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Zophar

¹ Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

² "Are all these words to go unanswered?
Is this talker to be vindicated?

³ Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?

⁴ You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.'

⁵ Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you

⁶ and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.

⁷ "Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

⁸ They are higher than the heavens-what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave ^(F20) -what can you know?

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

¹⁰ "If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?

¹¹ Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?

¹² But a witless man can no more become wise
than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man.

¹³ "Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

¹⁴ if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

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

¹⁶ You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

¹⁷ Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

¹⁸ You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹ You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.

²⁰ But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp."