| New International Version | King James Bible |
| 1Then Zophar the Naamathite replied: | 1Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, |
| 2"Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated? | 2Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man full of talk be justified? |
| 3Will your idle talk reduce others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock? | 3Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? |
| 4You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.' | 4For thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thine eyes. |
| 5Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you | 5But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee; |
| 6and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin. | 6And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. |
| 7"Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? | 7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? |
| 8They are higher than the heavens above--what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below--what can you know? | 8It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? |
| 9Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. | 9The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. |
| 10"If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him? | 10If he cut off, and shut up, or gather together, then who can hinder him? |
| 11Surely he recognizes deceivers; and when he sees evil, does he not take note? | 11For he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it? |
| 12But the witless can no more become wise than a wild donkey's colt can be born human. | 12For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt. |
| 13"Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, | 13If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; |
| 14if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, | 14If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. |
| 15then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. | 15For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: |
| 16You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. | 16Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: |
| 17Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. | 17And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. |
| 18You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. | 18And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. |
| 19You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor. | 19Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee. |
| 20But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; their hope will become a dying gasp." | 20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost. |
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