Job 11-14

Living Bible

11 Zophar the Naamathite replies to Job:

² “Shouldn’t someone stem this torrent of words? Is a man proved right by all this talk? ³ Should I remain silent while you boast? When you mock God, shouldn’t someone make you ashamed? ⁴ You claim you are pure in the eyes of God! ⁵ Oh, that God would speak and tell you what he thinks! ⁶ Oh, that he would make you truly see yourself, for he knows everything you’ve done. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!

⁷ “Do you know the mind and purposes of God? Will long searching make them known to you? Are you qualified to judge the Almighty? ⁸ He is as faultless as heaven is high—but who are you? His mind is fathomless—what can you know in comparison? ⁹ His Spirit is broader than the earth and wider than the sea. ¹⁰ If he rushes in and makes an arrest, and calls the court to order, who is going to stop him? ¹¹ For he knows perfectly all the faults and sins of mankind; he sees all sin without searching.

¹² “Mere man is as likely to be wise as a wild donkey’s colt is likely to be born a man!

^13-14 “Before you turn to God and stretch out your hands to him, get rid of your sins and leave all iniquity behind you. ¹⁵ Only then, without the spots of sin to defile you, can you walk steadily forward to God without fear. ¹⁶ Only then can you forget your misery. It will all be in the past. ¹⁷ And your life will be cloudless; any darkness will be as bright as morning!

¹⁸ “You will have courage because you will have hope. You will take your time and rest in safety. ¹⁹ You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help. ²⁰ But the wicked shall find no way to escape; their only hope is death.”

12 Job’s reply:

² “Yes, I realize you know everything! All wisdom will die with you! ³ Well, I know a few things myself—you are no better than I am. And who doesn’t know these things you’ve been saying? ⁴ I, the man who begged God for help, and God answered him, have become a laughingstock to my neighbors. Yes, I, a righteous man, am now the man they scoff at. ⁵ Meanwhile, the rich mock those in trouble and are quick to despise all those in need. ⁶ For robbers prosper. Go ahead and provoke God—it makes no difference! He will supply your every need anyway!

^7-9 “Who doesn’t know that the Lord does things like that? Ask the dumbest beast—he knows that it is so; ask the birds—they will tell you; or let the earth teach you, or the fish of the sea. ¹⁰ For the soul of every living thing is in the hand of God, and the breath of all mankind. ¹¹ Just as my mouth can taste good food, so my mind tastes truth when I hear it. ¹² And as you say, older men like me^[a] are wise. They understand. ¹³ But true wisdom and power are God’s. He alone knows what we should do; he understands.

¹⁴ “And how great is his might! What he destroys can’t be rebuilt. When he closes in on a man, there is no escape. ¹⁵ He withholds the rain, and the earth becomes a desert; he sends the storms and floods the ground. ¹⁶ Yes, with him is strength and wisdom. Deceivers and deceived are both his slaves.

¹⁷ “He makes fools of counselors and judges. ¹⁸ He reduces kings to slaves and frees their servants. ¹⁹ Priests are led away as slaves. He overthrows the mighty. ²⁰ He takes away the voice of orators and the insight of the elders. ²¹ He pours contempt upon princes and weakens the strong. ²² He floods the darkness with light, even the dark shadow of death. ²³ He raises up a nation and then destroys it. He makes it great, and then reduces it to nothing. ^24-25 He takes away the understanding of presidents and kings, and leaves them wandering, lost and groping, without a guiding light.

13 “Look, I have seen many instances such as you describe. I understand what you are saying. ² I know as much as you do. I’m not stupid. ³ Oh, how I long to speak directly to the Almighty. I want to talk this over with God himself. ⁴ For you are misinterpreting the whole thing. You are doctors who don’t know what they are doing. ⁵ Oh, please be quiet! That would be your highest wisdom.

⁶ “Listen to me now, to my reasons for what I think and to my pleadings.

⁷ “Must you go on ‘speaking for God’ when he never once has said the things that you are putting in his mouth? ⁸ Does God want your help if you are going to twist the truth for him? ⁹ Be careful that he doesn’t find out what you are doing! Or do you think you can fool God as well as men? ¹⁰ No, you will be in serious trouble with him if you use lies to try to help him out. ¹¹ Doesn’t his majesty strike terror to your heart? How can you do this thing? ¹² These tremendous statements you have made have about as much value as ashes. Your defense of God is as fragile as a clay vase!

¹³ “Be silent now and leave me alone, that I may speak—and I am willing to face the consequences. ¹⁴ Yes, I will take my life in my hand and say what I really think. ¹⁵ God may kill me for saying this—in fact, I expect him to. Nevertheless, I am going to argue my case with him.^{[b] 16} This at least will be in my favor, that I am not godless, to be rejected instantly from his presence. ¹⁷ Listen closely to what I am about to say. Hear me out.

¹⁸ “This is my case: I know that I am righteous. ¹⁹ Who can argue with me over this? If you could prove me wrong, I would stop defending myself and die.

²⁰ “O God, there are two things I beg you not to do to me; only then will I be able to face you. ²¹ Don’t abandon me. And don’t terrify me with your awesome presence. ²² Call to me to come—how quickly I will answer! Or let me speak to you, and you reply. ²³ Tell me, what have I done wrong? Help me! Point out my sin to me. ²⁴ Why do you turn away from me? Why hand me over to my enemy? ²⁵ Would you blame a leaf that is blown about by the wind? Will you chase dry, useless straws?

²⁶ “You write bitter things against me and bring up all the follies of my youth. ^27-28 You send me to prison and shut me in on every side. I am like a fallen, rotten tree, like a moth-eaten coat.

14 “How frail is man, how few his days, how full of trouble! ² He blossoms for a moment like a flower—and withers; as the shadow of a passing cloud, he quickly disappears. ³ Must you be so harsh with frail men and demand an accounting from them? ⁴ How can you demand purity in one born impure? ⁵ You have set mankind so brief a span of life—months is all you give him! Not one bit longer may he live. ⁶ So give him a little rest, won’t you? Turn away your angry gaze and let him have a few moments of relief before he dies.

⁷ “For there is hope for a tree—if it’s cut down, it sprouts again and grows tender, new branches. ^8-9 Though its roots have grown old in the earth, and its stump decays, it may sprout and bud again at the touch of water, like a new seedling. ¹⁰ But when a man dies and is buried, where does his spirit go? ^11-12 As water evaporates from a lake, as a river disappears in drought, so a man lies down for the last time and does not rise again until the heavens are no more; he shall not awaken, nor be roused from his sleep. ¹³ Oh, that you would hide me with the dead and forget me there until your anger ends; but mark your calendar to think of me again!

¹⁴ “If a man dies, shall he live again? This thought gives me hope, so that in all my anguish I eagerly await sweet death! ¹⁵ You would call and I would come, and you would reward all I do. ¹⁶ But now, instead, you give me so few steps upon the stage of life and notice every mistake I make. ¹⁷ You bundle them all together as evidence against me.

^18-19 “Mountains wear away and disappear. Water grinds the stones to sand. Torrents tear away the soil. So every hope of man is worn away. ^20-21 Always you are against him, and then he passes off the scene. You make him old and wrinkled, then send him away. He never knows it if his sons are honored; or they may fail and face disaster, but he knows it not. ²² For him there is only sorrow and pain.”