Job 35

35Then Elihu continued, saying:

²Do you think it is just when you say,

“I am righteous before God”?

³For you ask, “What does it profit You, ⁿ

and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?” ^o

⁴I will answer you

and your friends with you.

⁵Look at the heavens and see;

gaze at the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, how does it affect God?

If you multiply your transgressions, what does it do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give Him,

or what does He receive from your hand? ^p

⁸Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,

and your righteousness another human being.

⁹People cry out because of severe oppression;

they shout for help because of the arm of the mighty. ^q

¹⁰But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker, ^r

who provides us with songs in the night, ^s

¹¹who gives us more understanding than the animals of the earth

and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?” ^t

¹²There they cry out, but He does not answer,

because of the pride of evil men. ^u

¹³Indeed, God does not listen to empty cries,

and the Almighty does not take note of it—

¹⁴how much less when ^vyou complain ^w

that you do not see Him,

that your case ^xis before Him

and you are waiting ^yfor Him.

¹⁵But now, because God’s anger does not punish

and He does not pay attention to transgression, ^z

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in vain

and multiplies words without knowledge. ^a