Zophar
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 “Are all these words to go unanswered?(B)
Is this talker to be vindicated?(C)
3 Will your idle talk(D) reduce others to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?(E)
4 You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless(F)
and I am pure(G) in your sight.’
5 Oh, how I wish that God would speak,(H)
that he would open his lips against you
6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,(I)
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.(J)
7 “Can you fathom(K) the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher(L) than the heavens(M) above—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths below(N)—what can you know?(O)
9 Their measure(P) is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.(Q)
10 “If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?(R)
11 Surely he recognizes deceivers;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?(S)
12 But the witless can no more become wise
than a wild donkey’s colt(T) can be born human.[a](U)
13 “Yet if you devote your heart(V) to him
and stretch out your hands(W) to him,(X)
14 if you put away(Y) the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil(Z) to dwell in your tent,(AA)
15 then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;(AB)
you will stand firm(AC) and without fear.(AD)
16 You will surely forget your trouble,(AE)
recalling it only as waters gone by.(AF)
17 Life will be brighter than noonday,(AG)
and darkness will become like morning.(AH)
18 You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest(AI) in safety.(AJ)
19 You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,(AK)
and many will court your favor.(AL)
20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,(AM)
and escape will elude them;(AN)
their hope will become a dying gasp.”(AO)
Footnotes
- Job 11:12 Or wild donkey can be born tame
Cross references
- Job 11:1 : S Job 2:11
- Job 11:2 : S Job 8:2; S 16:3
- Job 11:2 : S Ge 41:6; S Job 6:29
- Job 11:3 : Eph 4:29; 5:4
- Job 11:3 : Job 12:4; 16:10; 17:2; 21:3; 30:1; Ps 1:1
- Job 11:4 : Job 9:21
- Job 11:4 : S Job 10:7
- Job 11:5 : Ex 20:19; Job 23:5; 32:13; 38:1
- Job 11:6 : S Job 9:4; 1Co 2:10
- Job 11:6 : S Ezr 9:13; S Job 15:5
- Job 11:7 : S Job 5:9; Ecc 3:11
- Job 11:8 : Eph 3:18
- Job 11:8 : S Ge 15:5; Job 22:12; 25:2; Ps 57:10; Isa 55:9
- Job 11:8 : S Job 7:9
- Job 11:8 : Job 15:13, 25; 33:13; 40:2; Ps 139:8
- Job 11:9 : Eph 3:19-20
- Job 11:9 : Job 22:12; 35:5; 36:26; 37:5, 23; Isa 40:26
- Job 11:10 : S Job 9:12; Rev 3:7
- Job 11:11 : S Job 10:4; 31:37; 34:11, 25; 36:7; Ps 10:14
- Job 11:12 : S Ge 16:12
- Job 11:12 : S 2Ch 6:36
- Job 11:13 : 1Sa 7:3; Ps 78:8
- Job 11:13 : S Ex 9:29
- Job 11:13 : S Job 5:8, 27
- Job 11:14 : S Jos 24:14
- Job 11:14 : Ps 101:4
- Job 11:14 : Job 22:23
- Job 11:15 : Job 22:26
- Job 11:15 : S 1Sa 2:9; Ps 20:8; 37:23; 40:2; 119:5; Eph 6:14
- Job 11:15 : S Ge 4:7; S Ps 3:6
- Job 11:16 : Isa 26:16; 37:3; 65:16
- Job 11:16 : Jos 7:5; Job 22:11; Ps 58:7; 112:10; Eze 21:7
- Job 11:17 : Job 22:28; Ps 37:6; Isa 58:8, 10; 62:1
- Job 11:17 : Job 17:12; 18:6; 29:3; Ps 18:28; 112:4; 119:105; Isa 5:20; Jn 8:12
- Job 11:18 : Ps 3:5; 4:8; 127:2; Ecc 5:12
- Job 11:18 : S Lev 26:6; Pr 3:24; Isa 11:10; 14:3; 28:12; 30:15; 32:18; Zec 3:10
- Job 11:19 : S Lev 26:6
- Job 11:19 : Isa 45:14
- Job 11:20 : Dt 28:65; Job 17:5
- Job 11:20 : Job 12:10; 18:18; 27:22; 34:22; 36:6; Ps 139:11-12; Jer 11:11; 23:24; 25:35; Am 2:14; 9:2-3
- Job 11:20 : S Job 8:13