Job 11-12

Job 11

¹Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,

²Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified?

³Should thy boastings make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

⁴For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes.

⁵But Oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

⁶And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that is manifold in effectual working! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

⁷Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?

⁸It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know?

⁹The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.

¹⁰If he pass through, and shut up, and call unto judgment, then who can hinder him?

¹¹For he knoweth vain men: he seeth iniquity also, even though he consider it not.

¹²But vain man is void of understanding, yea, man is born as a wild ass’s colt.

¹³If thou set thine heart aright, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

¹⁴If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not unrighteousness dwell in thy tents;

¹⁵Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

¹⁶For thou shalt forget thy misery; thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away:

¹⁷And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday; though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.

¹⁸And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt search about thee, and shalt take thy rest in safety.

¹⁹Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee.

²⁰But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall have no way to flee, and their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.

Job 12

¹Then Job answered and said,

²No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

³But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

⁴I am as one that is a laughing-stock to his neighbour, a man that called upon God, and he answered him: the just, the perfect man is a laughing-stock.

⁵In the thought of him that is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for them whose foot slippeth.

⁶The tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

⁷But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

⁸Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

⁹Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of LORD hath wrought this?

¹⁰In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

¹¹Doth not the ear try words, even as the palate tasteth its meat?

¹²With aged men is wisdom, and in length of days understanding.

¹³With him is wisdom and might; he hath counsel and understanding.

¹⁴Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

¹⁵Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up; again, he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

¹⁶With him is strength and effectual working; the deceived and the deceiver are his.

¹⁷He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and judges maketh he fools.

¹⁸He looseth the bond of kings, and bindeth their loins with a girdle.

¹⁹He leadeth priests away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.

²⁰He removeth the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the elders.

²¹He poureth contempt upon princes, and looseth the belt of the strong.

²²He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.

²³He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he spreadeth the nations abroad, and bringeth them in.

²⁴He taketh away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.

²⁵They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.