Job 32–37

Elihu Rebukes Job and His Three Friends

32Then these three men ceased from answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. ²So Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite, from the clan of Ram, became angry.^a He became angry^b at Job because he justified himself rather than God, ³and he became angry^c at his three friends because they had not found an answer, and they had declared Job guilty. ⁴Thus Elihu had waited for Job to speak^d because they were older than he.^{e 5}When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of the three men, he became angry.^{f 6}Then Elihu the son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up^g and said,

“I am young,^h butⁱ you^j are old;

therefore I feared and became afraid of explaining my knowledge to you.^k

⁷I thought,^l ‘Let days^m speak,

and let many years teach wisdom.’

⁸“Truly, it is a spirit in a human being,

and the breath of Shaddai teaches them.

⁹It is not the agedⁿ who are wise,

or^o it is not the elders who understand justice.

¹⁰Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;

let me also declare my knowledge myself.’

¹¹“Look, I waited for your^p words;

I listened for your^q insight,

until you searched out what to say.^r

¹²And I directed my attention to you;^s

and, look, there is no one for Job who refuted,

answering his words among you.

¹³So do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;

let God refute him, not a man.’

¹⁴But^t he did not direct his words^u to me,

and I will not answer him with your^v words.

¹⁵“They are dismayed; they no longer answer;

they have nothing to say.^w

¹⁶And I have waited because they do not speak,

because they stand there and no longer answer.

¹⁷I myself will answer my share also;

I myself will declare my knowledge also,

¹⁸for I am full of words;^x

the spirit within me^y urges me.

¹⁹“Look, my internal organs are like unopened wine,

like new wineskins it^z is ready to burst open.

²⁰Let me speak that I may find relief;^a

let me open my lips, and let me answer.

²¹Please let me not show partiality to anyone,^b

and let me not show flattery to human beings,

²²for I do not know how to flatter,^c

else my Maker would soon^d put an end to me.

Elihu Rebukes Job

33“But now, please hear my speeches,^a Job,

and hear^b all my words.

²Please look, I open my mouth;

my tongue in my mouth speaks.

³My words declare my heart’s uprightness,

and my lips sincerely speak what my lips know.^c

⁴The Spirit of God has made me,

and the breath of Shaddai gives life to me.

⁵“If you are able, answer me.

Present your argument before me;^d take your stand.

⁶Look, before God I am like you;^e

I myself was also formed from clay.

⁷Look, dread of me should not terrify you,

and my hand will not be heavy upon you.

⁸“Surely you have spoken in my ears,

and I have heard the sound of your words:^f

⁹‘I am clean, without transgression;

I am pure, and there is no guilt in me.

¹⁰Look, he finds fault against me;

he reckons me as his enemy;

¹¹he puts my feet in the block;

he watches all my paths.’

¹²“Look, in this you are not right—I will answer you:

Indeed, God is greater than a human being.

¹³Why do you contend against him,

that he will not answer all a person’s words?

¹⁴Indeed, God speaks in one way,

even^g in two,^h yet someone does not perceive it.

¹⁵“In a dream, a vision of the night,

when a deep sleep falls on men slumbering on their bed,

¹⁶then he opens the ear of men,

and he frightens them with a warningⁱ

¹⁷to turn human beings aside from their deeds,

and he keeps man from pride.

¹⁸He spares his life from the pit

and his life from passing over the river of death.

¹⁹“And he is reproved with pain on his bed,

even^j with the strife of his bones continually,

²⁰so that^k his life loathes bread,

and his inner self^l loathes appetizing food.^m

²¹His flesh is wasted away from sight,

and his bones, which are invisible, are bared.

²²And heⁿ draws near to the pit

and his life to the killers.

²³“If there is a messenger beside him, a mediator, one of a thousand,^o

to declare to a human being his uprightness

²⁴so that^p he is gracious to him, and he says,

‘Deliver him from descending into the pit;

I have found a ransom.’

²⁵His flesh is renewed with his youth;

he returns to the days of his youthful strength.

²⁶He prays to God, then he accepts him,

and he sees his face with a shout of joy,

and he repays to the human being his righteousness.

²⁷“He will sing to men, and he will say,

‘I have sinned and have perverted what is right,

and it was not paid back to me.

