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.’