cloud burst under their weight.
9b-He shuts off the view of His throne,
Spreading His cloud over it.-b
10He drew a boundary on the surface of the waters,
At the extreme where light and darkness meet.
11The pillars of heaven tremble,
Astounded at His blast.
12By His power He stilled the sea;
By His skill He struck down Rahab.
13By His wind the heavens were calmed;
His hand pierced the c-Elusive Serpent.-c
14These are but glimpses of His rule,
The mere whisper that we perceive of Him;
Who can absorb the thunder of His mighty deeds?
27 Job again took up his theme and said:
2By God who has deprived me of justice!
By Shaddai who has embittered my life!
3As long as there is life in me,
And God’s breath is in my nostrils,
4My lips will speak no wrong,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
5Far be it from me to say you are right;
Until I die I will maintain my integrity.
6I persist in my righteousness and will not yield;
a-I shall be free of reproach-a as long as I live.
7May my enemy be as the wicked;
My assailant, as the wrongdoer.
8For what hope has the impious man when he is cut down,
When God takes away his life?
9Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him,
10When he seeks the favor of Shaddai,
Calls upon God at all times?
11I will teach you what is in God’s power,
And what is with Shaddai I will not conceal.
12All of you have seen it,
So why talk nonsense?
13This is the evil man’s portion from God,
The lot that the ruthless receive from Shaddai:
14Should he have many sons—they are marked for the sword;
His descendants will never have their fill of bread;
15Those who survive him will be buried in a plague,
And their widows will not weep;
16Should he pile up silver like dust,
Lay up clothing like dirt—
17He may lay it up, but the righteous will wear it,
And the innocent will share the silver.
18The house he built is like a bird’s nest,
Like the booth a watchman makes.
19He lies down, a rich man, with [his wealth] intact;
When he opens his eyes it is gone.
20Terror overtakes him like a flood;
A storm wind makes off with him by night.
21The east wind carries him far away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him from his place.
22Then it hurls itself at him without mercy;
He tries to escape from its force.
23It claps its hands at him,
And whistles at him from its place.
28
There is a mine for silver,
And a place where gold is refined.
2Iron is taken out of the earth,
And copper smelted from rock.
3He sets bounds for darkness;
To every limit man probes,
To rocks in deepest darkness.
4a-They open up a shaft far from where men live,
[In places] forgotten by wayfarers,
Destitute of men, far removed.-a
5Earth, out of which food grows,
Is changed below as if into fire.
6Its rocks are a source of sapphires;
It contains gold dust too.
7No bird of prey knows the path to it;
The falcon’s eye has not gazed upon it.
8The proud beasts have not reached it;
The lion has not crossed it.
9Man sets his hand against the flinty rock
And overturns mountains by the roots.
10He carves out channels through rock;
His eyes behold every precious thing.
11He dams up the sources of the streams
So that hidden things may be brought to light.
12But where can wisdom be found;
Where is the source of understanding?
13No man can set a value on it;
It cannot be found in the land of the living.
14The deep says, “It is not in me”;
The sea says, “I do not have it.”
15It cannot be bartered for gold;
Silver cannot be paid out as its price.
16The finest gold of Ophir cannot be weighed against it,
Nor precious onyx, nor sapphire.
17Gold or glass cannot match its value,
Nor vessels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
18Coral and crystal cannot be mentioned with it;
A pouch of wisdom is better than rubies.
19Topaz from Nubia cannot match its value;
Pure gold cannot be weighed against it.
20But whence does wisdom come?
Where is the source of understanding?
21It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
Concealed from the fowl of heaven.
22Abaddon and Death say,
“We have only a report of it.”
23God understands the way to it;
He knows its source;
24For He sees to the ends of the earth,
Observes all that is beneath the heavens.
25When He fixed the weight of the winds,
Set the measure of the waters;
26When He made a rule for the rain
And a course for the thunderstorms,
27Then He saw it and gauged it;
He measured it and probed it.
28He said to man,
“See! Fear of the Lord is wisdom;
To shun evil is understanding.”
29 Job again took up his theme and said:
2O that I were as in months gone by,
In the days when God watched over me,
3When His lamp shone over my head,
When I walked in the dark by its light,
4When I was in my prime,
When God’s company graced my tent,
5When Shaddai was still with me,
When my lads surrounded me,
6When my feet were bathed in cream,
And rocks poured out streams of oil for me.
7When I passed through the city gates
To take my seat in the square,
8Young men saw me and hid,
Elders rose and stood;
9Nobles held back their words;
They clapped their hands to their mouths.
10The voices of princes were hushed;
Their tongues stuck to their palates.
11The ear that heard me acclaimed me;
The eye that saw, commended me.
12For I saved the poor man who cried out,
The orphan who had none to help him.
13I received the blessing of the lost;
I gladdened the heart of the widow.
14I clothed myself in righteousness and it robed me;
Justice was my cloak and turban.
15I was eyes to the blind
And feet to the lame.
16I was a father to the needy,
And I looked into the case of the stranger.
17I broke the jaws of the wrongdoer,
And I wrested prey from his teeth.
18I thought I would end my days with my family,a
And b-be as long-lived as the phoenix,-b
19My roots reaching water,
And dew lying on my branches;
20My vigor refreshed,
My bow ever new in my hand.
21Men would listen to me expectantly,
And wait for my counsel.
22After I spoke they had nothing to say;
My words were as drops [of dew] upon them.
23They waited for me as for rain,
For the late rain, their mouths open wide.
24When I smiled at them, they would not believe it;
They never expectedc a sign of my favor.
25I decided their course and presided over them;
I lived like a king among his troops,
Like one who consoles mourners.
30
But now those younger than I deride me,
[Men] whose fathers I would have disdained to put among my sheep dogs.
2Of what use to me is the strength of their hands?
All their vigora is gone.
3Wasted from want and starvation,
They flee to a parched land,
To the gloom of desolate wasteland.
4They pluck saltwort and wormwood;
The roots of broom are their food.
5Driven out a-from society,-a
They are cried at like a thief.
6They live in the gullies of wadis,
In holes in the