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Zophar Rebukes Job

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

² "Shall a multitude of words not be answered?
And should a ^(C1)talkative man making such a long-winded defense be acquitted?

³ "Should your boasts and babble silence men?
And shall you ^(C1)scoff and no one put you to shame?

⁴ "For ^(C1)you have said, 'My teaching (doctrine) that God knowingly afflicts the righteous is pure,
And ^(C2)I am innocent in your eyes.' ^(VR1)

⁵ "But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips to speak against you,

⁶ And that He would show you the secrets of wisdom!
For ^(C1)sound wisdom ^(F1)has two sides.
Know therefore that God forgets a part of ^(C2)your wickedness and guilt.

⁷ "^(C1)Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you by searching discover the limits of the Almighty ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection?

⁸ "His wisdom is as ^(C1)high as the heights of heaven. What can you do?
It is deeper than ^(C2)Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). What can you know?

⁹ "It is longer in measure and scope than the earth,
And broader than the sea.

¹⁰ "If God passes by or arrests,
Or calls an assembly of judgment, ^(C1)who can restrain Him?
If He is against a man, who can call Him to account for it?

¹¹ "For ^(C1)He recognizes and knows false and worthless men,
And He ^(C2)sees wickedness, will He not consider it?

¹² "But ^(C1)a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise
Only when the ^(F1)(C2)colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.

¹³ "^(C1)If you direct your ^(C2)heart on the right path
And ^(C3)stretch out your hands to Him,

¹⁴ If sin is in your hand, put it ^(C1)far away from you,
And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

¹⁵ Then, indeed, you could ^(C1)lift up your face to Him without moral defect,
And you would be firmly established and secure and ^(C2)not fear.

¹⁶ "For you would ^(C1)forget your trouble;
You would remember it as ^(C2)waters that have passed by.

¹⁷ "And your ^(F1)life would be ^(C1)brighter than the noonday;
Darkness then would be like the morning.

¹⁸ "Then you would trust with confidence, because there is hope;
You would look around you and rest securely.

¹⁹ "You would ^(C1)lie down with no one to frighten you,
And many would ^(C2)entreat and seek your favor.

²⁰ "But the ^(C1)eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they will ^(C2)not escape the justice of God;
And their ^(C3)hope is ^(C4)to breathe their last and die."