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Job 11
Good News Translation
Job 11
Good News Translation
11 1-2 Will no one answer all this nonsense?
Does talking so much put you in the right?
3 Job, do you think we can't answer you?
That your mocking words will leave us speechless?
4 You claim that what you say is true;
you claim you are pure in the sight of God.
5 How I wish God would answer you!
6 He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom;
there are things too deep for human knowledge.
God is punishing you less than you deserve.
7 Can you discover the limits and bounds
of the greatness and power of God?
8 The sky is no limit for God,
but it lies beyond your reach.
God knows the world of the dead,
but you do not know it.
9 God's greatness is broader than the earth,
wider than the sea.
10 If God arrests you and brings you to trial,
who is there to stop him?
11 God knows which people are worthless;
he sees all their evil deeds.
12 Stupid people will start being wise
when wild donkeys are born tame.
13 Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God.
14 Put away evil and wrong from your home.
15 Then face the world again, firm and courageous.
16 Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,
like floods that are past and remembered no more.
17 Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,
and life's darkest hours will shine like the dawn.
18 You will live secure and full of hope;
God will protect you and give you rest.
19 You won't be afraid of your enemies;
many people will ask you for help.
20 But the wicked will look around in despair
and find that there is no way to escape.
Their one hope is that death will come.
Job 11
New International Version
Job 11
New International Version
Zophar
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 “Are all these words to go unanswered?(B)
Is this talker to be vindicated?(C)
3 Will your idle talk(D) reduce others to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?(E)
4 You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless(F)
and I am pure(G) in your sight.’
5 Oh, how I wish that God would speak,(H)
that he would open his lips against you
6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,(I)
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.(J)
7 “Can you fathom(K) the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher(L) than the heavens(M) above—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths below(N)—what can you know?(O)
9 Their measure(P) is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.(Q)
10 “If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?(R)
11 Surely he recognizes deceivers;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?(S)
12 But the witless can no more become wise
than a wild donkey’s colt(T) can be born human.[a](U)
13 “Yet if you devote your heart(V) to him
and stretch out your hands(W) to him,(X)
14 if you put away(Y) the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil(Z) to dwell in your tent,(AA)
15 then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;(AB)
you will stand firm(AC) and without fear.(AD)
16 You will surely forget your trouble,(AE)
recalling it only as waters gone by.(AF)
17 Life will be brighter than noonday,(AG)
and darkness will become like morning.(AH)
18 You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest(AI) in safety.(AJ)
19 You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,(AK)
and many will court your favor.(AL)
20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,(AM)
and escape will elude them;(AN)
their hope will become a dying gasp.”(AO)
Footnotes
- Job 11:12 Or wild donkey can be born tame
Job 11
English Standard Version
Job 11
English Standard Version
Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse
11 Then (A)Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
2 “Should (B)a multitude of words go unanswered,
and a man full of talk be judged right?
3 Should your babble silence men,
and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
4 For (C)you say, ‘My (D)doctrine is pure,
and I am clean in God's[a] eyes.’
5 But oh, that God would speak
and open his lips to you,
6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!
For he is manifold in (E)understanding.[b]
Know then that God (F)exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
7 (G)“Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
8 It is (H)higher than heaven[c]—what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If he (I)passes through and (J)imprisons
and summons the court, who can (K)turn him back?
11 For he knows (L)worthless men;
when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?
12 But a stupid man will get understanding
when (M)a wild donkey's colt is (N)born a man!
13 “If you (O)prepare your heart,
you will (P)stretch out your hands toward him.
14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and let not injustice dwell in your tents.
15 Surely then you will (Q)lift up your face without (R)blemish;
you will be secure and will not fear.
16 You will (S)forget your misery;
you will remember it as waters that have passed away.
17 And your life will be (T)brighter than the noonday;
its darkness will be like the morning.
18 And you will feel secure, because there is hope;
you will look around and (U)take your rest in security.
19 You will (V)lie down, and none will make you afraid;
many will (W)court your favor.
20 But (X)the eyes of the wicked will fail;
all way of escape will be lost to them,
and their hope is (Y)to breathe their last.”
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.