Elihu Proclaims God’s Justice

34 Elihu further answered and said:

² “Hear my words, you wise men;Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.³ For the ear tests wordsAs the palate tastes food.⁴ Let us choose justice for ourselves;Let us know among ourselves what is good.

⁵ “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,But God has taken away my justice;⁶ Should I lie concerning my right?My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’⁷ What man is like Job,Who drinks scorn like water,⁸ Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,And walks with wicked men?⁹ For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothingThat he should delight in God.’

¹⁰ “Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:Far be it from God to do wickedness,And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.¹¹ For He repays man according to his work,And makes man to find a reward according to his way.¹² Surely God will never do wickedly,Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.¹³ Who gave Him charge over the earth?Or who appointed Him over the whole world?¹⁴ If He should set His heart on it,If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,¹⁵ All flesh would perish together,And man would return to dust.

¹⁶ “If you have understanding, hear this;Listen to the sound of my words:¹⁷ Should one who hates justice govern?Will you condemn Him who is most just?¹⁸ Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’And to nobles, ‘You are wicked’?¹⁹ Yet He is not partial to princes,Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor;For they are all the work of His hands.²⁰ In a moment they die, in the middle of the night;The people are shaken and pass away;The mighty are taken away without a hand.

²¹ “For His eyes are on the ways of man,And He sees all his steps.²² There is no darkness nor shadow of deathWhere the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.²³ For He need not further consider a man,That he should go before God in judgment.²⁴ He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,And sets others in their place.²⁵ Therefore He knows their works;He overthrows them in the night,And they are crushed.²⁶ He strikes them as wicked menIn the open sight of others,²⁷ Because they turned back from Him,And would not consider any of His ways,²⁸ So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him;For He hears the cry of the afflicted.²⁹ When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?And when He hides His face, who then can see Him,Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—³⁰ That the hypocrite should not reign,Lest the people be ensnared.

³¹ “For has anyone said to God,‘I have borne chastening;I will offend no more;³² Teach me what I do not see;If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?³³ Should He repay it according to your terms,Just because you disavow it?You must choose, and not I;Therefore speak what you know.

³⁴ “Men of understanding say to me,Wise men who listen to me:³⁵ ‘Job speaks without knowledge,His words are without wisdom.’³⁶ Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost,Because his answers are like those of wicked men!³⁷ For he adds rebellion to his sin;He claps his hands among us,And multiplies his words against God.”