The Daily Audio Bible

² Elihu: Hear my words, you men of wisdom;
        listen to me, learned ones:
³     Our ears are capable of testing wisdom of words
        the way the roofs of our mouths are capable of tasting food.^[a]
4     Let us form a council here then, and decide among us what is right;
        let us come together to know what is good in all of this.
⁵     After all, Job has told us, “I am innocent,
        but God has denied my right to a fair hearing.
⁶     Though I am right, should I lie and claim to be wrong? No.
        Let me put it to you simply:
    I am gravely wounded as by an arrow,
        but I am innocent.”
⁷     What other man is comparable to Job?
        He drinks disdain like water.
⁸     He is not like the one who runs with the workers of wickedness
        and associates himself with evil people.
⁹     In fact he even suggests, “A person receives no benefit
        from pleasing God.”

¹⁰ Elihu: So, you men whose hearts have embraced wisdom, listen to me:
        far be it from God to commit evil acts;
        and from the Highest One^[b] to engage in wrongdoing!
¹¹     For He is like an employer
        who pays workers according to what they have done;
        He makes sure the rewards they receive match their conduct.
¹²     Oh, unimaginable thought—that God would cause evil!
        The Highest One does not pervert justice!
¹³     Who designated Him as earth’s overseer?
        Who placed Him in charge of the entire world?
¹⁴     If He made it His aim to do so,
        if He recalled to Himself His spirit and His breath,
¹⁵     All living creatures would expire as one
        and humankind would return to the dust from which He formed them.

¹⁶     If you are one of understanding, hear this!
        Listen to what I am saying!
¹⁷     Can one who despises justice also govern?
        And are you willing to render condemnation on the Righteous and Mighty One?
¹⁸     Is He not the One who says to the king, “You are worthless,”
        and to the exalted nobility, “You are depraved.”
¹⁹     Is He not the One who refuses favoritism to royalty
        and who will not put rich above poor?
        After all, they are all the creations of His very own hands.
²⁰     All of a sudden, in the middle of the night, people perish;
        they are shaken, and then they pass away;
        the strong and mighty, apart from any human hand, are taken.

²¹     For God’s eyes are on the paths people choose;
        He surveys each of their steps.
²²     There is no darkness, no gloomy shadow
        in which wrongdoers may hide themselves from Him.
²³     God does not need to scrutinize people further
        or bring them before Him for judgment.
²⁴     Without need of a lengthy investigation,
        He breaks even the mighty into pieces,
        and installs others to replace them.
²⁵     And this is because He is already acquainted with their actions.
        When the seemingly sudden midnight hour rolls over, they are crushed beneath it.
²⁶     He strikes down people as if they were wicked—
        front and center—a display for all to see
²⁷     Simply because they turned from following Him,
        because they no longer considered His ways.
²⁸     As a result of their injustice,
        the poor cried out to Him
    And as you ought to know well,
        He always hears the cries of the needy, of the oppressed peoples.
²⁹     If God remains silent, who is fit to raise his voice against Him?
        If He chooses to hide His face, who is able to see Him?
    This goes for a nation or an individual;
        all are the same.
³⁰     A person estranged from God must be prevented from ruling over any nation
        and from laying snares for the downfall of a people.

³¹     Has anyone then said to God,
        “I have carried punishment,
        but I will not offend again.
³²     Teach me and fill in my blind spots,
        and if I have done wrong, I will stop and do what is right.”
³³     Is God obliged to reward you on your terms
        for your personal revolt against Him?
    You must decide that, not I.
        Tell me, if you know what you believe,
³⁴     People who comprehend such things,
        wise folk who hear me say,
³⁵     “Job speaks without knowledge;
        his harangues are devoid of insight.”
³⁶     May God try Job to the bitter end,
        for he responds as the wicked do
³⁷     And he keeps adding to his sins;
        he claps his hands in rebellion in our very midst,
        and he multiplies his offensive words against God.

² Elihu: Job, is this your idea of justice,
        that you would say, “My righteousness exceeds God’s”?
³     For you say something like, “What good does it do You if I do right?
        What is in it for me if I don’t sin?”
⁴     I will return your words with my own,
        and I will answer your friends with you.
⁵     Look at the skies above and take notice.
        See how high the clouds are—they are so far above you!
⁶     Surely, if the clouds maintain such a distance,
        one must wonder: how high up and far away is God?
    If you sin, how much have you really accomplished against Him?
        If you pile up your sins, if you stack them high, what does it do to Him?
⁷     Likewise, if you are righteous, what does that confer to Him,
        or what gift does He receive from your outstretched hand of righteous generosity?
⁸     Listen! Your wickedness affects your own kind,
        and your righteousness only helps other human beings.

