Reading 27 – Job’s Final Speech Part II (Job 30:1-31:40)

Summary

The nobodies I helped now taunt me. (30:1-14)

Pach’ad Yitshaq[1] is now my terror. (30:15-31)

My fear of God made me lead a righteous life. (31:1-34)

If I have done wrong then may God curse me! (31:35-40)

Text

The nobodies I helped now taunt me. (30:1-14)

30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger than I,

whose fathers I disdained too much

to put with my sheep dogs.

30:2 Moreover, the strength of their hands –

what use was it to me?

Men whose strength had perished;

30:3 gaunt with want and hunger,

they would gnaw the parched land,[2]

in former time desolate and waste.

30:4 By the brush they would gather herbs from the salt marshes,

and the root of the broom tree was their food.

30:5 They were banished from the community –

people shouted at them

like they would shout at thieves –

30:6 so that they had to live

in the dry stream beds,

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

30:7 They brayed like animals among the bushes

and were huddled together under the nettles.

30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people,

they were driven out of the land with whips.

30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;

I have become a byword among them.

30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance;

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

30:11 Because God has untied my tent cord and afflicted me,

people throw off all restraint in my presence.

30:12 On my right the young rabble rise up;

they drive me from place to place,

and build up siege ramps against me.

30:13 They destroy my path;

they succeed in destroying me

without anyone assisting them.

30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;

amid the crash they come rolling in.

Pach’ad Yitshaq[3] is now my terror. (30:15-31)

30:15 Terrors are turned loose on me;

they drive away my honor like the wind,

and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me;

days of suffering take hold of me.

30:17 Night pierces my bones;

my gnawing pains never cease.

30:18 With great power God grasps my clothing;

he binds me like the collar of my tunic.

30:19 He has flung me into the mud,

and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

30:20 I cry out to you, but you do not answer me;

I stand up, and you only look at me.

30:21 You have become cruel to me;

with the strength of your hand you attack me.

30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it;

you toss me about in the storm.

30:23 I know that you are bringing me to death,

to the meeting place for all the living.

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man

when he cries for help in his distress.

30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate?

Was not my soul grieved for the poor?

30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

30:27 My heart is in turmoil unceasingly;

the days of my affliction confront me.

30:28 I go about blackened, but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

30:29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches.

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me;

my body is hot with fever.

30:31 My harp is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.

My fear of God made me lead a righteous life. (31:1-34)

31:1 “I made a covenant with my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin?

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty on high?

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

31:4 Does he not see my ways

and count all my steps?

31:5 If I have walked in falsehood,

and if my foot has hastened to deceit –

31:6 let him weigh me with honest scales;

then God will discover my integrity.

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes,

or if anything has defiled my hands,

31:8 then let me sow and let another eat,

and let my crops be uprooted.

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her.

31:11 For I would have committed a shameful act,

an iniquity to be judged.

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction,

and it would uproot all my harvest.

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants when they disputed with me,

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment;

when he intervenes,

how will I respond to him?

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired,

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans –

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan like a father,

and from my mother’s womb

I guided the widow!

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

31:20 whose heart did not bless me

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep,

31:21 if I have raised my hand to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court,

31:22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let my arm be broken off at the socket.

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me,

and by reason of his majesty I was powerless.

31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,

or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,

31:26 if I looked at the sun when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,

31:28 then this also would be iniquity to be judged,

for I would have been false to God above.

31:29 If I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy

or exulted because calamity found him –

31:30 I have not even permitted my mouth to sin

by asking for his life through a curse –

31:31 if the members of my household have never said,

‘If only there were someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s meat!’ –

31:32 But no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler –

31:33 if I have covered my transgressions as men do,

by hiding iniquity in my heart,

31:34 because I was terrified of the great multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – [4]

If I have done wrong then may God curse me! (31:35-40)

31:35 “If only I had someone to hear me!

Here is my signature –

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment

that my accuser had written.

31:36 Surely I would wear it proudly on my shoulder,

I would bind it on me like a crown;

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

31:38 “If my land cried out against me

and all its furrows wept together,

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying,

or caused the death of its owners,

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!”

The words of Job are ended.

