Old/New Testament
11 Finally, Job’s third friend, Zophar the Naamathite, spoke to Job.
2 Zophar: Shall such a great volume of words remain unanswered
and a long-winded man be so easily acquitted?
3 Shall your empty prattle silence people,
and when you mock, shall no one shame you?
4 You’ve told us, “I have a clear understanding of things,
and I am innocent in Your eyes, O Lord.”
5 Ah, but I wish God would speak,
that He would address you openly, so I will argue for Him.
6 I wish He would show you the secrets of great wisdom—
for the two sides of sound wisdom are both found in His mercy and justice.
Know this: God forgets some of your guilt.
7 Can you see to the unseen side of God,
or explore the limits of the Highest One’s[a] knowledge?
8 Higher than the heavens—what can you do to reach it?
Deeper than the realm of the dead—what can you know of it?
9 Its farthest reaches exceed the ends of the earth;
its breadth spans far beyond the sea.
10 If He passes by, as is His routine, and throws you into prison,
and calls you to testify about what you’ve done, who can challenge Him?
11 He recognizes worthless people without integrity,
so do you really think when He sees wrongdoing He doesn’t examine it?
12 As they say, “The empty-headed will become clever
in the day the colt of a wild donkey is born human!”
13 If you will focus your intentions in His direction
and open your hands and reach for Him,
14 Where you have guilt on your hands,
if you will send it far away and not tolerate sin in your tents,
15 Then you will lift up a face clean of all stains;
you will hold your head high, secure, and free of fear.
16 You will forget all of these troubles of yours;
they will pass beneath your memory like a drop of water that has just flowed away.
17 Life will become brighter than high noon;
darkness will give way to morning.
18 Once again, you’ll trust in the presence of hope;
you’ll scan the horizon and sleep safely.
19 You will lie down, and no one will terrorize you,
and many will long to be in your good graces.
20 But the eyes of the wicked will grow dark as they lose hope;
they’ll find no escape, and in despair,
they’ll long only to breathe their last dying breath.
Throughout the book, Job has very little to cling to besides a hope for the end of his current suffering. Each of his three friends expounds on hope, drawing three similar but increasingly brutal conclusions. Eliphaz realizes Job is basically a righteous man, so he encourages Job to take hope in the person he already is; somehow his own righteousness will manage to save him. Bildad adds to Eliphaz’s conclusion, claiming that wicked men cannot hope; they are left with only despair. Zophar, the most unabashedly honest of the three men, believes hope exists only for the righteous; and since Job is obviously a sinful man, he is hopeless until he changes. Fortunately, all three “wise” men are ultimately wrong. Hope is a product of trusting God and is not based on anyone’s actions, wicked or otherwise.
12 In responding to his friends’ collective accusation of his guilt, Job finally spoke.
2 Job (sarcastically to his friends): Surely, surely, my discerning friends, you are the ones!
And when you pass away, the sum total of all wisdom will perish from the earth.
3 I have a mind as good as yours.
Don’t think I am so far beneath you!
After all, who doesn’t know all about these things?
Who isn’t acquainted with the pedestrian platitudes you’ve trotted out?
4 As for me—the one who called upon God and whom God answered—
now, I am pitiful, laughable, a just and upright joke.
5 Those who have it easy may easily scorn the unfortunate;
they have their contempt already prepared for those whose feet slip.
6 Ironically, there is peace inside the tents of the raiders,
and those who upset God seem to live safe and secure;
They carry their gods around in their hands.
7 However, call on the animals to teach you;
the birds that sail through the air are not afraid to tell you the truth.
8 Engage the earth in conversation; it’s happy to share what it knows.
Even the fish of the sea are wise enough to explain it to you.
9 In fact, which part of creation isn’t aware,
which doesn’t know the Eternal’s hand has done this?
10 His hand cradles the life of every creature on the face of the earth;
His breath fills the nostrils of humans everywhere.
11 Listen! Aren’t we made to be discriminating:
our ears testing wisdom, our mouths tasting food?
Shouldn’t wisdom come with old age? Not necessarily. Only God has wisdom; we merely fool ourselves into thinking we are wise.
12 But you tell me, “With age comes wisdom,
and a long life grants understanding.”
13 With God is the sum total of all wisdom and of all power;
His is the greatest of plans and the deepest of comprehensions.
14 So, then, what God tears down cannot be built back up;
the man He shuts up cannot be released.
15 If God withholds the rains and stops the streams from flowing, the earth suffers drought;
if He unleashes too much, the lands are ravaged by flood.
16 He is strong, and sound wisdom belongs to Him:
whether one deceives or is deceived, he is under God’s control.
17 He leads the counselors off as captives, barefoot and stripped;
He makes a mockery of judges.
18 He strips off the royal sashes of kings
and ties them at the waist, making them slaves as well.
19 He leads the priests away barefoot
and defeats the long-incumbent men of power.
20 He robs trusted advisors of speech;
He steals discretion from elders.
21 He heaps contempt on rulers,
and loosens the bind of alliances among world powers.
22 Aspects of His deep wisdom that were hidden away,
He shows in plain sight;
darkness is brought into the light.
23 He builds the strength of nations, only to crush them—
increases their population across the earth, only to scatter them again.
24 He divests each nation’s leaders of understanding,
and causes them to wander aimlessly with nowhere to go,
25 Until finally they grope in the dark, the light having departed,
and He lets them stumble and stagger like drunks.
