34:1 Elihu answered:
34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;
34:3 For the ear assesses3 words
as the mouth4 tastes food.
34:4 Let us evaluate5 for ourselves what is right;6
let us come to know among ourselves what is good.
34:5 For Job says, ‘I am innocent,7
but God turns away my right.
34:6 Concerning my right, should I lie?8
My wound9 is incurable,
although I am without transgression.’10
34:7 What man is like Job,
who11 drinks derision12 like water!
34:8 He goes about13 in company14 with evildoers,
he goes along15 with wicked men.16
34:9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man
when he makes his delight with God.’17
God is Not Unjust
34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.18
Far be it from19 God to do wickedness,
from the Almighty to do evil.
34:11 For he repays a person for his work,20
and according to the conduct of a person,
he causes the consequences to find him.21
34:12 Indeed, in truth, God does not act wickedly,
and the Almighty does not pervert justice.
34:13 Who entrusted22 to him the earth?
And who put him over23 the whole world?
34:14 If God24 were to set his heart on it,25
and gather in his spirit and his breath,
34:15 all flesh would perish together
and human beings would return to dust.
God Is Impartial and Omniscient
34:16 “If you have26 understanding, listen to this,
hear what I have to say.27
that one who hates justice can govern?29
And will you declare guilty
the supremely righteous30 One,
34:18 who says to a king,31 ‘Worthless man’32
and to nobles, ‘Wicked men,’
34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,
and does not take note of33 the rich more than the poor,
because all of them are the work of his hands?
34:20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night,34
people35 are shaken36 and they pass away.
The mighty are removed effortlessly.37
34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual,
he observes all a person’s38 steps.
34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,
where evildoers can hide themselves.39
34:23 For he does not still consider a person,40
that he should come before God in judgment.
34:24 He shatters the great without inquiry,41
and sets up others in their place.
34:25 Therefore, he knows their deeds,
he overthrows them42 in the night43
and they are crushed.
34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness,44
in a place where people can see,45
34:27 because they have turned away from following him,
and have not understood46 any of his ways,
34:28 so that they caused47 the cry of the poor
to come before him,
so that he hears48 the cry of the needy.
34:29 But if God49 is quiet, who can condemn50 him?
If he hides his face, then who can see him?
Yet51 he is over the individual and the nation alike,52
34:30 so that the godless man should not rule,
and not lay snares for the people.53
Job Is Foolish to Rebel
34:31 “Has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured chastisement,54
but I will not act wrongly any more.
34:32 Teach me what I cannot see.55
If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’
34:33 Is it your opinion56 that God57 should recompense it,
because you reject this?58
But you must choose, and not I,
so tell us what you know.
34:34 Men of understanding say to me,
any wise man listening to me says
34:35 that59 Job speaks without knowledge
and his words are without understanding.60
34:36 But61 Job will be tested to the end,
because his answers are like those of wicked men.
34:37 For he adds transgression62 to his sin;
in our midst he claps his hands,63
and multiplies his words against God.”
Elihu’s Third Speech64