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[1] Isaac’s Terror or Dread; a name for God found at Genesis 31:42, 53

[2] Sudanese refugees fleeing Darfur (April 2004)

[3] Isaac’s Terror or Dread; a name for God found at Genesis 31:42, 53

[4] Picture of a small boy captured during the April-May 1943 Warsaw Revolt

Reading 26 – Job’s Final Speech Part I (Job 26:1-29:25)

Summary

Job gets sarcastic. (26:1-4)

Even the outer fringes of God’s power amaze me. (26:5-14)

I still refuse give up righteousness! (27:1-6)

May God go after the truly wicked! (27:7-23)

Wisdom is the ultimate treasure. (28:1-19)

God is the only source of wisdom. (28:20-28)

If only I could recover God’s blessing. (29:1-10)

I did my best to be a tzaddik. (29:11-20)

I had a good reputation. (29:21-25)

Text

Job gets sarcastic. (26:1-4)

26:1 Then Job replied:

26:2 “How you have helped the powerless!

How you have saved the person who has no strength!

26:3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,

and abundantly revealed your insight!

26:4 To whom did you utter these words?

And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth?

Even the outer fringes of God’s power amaze me. (26:5-14)

26:5 “The dead tremble –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them.

26:6 The underworld is naked before God;[1]

the place of destruction lies uncovered.

 26:7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;

he suspends the earth on nothing.

26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,

and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

26:9 He conceals the face of the full moon,

shrouding it with his clouds.

26:10 He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters

as a boundary between light and darkness.

26:11 The pillars of the heavens tremble

and are amazed at his rebuke.

26:12 By his power he stills the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.

26:13 By his breath the skies became fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways!

How faint is the whisper we hear of him!

But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

I still refuse give up righteousness! (27:1-6)

27:1 And Job took up his discourse again:

27:2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,

the Almighty, who has made my life bitter –

27:3 for while my spirit is still in me,

and the breath from God is in my nostrils,

27:4 my lips will not speak wickedness,

and my tongue will whisper no deceit.

27:5 I will never declare that you three are in the right;

until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience will not reproach me

for as long as I live.

May God go after the truly wicked! (27:7-23)

27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked,

my adversary like the unrighteous.

27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off,

when God takes away his life?

27:9 Does God listen to his cry

when distress overtakes him?

27:10 Will he find delight in the Almighty?

Will he call out to God at all times?

27:11 I will teach you about the power of God;

What is on the Almighty’s mind I will not conceal.

27:12 If you yourselves have all seen this,

Why in the world do you continue this meaningless talk?

27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man allotted by God,[2]

the inheritance that evildoers receive from the Almighty.

27:14 If his children increase – it is for the sword!

His offspring never have enough to eat.

27:15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague,

and their widows do not mourn for them.

27:16 If he piles up silver like dust

and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,

27:17 what he stores up a righteous man will wear,

and an innocent man will inherit his silver.

27:18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon,

like a hut that a watchman has made.

27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more.

When he opens his eyes, it is all gone.

27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood;

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;

it sweeps him out of his place.

27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity

as he flees headlong from its power.

27:23 It claps its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place.

Wisdom is the ultimate treasure. (28:1-19)

28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,[3]

and a place where gold is refined.

28:2 Iron is taken from the ground,

and rock is poured out as copper.

28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness;

he searches the farthest recesses

for the ore in the deepest darkness.

28:4 Far from where people live he sinks a shaft,

in places travelers have long forgotten,

far from other people he dangles and sways.

28:5 The earth, from which food comes,

is overturned below as though by fire;

28:6 a place whose stones are sapphires

and which contains dust of gold;

28:7 a hidden path no bird of prey knows –

no falcon’s eye has spotted it.

28:8 Proud beasts have not set foot on it,

and no lion has passed along it.

28:9 On the flinty rock man has set to work with his hand;

he has overturned mountains at their bases.

28:10 He has cut out channels through the rocks;

his eyes have spotted every precious thing.

28:11 He has searched the sources of the rivers

and what was hidden he has brought into the light.

28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?

Where is the place of understanding?

28:13 Mankind does not know its place;

it cannot be found in the land of the living.

28:14 The deep says, ‘It is not with me.’

And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’

28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase with the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx or sapphires.

28:17 Neither gold nor crystal can be compared with it,

nor can a vase of gold match its worth.

28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;

the price of wisdom is more than pearls.

28:19 The topaz of Cush cannot be compared with it;

it cannot be purchased with pure gold.

God is the only source of wisdom. (28:20-28)

28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from?

