Job Continues: Where Is Wisdom?
1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold that they yrefine.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted from the ore.
3 Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the ore in zgloom and adeep darkness.
4 He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
5 As for the earth, bout of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
6 Its stones are the place of csapphires,1
and it has dust of gold.
7 “That path no bird of prey knows,
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
8 dThe proud beasts have not trodden it;
ethe lion has not passed over it.
9 “Man puts his hand to fthe flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.
12 g“But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in hthe land of the living.
14 iThe deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It jcannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
16 It cannot be valued in kthe gold of lOphir,
in precious monyx or nsapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of ocoral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above oppearls.
19 qThe topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
20 “From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of rall living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 sAbaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
23 t“God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
24 For he ulooks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he vgave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and wa way for the lightning of the thunder,
27 then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
28 And he said to man,
‘Behold, xthe fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to yturn away from evil is understanding.’”
Job’s Summary Defense
1 And Job again ztook up his discourse, and said:
2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me,
3 when his alamp shone upon my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness,
4 as I was in my prime,2
when the bfriendship of God was upon my tent,
5 when the Almighty was yet with me,
when my cchildren were all around me,
6 when my steps were dwashed with ebutter,
and fthe rock poured out for me streams of goil!
7 When I went out to hthe gate of the city,
when I prepared my seat in the square,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew,
and the aged rose and stood;
9 the princes refrained from talking
and ilaid their hand on their mouth;
10 the voice of the nobles was hushed,
and their jtongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
and when the eye saw, it approved,
12 because I kdelivered the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to help him.
13 lThe blessing of him who was mabout to perish came upon me,
and I caused nthe widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 I oput on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and pa turban.
15 I was qeyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out rthe cause of him whom I did not know.
17 I sbroke tthe fangs of the unrighteous
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
18 uThen I thought, ‘I shall die in my vnest,
and I shall multiply my days as wthe sand,
19 my xroots spread out to ythe waters,
with the dew all night on my zbranches,
20 my glory fresh with me,
21 “Men listened to me and waited
and kept silence for my counsel.
22 After I spoke they did not speak again,
and my word cdropped upon them.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
and they dopened their mouths as for the espring rain.
24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
and fthe light of my gface they did not cast down.
25 I chose their way and sat as chief,
and I lived like ha king among his troops,
like one who comforts mourners.
The Parable of the Sower
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house oand sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, pso that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And qhe told them many things in parables, saying: r“A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but swhen the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, tthey withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among uthorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some va hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 wHe who has ears,1 let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, x“To you it has been given to know ythe secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 zFor to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, aeven what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because bseeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, cnor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
d“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears ethey can barely hear,
and ftheir eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and gunderstand with their heart
and hturn, and I would heal them.’
16 But iblessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 iFor truly, I say to you, jmany prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 k“Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of lthe kingdom and mdoes not understand it, nthe evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately oreceives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but pendures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately qhe falls away.2 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but rthe cares of sthe world and tthe deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and munderstands it. He indeed ubears fruit and yields, in one case va hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
The Parable of the Weeds
24 He put another parable before them, saying, w“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds3 among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants4 of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, x‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, y“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
