Today we meet a new character in this story of Job. He is a young man who gets fed up with all of the false wisdom of these old men. He finally speaks up to put them all in their places. But are his words really wisdom? Is the man wiser than Job himself? Is this Elihu finally going to help Job to see the truth of his situation?
Job 28
“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.
Man puts an end to the darkness;
he probes the farthest recesses
for ore in deepest darkness.
Far from human habitation he cuts a shaft
in places forgotten by the foot of man.
Far from men he dangles and sways.
Food may come from the earth,
but from below it is transformed as by fire.
Its rocks are the source of sapphires,
containing flecks of gold.
No bird of prey knows that path;
no falcon’s eye has seen it.
Proud beasts have never trodden it;
no lion has ever prowled over it.
The miner strikes the flint;
he overturns mountains at their base.
He hews out channels in the rocks,
and his eyes spot every treasure.
He stops up the sources of the streams
to bring what is hidden to light.
But where can wisdom be found,
and where does understanding dwell?
No man can know its value,
nor is it found in the land of the living.
The ocean depths say, ‘It is not in me,’
while the sea declares, ‘It is not with me.’
It cannot be bought with gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it,
nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention;
the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Topaz from Cush cannot compare to it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
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.
And He said to man, ‘Behold,
the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’ ”
Job 29
And Job continued his discourse:
“How I long for the months gone by,
for the days when God watched over me,
when His lamp shone above my head,
and by His light I walked through the darkness,
when I was in my prime,
when the friendship of God rested on my tent,
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 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 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.’
Men listened to me with expectation,
waiting silently for my counsel.
After my words, they spoke no more;
my speech settled on them like dew.
They waited for me as for rain
and drank in my words like spring showers.
If I smiled at them, they did not believe it;
the light of my countenance was precious.
I chose their course and presided as chief.
So I dwelt as a king among his troops,
as a comforter of the mourners.
Job 30
“But now they mock me,
men younger than I am,
whose fathers I would have refused
to entrust with my sheep dogs.
What use to me was the strength of their hands,
since their vigor had left them?
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.
They were banished from among men,
shouted down like thieves,
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.
A senseless and nameless brood,
they were driven off the land.
And now they mock me in song;
I have become a byword among them.
They abhor me and keep far from me;
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
Because God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.
The rabble arises at my right;
they lay snares for my feet
and build siege ramps against me.
They tear up my path;
they profit from my destruction,
with no one to restrain them.
They advance as through a wide breach;
through the ruins they keep rolling in.
Terrors are turned loose against me;
they drive away my dignity as by the wind,
and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction grip me.
Night pierces my bones,
and my gnawing pains never rest.
With great force He grasps my garment;
He seizes me by the collar of my tunic.
He throws me into the mud,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer;
when I stand up, You merely look at me.
You have ruthlessly turned on me;
You oppose me with Your strong hand.
You snatch me up into the wind
and drive me before it;
You toss me about in the storm.
Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death,
to the place appointed for all the living.
Yet no one stretches out his hand to a ruined man
when he cries for help in his distress.
Have I not wept for those in trouble?
Has my soul not grieved for the needy?
But when I hoped for good, evil came;
when I looked for light, darkness fell.
I am churning within and cannot rest;
days of affliction confront me.
I go about blackened, but not by the sun.
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
I have become a brother of jackals,
a companion of ostriches.
My skin grows black and peels,
and my bones burn with fever.
My harp is tuned to mourning
and my flute to the sound of weeping.
Job 31
“I have made a covenant with my eyes.
How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
For what is the allotment of God from above,
or the heritage from the Almighty on high?
Does not disaster come to the unjust
and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
Does He not see my ways
and count my every step?
If I have walked in falsehood
or my foot has rushed to deceit,
let God weigh me with honest scales,
that He may know my integrity.
If my steps have turned from the path,
if my heart has followed my eyes,
or if impurity has stuck to my hands,
then may another eat what I have sown,
and may my crops be uprooted.
If my heart has been enticed by my neighbor’s wife,
or I have lurked at his door,
then may my own wife grind grain for another,
and may other men sleep with her.
For that would be a heinous crime,
an iniquity to be judged.
For it is a fire that burns down to Abaddon;
it would root out my entire harvest.
If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or maidservant
when they made a complaint against me,
what will I do when God rises to judge?
How will I answer when called to account?
Did not He who made me in the womb also make them?
Did not the same One form us in the womb?
