Job 35
Modern English Version
Elihu Condemns Self-Righteousness
35 Elihu spoke again and said:
2 “Do you think this is right,
that you say, ‘My righteousness is before God’?
3 For you said, ‘What advantage will it be to me?
What profit will I have if I am cleansed from my sin?’
4 “I will answer you,
and your companions with you.
5 Look unto the heavens and see,
and behold the clouds that are higher than you.
6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him?
Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what does it do to Him?
7 If you are righteous, what does it give Him?
Or what does He receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness may hurt a man like you,
and your righteousness may profit a son of man.
9 “Because of the many oppressions they cry out;
they cry out because of the arm of the mighty.
10 But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?’
12 There they cry out, but He does not answer
because of the pride of evil men.
13 Surely God will not hear vanity,
nor will the Almighty regard it.
14 Although you say you do not see Him,
yet judgment is before Him,
and you must trust in Him.
15 But now, because He has not punished in His anger,
nor taken much notice of folly,
16 therefore Job opens his mouth in vain;
he multiplies words without knowledge.”
Job 35
Lexham English Bible
Elihu Condemns Job
35 Moreover,[a] Elihu spoke up[b] and said,
2 “Do you think this is justice when you say,
‘I am right[c] before God’?
3 If you ask what it profits you:
‘How do I benefit by refraining from my sin?’[d]
4 I myself[e] will give answer to you[f]
and to your friends with you.
5 “Look at the heavens, and see;
and observe the clouds that are higher than you.
6 If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness affects a person like yourself,
and your righteousness affects humans.
9 “Because of the multitude of oppressions, they cry out;
they cry for help because of the arm of the mighty.
10 But[g] no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the animals of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
12 There they cry out, but[h] he does not answer
because of the pride of evildoers.[i]
13 “Surely God does not hear an empty plea,
and Shaddai does not regard it.
14 How much less[j] when you say that you do not see him,
that the case is before him,[k] and you are waiting for him!
15 But[l] now, because his anger does not punish,
and he does not acknowledge the transgression at all,
16 therefore[m] Job opens his mouth in empty talk—
without knowledge he multiplies words.”
Footnotes
- Job 35:1 Hebrew “And”
- Job 35:1 Literally “answered”; see NET
- Job 35:2 Literally “My righteousness”
- Job 35:3 Literally “from my sin”
- Job 35:4 Emphatic personal pronoun
- Job 35:4 Literally “will return you words”
- Job 35:10 Hebrew “And”
- Job 35:12 Hebrew “and”
- Job 35:12 Literally “from the face of the pride of evildoers”
- Job 35:14 Literally “Also for”
- Job 35:14 Literally “to the face of him”
- Job 35:15 Hebrew “And”
- Job 35:16 Hebrew “and,” or “so”
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