Job 11

Zophar

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

² “Are all these words to go unanswered?
Is this talker to be vindicated?

³ Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?

⁴ You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.’

⁵ Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you

⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

⁷ “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

⁸ They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave ^[a]—what can you know?

⁹ Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.

¹⁰ “If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

¹¹ Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

¹² But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey’s colt can be born a man. ^[b]

¹³ “Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

¹⁴ if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

¹⁵ then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

¹⁶ You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

¹⁷ Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

¹⁸ You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹ You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp.”

Job 12

Job

¹Then Job replied:

² “Doubtless you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!

³ But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?

⁴ “I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
though I called upon God and he answered—
a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!

⁵ Men at ease have contempt for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁶ The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
and those who provoke God are secure—
those who carry their god in their hands. ^[c]

⁷ “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

⁸ or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.

⁹ Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?

¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹ Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?

¹² Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?

¹³ “To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.

¹⁴ What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
the man he imprisons cannot be released.

¹⁵ If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

¹⁶ To him belong strength and victory;
both deceived and deceiver are his.

¹⁷ He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges.

¹⁸ He takes off the shackles put on by kings
and ties a loincloth ^[d]around their waist.

¹⁹ He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows men long established.

²⁰ He silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.

²¹ He pours contempt on nobles
and disarms the mighty.

²² He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings deep shadows into the light.

²³ He makes nations great, and destroys them;
he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

²⁴ He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
he sends them wandering through a trackless waste.

²⁵ They grope in darkness with no light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.