Job 34

Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice

1 Then Elihu continued and said,

2 “Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who understand.
3 “For ^athe ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.
4 “Let us choose for ourselves what is right;
Let us understand among ourselves what is good.
5 “For Job has said, ‘ ^bI am righteous,
But ^cGod has taken away my right;
6 ▼

▼Or Although I am right I am accounted a liar.

Should I lie about my right?
My ▼

▼Lit arrow

, ^fwound is incurable, though I am without wrongdoing.’
7 “What man is like Job,
Who ^gdrinks up derision like water,
8 Who goes ^hin company with the workers of injustice,
And walks with wicked people?
9 “For he has said, ‘ ⁱIt is of no use to a man
When he becomes friends with God.’

10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to ^jdo evil,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.
11 “For He repays a person for ^khis work,
And lets things happen in correspondence to a man’s ▼

▼Lit way

behavior.
12 “ ^mGod certainly will not act wickedly,
And the Almighty will not pervert justice.
13 “Who ⁿgave Him authority over the earth?
And who ^ohas placed the whole world on Him?
14 “If He were to ▼

▼Lit set His mind on Himself

determine to do so,
If He were to ^qgather His ▼

▼Or Spirit

spirit and His breath to Himself,
15 ▼

▼Lit All flesh

, ^tHumanity would perish together,
And mankind would ^ureturn to dust.

16 “But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.
17 “Shall ^vone who hates justice rule?
And ^wwill you condemn the righteous mighty One,
18 Who says to a king, ‘You worthless one,’
To nobles, ‘You wicked one’;
19 Who shows no ^xpartiality to the prominent,
Nor regards the rich as above the poor,
Since they are all the ^ywork of His hands?
20 “In a moment they die, and ^zat midnight
People are shaken and pass away,
And ^aathe powerful are taken away without a hand.

21 “For ^abHis eyes are upon the ways of a person,
And He sees all his steps.
22 “There is ^acno darkness or deep shadow
Where the workers of injustice can hide themselves.
23 “For He does not ^adneed to consider a person further,
That he should go before God in judgment.
24 “He breaks in pieces the ^aemighty without investigation,
And sets others in their place.
25 “Therefore He ^afknows their deeds,
And ^agHe overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
26 “He ^ahstrikes them like the wicked
▼

▼Lit In the place of the ones seeing

In a public place,
27 Because they ^ajturned aside from following Him,
And ^akhad no regard for any of His ways,
28 So that they caused ^althe cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He would ^amhear the cry of the afflicted--
29 When He keeps quiet, who can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can look at Him,
That is, regarding both nation and a person?--
30 “So that ^angodless people would not rule,
Nor be snares for the people.

31 “For has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured punishment;
I will not offend anymore;
32 Teach me what I do not see;
If I have ^aodone wrong,
I will not do it again’?
33 “Shall God ^aprepay on your terms, because you have rejected His?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.
34 “Men of understanding will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,
35 ‘Job ^aqspeaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.
36 ‘Oh that Job were tested ▼

▼Or to the end

to the limit,
Because ▼

▼Lit of answers like

he answers ^atlike sinners.
37 ‘For he adds ^aurebellion to his sin;
He ^avclaps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.’”