Job 34:1–20
34 Thusa Elihu ⌊spoke up⌋b and said,
2 “Hear my words, you wise men,
and listen to me, you who know,
and the palate tastes ⌊food⌋.c
4 Let us choose justice for ourselves;
let us determine among ourselves what is good—
5 for Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
but God has taken away my justice.
6 Should I lie concerning my justice?
Though I am without transgression, my wound caused by an arrow is incurable.’
who drinks scorn like water?
8 And he goes on the road in company with instigators of mischief,
and walks with men of wickedness.
9 Indeed, he says, ‘A man does not profit
when he takes delight in God.’
10 “Therefore, listen to me, ⌊people who have sense⌋:d
far be it from God ⌊that he should commit wickedness⌋e
and that Shaddai ⌊should do wrong⌋.f
11 Indeed, he will repay according to a human being’s deeds,
and according to a man’s way he will let it happen to him.
12 What’s more, God truly does not act wickedly,
and Shaddai does not pervert justice.
13 Who gave him charge over the earth?
Org who laid on him the whole world?
14 If he should set his heart to it,
and he should gather his spirit and his breath to himself,
15 all flesh would perish together,
and humankind would return to dust.
16 “Buth if you have understanding, hear this;
listen to ⌊what I say⌋.i
17 Shall he who hates justice really govern?
Or will youj declare the Righteous One, the Mighty, guilty?—
18 the one who says to a king,
‘You worthless man,’ to noblemen, ‘You wicked man,’
19 who ⌊shows no partiality to officials⌋k
and who ⌊does not take note of the noble more than of the insignificant⌋,l
for all of them are the work of his hands?
and in the middle of the night the people are shaken, and they pass away,
and they take away the mighty ⌊effortlessly⌋.m