Job 11

Good News Translation

11 ^1-2Will no one answer all this nonsense?
    Does talking so much put you in the right?
³Job, do you think we can't answer you?
    That your mocking words will leave us speechless?
⁴You claim that what you say is true;
    you claim you are pure in the sight of God.
⁵How I wish God would answer you!
⁶He would tell you there are many sides to wisdom;
    there are things too deep for human knowledge.
God is punishing you less than you deserve.

⁷Can you discover the limits and bounds
    of the greatness and power of God?
⁸The sky is no limit for God,
    but it lies beyond your reach.
God knows the world of the dead,
    but you do not know it.
⁹God's greatness is broader than the earth,
    wider than the sea.
¹⁰If God arrests you and brings you to trial,
    who is there to stop him?
¹¹God knows which people are worthless;
    he sees all their evil deeds.
¹²Stupid people will start being wise
    when wild donkeys are born tame.

¹³Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God.
¹⁴Put away evil and wrong from your home.
¹⁵Then face the world again, firm and courageous.
¹⁶Then all your troubles will fade from your memory,
    like floods that are past and remembered no more.
¹⁷Your life will be brighter than sunshine at noon,
    and life's darkest hours will shine like the dawn.
¹⁸You will live secure and full of hope;
    God will protect you and give you rest.
¹⁹You won't be afraid of your enemies;
    many people will ask you for help.
²⁰But the wicked will look around in despair
    and find that there is no way to escape.
Their one hope is that death will come.