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Job 35
Contemporary English Version
Job 35
Contemporary English Version
Elihu Continues
Are You Really Innocent?
35 Elihu said:
2 Job, are you really innocent
in the sight of God?[a]
3 Don't you honestly believe
it pays to obey him?
4 I will give the answers
to you and your friends.
* 5 Look up to the heavens
6 (A) and think!
Do your sins hurt God?
7 Is any good you may have done
at all helpful to him?
8 The evil or good you do
only affects other humans.
9 In times of trouble,
everyone begs the mighty God
to have mercy.
10 But after their Creator
helps them through hard times,
they forget about him,
11 though he makes us wiser
than animals or birds.
12 God won't listen to the prayers
of proud and evil people.
13 If God All-Powerful refuses
to answer their empty prayers,
14 he will surely deny
your impatient request
to face him in court.
15 Job, you were wrong to say
God doesn't punish sin.
16 Everything you have said
adds up to nonsense.
Footnotes
- 35.2 are … God: Or “is it right for you to accuse God?”
Job 35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Job 35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 35
1 [a]Then Elihu answered and said:
2 Do you think it right to say,
“I am in the right, not God”?(A)
3 When you ask what it profits you,
“What advantage do I have from not sinning?”(B)
4 I have words for a reply to you[b]
and your friends as well.
5 Look up to the skies and see;
behold the heavens high above you.
6 If you sin, what do you do to God?
Even if your offenses are many, how do you affect him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him,
or what does he receive from your hand?(C)
8 Your wickedness affects only someone like yourself,
and your justice, only a fellow human being.
9 In great oppression people cry out;
they call for help because of the power of the great,
10 No one says, “Where is God, my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 Teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?”
12 Though thus they cry out, he does not answer
because of the pride of the wicked.
13 But it is idle to say God does not hear
or that the Almighty does not take notice.
14 Even though you say, “You take no notice of it,”[c]
the case is before him; with trembling wait upon him.
15 But now that you have done otherwise, God’s anger punishes,
nor does he show much concern over a life.
16 Yet Job to no purpose opens his mouth,
multiplying words without knowledge.(D)
Footnotes
- 35:1 See note on 34:1.
- 35:4 A reply to you: Elihu refers to Job’s statement that the innocent suffer as much as the wicked, and especially to Eliphaz’s words in 22:2–3.
- 35:14–15 The text here is uncertain. It seems to indicate that Job should have realized God’s indifference is only apparent, and that, because he has not done so, God will punish him.
Job 35
New International Version
Job 35
New International Version
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think this is just?
You say, ‘I am in the right,(A) not God.’(B)
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,[a]
and what do I gain by not sinning?’(C)
4 “I would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.
5 Look up at the heavens(D) and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.(E)
6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?(F)
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,(G)
or what does he receive(H) from your hand?(I)
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,(J)
and your righteousness only other people.(K)
9 “People cry out(L) under a load of oppression;(M)
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.(N)
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,(O)
who gives songs(P) in the night,(Q)
11 who teaches(R) us(S) more than he teaches[b] the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than[c] the birds in the sky?’
12 He does not answer(T) when people cry out
because of the arrogance(U) of the wicked.(V)
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.(W)
14 How much less, then, will he listen
when you say that you do not see him,(X)
that your case(Y) is before him
and you must wait for him,(Z)
15 and further, that his anger never punishes(AA)
and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.[d](AB)
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;(AC)
without knowledge he multiplies words.”(AD)
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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