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Job 12:1-14:22 — Job's Reply to Zophar

Job.12.1-14.22

¹Then Job answered and said: ²No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you! ³But I also have understanding as you do; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? ⁴I have become a laughingstock to my friend, I who called on God and he answered me—a laughingstock, though righteous and blameless. ⁵In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for calamity; it is ready for those whose feet are slipping. ⁶The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hand. ⁷But ask the beasts, and they will teach you, or the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you. ⁸Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare it to you. ⁹Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, ¹⁰in whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all human flesh? ¹¹Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? ¹²With the aged is wisdom, and with length of days, understanding. ¹³With him are wisdom and might; counsel and understanding are his. ¹⁴Behold, he tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; he shuts a man in, and it cannot be opened. ¹⁵Behold, he holds back the waters, and they dry up; he sends them out, and they overturn the earth. ¹⁶With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his. ¹⁷He leads counselors away stripped and makes judges fools. ¹⁸He loosens the bonds of kings and binds a belt around their waists. ¹⁹He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty. ²⁰He removes speech from the trusted and takes away the discernment of elders. ²¹He pours contempt on nobles and loosens the belt of the strong. ²²He reveals deep things out of darkness and brings deep shadow into the light. ²³He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. ²⁴He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a trackless waste. ²⁵They grope in darkness without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunkard.

Chapter 13

¹Behold, my eye has seen all this; my ear has heard and understood it. ²What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. ³But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. ⁴But you are plasterers of lies; all of you are worthless physicians. ⁵If only you would keep silent, that would be your wisdom. ⁶Hear now my argument, and listen to the pleadings of my lips. ⁷Will you speak injustice for God, and speak deceit for him? ⁸Will you show partiality for him? Will you contend for God? ⁹Would it be well if he examined you? Or can you deceive him as one deceives a man? ¹⁰He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality. ¹¹Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you? ¹²Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. ¹³Be silent before me, and I will speak, and let whatever may come upon me come . ¹⁴Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hand? ¹⁵Though he slay me, I will hope in him ; yet I will defend my ways to his face. ¹⁶This also will be my salvation, for no godless man may come before him. ¹⁷Hear my words carefully, and let my declaration be in your ears. ¹⁸Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I shall be vindicated. ¹⁹Who is there who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die. ²⁰Only do not do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from your face: ²¹Withdraw your hand from me, and do not let your terror frighten me. ²²Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and reply to me. ²³How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my transgression and my sin. ²⁴Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy? ²⁵Will you frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry stubble? ²⁶For you write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. ²⁷You put my feet in the stocks and watch all my paths; you mark out the soles of my feet. ²⁸So a man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.

Chapter 14

¹Man, born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble. ²Like a flower he comes forth and withers; he flees like a shadow and does not remain. ³And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? ⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. ⁵Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass, ⁶look away from him, that he may rest, until like a hired laborer he finishes his day. ⁷For there is hope for a tree: if it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not cease. ⁸Though its root grows old in the earth and its stump dies in the soil, ⁹yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth boughs like a young plant. ¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low; a human breathes his last, and where is he? ¹¹As waters vanish from the sea, and a river wastes away and dries up, ¹²so a man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, he will not awake or be roused from his sleep. ¹³Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your anger turns away, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me! ¹⁴If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, until my renewal should come. ¹⁵You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. ¹⁶For now you count my steps; would you not watch over my sin? ¹⁷My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you stitch up my iniquity. ¹⁸But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, and a rock is moved from its place, ¹⁹as waters wear away stones, and torrents wash away the soil of the earth, so you destroy the hope of man. ²⁰You overpower him forever, and he passes away; you alter his face and send him away. ²¹His sons are honored, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and he does not perceive it. ²²Only his flesh on him aches, and his soul within him mourns.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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