Job34

¹Then 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.”