Job 35

35Elihu continued,

²“Job, do you think it’s fair for you to say,

‘God will clear me of all charges’?

³You ask him, ‘What good is it for me not to sin?

What do I get by not sinning?’

⁴“I’d like to reply to you

and to your friends who are with you.

⁵Look up at the heavens.

Observe the clouds that are high above you.

⁶If you sin, what does that mean to God?

If you sin many times, what does that do to him?

⁷If you do what is right, how does that help him?

What does he get from you?

⁸The evil things you do only hurt someone like yourself.

The right things you do only help other human beings.

⁹“People cry out when they are beaten down.

They beg to be set free from the power of those who are over them.

¹⁰But no one says, ‘Where is the God who made me?

He gives us songs even during the night.

¹¹He teaches more to us than to wild animals.

He makes us wiser than the birds of the air.’

¹²He doesn’t answer sinful people when they cry out to him.

That’s because they are so proud.

¹³In fact, God doesn’t listen to their empty cries.

The Mighty One doesn’t pay any attention to them.

¹⁴So he certainly won’t listen to you.

When you say you don’t see him, he won’t hear you.

He won’t listen when you state your case to him.

He won’t pay attention even if you wait for him.

¹⁵When you say his anger never punishes sin, he won’t hear you.

He won’t listen when you say he doesn’t pay any attention to evil.

¹⁶So you say things that don’t mean anything.

You use a lot of words,

but you don’t know what you are talking about.”