Job 34:16–30

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.