Beginning
Zophar Speaks: Job Is Guilty
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
2 “Should not the multitude of words be answered?
And should a man full of talk be justified?
3 Should your empty talk make men hold their peace?
And when you mock, will no one shame you?
4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is pure,
And I am clean in your eyes.’
5 But oh, that God would speak
and open His lips against you,
6 and that He would show you the secrets of wisdom!
For they would double your prudence.
And know that God overlooks some of your iniquity.
7 “Can you search out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the totality of the Almighty?
8 It is as high as heaven; 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 passes through, and shuts up, and gathers together for judgment,
then who can hinder Him?
11 For He knows worthless men;
He sees wickedness also; will He not then consider it?
12 For an empty-headed man will become wise,
when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.
13 “If you prepare your heart
and stretch out your hands toward Him;
14 if iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,
and do not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
15 for then you will lift up your face without blemish;
yes, you will be steadfast and will not fear,
16 because you will forget misery,
and remember it as waters that pass away,
17 and your life will be brighter than noonday,
even your darkness will be as the morning.
18 You will trust because there is hope;
yes, you will search about you,
and you will look around and rest in safety.
19 Also you will lie down, and none will make you afraid;
yes, many will court your favor.
20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and they will not escape,
and their hope will be as the giving up of breath.”
Job Replies
12 And Job answered:
2 “No doubt but you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Yes, who does not know such things as these?
4 “I am a laughingstock to my neighbor,
who calls upon God, and He answers him;
the righteous, upright man is a laughingstock.
5 He whose foot is unsteady
is despised in the thoughts of him who is at ease.
6 The tents of robbers are at peace,
and those who provoke God are secure,
into whose hand they bring their own god.
7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you;
and the birds of the air, and let them tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, let it teach you;
and let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 in whose hand is the soul of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind?
11 Does not the ear test words
and the mouth taste its food?
12 Wisdom is with the elderly,
and understanding comes with long life.
13 “With Him are wisdom and strength;
He has counsel and understanding.
14 Surely, He tears down, and it cannot be built again;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
15 Surely, He withholds the waters, and they dry up;
also He sends them out, and they overthrow the earth.
16 With Him are strength and wisdom.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.
18 He has loosened the bonds imposed by kings
and bound their waist with a belt.
19 He leads away priests stripped
and overthrows the mighty.
20 He removes speech from the trusted ones
and takes away the understanding of the aged.
21 He pours contempt upon princes
and loosens the belt of the mighty.
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness
and brings the shadow of death to light.
23 He increases the nations and destroys them;
He enlarges the nations and guides them.
24 He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth,
and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
25 They grope in the dark without light,
and He makes them to stagger like a drunk man.
13 “Notice, my eye has seen all this;
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know the same;
I am not inferior to you.
3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to reason with God.
4 But you are plasterers of falsehood;
you are all physicians of no value.
5 Oh, that you would altogether hold your peace,
and it would be your wisdom!
6 Hear now my reasoning,
and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7 Will you speak wickedly for God?
And talk deceitfully for Him?
8 Will you take His side?
Will you plead for God?
9 Is it good that He would search you out?
Or as one man mocks another, do you so mock Him?
10 He will surely rebuke you,
if you secretly show partiality.
11 Will not His excellence make you afraid,
and the dread of Him fall upon you?
12 Your reminders are parables made of ashes;
your answers are answers made of clay.
13 “Hold your peace; leave me alone, that I may speak,
and let come on me what may!
14 Why do I take my flesh in my teeth
and put my life in my hand?
15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,[a]
but I will defend my own ways before Him.
16 He also will be my salvation,
for a hypocrite could not come before Him.
17 Listen carefully to my speech,
and to my declaration with your ears.
18 See now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I will be justified.
19 Who is he who will plead with me?
For now, if I hold my tongue, I will give up my breath.
20 “Only grant me two things,
then I will not hide myself from You:
21 Withdraw Your hand far from me,
and let not the dread of You make me afraid.
22 Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and You answer me.
23 How many are my iniquities and sins?
Make known to me my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do You hide Your face
and regard me as Your enemy?
25 Will You frighten a leaf driven to and fro?
And will You pursue dry stubble?
26 For You write bitter things against me
and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
27 You put my feet in the stocks
and watch closely all my paths;
You draw a line around the soles of my feet.
28 “Man, as a rotten thing, decays,
as a garment that is moth eaten.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.