Job 34:16–30

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.