Zophar Speaks: You Deserve Worse

Job 11

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

2 "Should not the multitude of words be answered?
And should 1 a man full of talk be vindicated? 3 Should your empty talk make men 2 hold their peace?
And when you mock, should no one rebuke you? 4 For you have said,
a 'My doctrine is pure,
And I am clean in your eyes.' 5 But oh, that God would speak,
And open His lips against you, 6 That He would show you the secrets of wisdom!
For they would double your prudence.
Know therefore that b God 3 exacts from you
Less than your iniquity deserves.

7 "Can c you search out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? 8 They are higher than heaven - what can you do?
Deeper than 4 Sheol - what can you know? 9 Their measure is longer than the earth
And broader than the sea. 10 "If d He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment,
Then who can 5 hinder Him? 11 For e He knows deceitful men;
He sees wickedness also.
Will He not then consider it? 12 For an f empty-headed man will be wise,
When a wild donkey's colt is born a man.

13 "If you would g prepare your heart,
And h stretch out your hands toward Him; 14 If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away,
And i would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; 15 j Then surely you could lift up your face without spot;
Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear; 16 Because you would k forget your misery,
And remember it as waters that have passed away, 17 And your life l would be brighter than noonday.
Though you were dark, you would be like the morning. 18 And you would be secure, because there is hope;
Yes, you would dig around you, and m take your rest in safety. 19 You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid;
Yes, many would court your favor. 20 But n the eyes of the wicked will fail,
And they shall not escape,
And o their hope - 6 loss of life!"

  1. Cross References
    Job 6:30
    Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my taste discern the unsavory?
  2. Cross References
    Ezra 9:13
    And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this.
  3. Cross References
    Job 33:12
    Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.
    Job 33:13
    Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words.
    Job 36:26
    Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.
    Ecclesiastes 3:11
    He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
    Romans 11:33
    Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
  4. Cross References
    Job 9:12
    If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?
    Revelation 3:7
    And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens" :
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 10:14
    But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief, To repay it by Your hand. The helpless commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 39:5
    Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
    Romans 1:22
    Professing to be wise, they became fools.
  7. Cross References
    1 Samuel 7:3
    Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 88:9
    My eye wastes away because of affliction. LORD, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 101:3
    I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.
  10. Cross References
    Job 22:26
    For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.
    Psalms 119:6
    Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments.
    1 John 3:21
    Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:16
    So that he who blesses himself in the earth Shall bless himself in the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Shall swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My eyes.
  12. Cross References
    Psalms 37:6
    He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
    Proverbs 4:18
    But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
    Isaiah 58:8
    Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
    Isaiah 58:10
    If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
  13. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:5
    Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
    Leviticus 26:6
    I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.
    Psalms 3:5
    I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.
    Proverbs 3:24
    When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.
  14. Cross References
    Leviticus 26:16
    I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
    Deuteronomy 28:65
    And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.
    Job 17:5
    He who speaks flattery to his friends, Even the eyes of his children will fail.
  15. Cross References
    Job 18:14
    He is uprooted from the shelter of his tent, And they parade him before the king of terrors.
    Proverbs 11:7
    When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, And the hope of the unjust perishes.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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