1 “Certainly there is a mine for silver
And a place for refining gold.
2 Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
3 Man puts an end to darkness,
And to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
4 He sinks a shaft away from inhabited areas,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing, away from people.
5 From the earth comes food,
And underneath, it is turned over like fire.
6 Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
7 No bird of prey knows the path,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
8 The proud animals have not trodden it,
Nor has the lion passed over it.
9 He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the base.
10 He carves out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
11 He dams up the streams from flowing,
And brings to light what is hidden.
12 “But where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Mankind does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
14 The ocean depth says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 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 Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of pure gold.
18 Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of wisdom is more valuable than pearls.
19 The topaz of Cush cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is this place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living creature,
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’
23 “God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
24 For He looks to the ends of the earth;
He sees everything under the heavens.
25 When He imparted weight to the wind,
And assessed the waters by measure,
26 When He made a limit for the rain,
And a course for the thunderbolt,
27 Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
28 And to mankind He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
1 Job again took up his discourse and said,
2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3 When His lamp shone over my head,
And by His light I walked through darkness;
4 Just as I was in the days of my youth,
When the protection of God was over my tent;
5 When the Almighty was still with me,
And my children were around me;
6 When my steps were bathed in cream,
And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!
7 When I went out to the gate of the city,
When I took my seat in the public square,
8 The young men saw me and hid themselves,
And the old men arose and stood.
9 The leaders stopped talking
And put their hands on their mouths;
10 The voices of the prominent people were hushed,
And their tongues stuck to their palates.
11 For when an ear heard, it called me blessed,
And when an eye saw, it testified in support of me,
12 Because I saved the poor who cried for help,
And the orphan who had no helper.
13 The blessing of the one who was about to perish came upon me,
And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
My justice was like a robe and a headband.
15 I was eyes to those who were blind,
And feet to those who could not walk.
16 I was a father to the poor,
And I investigated the case which I did not know.
17 I broke the jaws of the wicked
And rescued the prey from his teeth.
18 Then I thought, ‘I will die with my family,
And I will multiply my days as the sand.
19 My root is spread out to the waters,
And dew lies on my branch all night.
20 My glory is ever new with me,
And my bow is renewed in my hand.’
21 “To me they listened and waited,
And they kept silent for my advice.
22 After my words they did not speak again,
And my speech dropped on them.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
And opened their mouths as for the late rain.
24 I smiled at them when they did not believe,
And they did not look at my kindness ungraciously.
25 I chose a way for them and sat as chief,
And lived as a king among the troops,
As one who comforted the mourners.
1 “But now those who are younger than I mock me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me?
Vigor had perished from them.
3 From poverty and famine they are gaunt,
They who gnaw at the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
4 Who pluck saltweed by the bushes,
And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
5 They are driven from the community;
They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they live on the slopes of ravines,
In holes in the ground and among the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they cry out;
Under the weeds they are gathered together.
8 Worthless fellows, even those without a name,
They were cast out from the land.
9 “And now I have become their taunt,
And I have become a byword to them.
10 They loathe me and stand aloof from me,
And they do not refrain from spitting in my face.
11 Because He has undone my bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off the bridle before me.
12 On the right hand their mob arises;
They push aside my feet and pile up their ways of destruction against me.
13 They break up my path,
They promote my destruction;
No one restrains them.
14 As through a wide gap they come,
Amid the storm they roll on.
15 Sudden terrors are turned upon me;
They chase away my dignity like the wind,
And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
Days of misery have seized me.
17 At night it pierces my bones within me,
And my gnawing pains do not rest.
18 By a great force my garment is distorted;
It ties me up like the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You persecute me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and make me ride it;
And You dissolve me in a storm.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house of meeting for all living.
24 “Yet does one in a heap of ruins not reach out with his hand,
Or in his disaster does he not cry out for help?
25 Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard?
Was my soul not grieved for the needy?
26 When I expected good, evil came;
When I waited for light, darkness came.
27 I am seething within and cannot rest;
Days of misery confront me.
28 I go about mourning without comfort;
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29 I have become a brother to jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin turns black on me,
And my bones burn with fever.
31 Therefore my harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
12 Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but saying goodbye to them, I went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
BOOK 2
1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 I remember these things and pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go over with the multitude and walk them to the house of God,
With a voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude celebrating a festival.
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will again praise Him
For the help of His presence, my God.
6 My soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have passed over me.
8 The Lord will send His goodness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries taunt me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair, my soul?
And why are you restless within me?
Wait for God, for I will again praise Him
For the help of His presence, my God.
7 The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
