Job 35

1 Then Elihu spoke to Job again. And this is what he said.

2 ‘The things that you say cannot be right.

“God knows that I have not done anything wrong.” That is what you say.

3 But you ask him why you should live the right way.

You ask this also. “What do I get if I only do good things?”

4 I would like to reply to you.

And I will speak, too, to the friends who are with you.

5 Look up at the sky to see what is there.

Look at the clouds that are so high above you.

6 If you do wrong things, that will not hurt God.

If you do many wrong things, it will not change him.

7 You do not give anything to God if you are always good.

He does not receive from you because you do good things.

8 Only you feel the result of the wrong things that you do.

And only other people get something as a result of the good things that you do.

9 People shout when they have a lot of trouble.

They ask for help when powerful people attack them.

10 God made men. And when they are sad, he causes them to be happy.

But none of them asks where he is.

11 He teaches more things to us than he teaches to animals.

And he makes us wiser than the birds. But people still do not ask him to help them.

12 People may ask him to help them.

But he does not help them because they do so many wrong things.

13 They may pray to God. But they do not believe that he will answer them.

So God does not even listen to them.

14 You say that you do not see him. And you say that you wait for him to answer you.

So there is no reason why he should listen to you either.

15 You say that God does not punish bad people. You do things that are wrong.

But you think that he does not see them.

16 So, Job, you do not understand what you say.

And the words that you speak do not mean anything.’