NAS - Job Chapter 28 to 29

28 Job Tells of Earth's Treasures

¹"Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine 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 far from habitation, Forgotten by the foot; They hang and swing to and fro far from men. ⁵ "The earth, from it comes food, And underneath it is turned up as fire. ⁶ "Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold. ⁷ "The path no bird of prey knows, Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it. ⁸ "The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. ⁹ "He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the base. ¹⁰ "He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees anything precious. ¹¹ "He dams up the streams from flowing, And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

¹²"But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? ¹³ "Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. ¹⁴ "The deep 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 fine gold. ¹⁸ "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. ¹⁹ "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. ²⁰ "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? ²¹ "Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living 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 And sees everything under the heavens. ²⁵"When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, ²⁶When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, ²⁷Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. ²⁸ "And to man He said, `Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

29 Job's Past Was Glorious

¹And 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; ³When His lamp shone over my head, And by His light I walked through darkness; ⁴As I was in the prime of my days, When the friendship of God was over my tent; ⁵ When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me; ⁶ When my steps were bathed in butter, And the rock poured out for me streams of oil! ⁷ "When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the square, ⁸ The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood. ⁹ "The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths; ¹⁰ The voice of the nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to their palate. ¹¹ "For when the ear heard, it called me blessed, And when the eye saw, it gave witness of me, ¹² Because I delivered the poor who cried for help, And the orphan who had no helper. ¹³ "The blessing of the one ready 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 turban. ¹⁵ "I was eyes to the blind And feet to the lame. ¹⁶"I was a father to the needy, And I investigated the case which I did not know. ¹⁷"I broke the jaws of the wicked And snatched the prey from his teeth. ¹⁸"Then I thought, `I shall die in my nest, And I shall multiply my days as the sand. ¹⁹ `My root is spread out to the waters, And dew lies all night on my branch. ²⁰ `My glory is ever new with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.'

²¹"To me they listened and waited, And kept silent for my counsel. 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 mouth as for the spring rain. ²⁴ "I smiled on them when they did not believe, And the light of my face they did not cast down. ²⁵ "I chose a way for them and sat as chief, And dwelt as a king among the troops, As one who comforted the mourners.