Where is the place of understanding?

28:21 For it has been hidden

from the eyes of every living creature,

and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.

28:22 Destruction and Death say,

‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’

28:23 God understands the way to it,

and he alone knows its place.

28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth

and observes everything under the heavens.

28:25 When he made the force of the wind

and measured the waters with a gauge.

28:26 When he imposed a limit for the rain,

and a path for the thunderstorm,

28:27 then he looked at wisdom and assessed its value;

he established it and examined it closely.

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

If only I could recover God’s blessing. (29:1-10)

29:1 Then Job continued his speech:

29:2 “O that I could be as I was

in the months now gone,

in the days when God watched over me,

29:3 when he caused his lamp

to shine upon my head,

and by his light I walked through darkness;

29:4 just as I was in my most productive time,

when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,

29:5 when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me;

29:6 when my steps were bathed with butter

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!

29:7 When I went out to the city gate

and secured my seat in the public square,

29:8 the young men would see me and step aside,

and the old men would get up and remain standing;

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

I did my best to be a tzaddik. (29:11-20)[4]

29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me,

and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who had no one to assist him;

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me,

my just dealing was like a robe and a turban;

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

29:16 I was a father to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

29:17 I broke the fangs of the wicked,

and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,

my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

29:19 My roots reach the water,

and the dew lies on my branches all night long.

29:20 My glory will always be fresh in me,

and my bow ever new in my hand.’

I had a good reputation. (29:21-25)

29:21 “People listened to me and waited silently;

they kept silent for my advice.

29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;

my words fell on them drop by drop.

29:23 They waited for me as people wait for the rain,

and they opened their mouths

as for the spring rains.

29:24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;

and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.

29:25 I chose the way for them

and sat as their chief;

I lived like a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.

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[1] Aeneas and the Sibyl in the Underworld; 1598; Oil on coppery by Jan Brueghel The Elder

[2] The Triumph of Death (the Black Plague); by Pieter Brueghel the Elder; 1525–1569

[3] Image from www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/ancient.gif

[4] Praying Tzaddik; source unknown

Reading 25 – The Controversy Peaks

Summary

Eliphaz openly accuses Job (Job 22:1-30)

You are useless to God (22:1-3)

There is no end to your sin (22:4-11)

You have belittled God (22:12-17)

I rejoice to see your rightful destruction (22:18-20)

Get right with God (22:21-30)

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz (23:1-24:25)

If only I could get to God (23:1-7)

I don’t know where He is right now (23:8-9)

I will remain faithful nevertheless (23:10-13)

His unchangeableness is what terrifies me (23:13-17)

I don’t understand His timetable (24:1-17)

Your argument that God destroys the wicked doesn’t ring true (24:18-25)

Bildad briefly declares, “You’re a maggot compared to God!” (Job 25:1-6)

Text

Eliphaz openly accuses Job (Job 22:1-30)

You are useless to God (22:1-3)

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?

Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable?

22:3 Is it of any special benefit to the Almighty

that you should be righteous,

or is it any gain to him

that you make your ways blameless?

There is no end to your sin (22:4-11)

22:4 Is it because of your piety that he rebukes you

and goes to judgment with you?

22:5 Is not your wickedness great

and is there no end to your iniquity?

22:6 “For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason,

and you stripped the clothing from the naked.

22:7 You gave the weary no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

22:8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land,

an honored man living on it,

22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms of the orphans you crushed.[1]

22:10 That is why snares surround you,

and why sudden fear terrifies you,

22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see,

and why a flood of water covers you.

You have belittled God (22:12-17)

22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven?

And see the lofty stars, how high they are!

22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness?

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us,

as he goes back and forth

in the vault of heaven.’

22:15 Will you keep to the old path

that evil men have walked –

22:16 men who were carried off before their time,

when the flood was poured out[2]

on their foundations?

22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’

I rejoice to see your rightful destruction (22:18-20)

22:18 But it was he who filled their houses

with good things –

yet the counsel of the wicked

was far from me.

22:19 The righteous see their destruction and rejoice;

the innocent mock them scornfully, saying,

22:20 ‘Surely our enemies are destroyed,

and fire consumes their wealth.’

Get right with God (22:21-30)

22:21 “Reconcile yourself with God,

and be at peace with him;

in this way your prosperity will be good.

22:22 Accept instruction from his mouth

and store up his words in your heart.

