NIV

Job 11

1<pb/>Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2<pb/><t>“Are all these words to go unanswered?</t> <t>Is this talker to be vindicated?</t>
3<t>Will your idle talk reduce others to silence?</t> <t>Will no one rebuke you when you mock?</t>
4<t>You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless</t> <t>and I am pure in your sight.’</t>
5<t>Oh, how I wish that God would speak,</t> <t>that he would open his lips against you</t>
6<t>and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,</t> <t>for true wisdom has two sides.</t> <t>Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin. <pb/></t>
7<t>“Can you fathom the mysteries of God?</t> <t>Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?</t>
8<t>They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?</t> <t>They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?</t>
9<t>Their measure is longer than the earth</t> <t>and wider than the sea. <pb/></t>
10<t>“If he comes along and confines you in prison</t> <t>and convenes a court, who can oppose him?</t>
11<t>Surely he recognizes deceivers;</t> <t>and when he sees evil, does he not take note?</t>
12<t>But the witless can no more become wise</t> <t>than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.<f>[16]</f> <pb/></t>
13<t>“Yet if you devote your heart to him</t> <t>and stretch out your hands to him,</t>
14<t>if you put away the sin that is in your hand</t> <t>and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,</t>
15<t>then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;</t> <t>you will stand firm and without fear.</t>
16<t>You will surely forget your trouble,</t> <t>recalling it only as waters gone by.</t>
17<t>Life will be brighter than noonday,</t> <t>and darkness will become like morning.</t>
18<t>You will be secure, because there is hope;</t> <t>you will look about you and take your rest in safety.</t>
19<t>You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,</t> <t>and many will court your favor.</t>
20<t>But the eyes of the wicked will fail,</t> <t>and escape will elude them;</t> <t>their hope will become a dying gasp.”</t>