Job 34–35

Chapter 34

Elihu Accuses Job of Arrogance

Then Elihu said:

²“Listen to me, you wise men.

Pay attention, you who have knowledge.

³Job said, ‘The ear tests the words it hears

just as the mouth distinguishes between foods.’

⁴So let us discern for ourselves what is right;

let us learn together what is good.

⁵For Job also said, ‘I am innocent,

but God has taken away my rights.

⁶I am innocent, but they call me a liar.

My suffering is incurable, though I have not sinned.’

⁷“Tell me, has there ever been a man like Job,

with his thirst for irreverent talk?

⁸He chooses evil people as companions.

He spends his time with wicked men.

⁹He has even said, ‘Why waste time

trying to please God?’

¹⁰“Listen to me, you who have understanding.

Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin!

The Almighty can do no wrong.

¹¹He repays people according to their deeds.

He treats people as they deserve.

¹²Truly, God will not do wrong.

The Almighty will not twist justice.

¹³Did someone else put the world in his care?

Who set the whole world in place?

¹⁴If God were to take back his spirit

and withdraw his breath,

¹⁵all life would cease,

and humanity would turn again to dust.

¹⁶“Now listen to me if you are wise.

Pay attention to what I say.

¹⁷Could God govern if he hated justice?

Are you going to condemn the almighty judge?

¹⁸For he says to kings, ‘You are wicked,’

and to nobles, ‘You are unjust.’

¹⁹He doesn’t care how great a person may be,

and he pays no more attention to the rich than to the poor.

He made them all.

²⁰In a moment they die.

In the middle of the night they pass away;

the mighty are removed without human hand.

²¹“For God watches how people live;

he sees everything they do.

²²No darkness is thick enough

to hide the wicked from his eyes.

²³We don’t set the time

when we will come before God in judgment.

²⁴He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone,

and he sets up others in their place.

²⁵He knows what they do,

and in the night he overturns and destroys them.

²⁶He strikes them down because they are wicked,

doing it openly for all to see.

²⁷For they turned away from following him.

They have no respect for any of his ways.

²⁸They cause the poor to cry out, catching God’s attention.

He hears the cries of the needy.

²⁹But if he chooses to remain quiet,

who can criticize him?

When he hides his face, no one can find him,

whether an individual or a nation.

³⁰He prevents the godless from ruling

so they cannot be a snare to the people.

³¹“Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned,

but I will sin no more’?

³²Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me.

If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’?

³³“Must God tailor his justice to your demands?

But you have rejected him!

The choice is yours, not mine.

Go ahead, share your wisdom with us.

³⁴After all, bright people will tell me,

and wise people will hear me say,

³⁵‘Job speaks out of ignorance;

his words lack insight.’

³⁶Job, you deserve the maximum penalty

for the wicked way you have talked.

³⁷For you have added rebellion to your sin;

you show no respect,

and you speak many angry words against God.”

Chapter 35

Elihu Reminds Job of God’s Justice

Then Elihu said:

²“Do you think it is right for you to claim,

‘I am righteous before God’?

³For you also ask, ‘What’s in it for me?

What’s the use of living a righteous life?’

⁴“I will answer you

and all your friends, too.

⁵Look up into the sky,

and see the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, how does that affect God?

Even if you sin again and again,

what effect will it have on him?

⁷If you are good, is this some great gift to him?

What could you possibly give him?

⁸No, your sins affect only people like yourself,

and your good deeds also affect only humans.

⁹“People cry out when they are oppressed.

They groan beneath the power of the mighty.

¹⁰Yet they don’t ask, ‘Where is God my Creator,

the one who gives songs in the night?

¹¹Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals

and wiser than the birds of the sky?’

¹²And when they cry out, God does not answer

because of their pride.

¹³But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen,

to say the Almighty isn’t concerned.

¹⁴You say you can’t see him,

but he will bring justice if you will only wait.

¹⁵You say he does not respond to sinners with anger

and is not greatly concerned about wickedness.

¹⁶But you are talking nonsense, Job.

You have spoken like a fool.”