22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;

if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

22:24 and throw your gold in the dust –

your gold of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines –

22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold,

and the choicest silver for you.

22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself in the Almighty,

and will lift up your face toward God.

22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows to him.

22:28 Whatever you decide on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

22:29 When people are brought low and you say ‘Lift them up!’

then he will save the downcast;

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,

who will escape through the cleanness of your hands.”

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz (23:1-24:25)

If only I could get to God (23:1-7)

23:1 Then Job answered:

23:2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter;

his hand is heavy despite my groaning.

23:3 O that I knew where I might find him,

that I could come to his place of residence!

23:4 I would lay out my case before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

23:5 I would know with what words he would answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

23:6 Would he contend with me with great power?

No, he would only pay attention to me.

23:7 There an upright person

could present his case before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

I don’t know where He is right now (23:8-9)

23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,

and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

23:9 In the north when he is at work,

I do not see him;

when he turns to the south,

I see no trace of him.

I will remain faithful nevertheless (23:10-13)

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take;[3]

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.

23:11 My feet have followed his steps closely;

I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.

23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.

His unchangeableness is what terrifies me (23:13-17)

23:13 But he is unchangeable, and who can change him?

Whatever he has desired, he does.

23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me,

and many such things are his plans.

23:15 That is why I am terrified in his presence;

when I consider, I am afraid because of him.

23:16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me.

23:17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,

because of the thick darkness

that covered my face.

I don’t understand His timetable (24:1-17)

24:1 “Why are times not appointed by the Almighty?

Why do those who know him not see his days?

24:2 Men move boundary stones;

they seize the flock and pasture them.

24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;

they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

24:4 They turn the needy from the pathway,

and the poor of the land hide themselves together.

24:5 Like wild donkeys in the desert

they go out to their labor,

seeking diligently for food;

the wasteland provides food for them

and for their children.

24:6 They reap fodder in the field,[4]

and glean in the vineyard of the wicked.

24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;

they have no covering against the cold.

24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains

and huddle in the rocks because they lack shelter.

24:9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast,

the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge.

24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,

and go hungry while they carry the sheaves.

24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees;

they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty.

24:12 From the city the dying groan,

and the wounded cry out for help,

but God charges no one with wrongdoing.

24:13 There are those who rebel against the light;

they do not know its ways

and they do not stay on its paths.

24:14 Before daybreak the murderer rises up;

he kills the poor and the needy;

in the night he is like a thief.

24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,

thinking, ‘No eye can see me,’

and covers his face with a mask.

24:16 In the dark the robber breaks into houses,

but by day they shut themselves in;

they do not know the light.

24:17 For all of them, the morning is to them

like deep darkness;

they are friends with the terrors of darkness.

Your argument that God destroys the wicked doesn’t ring true (24:18-25)

24:18 “You say, ‘He is foam on the face of the waters;

their portion of the land is cursed

so that no one goes to their vineyard.

24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away

the melted snow;

so the grave takes away those who have sinned.

24:20 The womb forgets him,

the worm feasts on him,

no longer will he be remembered.

Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.

24:21 He preys on the barren and childless woman,

and does not treat the widow well.

24:22 But God drags off the mighty by his power;

when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.

24:23 God may let them rest in a feeling of security,

but he is constantly watching all their ways.

24:24 They are exalted for a little while,

and then they are gone,

they are brought low like all others,

and gathered in,

and like a head of grain they are cut off.’

24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar

and reduce my words to nothing?”

Bildad briefly declares, “You’re a maggot compared to God!” (Job 25:1-6)[5]

Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:

25:2 “Dominion and awesome might belong to God;

he establishes peace in his heights.

25:3 Can his armies be numbered?

On whom does his light not rise?

25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?

How can one born of a woman be pure?

25:5 If even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned,

25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot –

a son of man, who is only a worm!”

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[1] Orphans begging for food at a Nazi death camp in Poland. Image from www.deathcamps.org

[2] Engraving of the results of the Great Flood by Gustave Doré

[3] The Way Back; Image from http://kingmagic.files.wordpress.com

[4] A woman carefully sweeping up each grain she dropped on the road. Photo taken in 1943 by William Vandivert; courtesy of Life magazine.

[5] Moon and Stars; by T.A. Rector, I.P. Dell’Antonio; NOAO/AURA/NSF; NOAH gives open permission for educational use.