28
Job

Job's Extended Defense: God's Power and the Friends' Failings (part 2)

Job 28:8-29:23
8The sons of pride did not tread it, and the lion did not advance upon it. 9He sent his hand against the flint and overturned the mountains from their root. 10He cut channels through the rocks, and his eye saw every precious thing. 11He bound the rivers from weeping and brought the hidden thing forth as light. 12But wisdom—where is it found, and where is the place of understanding? 13No human knows its valuation, and it is not found in the land of the living. 14The abyss said, "It is not in me," and the sea said, "It is not with me." 15No enclosure is given beneath it, and silver is not weighed as its price. 16It cannot be weighed against the gold of Ophir, against precious onyx or sapphire. 17Gold and glass cannot be arranged for it, nor can a vessel of pure gold be its exchange. 18Coral and crystal are not remembered, and wisdom cannot be obtained for jewels. 19The topaz of Cush cannot be arranged for it, and it cannot be weighed in pure gold. 20But wisdom—where does it come from, and where is the place of understanding? 21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of heaven. 22Abaddon and death said in our hearing, "We have heard its report." 23God understands its way, and he knows its place. 24For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. 25He assigns weight to the wind and measures the waters by measure. 26When he made a statute for the rain and a way for the thunderbolt, 27then he saw it and declared it; he established it and also searched it out. 28And he said to man, "Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and turning aside from evil is understanding."
Chapter 29
1Then Job again took up his discourse and said: 2Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, 3when his lamp shone over my head and by his light I walked through darkness, 4as I was in the days of my autumn, when the counsel of God was over my tent, 5when the Almighty was still with me and my young men surrounded me, 6when I washed my steps in curds and the rock poured out streams of oil beside me, 7when I went out to the gate of the town and prepared my seat in the square, 8the young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rose and stood, 9the rulers restrained their words and laid their palm on their mouth, 10the voice of the leaders was hidden, and their tongue cleaved to their palate. 11For the ear that heard me called me blessed, and the eye that saw me testified for me, 12because I delivered the afflicted who cried for help, and the orphan who had no helper. 13The blessing of the one perishing came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 14I clothed myself with righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and turban. 15I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. 16I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of the stranger that I did not know. 17I broke the jaws of the unjust and made him drop the prey from his teeth. 18Then I said, "I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand." 19My root was open to the water, and the dew lodged on my foliage. 20My glory was fresh with me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. 21They listened to me and waited, and they kept silence for my counsel. 22After my word they did not repeat, and my speech dropped upon them. 23They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths for the spring rain.
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