Job 11–13

11Will no one answer all this nonsense?

Does talking so much put you in the right?

³Job, do you think we can’t answer you?

That your mocking words will leave us speechless?

⁴You claim that what you say is true;

you claim you are pure in the sight of God.

⁵How I wish God would answer you!

⁶He 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.

⁷Can you discover the limits and bounds

of the greatness and power of God?

⁸The 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.

⁹God’s greatness is broader than the earth,

wider than the sea.

¹⁰If God arrests you and brings you to trial,

who is there to stop him?

¹¹God knows which people are worthless;

he sees all their evil deeds.

¹²Stupid people will start being wise

when wild donkeys are born tame.

¹³Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God.

¹⁴Put away evil and wrong from your home.

¹⁵Then face the world again, firm and courageous.

¹⁶Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,

like floods that are past and remembered no more.

¹⁷Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,

and life’s darkest hours will shine like the dawn.

¹⁸You will live secure and full of hope;

God will protect you and give you rest.

¹⁹You won’t be afraid of your enemies;

many people will ask you for help.

²⁰But the wicked will look round in despair

and find that there is no way to escape.

Their one hope is that death will come.

12Yes, you are the voice of the people.

When you die, wisdom will die with you.

³But I have as much sense as you have;

I am in no way inferior to you;

everyone knows all that you have said.

⁴Even my friends laugh at me now;

they laugh, although I am righteous and blameless;

but there was a time when God answered my prayers.

⁵You have no troubles, and yet you make fun of me;

you hit someone who is about to fall.

⁶But thieves and godless people live in peace,

though their only god is their own strength.

⁷Even birds and animals have much they could teach you;

⁸ask the creatures of earth and sea for their wisdom.

⁹All of them know that the Lord’s hand made them.

¹⁰It is God who directs the lives of his creatures;

everyone’s life is in his power.

¹¹But just as your tongue enjoys tasting food, your ears enjoy hearing words.

^12–13Old people have wisdom,

but God has wisdom and power.

Old people have insight;

God has insight and power to act.

¹⁴When God tears down, who can rebuild,

and who can free those God imprisons?

¹⁵Drought comes when God withholds rain;

floods come when he turns water loose.

¹⁶God is strong and always victorious;

both deceived and deceiver are in his power.

¹⁷He takes away the wisdom of rulers

and makes leaders act like fools.

¹⁸He dethrones kings and makes them prisoners;

¹⁹he humbles priests and men of power.

²⁰He silences those who are trusted,

and takes the wisdom of old people away.

²¹He disgraces those in power

and puts an end to the strength of rulers.

²²He sends light to places dark as death.

²³He makes nations strong and great,

but then he defeats and destroys them.

²⁴He makes their leaders foolish

and lets them wander confused and lost;

²⁵they grope in the dark and stagger like drunkards.

13Everything you say, I have heard before.

I understand it all; I know as much as you do.

I’m not your inferior.

³But my dispute is with God, not you;

I want to argue my case with him.

⁴You cover up your ignorance with lies;

you are like doctors who can’t heal anyone.

⁵Say nothing, and someone may think you are wise!

⁶Listen while I state my case.

⁷Why are you lying? Do you think your lies will benefit God?

⁸Are you trying to defend him?

Are you going to argue his case in court?

⁹If God looks at you closely, will he find anything good?

Do you think you can fool God as you fool others?

¹⁰Even though your prejudice is hidden,

he will reprimand you,

¹¹and his power will fill you with terror.

¹²Your proverbs are as useless as ashes;

your arguments crumble like clay.

¹³Be quiet and give me a chance to speak,

and let the results be what they will.

¹⁴I am^z ready to risk my life.

¹⁵I’ve lost all hope, so what if God kills me?

I am going to state my case to him.

¹⁶It may even be that my boldness will save me,

since no wicked person would dare to face God.

¹⁷Now listen to my words of explanation.

¹⁸I am ready to state my case,

because I know I am in the right.

¹⁹Are you coming to accuse me, God?

If you do, I am ready to be silent and die.

²⁰Let me ask for two things; agree to them,

and I will not try to hide from you;

²¹stop punishing me, and don’t crush me with terror.

²²Speak first, O God, and I will answer.

Or let me speak, and you answer me.

²³What are my sins? What wrongs have I done?

What crimes am I charged with?

²⁴Why do you avoid me?

Why do you treat me like an enemy?

²⁵Are you trying to frighten me? I’m nothing but a leaf;

you are attacking a piece of dry straw.

²⁶You bring bitter charges against me,

even for what I did when I was young.

^27*You bind chains on my feet;

you watch every step I take,

and even examine my footprints.

²⁸As a result, I crumble like rotten wood,

like a moth-eaten coat.