Job 34

34Then Elihu continued,^B saying:

²Hear my words, you wise ones,

and listen to me, you knowledgeable ones.

³Doesn’t the ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

⁴Let us judge for ourselves what is right;

let us decide together what is good.

⁵For Job has declared, “I am righteous,

yet God has deprived me of justice.ⁱ

⁶Would I lie about my case?^j

My wound^C is incurable,

though I am without transgression.”

⁷What man is like Job?

He drinks derision^k like water.

⁸He keeps company with evildoers

and walks with wicked men.

⁹For he has said, “A man gains nothing

when he becomes God’s friend.”^l

¹⁰Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding.

It is impossible for God to do wrong,

and for the Almighty to act unjustly.^m

¹¹For he repaysⁿ a person according to his deeds,

and he gives him what his conduct deserves.^D

¹²Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly

and the Almighty does not pervert justice.^o

¹³Who gave him authority over the earth?

Who put him in charge of the entire world?^p

¹⁴If he put his mind to it

and withdrew the spirit^q and breath he gave,

¹⁵every living thing would perish together

and mankind would return to the dust.^r

¹⁶If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I have to say.

¹⁷Could one who hates justice govern the world?

Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,^s

¹⁸who says to a king, “Worthless man!”

and to nobles, “Wicked men!”?^t

¹⁹God is not partial^u to princes

and does not favor the rich over the poor,

for they are all the work of his hands.

²⁰They die suddenly in the middle of the night;

people shudder, then pass away.

Even the mighty are removed without effort.

²¹For his eyes watch over a man’s ways,

and he observes all his steps.^a

²²There is no darkness, no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide.^b

²³God does not need to examine a person further,

that one should^A approach him in court.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without an investigation

and sets others in their place.^c

²⁵Therefore, he recognizes their deeds^d

and overthrows them by night, and they are crushed.

²⁶In full view of the public,^B

he strikes them for their wickedness,

²⁷because they turned aside from following him

and did not understand any of his ways

²⁸but caused the poor to cry out to him,

and he heard the outcry of the needy.^e

²⁹But when God is silent, who can declare him guilty?

When he hides his face, who can see him?

Yet he watches over both individuals and nations,

³⁰so that godless men should not rule

or ensnare the people.

³¹Suppose someone says to God,

“I have endured my punishment;

I will no longer act wickedly.

³²Teach me what I cannot see;

if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”

³³Should God repay you on your terms

when you have rejected his?

You must choose, not I!

So declare what you know.

³⁴Reasonable men will say to me,

along with the wise men who hear me,

³⁵“Job speaks without knowledge;^f

his words are without insight.”

³⁶If only Job were tested to the limit,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin;

he scornfully claps^g in our presence,

while multiplying^h his words against God.