Study Desk

"Why does the Almighty not set times^(a) for judgment?^(b) Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(c)

There are those who move boundary stones;^(d) they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(e)

They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge.^(f)

They thrust the needy^(g) from the path and force all the poor^(h) of the land into hiding.⁽ⁱ⁾

Like wild donkeys^(j) in the desert, the poor go about their labor^(k) of foraging food; the wasteland^(l) provides food for their children.

They gather fodder^(m) in the fields and glean in the vineyards⁽ⁿ⁾ of the wicked.^(o)

Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(p)

They are drenched^(q) by mountain rains and hug^(r) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(s)

The fatherless^(t) child is snatched^(u) from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized^(v) for a debt.^(w)

Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(x) they carry the sheaves,^(y) but still go hungry.

They crush olives among the terraces^[a]; they tread the winepresses,^(z) yet suffer thirst.^(aa)

The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(ab) But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(ac)

"There are those who rebel against the light,^(ad) who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.^(ae)

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills^(af) the poor and needy,^(ag) and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(ah)

The eye of the adulterer^(ai) watches for dusk;^(aj) he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,'^(ak) and he keeps his face concealed.

In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(al) but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.^(am)

For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors^(an) of darkness.^(ao)

"Yet they are foam^(ap) on the surface of the water;^(aq) their portion of the land is cursed,^(ar) so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(as)

As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(at) so the grave^(au) snatches away those who have sinned.

The womb forgets them, the worm^(av) feasts on them;^(aw) the wicked are no longer remembered^(ax) but are broken like a tree.^(ay)

They prey on the barren and childless woman, and to the widow they show no kindness.^(az)

But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(ba) though they become established,^(bb) they have no assurance of life.^(bc)

He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(bd) but his eyes^(be) are on their ways.^(bf)

For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(bg) they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(bh) they are cut off like heads of grain.^(bi)

"If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?"^(bj)

Bildad

Then Bildad the Shuhite^(a) replied:

"Dominion and awe belong to God;^(b) he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(c)

Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise?^(d)

How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?^(e)

If even the moon^(f) is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(g)

how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being,^(h) who is only a worm!"⁽ⁱ⁾

Job

Then Job replied:

"How you have helped the powerless!^(a) How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(b)

What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight^(c) you have displayed!

Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(d)

"The dead are in deep anguish,^(e) those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

The realm of the dead^(f) is naked before God; Destruction^[a](g) lies uncovered.^(h)

He spreads out the northern skies⁽ⁱ⁾ over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.^(j)

He wraps up the waters^(k) in his clouds,^(l) yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds^(m) over it.

He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters⁽ⁿ⁾ for a boundary between light and darkness.^(o)

The pillars of the heavens quake,^(p) aghast at his rebuke.

By his power he churned up the sea;^(q) by his wisdom^(r) he cut Rahab^(s) to pieces.

By his breath the skies^(t) became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.^(u)

And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper^(v) we hear of him!^(w) Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"^(x)

Job's Final Word to His Friends

And Job continued his discourse:^(a)

"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,^(b) the Almighty,^(c) who has made my life bitter,^(d)

as long as I have life within me, the breath of God^(e) in my nostrils,

my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.^(f)

I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.^(g)

I will maintain my innocence^(h) and never let go of it; my conscience⁽ⁱ⁾ will not reproach me as long as I live.^(j)

"May my enemy be like the wicked,^(k) my adversary^(l) like the unjust!

For what hope have the godless^(m) when they are cut off, when God takes away their life?⁽ⁿ⁾

Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?^(o)

Will they find delight in the Almighty?^(p) Will they call on God at all times?

"I will teach you about the power of God; the ways^(q) of the Almighty I will not conceal.^(r)

You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?

"Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:^(s)

However many his children,^(t) their fate is the sword;^(u) his offspring will never have enough to eat.^(v)

The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.^(w)

Though he heaps up silver like dust^(x) and clothes like piles of clay,^(y)

what he lays up^(z) the righteous will wear,^(aa) and the innocent will divide his silver.^(ab)

The house^(ac) he builds is like a moth's cocoon,^(ad) like a hut^(ae) made by a watchman.

He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more;^(af) when he opens his eyes, all is gone.^(ag)

Terrors^(ah) overtake him like a flood;^(ai) a tempest snatches him away in the night.^(aj)

The east wind^(ak) carries him off, and he is gone;^(al) it sweeps him out of his place.^(am)

It hurls itself against him without mercy^(an) as he flees headlong^(ao) from its power.^(ap)

It claps its hands^(aq) in derision and hisses him out of his place."^(ar)

There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.^(a)

Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.^(b)

Mortals put an end to the darkness;^(c) they search out the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness.^(d)

Far from human dwellings they cut a shaft,^(e) in places untouched by human feet; far from other people they dangle and sway.

The earth, from which food comes,^(f) is transformed below as by fire;

lapis lazuli^(g) comes from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold.^(h)

No bird of prey knows that hidden path, no falcon's eye has seen it.⁽ⁱ⁾

Proud beasts^(j) do not set foot on it, and no lion prowls there.^(k)

People assault the flinty rock^(l) with their hands and lay bare the roots of the mountains.^(m)

They tunnel through the rock;⁽ⁿ⁾ their eyes see all its treasures.^(o)

They search^[a] the sources of the rivers^(p) and bring hidden things^(q) to light.

But where can wisdom be found?^(r) Where does understanding dwell?^(s)

No mortal comprehends its worth;^(t) it cannot be found in the land of the living.^(u)

The deep^(v) says, "It is not in me"; the sea^(w) says, "It is not with me."

It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.^(x)

It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir,^(y) with precious onyx or lapis lazuli.^(z)

Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,^(aa) nor can it be had for jewels of gold.^(ab)

Coral^(ac) and jasper^(ad) are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.^(ae)

The topaz^(af) of Cush^(ag) cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold.^(ah)

Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?^(ai)

It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds in the sky.^(aj)

Destruction^[b](ak) and Death^(al) say, "Only a rumor of it has reached our ears."

God understands the way to it and he alone^(am) knows where it dwells,^(an)

for he views the ends of the earth^(ao) and sees everything under the heavens.^(ap)

When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters,^(aq)

when he made a decree for the rain^(ar) and a path for the thunderstorm,^(as)

then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it.^(at)

And he said to the human race, "The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil^(au) is understanding."^(av)