If I have denied the desires of the poor
or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,
if I have eaten my morsel alone,
not sharing it with the fatherless—
though from my youth I reared him as would a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow—
if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing,
or a needy man without a cloak,
if his heart has not blessed me
for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless
because I saw that I had support in the gate,
then may my arm fall from my shoulder
and be torn from its socket.
For calamity from God terrifies me,
and His splendor I cannot overpower.
If I have put my trust in gold
or called pure gold my security,
if I have rejoiced in my great wealth
because my hand had gained so much,
if I have beheld the sun in its radiance
or the moon moving in splendor,
so that my heart was secretly enticed
and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,
this would also be an iniquity to be judged,
for I would have denied God on high.
If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin,
or exulted when evil befell him—
I have not allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life with a curse—
if the men of my house have not said,
‘Who is there who has not had his fill?’—
but no stranger had to lodge on the street,
for my door has been open to the traveler—
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam
by hiding my guilt in my heart,
because I greatly feared the crowds
and the contempt of the clans terrified me,
so that I kept silent
and would not go outside—
(Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my signature.
Let the Almighty answer me;
let my accuser compose an indictment.
Surely I would carry it on my shoulder
and wear it like a crown.
I would give account of all my steps;
I would approach Him like a prince.)—
if my land cries out against me
and its furrows weep together,
if I have devoured its produce without payment
or broken the spirit of its tenants,
then let briers grow instead of wheat
and stinkweed instead of barley.”
Thus conclude the words of Job.
Job 32
So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,
and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.
Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had no further reply, his anger was kindled.
So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared:
“I am young in years,
while you are old;
that is why I was timid and afraid
to tell you what I know.
I thought that age should speak,
and many years should teach wisdom.
But there is a spirit in a man,
the breath of the Almighty,
that gives him understanding.
It is not only the old who are wise,
or the elderly who understand justice.
Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
I too will declare what I know.’
Indeed, I waited while you spoke;
I listened to your reasoning;
as you searched for words,
I paid you full attention.
But no one proved Job wrong;
not one of you rebutted his arguments.
So do not claim, ‘We have found wisdom;
let God, not man, refute him.’
But Job has not directed his words against me,
and I will not answer him with your arguments.
Job’s friends are dismayed, with no more to say;
words have escaped them.
Must I wait, now that they are silent,
now that they stand and no longer reply?
I too will answer;
yes, I will declare what I know.
For I am full of words,
and my spirit within me compels me.
Behold, my belly is like unvented wine;
it is about to burst like a new wineskin.
I must speak and find relief;
I must open my lips and respond.
I will be partial to no one,
nor will I flatter any man.
For I do not know how to flatter,
or my Maker would remove me in an instant.
Job 33
“But now, O Job, hear my speech,
and listen to all my words.
Behold, I will open my mouth;
my address is on the tip of my tongue.
My words are from an upright heart,
and my lips speak sincerely what I know.
The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Refute me if you can;
prepare your case and confront me.
I am just like you before God;
I was also formed from clay.
Surely no fear of me should terrify you;
nor will my hand be heavy upon you.
Surely you have spoken in my hearing,
and I have heard these very words:
‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean, with no iniquity in me.
Yet God finds occasions against me;
He counts me as His enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks;
He watches over all my paths.’
Behold, you are not right in this matter.
I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
Why do you complain to Him
that He answers nothing a man asks?
For God speaks in one way and in another,
yet no one notices.
In a dream,
in a vision in the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men
as they slumber on their beds,
He opens their ears
and terrifies them with warnings
to turn a man from wrongdoing
and keep him from pride,
to preserve his soul from the Pit
and his life from perishing by the sword.
A man is also chastened on his bed
with pain and constant distress in his bones,
so that he detests his bread,
and his soul loathes his favorite food.
His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his hidden bones protrude.
He draws near to the Pit,
and his life to the messengers of death.
Yet if there is a messenger on his side,
one mediator in a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,
to be gracious to him and say,
‘Spare him from going down to the Pit;
I have found his ransom,’
then his flesh is refreshed like a child’s;
he returns to the days of his youth.
He prays to God and finds favor;
he sees God’s face and shouts for joy,
and God restores His righteousness
to that man.
Then he sings before men
with these words:
‘I have sinned and perverted what was right;
yet I did not get what I deserved.
He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will live to see the light.’
Behold, all these things God does to a man,
two or even three times,
to bring back his soul from the Pit,
that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
But if you have something to say, answer me;
speak up, for I would like to vindicate you.
But if not, then listen to me;
be quiet, and I will teach you wisdom.”
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