Jun 4 - Job 26-28
Job
1Then Job replied:2"How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!3What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!4Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?5"The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.6Death is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.7He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.8He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.9He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.10He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.11The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.12By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.13By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.14And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"
1And Job continued his discourse:2"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,3as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils,4my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will utter no deceit.5I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.6I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.7"May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust!8For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?9Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him?10Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?11"I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.12You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?13"Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:14However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat.15The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them.16Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,17what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.18The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon, like a hut made 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 snatches him away in the night.21The east wind carries him off, 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 in derision and hisses him out of his place.
1"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 searches the farthest recesses for ore in the blackest darkness.4Far from where people dwell he cuts a shaft, in places forgotten by the foot of man; far from men he dangles and sways.5The earth, from which food comes, is transformed below as by fire;6sapphires come from its rocks, and its dust contains nuggets of gold.7No bird of prey knows that hidden path, no falcon's eye has seen it.8Proud beasts do not set foot on it, and no lion prowls there.9Man's hand assaults the flinty rock and lays bare the roots of the mountains.10He tunnels through the rock; his eyes see all its treasures.11He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light.12"But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?13Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living.14The deep says, 'It is not in me'; the sea says, 'It is not with me.'15It cannot be bought with the finest gold, nor can its price be weighed in silver.16It cannot be bought with the gold of Ophir, with precious onyx or sapphires.17Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it, nor can it be had for jewels of gold.18Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.19The topaz of Cush cannot compare with it; it cannot be bought with pure gold.20"Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air.22Destruction and Death say, 'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'23God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells,24for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.25When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters,26when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm,27then he looked at wisdom and appraised it; he confirmed it and tested it.28And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'"