| 1 |
And Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, |
| 2 |
Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man of much talk be justified? |
| 3 |
Should thy fictions make men hold their peace? and shouldest thou mock, and no one make [thee] ashamed? |
| 4 |
For thou sayest, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. |
| 5 |
But oh that +God would speak, and open his lips against thee; |
| 6 |
And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, how that they are the double of what is realised; and know that +God passeth by [much] of thine iniquity! |
| 7 |
Canst thou by searching find out +God? canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? |
| 8 |
[It is as] the heights of heaven; what wilt thou do? deeper than Sheol; what canst thou know? |
| 9 |
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. |
| 10 |
If he pass by, and shut up, and call to judgment, who can hinder him? |
| 11 |
For he knoweth vain men, and seeth wickedness when [man] doth not consider it; |
| 12 |
Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born [like] the foal of a wild ass. |
| 13 |
If thou prepare thy heart and stretch out thy hands toward him, |
| 14 |
If thou put far away the iniquity which is in thy hand, and let not wrong dwell in thy tents; |
| 15 |
Surely then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be stedfast and shalt not fear: |
| 16 |
For thou shalt forget misery; as waters that are passed away shalt thou remember it; |
| 17 |
And life shall arise brighter than noonday; though thou be enshrouded in darkness, thou shalt be as the morning, |
| 18 |
And thou shalt have confidence, because there shall be hope; and having searched about [thee], thou shalt take rest in safety. |
| 19 |
Yea, thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; and many shall seek thy favour. |
| 20 |
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and [all] refuge shall vanish from them, and their hope [shall be] the breathing out of life. |
