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Job 29:1-31:40 — Job's Closing Argument

Job.29.1-31.40

¹And Job continued his proverbial discourse and said: ²“Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, ³when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, ⁴as I was in the days of my prime, when the intimate friendship of God was upon my tent, ⁵when the Almighty was still with me, and my children were around me, ⁶when my steps were washed in butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me! ⁷When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the public square, ⁸the young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rose and stood. ⁹Princes refrained from speaking, and laid their hand upon their mouth. ¹⁰The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. ¹¹For the ear that heard me called me blessed, and the eye that saw me bore witness for me, ¹²because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had no helper. ¹³The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. ¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. ¹⁵I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. ¹⁶I was a father to the needy, and I investigated the case of the one I did not know. ¹⁷I broke the fangs of the unjust, and snatched the prey from his teeth. ¹⁸Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days like the sand. ¹⁹My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest all night on my branches. ²⁰My glory will be fresh within me, and my bow will be renewed in my hand.’ ²¹Men listened to me and waited, and kept silent for my counsel. ²²After my words they did not speak again, and my speech dropped upon them. ²³They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths wide as for the spring rain. ²⁴I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and they did not cast down the light of my face. ²⁵I chose their way and sat as chief, and I dwelt like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

Chapter 30

¹“But now those who are younger than I mock me, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with the dogs of my flock. ²Indeed, of what use to me was the strength of their hands? Their vigor had perished. ³Gaunt from want and famine, they gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of ruin and desolation. ⁴They pluck saltwort among the bushes, and the roots of the broom tree are their food. ⁵They are driven out from the community; men shout at them as at a thief, ⁶so that they must dwell in the frightful wadis, in holes of the earth and of the rocks. ⁷Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they are huddled together. ⁸A senseless brood, indeed a nameless brood, they are driven out of the land with whips. ⁹And now I have become their mocking song; I have become a byword to them. ¹⁰They abhor me, they keep their distance from me, and they do not hesitate to spit in my face. ¹¹Because God has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint in my presence. ¹²On my right hand the rabble rises up; they thrust aside my feet, and they cast up against me their ways of destruction. ¹³They tear up my path, they promote my calamity, with no one to restrain them. ¹⁴As through a wide breach they come; amid the ruin they roll in. ¹⁵Terrors are turned upon me; my honor is chased away as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. ¹⁶And now my soul is poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. ¹⁷The night pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest. ¹⁸With great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about like the collar of my tunic. ¹⁹He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. ²⁰I cry to you for help, and you do not answer me; I stand up, and you merely gaze at me. ²¹You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me. ²²You lift me up to the wind, you cause me to ride upon it, and you dissolve me in the storm. ²³For I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all the living. ²⁴Yet does not one stretch out a hand in a heap of ruins? Or in his disaster, does he not cry for help? ²⁵Did I not weep for him whose days were hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? ²⁶But when I hoped for good, evil came; and when I waited for light, darkness came. ²⁷My inward parts are churning and cannot rest; days of affliction confront me. ²⁸I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. ²⁹I have become a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches. ³⁰My skin grows black and peels from me, and my bones burn with heat. ³¹My harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the voice of those who weep.

Chapter 31

¹“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze upon a virgin? ²For what is the portion of God from above, and the heritage of the Almighty from on high? ³Is it not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? ⁴Does he not see my ways, and count all my steps? ⁵If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit— ⁶let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my integrity! ⁷If my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, ⁸then let me sow, and let another eat, and let the produce of my field be uprooted. ⁹If my heart has been enticed by a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door, ¹⁰then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down over her. ¹¹For that would be a heinous crime; indeed, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges. ¹²For it is a fire that consumes to Abaddon, and it would root out all my increase. ¹³If I have rejected the cause of my male servant or my female servant, when they brought a complaint against me, ¹⁴what then shall I do when God rises up? When he calls to account, what shall I answer him? ¹⁵Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? ¹⁶If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, ¹⁷or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it— ¹⁸(for from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided her); ¹⁹if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or that the needy had no covering, ²⁰if his loins have not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, ²¹if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, ²²then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. ²³For calamity from God was a terror to me, and because of his majesty I could do nothing. ²⁴If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence, ²⁵if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had acquired much, ²⁶if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand has thrown a kiss from my mouth, ²⁸this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have denied God above. ²⁹If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him— ³⁰I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse— ³¹if the men of my tent have not said, 'Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?' ³²the sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler— ³³if I have covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, ³⁴because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silent, and did not go out of the door— ³⁵Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! ³⁶Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me as a crown. ³⁷I would declare to him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach him. ³⁸If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together, ³⁹if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners, ⁴⁰let thorns grow instead of wheat, and stinkweed instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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