Job 11-12
Complete Jewish Bible
11 Next Tzofar the Na‘amati spoke up:
2 “Shouldn’t this torrent of words be answered?
Does talking a lot make a person right?
3 Is your babble supposed to put others to silence?
When you mock, is no one to make you ashamed?
4 “You claim that your teaching is pure;
you tell [God], ‘I am clean in your sight.’
5 I wish that God would speak,
would open his mouth to answer you,
6 would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
which is worth twice as much as common sense.
Understand that God is demanding of you
less than your guilt deserves.
7 “Can you penetrate God’s depths?
Can you find out Shaddai’s limits?
8 They’re as high as heaven; what can you do?
They’re deeper than Sh’ol; what can you know?
9 Their extent is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If he passes through, puts in prison
and assembles [for judgment], who can prevent him?
11 For he knows when people are worthless;
so if he sees iniquity, won’t he look into it?
12 “An empty man can gain understanding,
even if he was born like a wild donkey.
13 If you will set your heart right,
if you will spread out your hands toward him,
14 if you will put your iniquity at a distance
and not let unrighteousness remain in your tents,
15 then when you lift up your face, there will be no defect;
you will be firm and free from fear.
16 “For you will forget your misery;
you’ll remember it like a flood that passed through long ago;
17 your life will be brighter than noon;
even its darkness will be like morning.
18 You will be confident, because there is hope;
you will look around you and lie down secure;
19 you will rest, and no one will make you afraid.
Many will seek your favor;
20 but the eyes of the wicked will fail [to find comfort].
They will find no way to escape,
and their hope will turn to complete disappointment.”
12 Iyov responded:
2 “No doubt you are [the only] people [that matter];
and when you die, so will wisdom.
3 But I too have a brain, as much as you,
In no way am I inferior to you.
Besides, who doesn’t know things like these?
4 “Anyone who calls on God,
and he answers him,
becomes a laughingstock to his friends —
they make fun of an innocent, blameless man.
5 Those at ease have contempt for misfortune,
for the blow that strikes somebody already staggering.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
[the homes of] those who anger God are secure,
those who carry their gods in their hands.
7 “But ask the animals — they will teach you —
and the birds in the air — they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth — it will teach you —
and the fish in the sea will inform you:
9 every one of them knows
that the hand of Adonai has done this!
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the spirit of every human being.
11 Shouldn’t the ear test words,
just as the palate tastes food?
12 Is wisdom [only] with aged men?
discernment [only] with long life?
13 “With God are wisdom and power;
he has [good] counsel and understanding.
14 When he breaks something down, it can’t be rebuilt;
when he imprisons someone, he can’t be released.
15 When he holds back water, there is drought;
when he sends it out, it overruns the land.
16 With him are strength and common sense;
both the misled and those who mislead are his.
17 He leads counselors away captive,
he makes fools of judges.
18 He removes authority from kings,
then binds them up [as prisoners].
19 He leads cohanim away captive
and overthrows those long in power.
20 Those who are trusted he deprives of speech,
and he removes the discernment of the aged.
21 He pours contempt on princes
and loosens the belt of the strong.
22 He discloses the deepest recesses of darkness
and brings light into shadows dark as death.
23 He makes nations great and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
24 He removes understanding from a country’s leaders
and makes them wander in trackless deserts.
25 They grope in unlit darkness;
he makes them stagger like drunks.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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