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Zophar Speaks: Your Words Call for an Answer, Job

11 Then Zophar from Naama replied to Job,

“Shouldn’t someone answer this flood of words?
    Should a good public speaker be acquitted?
Should your empty talk silence others
    so that you can make fun of us without any shame?
You say, ‘My teaching is morally correct,’
    and, ‘As you can see, I’m innocent.’
I only wish Eloah would speak
    and open his mouth to talk to you.
        He would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
            because true wisdom is twice as great as your wisdom,[a]
                and you would know that Eloah forgets your sin.

God Can Do as He Pleases

“Can you discover Eloah’s hidden secrets,
    or are you able to find Shadday’s limits?
God’s wisdom is higher than heaven.
    What can you do?
    It is deeper than the depths of hell.
    What can you know?
It is longer than the earth
    and wider than the sea.
10 If God comes along and imprisons someone
    and then calls a court into session, who can stop him?
11 He knows who the scoundrels are.
    And when he sees sin, doesn’t he pay attention to it?
12 But an empty-headed person will gain understanding
    when a wild donkey is born tame.

Confess Your Sin and Be Forgiven

13 “If you want to set your heart right,
    then pray to him.
14 If you’re holding on to sin, put it far away,
    and don’t let injustice live in your tent.
15 Then you will be able to show your face without being ashamed,
    and you will be secure and unafraid.
16 Then you will forget your misery
    and remember it like water that has flowed downstream.
17 Then your life will be brighter than the noonday sun.
    The darkness in your life will become like morning.
18 You will feel confident because there’s hope,
    and you will look around and rest in safety.
19 You will lie down with no one to frighten you,
    and many people will try to gain your favor.
20 But the wicked will lose their eyesight.
    Their escape route will be closed.
        Their only hope is to take their last breath.”[b]

Footnotes

  1. Job 11:6 Hebrew meaning of this line uncertain.
  2. Job 11:20 Hebrew meaning of this verse uncertain.

Zophar Speaks

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

Should this abundance of words(A) go unanswered
and such a talker[a] be acquitted?
Should your babbling put others to silence,
so that you can keep on ridiculing
with no one to humiliate you?
You have said, “My teaching(B) is sound,
and I am pure in your sight.”
But if only God would speak
and open his lips against you!
He would show you the secrets of wisdom,(C)
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God has chosen to overlook some of your iniquity.(D)

Can you fathom the depths of God
or discover the limits of the Almighty?(E)
They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?(F)
Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

10 If he passes by and throws someone in prison
or convenes a court, who can stop him?(G)
11 Surely he knows which people are worthless.
If he sees iniquity, will he not take note of it?(H)
12 But a stupid person will gain understanding
as soon as a wild donkey is born a human!

13 As for you, if you redirect your heart
and spread out your hands to him in prayer—
14 if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it,
and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents—
15 then you will hold your head high, free from fault.
You will be firmly established and unafraid.(I)
16 For you will forget your suffering,
recalling it only as water that has flowed by.
17 Your life will be brighter than noonday;
its darkness[b] will be like the morning.(J)
18 You will be confident, because there is hope.(K)
You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.(L)

19 You will lie down with no one to frighten you,
and many will seek your favor.(M)
20 But the sight of the wicked(N) will fail.
Their way of escape will be cut off,
and their only hope is their last breath.(O)

Footnotes

  1. 11:2 Lit a man of lips
  2. 11:17 Text emended; MT reads noonday; you are dark, you