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Job 11:1-13:4 NIV
11 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 others 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 above—what can you do?
    They are deeper than the depths below —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 deceivers;
    and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
12 But the witless can no more become wise
    than a wild donkey’s colt can be born human.
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, free of fault, you will lift up your face;
    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.”
12 Then Job replied:
2 “Doubtless you are the only people who matter,
    and wisdom will die with you!
3 But I have a mind as well as you;
    I am not inferior to you.
    Who does not know all these things?
4 “I have become a laughingstock to my friends,
    though I called on God and he answered
    a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
5 Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune
    as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
6 The tents of marauders are undisturbed,
    and those who provoke God are secure
    those God has in his hand.
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
    or let the fish in the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every creature
    and the breath of all mankind.
11 Does not the ear test words
    as the tongue tastes food?
12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?
    Does not long life bring understanding?
13 “To God belong wisdom and power;
    counsel and understanding are his.
14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
    those he imprisons cannot be released.
15 If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
    if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
16 To him belong strength and insight;
    both deceived and deceiver are his.
17 He leads rulers away stripped
    and makes fools of judges.
18 He takes off the shackles put on by kings
    and ties a loincloth around their waist.
19 He leads priests away stripped
    and overthrows officials long established.
20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers
    and takes away the discernment of elders.
21 He pours contempt on nobles
    and disarms the mighty.
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness
    and brings utter darkness into the light.
23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
    he makes them wander in a trackless waste.
25 They grope in darkness with no light;
    he makes them stagger like drunkards.
13 “My eyes have seen all this,
    my ears have heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.
3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty
    and to argue my case with God.
4 You, however, smear me with lies;
    you are worthless physicians, all of you!

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