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Zophar’s First Response to Job

11 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied to Job:

“Shouldn’t someone answer this torrent of words?
    Is a person proved innocent just by a lot of talking?
Should I remain silent while you babble on?
    When you mock God, shouldn’t someone make you ashamed?
You claim, ‘My beliefs are pure,’
    and ‘I am clean in the sight of God.’
If only God would speak;
    if only he would tell you what he thinks!
If only he would tell you the secrets of wisdom,
    for true wisdom is not a simple matter.
Listen! God is doubtless punishing you
    far less than you deserve!

“Can you solve the mysteries of God?
    Can you discover everything about the Almighty?
Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—
    and who are you?
It is deeper than the underworld[a]
    what do you know?
It is broader than the earth
    and wider than the sea.
10 If God comes and puts a person in prison
    or calls the court to order, who can stop him?
11 For he knows those who are false,
    and he takes note of all their sins.
12 An empty-headed person won’t become wise
    any more than a wild donkey can bear a human child.[b]

13 “If only you would prepare your heart
    and lift up your hands to him in prayer!
14 Get rid of your sins,
    and leave all iniquity behind you.
15 Then your face will brighten with innocence.
    You will be strong and free of fear.
16 You will forget your misery;
    it will be like water flowing away.
17 Your life will be brighter than the noonday.
    Even darkness will be as bright as morning.
18 Having hope will give you courage.
    You will be protected and will rest in safety.
19 You will lie down unafraid,
    and many will look to you for help.
20 But the wicked will be blinded.
    They will have no escape.
    Their only hope is death.”

Job’s Fourth Speech: A Response to Zophar

12 Then Job spoke again:

“You people really know everything, don’t you?
    And when you die, wisdom will die with you!
Well, I know a few things myself—
    and you’re no better than I am.
    Who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying?
Yet my friends laugh at me,
    for I call on God and expect an answer.
I am a just and blameless man,
    yet they laugh at me.
People who are at ease mock those in trouble.
    They give a push to people who are stumbling.
But robbers are left in peace,
    and those who provoke God live in safety—
    though God keeps them in his power.[c]

“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.
    Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you.
    Let the fish in the sea speak to you.
For they all know
    that my disaster[d] has come from the hand of the Lord.
10 For the life of every living thing is in his hand,
    and the breath of every human being.
11 The ear tests the words it hears
    just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.
12 Wisdom belongs to the aged,
    and understanding to the old.

13 “But true wisdom and power are found in God;
    counsel and understanding are his.
14 What he destroys cannot be rebuilt.
    When he puts someone in prison, there is no escape.
15 If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert.
    If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
16 Yes, strength and wisdom are his;
    deceivers and deceived are both in his power.
17 He leads counselors away, stripped of good judgment;
    wise judges become fools.
18 He removes the royal robe of kings.
    They are led away with ropes around their waist.
19 He leads priests away, stripped of status;
    he overthrows those with long years in power.
20 He silences the trusted adviser
    and removes the insight of the elders.
21 He pours disgrace upon princes
    and disarms the strong.

22 “He uncovers mysteries hidden in darkness;
    he brings light to the deepest gloom.
23 He builds up nations, and he destroys them.
    He expands nations, and he abandons them.
24 He strips kings of understanding
    and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
25 They grope in the darkness without a light.
    He makes them stagger like drunkards.

Job Wants to Argue His Case with God

13 “Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes
    and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand.
I know as much as you do.
    You are no better than I am.
As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty.
    I want to argue my case with God himself.
As for you, you smear me with lies.
    As physicians, you are worthless quacks.
If only you could be silent!
    That’s the wisest thing you could do.
Listen to my charge;
    pay attention to my arguments.

“Are you defending God with lies?
    Do you make your dishonest arguments for his sake?
Will you slant your testimony in his favor?
    Will you argue God’s case for him?
What will happen when he finds out what you are doing?
    Can you fool him as easily as you fool people?
10 No, you will be in trouble with him
    if you secretly slant your testimony in his favor.
11 Doesn’t his majesty terrify you?
    Doesn’t your fear of him overwhelm you?
12 Your platitudes are as valuable as ashes.
    Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.

13 “Be silent now and leave me alone.
    Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.
14 Why should I put myself in mortal danger[e]
    and take my life in my own hands?
15 God might kill me, but I have no other hope.[f]
    I am going to argue my case with him.
16 But this is what will save me—I am not godless.
    If I were, I could not stand before him.

17 “Listen closely to what I am about to say.
    Hear me out.
18 I have prepared my case;
    I will be proved innocent.
19 Who can argue with me over this?
    And if you prove me wrong, I will remain silent and die.

Job Asks How He Has Sinned

20 “O God, grant me these two things,
    and then I will be able to face you.
21 Remove your heavy hand from me,
    and don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.
22 Now summon me, and I will answer!
    Or let me speak to you, and you reply.
23 Tell me, what have I done wrong?
    Show me my rebellion and my sin.
24 Why do you turn away from me?
    Why do you treat me as your enemy?
25 Would you terrify a leaf blown by the wind?
    Would you chase dry straw?

26 “You write bitter accusations against me
    and bring up all the sins of my youth.
27 You put my feet in stocks.
    You examine all my paths.
    You trace all my footprints.
28 I waste away like rotting wood,
    like a moth-eaten coat.

14 “How frail is humanity!
    How short is life, how full of trouble!
We blossom like a flower and then wither.
    Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.
Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature
    and demand an accounting from me?
Who can bring purity out of an impure person?
    No one!
You have decided the length of our lives.
    You know how many months we will live,
    and we are not given a minute longer.
So leave us alone and let us rest!
    We are like hired hands, so let us finish our work in peace.

“Even a tree has more hope!
    If it is cut down, it will sprout again
    and grow new branches.
Though its roots have grown old in the earth
    and its stump decays,
at the scent of water it will bud
    and sprout again like a new seedling.

10 “But when people die, their strength is gone.
    They breathe their last, and then where are they?
11 As water evaporates from a lake
    and a river disappears in drought,
12 people are laid to rest and do not rise again.
    Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up
    nor be roused from their sleep.

13 “I wish you would hide me in the grave[g]
    and forget me there until your anger has passed.
    But mark your calendar to think of me again!
14 Can the dead live again?
    If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
    and I would eagerly await the release of death.
15 You would call and I would answer,
    and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
16 For then you would guard my steps,
    instead of watching for my sins.
17 My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
    and you would cover my guilt.

18 “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble
    and as rocks fall from a cliff,
19 as water wears away the stones
    and floods wash away the soil,
    so you destroy people’s hope.
20 You always overpower them, and they pass from the scene.
    You disfigure them in death and send them away.
21 They never know if their children grow up in honor
    or sink to insignificance.
22 They suffer painfully;
    their life is full of trouble.”

Eliphaz’s Second Response to Job

15 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

“A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk!
    You are nothing but a windbag.
The wise don’t engage in empty chatter.
    What good are such words?
Have you no fear of God,
    no reverence for him?
Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.
    Your words are based on clever deception.
Your own mouth condemns you, not I.
    Your own lips testify against you.

“Were you the first person ever born?
    Were you born before the hills were made?
Were you listening at God’s secret council?
    Do you have a monopoly on wisdom?
What do you know that we don’t?
    What do you understand that we do not?
10 On our side are aged, gray-haired men
    much older than your father!

11 “Is God’s comfort too little for you?
    Is his gentle word not enough?
12 What has taken away your reason?
    What has weakened your vision,[h]
13 that you turn against God
    and say all these evil things?
14 Can any mortal be pure?
    Can anyone born of a woman be just?
15 Look, God does not even trust the angels.[i]
    Even the heavens are not absolutely pure in his sight.
16 How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person
    with a thirst for wickedness!

17 “If you will listen, I will show you.
    I will answer you from my own experience.
18 And it is confirmed by the reports of wise men
    who have heard the same thing from their fathers—
19 from those to whom the land was given
    long before any foreigners arrived.

20 “The wicked writhe in pain throughout their lives.
    Years of trouble are stored up for the ruthless.
21 The sound of terror rings in their ears,
    and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.
22 They dare not go out into the darkness
    for fear they will be murdered.
23 They wander around, saying, ‘Where can I find bread?’[j]
    They know their day of destruction is near.
24 That dark day terrifies them.
    They live in distress and anguish,
    like a king preparing for battle.
25 For they shake their fists at God,
    defying the Almighty.
26 Holding their strong shields,
    they defiantly charge against him.

27 “These wicked people are heavy and prosperous;
    their waists bulge with fat.
28 But their cities will be ruined.
    They will live in abandoned houses
    that are ready to tumble down.
29 Their riches will not last,
    and their wealth will not endure.
    Their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.

30 “They will not escape the darkness.
    The burning sun will wither their shoots,
    and the breath of God will destroy them.
31 Let them no longer fool themselves by trusting in empty riches,
    for emptiness will be their only reward.
32 They will be cut down in the prime of life;
    their branches will never again be green.
33 They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested too early,
    like an olive tree that loses its blossoms before the fruit can form.
34 For the godless are barren.
    Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.
35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
    Their womb produces deceit.”

Footnotes

  1. 11:8 Hebrew than Sheol.
  2. 11:12 Or than a wild male donkey can bear a tame colt.
  3. 12:6 Or safety—those who try to manipulate God. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  4. 12:9 Hebrew that this.
  5. 13:14 Hebrew Why should I take my flesh in my teeth.
  6. 13:15 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads God might kill me, but I hope in him.
  7. 14:13 Hebrew in Sheol.
  8. 15:12 Or Why do your eyes flash with anger; Hebrew reads Why do your eyes blink.
  9. 15:15 Hebrew the holy ones.
  10. 15:23 Greek version reads He is appointed to be food for a vulture.

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