Job 34-36

New American Standard Bible

Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice

34 Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who understand.
³For ^(A)the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.
⁴Let us choose for ourselves what is right;
Let us understand among ourselves what is good.
⁵For Job has said, ‘^(B)I am righteous,
But ^(C)God has taken away my right;
⁶^[a]Should I lie about my right?
My ^[b]^(D)wound is incurable, though I am without wrongdoing.’
⁷What man is like Job,
Who ^(E)drinks up derision like water,
⁸Who goes ^(F)in company with the workers of injustice,
And walks with wicked people?
⁹For he has said, ‘^(G)It is of no use to a man
When he becomes friends with God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to ^(H)do evil,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.
¹¹For He repays a person for ^(I)his work,
And lets things happen in correspondence to a man’s ^[c]behavior.
¹²^(J)God certainly will not act wickedly,
And the Almighty will not pervert justice.
¹³Who ^(K)gave Him authority over the earth?
And who ^(L)has placed the whole world on Him?
¹⁴If He were to ^[d]determine to do so,
If He were to ^(M)gather His ^[e]spirit and His breath to Himself,
¹⁵^[f]^(N)Humanity would perish together,
And mankind would ^(O)return to dust.

¹⁶“But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.
¹⁷Shall ^(P)one who hates justice rule?
And ^(Q)will you condemn the righteous mighty One,
¹⁸Who says to a king, ‘You worthless one,’
To nobles, ‘You wicked one’;
¹⁹Who shows no ^(R)partiality to the prominent,
Nor regards the rich as above the poor,
Since they are all the ^(S)work of His hands?
²⁰In a moment they die, and ^(T)at midnight
People are shaken and pass away,
And ^(U)the powerful are taken away without a hand.

²¹“For ^(V)His eyes are upon the ways of a person,
And He sees all his steps.
²²There is ^(W)no darkness or deep shadow
Where the workers of injustice can hide themselves.
²³For He does not ^(X)need to consider a person further,
That he should go before God in judgment.
²⁴He breaks in pieces the ^(Y)mighty without investigation,
And sets others in their place.
²⁵Therefore He ^(Z)knows their deeds,
And ^(AA)He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
²⁶He ^(AB)strikes them like the wicked
^[g]In a public place,
²⁷Because they ^(AC)turned aside from following Him,
And ^(AD)had no regard for any of His ways,
²⁸So that they caused ^(AE)the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He would ^(AF)hear the cry of the afflicted—
²⁹When He keeps quiet, who can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can look at Him,
That is, regarding both nation and a person?—
³⁰So that ^(AG)godless people would not rule,
Nor be snares for the people.

³¹“For has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured punishment;
I will not offend anymore;
³²Teach me what I do not see;
If I have ^(AH)done wrong,
I will not do it again’?
³³Shall God ^(AI)repay on your terms, because you have rejected His?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.
³⁴Men of understanding will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,
³⁵‘Job ^(AJ)speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.
³⁶Oh that Job were tested ^[h]to the limit,
Because ^[i]he answers ^(AK)like sinners.
³⁷For he adds ^(AL)rebellion to his sin;
He ^(AM)claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.’”

Elihu Sharply Rebukes Job

35 Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Do you think this is in accordance with ^(AN)justice?
Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
³For you say, ‘^(AO)What advantage will it be to ^[j]You?
^(AP)What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?’
⁴I will answer you,
And your friends with you.
⁵^(AQ)Look at the heavens and see;
And look at ^(AR)the clouds—they are higher than you.
⁶If you have sinned, ^(AS)what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?
⁷If you are righteous, ^(AT)what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand?
⁸Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,
And your righteousness is for a son of man.

⁹“Because of the ^(AU)multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help because of the arm ^(AV)of the mighty.
¹⁰But ^(AW)no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
Who ^(AX)gives songs in the night,
¹¹Who ^(AY)teaches us more than the animals of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
¹²There ^(AZ)they cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil people.
¹³^(BA)God certainly will not listen to ^[k]an empty cry,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.
¹⁴How much less when ^(BB)you say you do not look at Him,
The ^(BC)case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!
¹⁵And now, because He has not avenged His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged ^[l]wrongdoing well,
¹⁶So Job opens his mouth with empty words;
He multiplies words ^(BD)without knowledge.”

Elihu Speaks of God’s Dealings with Mankind

36 Then Elihu continued and said,

²“Wait for me a little, and I will show you
That there ^[m]is still more to be said on God’s behalf.
³I will bring my knowledge from afar,
And ascribe ^(BE)righteousness to my Maker.
⁴For truly ^(BF)my words are not false;
One who is ^(BG)perfect in knowledge is with you.
⁵Behold, God is mighty but does not ^(BH)reject anyone;
He is ^(BI)mighty in strength of understanding.
⁶He does not ^(BJ)keep the wicked alive,
But gives justice to ^(BK)the afflicted.
⁷He does not ^(BL)withdraw His eyes from the righteous,
But ^(BM)with kings on the throne
He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.
⁸And if they are bound in shackles,
And are caught in the snares of ^(BN)misery,
⁹Then He declares to them their work
And their wrongdoings, that they have ^(BO)been arrogant.
¹⁰^(BP)He opens their ears to instruction,
And ^(BQ)commands that they return from injustice.
¹¹If they listen and serve Him,
They will ^(BR)end their days in prosperity,
And their years in ^(BS)happiness.
¹²But if they do not listen, they will ^[n]perish ^(BT)by the sword,
And ^(BU)die without knowledge.
¹³But the godless in heart nurture anger;
They do not call for help when He binds them.
¹⁴^[o]They die in youth,
And their life perishes among the ^(BV)cult prostitutes.
¹⁵He rescues the afflicted in ^[p]their ^(BW)misery,
And ^(BX)opens their ears in time of oppression.
¹⁶Then indeed, He induced you away from the mouth of distress,
And instead of it, a broad place with no constraint;
And your table was full of ^[q]rich food.

¹⁷“But you were full of ^(BY)judgment on the wicked;
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
¹⁸Beware that ^(BZ)wrath does not entice you to mockery;
And do not let the greatness of the ^(CA)ransom turn you aside.
¹⁹Will your cry for help keep you from distress,
Or all the exertions of your strength?
²⁰Do not long for ^(CB)the night,
When people ^[r]vanish in their places.
²¹Be careful, do ^(CC)not turn to evil,
For you preferred this to ^(CD)misery.
²²Behold, God is exalted in His power;
Who is a ^(CE)teacher like Him?
²³Who has appointed Him His way,
And who has said, ‘^(CF)You have done wrong’?

²⁴“Remember that you are to ^(CG)exalt His work,
Of which people have ^(CH)sung.
²⁵All people have seen it;
Mankind looks at it from afar.
²⁶Behold, God is ^(CI)exalted, and ^(CJ)we do not know Him;
The ^(CK)number of His years is unsearchable.
²⁷For ^(CL)He draws up the drops of water;
They distill rain from its ^[s]celestial stream,
²⁸Which clouds pour down;
They drip upon mankind abundantly.
²⁹Can anyone understand the ^(CM)spreading of the clouds,
The ^(CN)thundering of His ^[t]pavilion?
³⁰Behold, He spreads His ^[u]lightning about Him,
And He covers the depths of the sea.
³¹For by them He ^(CO)judges peoples;
He ^(CP)gives food in abundance.
³²He covers His hands with the ^[v]lightning,
And ^(CQ)commands it to strike the target.
³³Its ^(CR)thundering voice declares ^[w]His presence;
The livestock also, concerning what is coming up.