Job 34
Holman Christian Standard Bible
34 Then Elihu continued,[a] saying:
2 Hear my words, you wise men,
and listen to me, you knowledgeable ones.
3 Doesn’t the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
4 Let us judge for ourselves what is right;
let us decide together what is good.
5 For Job has declared, “I am righteous,
yet God has deprived me of justice.(A)
6 Would I lie about my case?(B)
My wound[b] is incurable,
though I am without transgression.”
7 What man is like Job?
He drinks derision(C) like water.
8 He keeps company with evildoers
and walks with wicked men.
9 For he has said, “A man gains nothing
when he becomes God’s friend.”(D)
10 Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding.
It is impossible for God to do wrong,
and for the Almighty to act unjustly.(E)
11 For He repays(F) a person according to his deeds,
and He brings his ways on him.
12 Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly
and the Almighty does not pervert justice.(G)
13 Who gave Him authority over the earth?
Who put Him in charge of the entire world?(H)
14 If He put His mind to it
and withdrew the spirit(I) and breath He gave,
15 every living thing would perish together
and mankind would return to the dust.(J)
16 If you have understanding, hear this;
listen to what I have to say.
17 Could one who hates justice govern the world?
Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,(K)
18 who says to a king, “Worthless man!”
and to nobles, “Wicked men!”?(L)
19 God is not partial(M) to princes
and does not favor the rich over the poor,
for they are all the work of His hands.
20 They die suddenly in the middle of the night;
people shudder, then pass away.
Even the mighty are removed without effort.
21 For His eyes watch over a man’s ways,
and He observes all his steps.(N)
22 There is no darkness, no deep darkness,
where evildoers can hide themselves.(O)
23 God does not need to examine a person further,
that one should[c] approach Him in court.
24 He shatters the mighty without an investigation
and sets others in their place.(P)
25 Therefore, He recognizes their deeds(Q)
and overthrows them by night, and they are crushed.
26 In full view of the public,[d]
He strikes them for their wickedness,
27 because they turned aside from following Him
and did not understand any of His ways
28 but caused the poor to cry out to Him,
and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.(R)
29 But when God is silent, who can declare Him guilty?
When He hides His face, who can see Him?
Yet He watches over both individuals and nations,
30 so that godless men should not rule
or ensnare the people.
31 Suppose someone says to God,
“I have endured my punishment;
I will no longer act wickedly.
32 Teach me what I cannot see;
if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”
33 Should God repay you on your terms
when you have rejected His?
You must choose, not I!
So declare what you know.
34 Reasonable men will say to me,
along with the wise men who hear me,
35 “Job speaks without knowledge;(S)
his words are without insight.”
36 If only Job were tested to the limit,
because his answers are like those of wicked men.
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
he scornfully claps(T) in our presence,
while multiplying(U) his words against God.
Job 34
EasyEnglish Bible
Elihu continues to speak[a]
34 Elihu continued speaking and he said this:
2 ‘You men who are so wise and who know so much,
listen to me.
Hear what I have to say.
3 You recognize nice food when you eat it.
So you should recognize the value of my words.
4 We should decide among ourselves what is right.
We should agree together what is good.
5 Job has said, “I am not guilty.
But God refuses to judge me in a fair way.
6 I am right,
but nobody believes me.
I have not done anything wrong,
but I am suffering
and I am near to death.”
7 There has never been a man like Job!
He laughs at God as easily as he drinks water.
8 He is a friend of wicked people,
and people who do evil things.
9 Job says, “If anyone tries to please God,
it does not help them at all.”
10 So listen to me, you men who understand so much.
Almighty God can never do anything that is wrong or wicked!
11 He judges people fairly
as he sees the things that they do.
He gives people what they deserve.
12 It is true! Almighty God does not do wicked things.
He never refuses to judge people in a fair way.
13 God's great power did not come from anyone else!
He himself has authority over the whole world.
14 God could decide to remove life from the world.
He could take back his spirit and his breath.
15 If he did that, everyone that is alive would die.
As humans, we would become dirt again.[b]
16 If you really understand things, Job, listen to me.
Hear what I have to say.
17 If God refused to do what is right,
he could not rule the world.
He is the powerful Judge who knows what is right.
But you say that he is guilty!
18 It is God who may say to a king, “You are useless!”
He may say to rulers, “You are wicked!”
19 God created everyone.
He is not more kind to important people
than he is to other people.
He does not help rich people
more than he helps poor people.
20 Anyone may die suddenly,
in the middle of the night.
God may shake them, so that they die.
He easily removes even the most powerful people.
21 He watches the way that each person lives.
He sees what they do every day.
22 People who do wicked things cannot hide themselves.
There is no place dark enough for them to hide from God.
23 God does not have to tell people when they must come to him,
so that he can judge them.
24 He destroys powerful people,
and he chooses other people to take their place.
He does not have to ask them anything.
25 He already knows the things that they have done.
In the night, he removes their power,
and he destroys them.
26 He punishes them
because they have done wicked things.
He does that where everyone can see.
27 Those powerful people have turned away from God.
They have not respected his commands.
28 They were cruel to poor people,
so that God saw what was happening.
God heard those poor people
when they called to him for help.
29 But if God decides to do nothing,
no one can say that he is wrong.
If he hides himself, no one can see him.
But he still rules over people and over nations.
30 God does not let men rule,
if they do not respect his ways.
He stops them from causing trouble to the people.
31 Someone could say to God, “I am guilty,
and I have received my punishment.
But I will not do any more wrong things.
32 Show me the sins that I have done
when I did not know about them.
If I have done wrong things,
I will not do them again.”
33 But you, Job, refuse to accept God's justice.
Do you expect God to do what you think is right?
But you must choose what you will say.
I cannot decide for you.
So tell us what you are thinking now.
34 Wise people will agree with me.
When they hear my words, they will say,
35 “Job speaks like a fool who knows nothing.
He only says useless things.”
36 Yes Job, you speak to us like a wicked person.
So you should continue to suffer for ever!
37 You have not only done wrong things,
you have also turned against God.
You have shown that you do not respect us.
You have said many things that insult God.’
Footnotes
- 34:1 Elihu speaks to Job's friends (verse 2), as well as to Job himself (verses 7 to 9). Then he says that God cannot do anything wrong (verse 12). God is powerful but he is always fair (verse 17). God knows everything (verses 21 to 23). Job has not said sorry to God. So Elihu says that God will not forgive him. None of these things helps Job to understand why bad things have happened to him.
- 34:15 See Genesis 2:7.
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