Job 33–37

Chapter 33

Elihu Claims to Speak for God

¹“However now, Job, please ^ahear my speech,

And listen to all my words.

²“Behold now, I open my mouth,

My tongue in my ¹mouth speaks.

³“My words are from the uprightness of my heart,

And my lips speak ^aknowledge sincerely.

⁴“The ^aSpirit of God has made me,

And the ^bbreath of ¹the Almighty gives me life.

⁵“^aRefute me if you can;

Array yourselves before me, take your stand.

⁶“Behold, I belong to God like you;

I too have been ¹formed out of the ^aclay.

⁷“Behold, ^ano fear of me should terrify you,

Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

⁸“Surely you have spoken in my hearing,

And I have heard the sound of your words:

⁹‘I am ^apure, ^bwithout transgression;

I am innocent and there ^cis no guilt in me.

¹⁰‘Behold, He ¹invents pretexts against me;

He ^acounts me as His enemy.

¹¹‘He ^aputs my feet in the stocks;

He watches all my paths.’

¹²“Behold, let me ¹tell you, ^ayou are not right in this,

For God is greater than man.

¹³“Why do you ^acomplain against Him

That He does not give an account of all His doings?

¹⁴“Indeed ^aGod speaks once,

Or twice, yet no one notices it.

¹⁵“In a ^adream, a vision of the night,

When sound sleep falls on men,

While they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶Then ^aHe opens the ears of men,

And seals their instruction,

¹⁷That He may turn man aside from his conduct,

And ¹keep man from pride;

¹⁸He ^akeeps back his soul from the pit,

And his life from ¹passing over ^binto Sheol.

¹⁹“¹Man is also chastened with ^apain on his bed,

And with unceasing complaint in his bones;

²⁰So that his life ^aloathes bread,

And his soul favorite food.

²¹“His ^aflesh wastes away from sight,

And his ^bbones which were not seen stick out.

²²“Then ^ahis soul draws near to the pit,

And his life to those who bring death.

²³“If there is an angel as ^amediator for him,

One out of a thousand,

To remind a man what is ¹right for him,

²⁴Then let him be gracious to him, and say,

‘Deliver him from ^agoing down to the pit,

I have found a ^bransom’;

²⁵Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,

Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;

²⁶Then he will ^apray to God, and He will accept him,

That ^bhe may see His face with joy,

And He may restore His righteousness to man.

²⁷“He will sing to men and say,

‘I ^ahave sinned and perverted what is right,

And it is not ^bproper for me.

²⁸‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,

And my life shall ^asee the light.’

²⁹“Behold, God does ^aall these ¹oftentimes with men,

³⁰To ^abring back his soul from the pit,

That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹“Pay attention, O Job, listen to me;

Keep silent, and let me speak.

³²“Then if ¹you have anything to say, answer me;

Speak, for I desire to justify you.

³³“If not, ^alisten to me;

Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Chapter 34

Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Hear my words, you wise men,

And listen to me, you who know.

³“For ^athe ear tests words

As the palate tastes food.

⁴“Let us choose for ourselves what is right;

Let us know among ourselves what is good.

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

But ^bGod has taken away my right;

⁶¹Should I lie concerning my right?

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

⁷“What man is like Job,

Who ^adrinks up derision like water,

⁸Who goes ^ain company with the workers of iniquity,

And walks with wicked men?

⁹“For he has said, ‘^aIt profits a man nothing

When he ¹is pleased with God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.

Far be it from God to ^ado wickedness,

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“Surely, ^aGod will not act wickedly,

And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³“Who ^agave Him authority over the earth?

And who ^bhas laid on Him the whole world?

¹⁴“If He should ¹determine to do so,

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

¹⁵All ^aflesh would perish together,

And man would ^breturn to dust.

¹⁶“But if you have understanding, hear this;

Listen to the sound of my words.

¹⁷“Shall ^aone who hates justice rule?

