And

The clods of the valley are sweet to him; everyone follows behind him, and those before him are without number.

Is it for your reverence that He rebukes you and enters into judgment against you?

For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.

You gave no water to the weary and withheld food from the famished,

…while the land belonged to a mighty man, and a man of honor lived on it.

You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

Therefore snares surround you, and sudden peril terrifies you;

…it is so dark you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you.

They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.

The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:

‘Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire has consumed their excess.’

Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.

Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

…and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

…and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,

…then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.

Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

Your decisions will be carried out, and light will shine on your ways.

When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.

I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments.

I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say.

Then an upright man could reason with Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge.

If I go east, He is not there, and if I go west, I cannot find Him.

But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.

For He carries out His decree against me, and He has many such plans.

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

They push the needy off the road and force all the poor of the land into hiding.

They gather fodder in the fields and glean the vineyards of the wicked.

From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.

As drought and heat consume the melting snow, so Sheol steals those who have sinned.

They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.

They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.

They are exalted for a moment, then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.

If this is not so, then who can prove me a liar and reduce my words to nothing?”

“Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes harmony in the heights of heaven.

If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight,

…how much less man, who is but a maggot, and the son of man, who is but a worm!”

“How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble!

How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight!

To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?

The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them.

Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.

He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.

…as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

…my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will not utter deceit.

I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.

May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.

His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them.

Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

…what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

The east wind carries him away, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.

It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.

“Surely there is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined.

Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore.

Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft in places forgotten by the foot of man. Far from men he dangles and sways.

He hews out channels in the rocks, and his eyes spot every treasure.

But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.

From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?

It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing and concealed from the birds of the air.

Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor about it.’

But God understands its way, and He knows its place.

For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,

…when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,

…then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.

…then He looked at wisdom and appraised it; He established it and searched it out.

And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

And Job continued his discourse:

…when His lamp shone above my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness,

…when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,

…when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,

…the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

…the young men saw me and withdrew, and the old men rose to their feet.

The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.

The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.

For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,

…because I rescued the poor who cried out and the fatherless who had no helper.

The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; justice was my robe and my turban.

I served as eyes to the blind and as feet to the lame.

I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.

So I thought: ‘I will die in my nest and multiply my days as the sand.

My roots will spread out to the waters, and the dew will rest nightly on my branches.

My glory is ever new within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.’

They waited for me as for rain and drank in my words like spring showers.

I chose their course and presided as chief. So I dwelt as a king among his troops, as a comforter of the mourners.

Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.

They plucked mallow among the shrubs, and the roots of the broom tree were their food.

…so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

They cried out among the shrubs and huddled beneath the nettles.