Job 29:1

Job again took up his parable, and said,

He took up his parable, and said, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;

because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east.

He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me.

He took up his parable, and said, “Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eyes are open says;

He took up his parable, and said, “Alas, who shall live when God does this?

I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old,

In that day they will take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying, ‘We are utterly ruined! My people’s possession is divided up. Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’ ”

Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

Their dwelling extended from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.

Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.

Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”

‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse me them. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’ ”

for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’ ”

He took up his parable, and said, “From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, “Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock.

The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”

Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, killed him.

After him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away.

The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.

His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

How much more, those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth!

Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.

His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.

Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay.

Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.

I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp.

But you, Yahweh, will remain forever; your renown endures to all generations.

Let them be before Yahweh continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;

The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.

Like the legs of the lame that hang loose, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled from the east, with those who practice divination like the Philistines, and they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.

The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.

before your wickedness was uncovered, as at the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all who are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise you all around.

“Son of man, tell a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! They say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’ ”

therefore, behold, I will deliver you to the children of the east for a possession. They will set their encampments in you, and make their dwellings in you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk.

At the same time my understanding returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added to me.

Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’

He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”

that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”

They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away.

For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.