Book of Job, Chapter 28
Job 28 NWT - New World TranslationChapter 28 of Job—New World Translation (NWT)
- ¶ “Indeed, for silver there exists a place to find it
And a place for gold that they refine;1 - ¶ Iron itself is taken from the very dust2
And [from] stone copper is being poured out. - ¶ An end to the darkness he has set;
And to every limit he is searching out3
Stone in the gloom and deep shadow. - ¶ He has sunk a shaft far from where [people] reside as aliens,4
Places forgotten far from the foot;
Some of mortal men[a] have swung down, they have dangled. - ¶ As for the earth, out of it food goes forth;5
But underneath it, it has been upturned as if by fire. - ¶ Its stones are the place of the sapphire,6
And it has gold dust. - ¶ A pathway—no bird of prey7 has known it,
Nor has the eye of a black kite caught sight of it.8 - ¶ The majestic wild beasts[b] have not trodden it down solid;
The young lion has not paced over it. - ¶ Upon the flint he has thrust out his hand;
He has overthrown mountains from [their] root; - ¶ Into the rocks he has channeled water-filled galleries,9
And all precious things his eye has seen. - ¶ The places from which rivers trickled he has dammed up,10
And the concealed thing he brings forth to the light. - ¶ But wisdom—where can it be found,11
And where, now, is the place of understanding? - ¶ Mortal man has not come to know its valuation,[c]12
And it is not found in the land of those living. - ¶ The watery deep[d] itself has said,
‘It is not in me!’
The sea too has said, ‘It is not with me!’13 - ¶ Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,14
And silver cannot be weighed out as its price. - ¶ It cannot be paid for with gold[e] of Oʹphir,15
With the rare onyx stone and the sapphire. - ¶ Gold[f] and glass cannot be compared to it,
Nor is any vessel of refined gold an exchange for it. - ¶ Coral16 and rock crystal themselves will not be mentioned,
But a bagful of wisdom is worth more than [one full of] pearls.17 - ¶ The topaz18 of Cush[g] cannot be compared to it;
It cannot be paid for even with gold in its purity. - ¶ But wisdom itself—from where does it come,19
And where, now, is the place of understanding? - ¶ It has been hidden even from the eyes of everyone alive,20
And from the flying creatures of the heavens it has been concealed. - ¶ Destruction[h] and death themselves have said,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’ - ¶ God[i] is the One who has understood its way,21
And he himself has known its place, - ¶ For he himself looks to the very ends of the earth;22
Under the whole heavens[j] he sees, - ¶ To make a weight for the wind,[k]23
While he has proportioned the waters themselves by a measure;24 - ¶ When he made for the rain a regulation,25
And a way for the thunderous storm cloud, - ¶ Then it was that he saw [wisdom][l] and proceeded to tell about it;
He prepared it and also searched it through. - ¶ And he went on to say to man,[m]
‘Look! The fear of Jehovah[n]—that is wisdom,26
And to turn away from bad is understanding.’”27
FOOTNOTES
- ^ “Some of mortal men.” Heb., me·ʼenohshʹ.
- ^ Lit., “The sons of pride (dignity).”
- ^ “Valuation,” MSyVg; LXX, “way.”
- ^ Or, “surging waters.” Heb., tehohmʹ, as in Ge 1:2; Gr., aʹbys·sos; Lat., a·bysʹsus.
- ^ “With gold.” Heb., bekheʹthem, an Egyptian loanword.
- ^ “Gold.” Heb., za·havʹ.
- ^ “Cush,” M(Heb., Kush)Sy; LXXVg, “Ethiopia.”
- ^ “Destruction.” Heb., ʼavad·dohnʹ. See 26:6 ftn.
- ^ “God.” Heb., ʼElo·himʹ.
- ^ “Under the whole heavens,” MSy; LXXVg, “everything under the heavens.”
- ^ “For the wind.” Heb., la·ruʹach; Gr., a·neʹmon; Lat., venʹtis.
- ^ Lit., “it,” fem., referring to wisdom.
- ^ Or, “to earthling man.” Heb., la·ʼa·dhamʹ.
- ^ One of 134 scribal changes from YHWH to ʼAdho·naiʹ. See App 1B.
REFERENCES
- ^ Pr 17:3; Ml 3:3
- ^ De 8:9
- ^ Ge 11:6; Lu 1:51
- ^ Am 9:2
- ^ Ge 1:11; Ps 104:14
- ^ Jb 28:16
- ^ Eze 39:4
- ^ Le 11:14; De 14:13
- ^ 2Ki 20:20; 2Ch 32:30
- ^ Is 44:27; 45:1; Je 50:38; 51:32
- ^ Jb 28:28; Pr 2:6; Jm 1:5
- ^ Ps 49:7; Pr 3:15
- ^ Ro 11:34
- ^ Pr 3:14
- ^ Is 13:12
- ^ Pr 8:11; 20:15
- ^ Pr 16:16
- ^ Ex 28:17
- ^ Jb 28:12; Jm 1:5
- ^ Ec 8:17; 1Co 2:8
- ^ Pr 30:4; Ro 1:20
- ^ Pr 15:3; Zc 4:10; 1Pe 3:12
- ^ Ps 135:7; 148:8; Ec 1:6
- ^ Jb 5:10; 26:8; 37:10; Pr 30:4; Is 40:12
- ^ Jb 38:25; Zc 10:1
- ^ De 4:6; Ps 111:10; Pr 9:10; Ec 12:13; Ro 1:20
- ^ Pr 3:7; 1Pe 3:11
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