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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.

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