²⁸He redeemed my life from going down into the pit,

so^q I will enjoy the light.’^r

²⁹Look, God does all these things

twice, three times^s with a person

³⁰to bring his life back from the pit

so that he may enjoy the light of life.^t

³¹“Listen attentively, Job; listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

³²If you have anything to say,^u answer me;^v

speak, for I desire to justify you.^w

³³If not, you listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Elihu Asserts God’s Justice

34Thus^a Elihu spoke up^b and said,

²“Hear my words, you wise men,

and listen to me, you who know,

³for the ear tests words,

and the palate tastes food.^c

⁴Let us choose justice for ourselves;

let us determine among ourselves what is good—

⁵for Job has said, ‘I am righteous,

but God has taken away my justice.

⁶Should I lie concerning my justice?

Though I am without transgression, my wound caused by an arrow is incurable.’

⁷What man is like Job,

who drinks scorn like water?

⁸And he goes on the road in company with instigators of mischief,

and walks with men of wickedness.

⁹Indeed, 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

¹¹Indeed, he will repay according to a human being’s deeds,

and according to a man’s way he will let it happen to him.

¹²What’s more, God truly does not act wickedly,

and Shaddai does not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him charge over the earth?

Or^g who laid on him the whole world?

¹⁴If he should set his heart to it,

and he should gather his spirit and his breath to himself,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together,

and humankind would return to dust.

¹⁶“But^h if you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.ⁱ

¹⁷Shall he who hates justice really govern?

Or will you^j declare the Righteous One, the Mighty, guilty?—

¹⁸the one who says to a king,

‘You worthless man,’ to noblemen, ‘You wicked man,’

¹⁹who 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?

²⁰In a moment they die,

and in the middle of the night the people are shaken, and they pass away,

and they take away the mighty effortlessly.^m

²¹“Indeed, his eyes are upon the ways of man,

and he sees all his steps.

²²There is no darkness, and there is no deep shadow

where instigators of mischief might hide themselves.

²³Indeed, he has not yet appointed a time for man

to go to God in the judgment.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without investigation,

and he sets others in their place.

²⁵Therefore he knows their works,

and he overturns them in the night

so thatⁿ they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them where the wicked stood,^o

where there are onlookers,^p

²⁷because they have turned aside from him

and have not understood any of his ways,

²⁸so that they cause the cry of distress from the helpless to come to him,

and he hears the cry of distress from the needy,

²⁹but he remains quiet, and who can condemn?

And he hides his face, and who can behold him?

Yet^q he is over a nation and over a person alike,

³⁰so that godless human beings should not reign,

nor those who ensnare the people.

³¹“Indeed, does anyone say to God, ‘I have endured chastisement;

I will not act corruptly again;

³²teach me yourself what I cannot see;^r

if I have done wrong, I will not repeat it’?

³³According to your judgment,^s must he repay it because you rejected this?

Indeed, you must choose, and not I, so^t declare what you know.

³⁴Those who have sense^u say to me,

and the wise man hearing me says:

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge,

and his words are without insight.

³⁶Would that Job were tested up to the end

because his answers are like those from men of mischief,

³⁷for he adds transgression to his sin;

he claps hands among us,

and he multiplies his words against God.’ ”

Elihu Condemns Job

35Moreover,^a Elihu spoke up^b and said,

²“Do you think this is justice when you say,

‘I am right^c before God’?

³If you ask what it profits you:

‘How do I benefit by refraining from my sin?’^d

⁴I myself^e will give answer to you^f

and to your friends with you.

⁵“Look at the heavens, and see;

and observe the clouds that are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?

And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give to him,

or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,

and your righteousness affects humans.

⁹“Because of the multitude of oppressions, they cry out;

they cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But^g no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

who gives songs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us more than the animals of the earth

and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

¹²There they cry out, but^h he does not answer

because of the pride of evildoers.ⁱ

¹³“Surely God does not hear an empty plea,

and Shaddai does not regard it.

¹⁴How much less^j when you say that you do not see him,

that the case is before him,^k and you are waiting for him!

¹⁵But^l now, because his anger does not punish,

and he does not acknowledge the transgression at all,

¹⁶therefore^m Job opens his mouth in empty talk—

without knowledge he multiplies words.”

Elihu Extols God’s Greatness

36Then^a Elihu continued and said,

²“Bear with me a little longer, and I will explain,^b

for I still have something to say on God’s behalf.^c

³I will bring my knowledge from far away,

and I will ascribe righteousness to my…