241 "Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? 2 Men remove landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. 3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. 5 Behold, like wild asses in the desert they go forth to their toil, seeking prey in the wilderness as food for their children. 6 They gather their fodder in the field and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. 7 They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. 8 They are wet with the rain of the mountains, and cling to the rock for want of shelter. 9 (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and take in pledge the infant of the poor.) 10 They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; 11 among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the wine presses, but suffer thirst. 12 From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God pays no attention to their prayer.
13 "There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. 14 The murderer rises in the dark, that he may kill the poor and needy; and in the night he is as a thief. 15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he disguises his face. 16 In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. 17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
18 "You say, "They are swiftly carried away upon the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. 19 Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. 20 The squares of the town forget them; their name is no longer remembered; so wickedness is broken like a tree.' 21 "They feed on the barren childless woman, and do no good to the widow. 22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. 23 He gives them security, and they are supported; and his eyes are upon their ways. 24 They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they wither and fade like the mallow; they are cut off like the heads of grain. 25 If it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and show that there is nothing in what I say?"
251 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered: 2 "Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. 3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise? 4 How then can man be righteous before God? How can he who is born of woman be clean? 5 Behold, even the moon is not bright and the stars are not clean in his sight; 6 how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!"
261 Then Job answered: 2 "How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength! 3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 4 With whose help have you uttered words, and whose spirit has come forth from you?
5 The shades below tremble, the waters and their inhabitants. 6 Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. 7 He stretches out the north over the void, and hangs the earth upon nothing. 8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. 9 He covers the face of the moon, and spreads over it his cloud. 10 He has described a circle upon the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astounded at his rebuke. 12 By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he smote Rahab. 13 By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways; and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"
271 And Job again took up his discourse, and said: 2 "As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter; 3 as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; 4 my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. 5 Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. 6 I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
7 "Let my enemy be as the wicked, and let him that rises up against me be as the unrighteous. 8 For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life? 9 Will God hear his cry, when trouble comes upon him? 10 Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal. 12 Behold, all of you have seen it yourselves; why then have you become altogether vain? 13 "This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage which oppressors receive from the Almighty: 14 If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword; and his offspring have not enough to eat. 15 Those who survive him the pestilence buries, and their widows make no lamentation. 16 Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay; 17 he may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. 18 The house which he builds is like a spider's web, like a booth which a watchman makes. 19 He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. 20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off. 21 The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. 22 It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight. 23 It claps its hands at him, and hisses at him from its place.
281 "Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. 3 Men put an end to darkness, and search out to the farthest bound the ore in gloom and deep darkness. 4 They open shafts in a valley away from where men live; they are forgotten by travelers, they hang afar from men, they swing to and fro. 5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread; but underneath it is turned up as by fire. 6 Its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold. 7 "That path no bird of prey knows, and the falcon's eye has not seen it. 8 The proud beasts have not trodden it; the lion has not passed over it. 9 "Man puts his hand to the flinty rock, and overturns mountains by the roots. 10 He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. 11 He binds up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hid he brings forth to light. 12 "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? 13 Man does not know the way to it, and it is not 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 It cannot be gotten for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price. 16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. 17 Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal; the price of wisdom is above pearls. 19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 "Whence then comes wisdom? And where is the place of understanding? 21 It is hid from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. 22 Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' 23 "God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. 24 For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens. 25 When he gave to the wind its weight, and meted out the waters by measure; 26 when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; 27 then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. 28 And he said to man, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'"