13 Job: Look. I’ve seen it all with my eyes,
heard and understood it with my ears.
2 What you know, I know, too;
don’t think I am so far beneath you!
3 Let our differences be clear; I am ready to speak to the Highest One,[b]
eagerly wanting to argue my case with God.
4 But you! You smear me with lies as if to help,
but as healers you are worthless.
5 Would that you were totally silent.
At least that would make you seem wise.
6 Please, just listen while I reason this out;
lean in to hear how my lips will plead.
7 Will you try to defend God’s cause by telling lies?
Be deceitful on His behalf?
8 Will you show partiality for Him?
Argue on His behalf?
9 How would you fare
if He searched your soul?
Do you think you might deceive Him
as you would any other person?
10 No. He would bring charges against you
even if you secretly show partiality.
11 Aren’t you horrified at the weight of His majesty?
Isn’t the dread of Him enough to drop you where you stand?
12 All your quoted proverbs turn to ash;
your clever comebacks crumble like brittle towers of clay.
Job will take his chances before God. He still trusts Him, even if God chooses to take his life.
13 So keep your mouths shut around me, and let me speak to God.
And whatever may come, let it come.
14 Why should I lay my body at the mercy of the words of my own mouth
or risk my life with only my own hands to defend me?
15 Look, He may well kill me,
but I will hope in Him.
Still I will be ready to argue my case before His very face.
16 In fact, this will become my salvation,
for the godless wouldn’t even dare to approach Him.
17 So then here is my account. Listen carefully!
Give me a chance to share my side of the story with you.
18 My case is prepared, and I am confident
I will be found righteous.
19 And yet who will meet me in court to argue the other side?
If I am out-argued, then I will stay mute until I die.
20 Lord, I ask only two concessions in this case;
if You grant them, I will not hide from Your face.
21 First, remove Your damaging hand from me;
second don’t intimidate me anymore with your terrifying presence.
22 Then send me Your summons, and I will reply,
or better yet, I will speak first and then You answer me.
23 How many counts do You have against me?
How many sins must I account for?
Spell out the nature of Your indictment against my rebellious ways.
24 Why do You hide Your face from me;
why is my name now “nemesis”[c] to You?
25 Would You waste Your energy to terrify a windblown leaf,
or chase down the dry chaff as it tumbles in the breeze?
26 For I see bitter accusations against me written in Your own hand;
You call me to account for the guilt of my youth.
27 You fasten shackles at my ankles but still keep close watch on where I walk,
marking the places where my feet may plant themselves.
28 This is how a person wastes away to nothing,
like something rotten, like moth-eaten clothing.
9 Back to Saul—this fuming, raging, hateful man who wanted to kill every last one of the Lord’s disciples: he went to the high priest in Jerusalem 2 for authorization to purge all the synagogues in Damascus of followers of the way of Jesus.[a] His plan was to arrest and chain any of Jesus’ followers—women as well as men—and transport them back to Jerusalem. 3 He traveled north toward Damascus with a group of companions.
Imagine this: Suddenly a light flashes from the sky around Saul, 4 and he falls to the ground at the sound of a voice.
The Lord: Saul, Saul, why are you attacking Me?
Saul: 5 Lord, who are You?
Then he hears these words:
The Lord: I am Jesus. I am the One you are attacking. 6 Get up. Enter the city. You will learn there what you are to do.
These are shocking, unexpected words that will change his life forever.
7 His other traveling companions just stand there, paralyzed, speechless because they, too, heard the voice; but there is nobody in sight. 8 Saul rises to his feet, his eyes wide open, but he can’t see a thing. So his companions lead their blind friend by the hand and take him into Damascus. 9 He waits for three days—completely blind—and does not eat a bite or drink a drop of anything.
10 Meanwhile, in Damascus a disciple named Ananias had a vision in which the Lord Jesus spoke to him.
The Lord: Ananias.
Ananias: Here I am, Lord.
The Lord: 11 Get up and go to Straight Boulevard. Go to the house of Judas, and inquire about a man from Tarsus, Saul by name. He is praying to Me at this very instant. 12 He has had a vision—a vision of a man by your name who will come, lay hands on him, and heal his eyesight.
Ananias: 13 Lord, I know whom You’re talking about. I’ve heard rumors about this fellow. He’s an evil man and has caused great harm for Your special people in Jerusalem. 14 I’ve heard that he has been authorized by the religious authorities to come here and chain everyone who associates with Your name.
The Lord: 15 Yes, but you must go! I have chosen him to be My instrument to bring My name far and wide—to outsiders, to kings, and to the people of Israel as well. 16 I have much to show him, including how much he must suffer for My name.
17 So Ananias went and entered the house where Saul was staying. He laid his hands on Saul and called to him.
Ananias: Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, sent me so you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
18 At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see. So he got up, received the ceremonial washing of baptism[b] identifying him as a disciple, 19 ate some food (remember, he had not eaten for three days), and regained his strength. He spent a lot of time with the disciples in Damascus over the next several days. 20 Then he went into the very synagogues he had intended to purge, proclaiming,
Saul: Jesus is God’s Son!
21 Obviously this amazed everybody, and the buzz spread.
The People: Isn’t he the man who caused so much trouble in Jerusalem for everyone identified with Jesus? Didn’t he come here to arrest followers of Jesus and bring them in chains to the religious authorities? Now he’s switched sides and is preaching Jesus?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.