Job 11

Zophar

11Then Zophar the Naamathite^g replied:

²“Are all these words to go unanswered?^h

Is this talker to be vindicated?ⁱ

³Will your idle talk^j reduce others to silence?

Will no one rebuke you when you mock?^k

⁴You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless^l

and I am pure^m in your sight.’

⁵Oh, how I wish that God would speak,ⁿ

that he would open his lips against you

⁶and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,^o

for true wisdom has two sides.

Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.^p

⁷“Can you fathom^q the mysteries of God?

Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher^r than the heavens^s above—what can you do?

They are deeper than the depths below^t—what can you know?^u

⁹Their measure^v is longer than the earth

and wider than the sea.^w

¹⁰“If he comes along and confines you in prison

and convenes a court, who can oppose him?^x

¹¹Surely he recognizes deceivers;

and when he sees evil, does he not take note?^y

¹²But the witless can no more become wise

than a wild donkey’s colt^z can be born human.^aa

¹³“Yet if you devote your heart^b to him

and stretch out your hands^c to him,^d

¹⁴if you put away^e the sin that is in your hand

and allow no evil^f to dwell in your tent,^g

¹⁵then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;^h

you will stand firmⁱ and without fear.^j

¹⁶You will surely forget your trouble,^k

recalling it only as waters gone by.^l

¹⁷Life will be brighter than noonday,^m

and darkness will become like morning.ⁿ

¹⁸You will be secure, because there is hope;

you will look about you and take your rest^o in safety.^p

¹⁹You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,^q

and many will court your favor.^r

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail,^s

and escape will elude them;^t

their hope will become a dying gasp.”^u