Study

11. Jophar Speaks

    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. Or wild donkey can be born tame

    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.”