Job’s Final Speeches

Job 29, 31 (selections)

Biblical Period

Chaprer 29

1Job again took up his theme and said:

2O that I were as in months gone by,
In the days when God watched over me,
3When His lamp shone over my head,
When I walked in the dark by its light,
4When I was in my prime,
When God’s company graced my tent,
5When Shaddai was still with me,
When my lads surrounded me,
6When my feet were bathed in cream,
And rocks poured out streams of oil for me.
7When I passed through the city gates
To take my seat in the square,
8Young men saw me and hid,
Elders rose and stood;
9Nobles held back their words;
They clapped their hands to their mouths.
10The voices of princes were hushed;
Their tongues stuck to their palates.
11The ear that heard me acclaimed me;
The eye that saw, commended me.
12For I saved the poor man who cried out,
The orphan who had none to help him.
13I received the blessing of the lost;
I gladdened the heart of the widow.
14I clothed myself in righteousness and it robed me;
Justice was my cloak and turban.
15I was eyes to the blind
And feet to the lame.
16I was a father to the needy,
And I looked into the case of the stranger.
17I broke the jaws of the wrongdoer,
And I wrested prey from his teeth.
18I thought I would end my days with my family,
And be as long-lived as the phoenix,
19My roots reaching water,
And dew lying on my branches;
20My vigor refreshed,
My bow ever new in my hand.
21Men would listen to me expectantly,
And wait for my counsel.
22After I spoke they had nothing to say;
My words were as drops [of dew] upon them.
23They waited for me as for rain,
For the late rain, their mouths open wide.
24When I smiled at them, they would not believe it;
They never expected a sign of my favor.
25I decided their course and presided over them;
I lived like a king among his troops,
Like one who consoles mourners.

Chaprer 31

1I have covenanted with my eyes
Not to gaze on a maiden. [ . . . ]
5Have I walked with worthless men,
Or my feet hurried to deceit?
6Let Him weigh me on the scale of righteousness;
Let God ascertain my integrity.
7If my feet have strayed from their course,
My heart followed after my eyes,
And a stain sullied my hands,
8May I sow, but another reap,
May the growth of my field be uprooted!
9If my heart was ravished by the wife of my neighbor,
And I lay in wait at his door,
10May my wife grind for another,
May others kneel over her!
11For that would have been debauchery,
A criminal offense,
12A fire burning down to Abaddon,
Consuming the roots of all my increase.
13Did I ever brush aside the case of my servants, man or maid,
When they made a complaint against me?
14What then should I do when God arises;
When He calls me to account, what should I answer Him?
15Did not He who made me in my mother’s belly make him?
Did not One form us both in the womb?
16Did I deny the poor their needs,
Or let a widow pine away,
17By eating my food alone,
The fatherless not eating of it also?
18Why, from my youth he grew up with me as though I were his father;
Since I left my mother’s womb I was her guide.
19I never saw an unclad wretch,
A needy man without clothing,
20Whose loins did not bless me
As he warmed himself with the shearings of my sheep.
21If I raised my hand against the fatherless,
Looking to my supporters in the gate,
22May my arm drop off my shoulder;
My forearm break off at the elbow.
23For I am in dread of God-sent calamity;
I cannot bear His threat.
24Did I put my reliance on gold,
Or regard fine gold as my bulwark?
25Did I rejoice in my great wealth,
In having attained plenty?
26If ever I saw the light shining,
The moon on its course in full glory,
27And I secretly succumbed,
And my hand touched my mouth in a kiss,
28That, too, would have been a criminal offense,
For I would have denied God above.
29Did I rejoice over my enemy’s misfortune?
Did I thrill because evil befell him?
30I never let my mouth sin
By wishing his death in a curse. [ . . . ]
32No sojourner spent the night in the open;
I opened my doors to the road.
33Did I hide my transgressions like Adam,
Bury my wrongdoing in my bosom,
34That I should [now] fear the great multitude,
And am shattered by the contempt of families,
So that I keep silent and do not step outdoors?
35O that I had someone to give me a hearing;
O that Shaddai would reply to my writ,
Or my accuser draw up a true bill!
36I would carry it on my shoulder;
Tie it around me for a wreath.
37I would give him an account of my steps,
Offer it as to a commander.
38If my land cries out against me,
Its furrows weep together;
39If I have eaten its produce without payment,
And made its [rightful] owners despair,
40May nettles grow there instead of wheat;
Instead of barley, stinkweed!
The words of Job are at an end.

Credits

Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

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