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Job 11-12
Common English Bible
Job 11-12
Common English Bible
Zophar’s rebuke
11 Zophar from Naamah responded:
2 Should all these words go unanswered
or a wordy man be justified?
3 Will your idle talk silence everyone;
will you mock and not be put to shame?
4 You’ve said, “My teaching is pure,
and I’m clean in God’s[a] eyes.”
Divine secrecy
5 But oh, that God would speak,
open his lips against you
6 and tell you secrets of wisdom;
for sound insight has two sides.
Know that God lets some of your sin be forgotten.
7 Can you find the secret of God
or find the extent of the Almighty?
8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?
Deeper than the underworld[b]—what can you know?
9 Its measurement is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If God passes by, imprisons someone, and calls a trial,
who can stop him?
11 He knows worthless people,
sees sin, and certainly[c] takes note.
12 A stupid person becomes intelligent
when a wild ass of a person is born tame.[d]
Abiding hope
13 If you make your mind resolute
and spread your palms to him,
14 if you throw out the sin in your hands
and don’t let injustice dwell in your tents,
15 then you will lift up your face without blemish;
you will be secure and not fear.
16 You will forget trouble;
you will remember it as water that flows past.
17 A life span will rise brighter than noon;
darkness will be like morning.
18 You will be secure, for there is hope;
you will look around and rest safely.
19 You will lie down without anyone to scare you;
many will beg for your favor.
20 The eyes of the wicked will grow faint;
flight has vanished from them;
their hope is a dying gasp.
A living joke
12 Job responded:
2 Surely you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3 I am also intelligent;
I’m not inferior to you.
Who isn’t like these people?[e]
4 I’m a joke to friends
who called to God and he answered;
the innocent and blameless one is a joke,
5 a torch[f] of contempt to one who is idle,
a fixed point for slipping feet.
Proverbial wisdom
6 Raiders’ tents are prosperous
and God’s provokers secure,
who carry God in their hands.[g]
7 But ask Behemoth, and he will teach you,
the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
8 or talk to earth, and it will teach you;
the fish of the sea will recount it for you.
9 Among all these, who hasn’t known
that the Lord’s hand did this?
10 In whose grasp is the life of every thing,
the breath of every person?
11 Doesn’t the ear test words
and the palate taste food?
12 “In old age is wisdom;
understanding in a long life.”
God’s majesty
13 With him are wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
14 If he tears down, it can’t be rebuilt;
if he ties a person up, he can’t be set free.
15 If he restricts water, they have drought;
if he lets it loose, it overturns the land.
16 With him are might and success;
the deceiver and the deceived are his.
17 He leads advisors away barefoot;
makes madmen of judges;
18 unties the belt of kings,
binds a garment around their loins;
19 leads priests away barefoot;
overthrows the well-established;
20 silences the talk of trusted people;
takes away elders’ discernment;
21 pours contempt on royalty;
loosens the belt of the strong;
22 discloses deep secrets of darkness,
makes utter darkness enter the light;
23 makes nations prominent and destroys them,
expands nations and leads them astray;
24 takes away the power to think from earth’s leaders,
making them wander in untraveled wastelands.
25 They feel their way in the dark without light;
he makes them stumble like drunks.
Job 11-12
New International Version
Job 11-12
New International Version
Zophar
11 Then Zophar the Naamathite(A) replied:
2 “Are all these words to go unanswered?(B)
Is this talker to be vindicated?(C)
3 Will your idle talk(D) reduce others to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?(E)
4 You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless(F)
and I am pure(G) in your sight.’
5 Oh, how I wish that God would speak,(H)
that he would open his lips against you
6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,(I)
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.(J)
7 “Can you fathom(K) the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
8 They are higher(L) than the heavens(M) above—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths below(N)—what can you know?(O)
9 Their measure(P) is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.(Q)
10 “If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?(R)
11 Surely he recognizes deceivers;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?(S)
12 But the witless can no more become wise
than a wild donkey’s colt(T) can be born human.[a](U)
13 “Yet if you devote your heart(V) to him
and stretch out your hands(W) to him,(X)
14 if you put away(Y) the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil(Z) to dwell in your tent,(AA)
15 then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;(AB)
you will stand firm(AC) and without fear.(AD)
16 You will surely forget your trouble,(AE)
recalling it only as waters gone by.(AF)
17 Life will be brighter than noonday,(AG)
and darkness will become like morning.(AH)
18 You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest(AI) in safety.(AJ)
19 You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,(AK)
and many will court your favor.(AL)
20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail,(AM)
and escape will elude them;(AN)
their hope will become a dying gasp.”(AO)
Job
12 Then Job replied:
2 “Doubtless you are the only people who matter,
and wisdom will die with you!(AP)
3 But I have a mind as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know all these things?(AQ)
4 “I have become a laughingstock(AR) to my friends,(AS)
though I called on God and he answered(AT)—
a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!(AU)
5 Those who are at ease have contempt(AV) for misfortune
as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.(AW)
6 The tents of marauders are undisturbed,(AX)
and those who provoke God are secure(AY)—
those God has in his hand.[b]
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,(AZ)
or the birds in the sky,(BA) and they will tell you;(BB)
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(BC)
that the hand of the Lord has done this?(BD)
10 In his hand is the life(BE) of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.(BF)
11 Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?(BG)
12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?(BH)
Does not long life bring understanding?(BI)
13 “To God belong wisdom(BJ) and power;(BK)
counsel and understanding are his.(BL)
14 What he tears down(BM) cannot be rebuilt;(BN)
those he imprisons cannot be released.(BO)
15 If he holds back the waters,(BP) there is drought;(BQ)
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.(BR)
16 To him belong strength and insight;(BS)
both deceived and deceiver are his.(BT)
17 He leads rulers away stripped(BU)
and makes fools of judges.(BV)
18 He takes off the shackles(BW) put on by kings
and ties a loincloth[c] around their waist.(BX)
19 He leads priests away stripped(BY)
and overthrows officials long established.(BZ)
20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers
and takes away the discernment of elders.(CA)
21 He pours contempt on nobles(CB)
and disarms the mighty.(CC)
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness(CD)
and brings utter darkness(CE) into the light.(CF)
23 He makes nations great, and destroys them;(CG)
he enlarges nations,(CH) and disperses them.(CI)
24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;(CJ)
he makes them wander in a trackless waste.(CK)
25 They grope in darkness with no light;(CL)
he makes them stagger like drunkards.(CM)
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.