Job 34

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¹Moreover, Elihu continued to speak:

²“Listen to my words, you wise men; hear me, you who have knowledge.

³For the ear tries words as the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose for ourselves what is just: let us discover among ourselves what is good.

⁵For Job has said, 'I am righteous, but God has taken away my rights.

⁶Regardless of my rights, I am considered to be a liar. My wound is incurable, although I am without sin.'

⁷What man is like Job, who drinks up mockery like water,

⁸who goes around in the company of those who do evil, and who walks with wicked men?

⁹For he has said, 'It is no use to a person to take pleasure in doing what God wants.'

¹⁰So listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness; far be it from the Almighty that he should commit sin.

¹¹For he pays back a person's work; he makes every man come upon the reward of his own ways.

¹²Indeed, God does nothing wicked, nor does the Almighty ever pervert justice.

¹³Who put him in charge over the earth? Who put the whole world under him?

¹⁴If he ever set his intentions only on himself, and if he ever gathered back to himself his spirit and his breath,

¹⁵then all flesh would perish together; mankind would return to dust again.

¹⁶If now you have understanding, listen to this; listen to the sound of my words.

¹⁷Can one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn God, who is righteous and mighty?

¹⁸God, who says to a king, 'You are vile,' or says to nobles, 'You are wicked'?

¹⁹God, who does not show favoritism to leaders and does not acknowledge rich people more than poor, for they all are the work of his hands.

²⁰In a moment they will die; at midnight people will be shaken and will pass away; mighty people will be taken away, but not by human hands.

²¹For God's eyes are upon a person's ways; he sees all his steps.

²²There is no darkness, no thick gloom where the doers of iniquity may hide themselves.

²³For God does not need to examine a person further; there is no need for any person to go before him in judgment.

²⁴He breaks mighty men into pieces for their ways that need no further investigation; he puts others in their places.

²⁵In this way he has knowledge of their deeds; he overthrows these people in the night; they are destroyed.

²⁶In the open sight of others, he kills them for their wicked deeds like criminals

²⁷because they turned away from following him and refused to acknowledge any of his ways.

²⁸In this way, they made the cry of poor people come to him; he heard the cry of afflicted people.

²⁹When he stays silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can perceive him? He rules over nation and individual alike,

³⁰so that a godless man may not rule, so that there may be no one to entrap people.

³¹Suppose someone says to God, 'I am certainly guilty, but I will not sin any longer;

³²teach me what I cannot see; I have committed sin, but I will do it no longer.'

³³Do you think that God will punish that person's sin, since you dislike what God does? You must choose, not I. So say what it is that you know.

³⁴Men of understanding will say to me— indeed, every wise man who hears me will say,

³⁵'Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without wisdom.'

³⁶If only Job were put on trial in the smallest details of his case because of his talking like wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands in mockery in our midst; he piles up words against God.”