Job 34–35

CHAPTER 34

Elihu Answers That God Will Be Just

¹Then Elihu answered and said,

²“Hear my speech, you wise men,

And give ear to me, you who know.

³“For ^athe ear tests words

As the palate tastes food.

⁴“Let us choose for ourselves what is just;

Let us know among ourselves what is good.

⁵“For Job has said, ‘^aI am righteous,

But ^bGod has removed my justice;

⁶¹Should I lie concerning my justice?

My ^2awound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

⁷“What man is like Job,

Who ^adrinks up mocking like water,

⁸But he travels ^ain company with the workers of iniquity,

And walks with wicked men?

⁹“For he has said, ‘^aIt is of no use to a man

When he ¹is pleased with God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, listen to me, you men with a heart of wisdom.

Far be it from God to ^ado injustice,

And from the Almighty to do wrong.

¹¹“For He pays a man according to ^ahis work,

And makes ¹him find it according to his way.

¹²“Truly, ^aGod will not act wickedly,

And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³“Who ^aappointed Him with authority over the earth?

And who ^bhas laid on Him the whole world?

¹⁴“If He should set His heart on it,

If He should ^agather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

¹⁵All ^aflesh would breathe its last together,

And man would ^breturn to dust.

¹⁶“But if you have understanding, hear this;

Give ear to the sound of my speech.

¹⁷“Shall ^aone who hates justice ¹rule?

And ^bwill you condemn the righteous mighty One,

¹⁸Who says to a king, ‘Vile one,’

To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;

¹⁹Who shows no ^apartiality to princes

Nor recognizes the rich above the poor,

For they all are the ^bwork of His hands?

²⁰“In a moment they die, and ^aat midnight

People are shaken and pass away,

And ^bthe mighty are taken away without a hand.

²¹“For ^aHis eyes are upon the ways of a man,

And He sees all his steps.

²²“There is ^ano darkness or shadow of death

Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

²³“¹For He does not ^aneed to consider a man further,

That he should go before God in judgment.

²⁴“He breaks in pieces ^amighty men without searching anything out,

And sets others in their place.

²⁵“Therefore He ^arecognizes their labors,

And ^bHe overthrows them in the night,

And they are crushed.

²⁶“He ^astrikes them like the wicked

¹In a public place,

²⁷Because they ^aturned aside from following Him,

And ^bhad no insight from any of His ways;

²⁸So that they caused ^athe cry of the poor to come to Him,

And that He might ^bhear the cry of the afflicted.

²⁹So if He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?

So if He hides His face, who then can perceive Him?

He is above both nation and man altogether,

³⁰So that ^agodless men would not rule

Nor be snares of the people.

³¹“For has anyone said to God,

‘I have borne chastisement;

I will not work destructively anymore;

³²Instruct me what I do not behold;

If I have ^adone injustice,

I will not do it again’?

³³“Shall He ^arepay on your terms, because you have rejected it?

For you must choose, and not I;

Therefore say what you know.

³⁴“Men with a heart of wisdom will say to me,

And a wise man who hears me,

³⁵‘Job ^aspeaks without knowledge,

And his words are without insight.

³⁶‘Job ought to be tested ¹to the limit

Because he answers ^alike wicked men.

³⁷‘For he adds ^atransgression to his sin;

He ^bstrikes his hands together among us,

And multiplies his words against God.’”

CHAPTER 35

Elihu Answers Job

¹Then Elihu answered and said,

²“Do you think this is according to ^ajustice?

Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?

³“For you say, ‘^aWhat use will it be to ¹You?

^bWhat profit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’

⁴“I will respond to you,

And your friends with you.

⁵“^aLook at the heavens and see;

And perceive ^bthe clouds—they are higher than you.

⁶“If you have sinned, ^awhat do you accomplish against Him?

And if your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him?

⁷“If you are righteous, ^awhat do you give to Him,

Or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸“Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,

And your righteousness is for a son of man.

⁹“Because of ^amany oppressions they cry out;

They cry for help because of the arm ^bof many oppressors.

¹⁰“But ^ano one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

Who ^bgives songs of praise in the night,

¹¹Who ^ateaches us more than the beasts of the earth

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

¹²“There ^athey cry out, but He does not answer

Because of the pride of evil men.

¹³“Surely ^aGod will not listen to ¹an empty cry,

Nor will the Almighty perceive it.

¹⁴“How much less when ^ayou say you do not perceive Him,

The ^bcase is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵“And now, because He has not visited in His anger,

Nor has He acknowledged ¹transgression well,

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth vainly;

He multiplies words ^awithout knowledge.”