Zophar
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Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
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"Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated?
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Will your idle talk reduce men to silence?
Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
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You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.'
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Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you
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and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for me wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.
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"Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
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They are higher than the heavens - what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths of the grave - what can you know?
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Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
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"If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
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Surely he recognizes deceitful men;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
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But a witless man can no more become wise than a wild donkey's colt
can be born a man.
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"Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him,
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if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
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then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm
and without fear.
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You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.
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Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.
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You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
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You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.
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But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp."
