Will your idle talk reduce others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
“I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God and he answered— a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!
Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal?
Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.
“If this is not so, who can prove me false and reduce my words to nothing?”
Is there anyone like Job, who drinks scorn like water?
Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked; they gnashed their teeth at me.
Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so that they will seek your name.
I never sat in the company of revelers, never made merry with them; I sat alone because your hand was on me and you had filled me with indignation.
Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed.
and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”