Job 35
International Standard Version
Elihu Speaks Again
35 In response, Elihu said:
2 “Are you saying that it’s just for you to claim,
‘I’m more righteous than God?’
3 After all, you’ve asked what your benefit will be:
‘What will I profit from refraining from sin?’
4 I’m going to respond to that statement,
and to your friends with you.”
God’s Justice Remains Unsullied
5 “Observe the heavens! Take a look around!
Look! The clouds are higher than you, aren’t they?
6 If you sin, what will that do to harm him?
If you add transgression to transgression
what will it do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what will you add to him?
What can God receive from your efforts?[a]
8 Your wickedness affects only[b] yourself;
and your righteousness, only human beings.[c]
9 “They cry out because they have many oppressors;
they cry for help because the powerful are abusing them.[d]
10 He never asks, ‘Where is God, my Creator,
who gives me songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the earth’s wild animals,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
12 “They cry out there, but he doesn’t answer
because of the arrogance of those who practice evil.
13 Theirs is a useless plea—
God won’t listen;
the Almighty won’t pay any attention.
14 Even though you complain that you can’t perceive him,
your case is already pending for judgment in his presence
so keep on placing your hope in him.
15 “So now, if he doesn’t inflict punishment in his anger,
then he doesn’t keep track of your many transgressions.
16 When he began speaking, he communicated only worthlessness;
he added words upon words without knowing anything.”
Job 35
Easy-to-Read Version
35 Elihu continued talking and said,
2 “Job, it is not fair for you to say,
‘I am more right than God,’
3 because you also ask him,
‘What’s the use of trying to please you?
What good will it do me if I don’t sin?’
4 “Job, I want to answer you and your friends here with you.
5 Look up at the sky.
Look at the clouds, which are so much higher than you.
6 If you sin, it does not hurt God.
Even if your sins are too many to count, that does nothing to God.
7 And if you are good, that does not help God.
He gets nothing from you.
8 Job, the good and bad things you do
affect only other people like yourself.
9 “If people are being hurt, they cry out
and beg for protection from those who hurt them.
10 But they forget to say, ‘Where is God, the one who made me?
He is the one who gives us songs to sing in the night.
11 He is the one who makes us smarter than any animal on earth
and wiser than any bird.’
12 “Or if evil people ask God for help, he will not answer them,
because they are too proud.
13 God will not listen to their worthless begging.
God All-Powerful will not pay attention to them.
14 So, Job, God will not listen to you
when you say that you don’t see him.
You say you are waiting for your chance to meet with him
and prove that you are innocent.
15 “Job thinks that God does not punish evil
and that he pays no attention to sin.
16 So he continues his worthless talking.
Everything he has said shows he does not know what he is talking about.”
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