And ^bwill you condemn the righteous mighty One,

¹⁸Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’

To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;

¹⁹Who shows no ^apartiality to princes

Nor regards 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 deep shadow

Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

²³“For 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 inquiry,

And sets others in their place.

²⁵“Therefore He ^aknows their works,

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 regard for 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—

²⁹When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?

And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,

That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

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 offend anymore;

³²Teach me what I do not see;

If I have ^adone iniquity,

I will not do it again’?

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

For you must choose, and not I;

Therefore declare what you know.

³⁴“Men of understanding will say to me,

And a wise man who hears me,

³⁵‘Job ^aspeaks without knowledge,

And his words are without wisdom.

³⁶‘Job ought to be tried ¹to the limit,

Because he answers ^alike wicked men.

³⁷‘For he adds ^arebellion to his sin;

He ^bclaps his hands among us,

And multiplies his words against God.’ ”

Chapter 35

Elihu Sharply Reproves Job

¹Then Elihu continued 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 advantage will it be to ¹You?

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

⁴“I will answer you,

And your friends with you.

⁵“^aLook at the heavens and see;

And behold ^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 the ^amultitude of oppressions they cry out;

They cry for help because of the arm ^bof the mighty.

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

Who ^bgives songs 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 regard it.

¹⁴“How much less when ^ayou say you do not behold 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 ¹emptily;

He multiplies words ^awithout knowledge.”

Chapter 36

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Men

¹Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Wait for me a little, and I will show you

That there ¹is yet more to be said in God’s behalf.

³“I will fetch my knowledge from afar,

And I will ascribe ^arighteousness to my Maker.

⁴“For truly ^amy words are not false;

One who is ^bperfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵“Behold, God is mighty but does not ^adespise any;

He is ^bmighty in strength of understanding.

⁶“He does not ^akeep the wicked alive,

But gives justice to ^bthe afflicted.

⁷“He does not ^awithdraw His eyes from the righteous;

But ^bwith kings on the throne

He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.

⁸“And if they are bound in fetters,

And are caught in the cords of ^aaffliction,

⁹Then He declares to them their work

And their transgressions, that they have ^amagnified themselves.

¹⁰“^aHe opens their ear to instruction,

And ^bcommands that they return from evil.

¹¹“If they hear and serve Him,

They will ^aend their days in prosperity

And their years in ^bpleasures.

¹²“But if they do not hear, they shall ¹perish ^aby the sword

And they will ^bdie without knowledge.

¹³“But the godless in heart lay up anger;

They do not cry for help when He binds them.

¹⁴“¹They die in youth,

And their life perishes among the ^acult prostitutes.

¹⁵“He delivers the afflicted in ¹their ^aaffliction,

And ^bopens their ear ²in time of oppression.

¹⁶“Then indeed, He ^aenticed you from the mouth of distress,

Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;

And that which was set on your table was full of ¹fatness.

¹⁷“But you were full of ^ajudgment on the wicked;

Judgment and justice take hold of you.

¹⁸“Beware that ^awrath does not entice you to scoffing;

And do not let the greatness of the ^bransom turn you aside.

¹⁹“Will your ¹riches keep you from distress,

Or all the forces of your strength?

²⁰“Do not long for ^athe night,

When people ¹vanish in their place.

²¹“Be careful, do ^anot turn to evil,

For you have preferred this to ^baffliction.

²²“Behold, God is exalted in His power;

Who is a ^ateacher like Him?

²³“Who has appointed Him His way,

And who has said, ‘^aYou have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember that you should ^aexalt His work,

Of which men have ^bsung.

²⁵“All men have seen it;

Man beholds from afar.

²⁶“Behold, God is ^aexalted, and ^bwe do not know Him;

The ^cnumber of His years is unsearchable.

²⁷“For ^aHe draws up the drops of water,

They distill rain from ¹the ²mist,

²⁸Which the clouds pour down,

They drip upon man abundantly.

²⁹“Can anyone understand the ^aspreading of the clouds,

The ^bthundering of His ¹pavilion?

³⁰“Behold, He spreads His ¹lightning about Him, …