Chapter 26
1Then Job answered: 2“How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble! 3How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight! 4To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you? 5The dead tremble— those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them. 6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. 7He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. 8He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight. 9He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud. 10He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. 11The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke. 12By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab. 13By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
Chapter 27
1Job continued his discourse: 2“As surely as God lives, who has deprived me of justice— the Almighty, who has embittered my soul— 3as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils, 4my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit. 5I will never say that you are right; I will maintain my integrity until I die. 6I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me. 7May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust. 8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? 9Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him? 10Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times? 11I will instruct you in the power of God. I will not conceal the ways of the Almighty. 12Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk? 13This is the wicked man’s portion from God— the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty. 14Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food. 15His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them. 16Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay, 17what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent. 18The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman. 19He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. 20Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest sweeps him away in the night. 21The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. 22It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. 23It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
Chapter 28
1“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined. 2Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. 3Man puts an end to the darkness; he probes the farthest recesses for ore in deepest darkness. 4Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways. 5Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire. 6Its rocks are the source of sapphires, containing flecks of gold. 7No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it. 8Proud beasts have never trodden it; no lion has ever prowled over it. 9The miner strikes the flint; he overturns mountains at their base. 10He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure. 11He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light. 12But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell? 13No man can know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. 14The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’ while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’ 15It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver. 16It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. 17Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it. 18Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies. 19Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it, nor can it be valued in pure gold. 20From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell? 21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air. 22Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’ 23But God understands its way, and He knows its place. 24For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. 25When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters, 26when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt, 27then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out. 28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”