Day 242 of 365

¹"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold which they refine.

²Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted out of the ore.

³Man sets an end to darkness, and searches out, to the furthest bound, the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.

⁴He breaks open a shaft away from where people live. They are forgotten by the foot. They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.

⁵As for the earth, out of it comes bread; Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.

⁶Sapphires come from its rocks. It has dust of gold.

⁷That path no bird of prey knows, neither has the falcon's eye seen it.

⁸The proud animals have not trodden it, nor has the fierce lion passed by there.

⁹He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock, and he overturns the mountains by the roots.

¹⁰He cuts out channels among the rocks. His eye sees every precious thing.

¹¹He binds the streams that they do not trickle. The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.

¹²"But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man doesn't know its price; Neither is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The deep says, 'It isn't in me.' The sea says, 'It isn't with me.'

¹⁵It can't be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price.

¹⁶It can't be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

¹⁷Gold and glass can't equal it, neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.

¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

²⁰Whence then comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?

²¹Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky.

²²Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.'

²³"God understands its way, and he knows its place.

²⁴For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky.

²⁵He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.

²⁶When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;

²⁷then he saw it, and declared it. He established it, yes, and searched it out.

²⁸To man he said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. To depart from evil is understanding.'"

¹Job again took up his parable, 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 on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,

⁴as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was in my tent,

⁵when the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me,

⁶when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,

⁷when I went forth to the city gate, when I prepared my seat in the street.

⁸The young men saw me and hid themselves. The aged rose up and stood.

⁹The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.

¹⁰The voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.

¹¹For when the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it commended me:

¹²Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had none to help him,

¹³the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. My justice was as a robe and a diadem.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I did not know, I searched out.

¹⁷I broke the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth.

¹⁸Then I said, 'I shall die in my own house, I shall number my days as the sand.

¹⁹My root is spread out to the waters. The dew lies all night on my branch.

²⁰My glory is fresh in me. My bow is renewed in my hand.'

²¹"Men listened to me, waited, and kept silence for my counsel.

²²After my words they did not speak again. My speech fell on them.

²³They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.

²⁴I smiled on them when they had no confidence. They did not reject the light of my face.

²⁵I chose out their way, and sat as chief. I lived as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners.

¹"But now those who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.

²Of what use is the strength of their hands to me, men in whom ripe age has perished?

³They are gaunt from lack and famine. They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of waste and desolation.

⁴They pluck salt herbs by the bushes. The roots of the broom are their food.

⁵They are driven out from the midst of men. They cry after them as after a thief;

⁶So that they dwell in frightful valleys, and in holes of the earth and of the rocks.

⁷Among the bushes they bray; and under the nettles they are gathered together.

⁸They are children of fools, yes, children of base men. They were flogged out of the land.

⁹"Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.

¹⁰They abhor me, they stand aloof from me, and do not hesitate to spit in my face.

¹¹For he has untied his cord, and afflicted me; and they have thrown off restraint before me.

¹²On my right hand rise the rabble. They thrust aside my feet, They cast up against me their ways of destruction.

¹³They mar my path, They set forward my calamity, without anyone's help.

¹⁴As through a wide breach they come, in the midst of the ruin they roll themselves in.

¹⁵Terrors have turned on me. They chase my honor as the wind. My welfare has passed away as a cloud.

¹⁶"Now my soul is poured out within me. Days of affliction have taken hold on me.

¹⁷In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest.

¹⁸By great force is my garment disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

¹⁹He has cast me into the mire. I have become like dust and ashes.

²⁰I cry to you, and you do not answer me. I stand up, and you gaze at me.

²¹You have turned to be cruel to me. With the might of your hand you persecute me.

²²You lift me up to the wind, and drive me with it. You dissolve me in the storm.

²³For I know that you will bring me to death, To the house appointed for all living.

²⁴"However doesn't one stretch out a hand in his fall? Or in his calamity therefore cry for help?

²⁵Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Wasn't my soul grieved for the needy?

²⁶When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.

²⁷My heart is troubled, and doesn't rest. Days of affliction have come on me.

²⁸I go mourning without the sun. I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.

²⁹I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches.

³⁰My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.

³¹Therefore my harp has turned to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of those who weep.

¹It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, Most High;

²to proclaim your loving kindness in the morning, and your faithfulness every night,

³with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp, and with the melody of the lyre.

⁴For you, Lord, have made me glad through your work. I will triumph in the works of your hands.

⁵How great are your works, Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.

⁶A senseless man doesn't know, neither does a fool understand this:

⁷though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.

⁸But you, Lord, are on high forevermore.

⁹For, behold, your enemies, Lord, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.

¹⁰But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil.

¹¹My eye has also seen my enemies. My ears have heard of the wicked enemies who rise up against me.

¹²The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹³They are planted in the Lord's house. They will flourish in our God's courts.

¹⁴They will still bring forth fruit in old age. They will be full of sap and green,

¹⁵to show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner;

⁵Take away the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

⁷for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?

⁹Debate your case with your neighbor, and do not betray the confidence of another;

¹⁰lest one who hears it put you to shame, and your bad reputation never depart.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

¹³As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.

¹⁵By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.

¹⁸A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a lame foot.

²⁰As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink:

²²for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring, and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor.

²⁸Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.