Job 11-12

Job 11

¹Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

²“Should this stream of words go unanswered and such a speaker be vindicated?

³Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke?

⁴You have said, ‘My doctrine is sound, and I am pure in Your sight.’

⁵But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,

⁶and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

⁷Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

⁸They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

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

¹⁰If He comes along to imprison you, or convenes a court, who can stop Him?

¹¹Surely He knows the deceit of men. If He sees iniquity, does He not take note?

¹²But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

¹³As for you, if you direct your heart and lift up your hands to Him,

¹⁴if you put away the iniquity in your hand, and allow no injustice to dwell in your tents,

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

¹⁶For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.

¹⁷Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.

¹⁸You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.

¹⁹You will lie down without fear, and many will court your favor.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; they will hope for their last breath.”

Job 12

¹Then Job answered:

²“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!

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

⁴I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

⁵The one at ease scorns misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.

⁶The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure— those who carry their god in their hands.

⁷But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.

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

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

¹⁰The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.

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

¹²Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.

¹³Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are His.

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

¹⁵If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.

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

¹⁸He loosens the bonds placed by kings and fastens a belt around their waists.

¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot and overthrows the established.

²⁰He deprives the trusted of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.

²¹He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.

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

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

²⁴He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.

²⁵They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.