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Zophar Accuses Job

11 Zophar from Naamath had this to say:

“Shouldn’t a multitude of words be answered,
    or a person who talks too much[a] be vindicated?
Will your irrational babble silence people,
    and when you mock them,
        will you escape without being shamed?[b]
You’ve said, ‘My teaching is flawless;
    I’m clean[c] in God’s[d] sight.’

“But what if God were to speak?
    What if he were[e] to talk[f] with you,
and disclose his wise secrets?
After all, there’s so much more[g] to understanding.
    So be aware that God will exact from you
        less than your sin deserves.”

God’s Wisdom is Unfathomable

“Can you search through God’s complex things?
    Can you uncover the limits of the Almighty?
These things are higher than the heavens,
    so what can you do?
They are deeper than Sheol,[h]
    so what can you know?
They are longer than the earth’s circumference,[i]
    and broader than the ocean.

10 “If he bypasses, or imprisons, or convenes a court,[j]
    who can stop[k] him?
11 For he knows mankind’s[l] deceitfulness;
    when he sees iniquity, won’t he himself consider it?
12 An empty-headed person will gain understanding
    when a wild donkey is born a human being!”

Zophar Counsels Job to Repent

13 “Now for you, if you will prepare your heart,
    spread out your hands to him.
14 If you have any iniquity, throw it far away.
    Don’t let evil[m] live in your residence.[n]
15 Then your confidence will be flawless,
    and your security will keep you from terror.
16 You’ll forget your suffering;
    you’ll remember it like water that has evaporated.[o]
17 Your life will be brighter than noonday.
    Even its darkness will be like dawn.
18 You’ll be secure, because there is hope;
    you’ll see that you’re at rest and safe.
19 When you sleep, there’ll be nothing to fear;
    and many will court your favor.[p]
20 But what the wicked look for will fail;
    their way of escape will be taken away[q] from them;
        their only hope is to take their final breath.”[r]

Footnotes

  1. Job 11:2 Or a talker
  2. Job 11:3 MT has without being humiliated
  3. Job 11:4 Or pure
  4. Job 11:4 Lit. your
  5. Job 11:5 The Heb. lacks What if he were
  6. Job 11:5 Lit. open his lips against
  7. Job 11:6 Lit. double
  8. Job 11:8 I.e. the place where the dead are in the afterlife
  9. Job 11:9 Lit. measure
  10. Job 11:10 The Heb. lacks a court
  11. Job 11:10 Or repel
  12. Job 11:11 Lit. men
  13. Job 11:14 Or wrong
  14. Job 11:14 Lit. tents
  15. Job 11:16 Or has flowed past
  16. Job 11:19 Lit. face
  17. Job 11:20 Lit. destroyed
  18. Job 11:20 Lit. is to breathe out their soul