² “Do you think this is fair?
    You say, ‘God will show that I am right.’
³ But you say to him, ‘What good is it to me?
    I don’t gain anything by not sinning.’

⁴ “I would like to answer you.
    And I want to answer your friends who are with you.
⁵ Look up at the sky and see.
    Look at the clouds so high above you.
⁶ If you sin, it does nothing to God.
    Even if your sins are many, they do nothing to God.
⁷ If you are good, you give nothing to God.
    He receives nothing from your hand.
⁸ Your evil ways only hurt a man like yourself.
    And the good you do only helps other human beings.

⁹ “People cry out for help when they are in trouble.
    They beg for relief from powerful people.
¹⁰ But no one asks, ‘Where is God, my Maker?
    He gives us songs in the night.
¹¹ He makes us more clever than the animals of the earth.
    He makes us wiser than the birds of the air.’
¹² God does not answer evil people when they cry for help.
    This is because they are too proud.
¹³ He does not listen to their useless begging.
    God All-Powerful pays no attention to them.
¹⁴ He will listen to you even less
    when you say you do not see him.
He will not listen when you say your case is before him
    and you must wait for him.
¹⁵ He will not listen when you say his anger never punishes
    and that he doesn’t notice evil.
¹⁶ So Job is only speaking useless words.
    He says many words without knowing what is true.”