⁹     People call out to God when they feel the crush of oppression.
        They implore Him for deliverance from the strong hand of tyranny.
¹⁰     But none of them pleads in this way: “Where is God, my Creator,
        who gives songs of comfort in the silence and suffering of night,
¹¹     Who enlightens us more than the animals of the field,
        who instructs us in wisdom more than the birds of the air?”
¹²     And so, in the absence of such prayers,
        God does not answer the cries of the people
        because they cry with the arrogance of the wicked.
¹³     Indeed, God does not hear the vain and empty cry,
        nor does the Highest One^[c] pay it any mind.
¹⁴     How much less must He hear you—
        you who say you cannot see Him,^[d]
    You who say you have already pled your case before Him
        but that you are still waiting for Him.
¹⁵     And now, here we are.
        Because God has not been swift to punish in His anger,
        because He does not concern Himself with great arrogance,^[e]
16     Job opens his mouth and out comes empty talk.
        Yes, he heaps up words with ignorance.

² Elihu: Wait for me to finish, and I will explain.
        There is still more to be said on God’s behalf.
³     I will acquire my knowledge from ancient, far away sources
        and illustrate the righteous ways of my Maker.
⁴     Truly, there is no untruth hidden in my words;
        in fact, perfect knowledge has graced your presence.
⁵     Look! God has great strength, but He does not detest human beings;
        He is mighty indeed, and His heart swells with understanding.
⁶     He does not preserve the life of the wicked,
        but He grants justice to those who are weak and humble.
⁷     He does not divert His gaze from the righteous;
        He enthrones them with monarchs,
        lifts them up to positions of power forever.
⁸     And if the people are restrained in chains,
        caught in the cords of their misery,
⁹     Then He explains to them their exploits,
        their errors, and how they have lived in arrogance.
¹⁰     He uncovers their ears so as to hear His teaching
        and commands them to abandon their sinful path.
¹¹     If they hear and choose to serve Him,
        then they end their days in prosperity and their years in felicity.
¹²     But if they refuse to listen,
        then they will pass over to the land of death by the sword
        and will arrive, lacking any wisdom, at their death.
¹³     The sullied and impure stash away their anger.
        Even when He puts them in chains for their own good,
        they refuse to cry for His help.
¹⁴     They die young,
        debased among the male prostitutes of the shrines.
¹⁵     As for the righteous—when they are afflicted—
        God delivers them through the affliction itself,
        and uses the trial to open their ears to His voice.
¹⁶     Job, even now, God is enticing you away from the jaws of distress;
        He is luring you to a wide, wonderful place free of boundaries
        where your table will be covered in the finest foods.

¹⁷     You are weighed down, instead, with judgment usually reserved for the wicked.
        And yet, ironically, as you seek to lay hold of justice and judgment,
        justice and judgment have laid hold of you.
¹⁸     Beware that your anger at how you are being judged does not seduce you into scorning.
        Do not let the high ransom you are paying through your suffering steer you off God’s path.
¹⁹     Will your cry for help lessen your misery?
        How about your strength and forcefulness?
        Are they yielding you any better result?
²⁰     Do not pine, Job, for the night
        when people pass from their earthly homes into oblivion.^[f]
21     In short, be careful! Do not turn your life toward evil ways—
        which you have preferred to hearing God’s correcting voice in the midst of your suffering.
²²     See, God is supreme in His power.
        Is there any teacher like Him?
²³     Is anyone capable of overseeing His path?
        Who has ever said to Him, “You have done wrong”?

²⁴     Remember to praise His works,
        which generations have celebrated in song.
²⁵     All of humankind has seen them
        and has gazed upon them from far away.
²⁶     Look, God is exalted, beyond all knowing.
        The number of His years is vast, beyond all discovery.
²⁷     For He draws up drops of water,
        distills the rain from the mist
²⁸     Which pours down from the clouds,
        dripping a sky full of water over the whole of humanity.
²⁹     It is beyond comprehension: the fanning out of the clouds,
        the crashing thunder from His cloudy pavilion.
³⁰     Ah, and then He extends His lightning over the earth,
        striking even the sea to illumine its depths.
³¹     For with these, He judges the peoples—
        lightning punishing His enemies and rain blessing His people—
        but now with those same waters, He gives them food in abundance.
³²     In the palms of His hands He holds lightning
        and issues orders for it to strike its target.
³³     Thunder announces His presence;
        His jealous anger^[g] is against what is coming.

⁴ You are my King, my God!
    You ordained victories for Jacob and his people!
⁵ You are our victory, pushing back the enemy;
    at the sound of Your name, we crush the opposition.
⁶ I don’t trust in my weapons
    or in my strength to win me victory.
⁷ But You rescue us from our foes;
    You shame our enemies.
⁸ We shout Your name all day long;
    we will praise Your name forever!

[pause]^[b]