Job 34:16–30

¹⁶“If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.

^17xShall one who hates justice govern?

Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,

¹⁸who ^ysays to a king, ‘Worthless one,’

and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’

¹⁹who ^zshows no partiality to princes,

nor regards the rich ^amore than the poor,

for ^bthey are all the work of his hands?

²⁰In a moment ^cthey die;

at ^dmidnight the people are shaken and pass away,

and the mighty are taken away by ^eno human hand.

²¹“For his eyes are on ^fthe ways of a man,

and he sees all his ^fsteps.

²²There is no ^ggloom or ^hdeep darkness

where evildoers may hide themselves.

²³For God² has no need to consider a man further,

that he should go before God in ⁱjudgment.

²⁴He ^jshatters the mighty without investigation

and sets ^lothers in their place.

²⁵Thus, knowing their works,

he ^moverturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them for their wickedness

in a place for all to see,

²⁷because they turned aside from ⁿfollowing him

and had no regard for any of his ways,

²⁸so that they ^ocaused the cry of the poor to come to him,

and he ^pheard the cry of the afflicted—

²⁹When he is quiet, who can condemn?

When he hides his face, who can behold him,

whether it be a nation or a man?—

³⁰that a godless man should not reign,

that he should not ensnare the people.