auto_stories
Chapter Summary
Zophar said, "Should your babble go unanswered? God exacts less than your guilt deserves! Reach out to him and you will find hope."
1But Zophar the Naamathite, responding, said: 2Will he who speaks much, not also listen? Or will a talkative man be justified? 3Will men be silent only for you? And when you have mocked others, will no one refute you? 4For you said: “My word is pure, and I am clean in your sight.” 5Yet I wish that God would speak with you, and would open his lips to you, 6so that he might reveal to you the secrets of wisdom, and how intricate his law is, and that you would understand how much less he requires of you than your iniquity deserves. 7By chance, will you comprehend the footsteps of God and reach all the way to the perfection of the Almighty? 8He is higher than heaven, and what will you do? He is deeper than hell, but how will you know? 9His measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. 10If he overturns all things, or packs them together, who will contradict him? 11For he knows the vanity of men, and when he sees iniquity, does he not evaluate it? 12A vain man is lifted up in arrogance, and he thinks that he is born free like a wild ass’s colt. 13But you have fortified your heart and extended your hands to him. 14If you would send away from you the iniquity that is in your hand, and not let injustice remain in your tabernacle, 15then you would be able to lift up your face without blemish, and you would be steadfast and unafraid. 16Misery, likewise, you would forget, or would remember only like waters that have passed by. 17And brightness, like that of midday, will rise upon you until evening, and when you would think yourself consumed, you will rise up like the morning star. 18And, when hope has been set before you, you will have faith, and, when buried, you will sleep secure. 19You will rest, and there will be nothing to make you afraid, and many will make requests before your face. 20But the eyes of the impious will fade away, and the path to escape will perish before them, for the abomination of the soul is their hope.