| 1 Zophar the Naamithite spoke: | |
| 2 Must these words go unanswered? Must you be right for talking so much? | |
| 3 Will your prattle keep us silent? Will no one answer your mocking? | |
| 4 You say to God that your way is right, that you are clean in his sight. | |
| 5 How I wish that God would speak and open his lips against you, | |
| 6 to show you the secrets of wisdom which put intelligence to shame, then you would know that God is recalling your sins. | |
| 7 Can you fathom the mysteries of God, probe the extent of his perfection? | |
| 8 It is higher than heaven – what can you do? Deeper than the world of death – what can you know? | |
| 9 Its measure is wider than the earth, broader than the sea. | |
| 10 Who can stop him when he passes, when he imprisons and calls to judgment? | |
| 11 He sees evil; he recognizes deceit. Will he not then take note of it? | |
| 12 So stupid people learn to be wise as wild donkeys become tame. | |
| 13 If you set your heart aright and stretch out your hands to him, | |
| 14 if you wash your hand of sin and allow no evil in your tent, | |
| 15 you will then raise your face in honor; having no fear, you will feel secure. | |
| 16 You will forget your suffering and recall it only as waters gone by. | |
| 17 Your life will be brighter than noonday and its darkness like the morning. | |
| 18 You will be comforted, for there is hope; you will be protected when you sleep. | |
| 19 You will lie down with no one to fear; many will come to court your favor. | |
| 20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail; they will lose all way of escape, their one hope – that death will come. | |
