Job 34 — Legacy Standard Bible

Elihu Answers That God Will Be Just

34Then Elihu answered and said,

²“Hear my speech, you wise men,And give ear to me, you who know.³“For ^athe ear tests wordsAs the palate tastes food.⁴“Let us choose for ourselves what is just;Let us know among ourselves what is good.⁵“For Job has said, ‘^aI am righteous,But ^bGod has removed my justice;⁶¹Should I lie concerning my justice?My ²^,^awound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’⁷“What man is like Job,Who ^adrinks up mocking like water,⁸But he travels ^ain company with the workers of iniquity,And walks with wicked men?⁹“For he has said, ‘^aIt is of no use to a manWhen he ¹is pleased with God.’¹⁰“Therefore, listen to me, you men with a heart of wisdom.Far be it from God to ^ado injustice,And from the Almighty to do wrong.¹¹“For He pays a man according to ^ahis work,And makes ¹him find it according to his way.¹²“Truly, ^aGod will not act wickedly,And the Almighty will not pervert justice.¹³“Who ^aappointed Him with authority over the earth?And who ^bhas laid on Him the whole world?¹⁴“If He should set His heart on it,If He should ^agather to Himself His spirit and His breath,¹⁵All ^aflesh would breathe its last together,And man would ^breturn to dust.¹⁶“But if you have understanding, hear this;Give ear to the sound of my speech.¹⁷“Shall ^aone who hates justice ¹rule?And ^bwill you condemn the righteous mighty One,¹⁸Who says to a king, ‘Vile one,’To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;¹⁹Who shows no ^apartiality to princesNor recognizes the rich above the poor,For they all are the ^bwork of His hands?²⁰“In a moment they die, and ^aat midnightPeople are shaken and pass away,And ^bthe mighty are taken away without a hand.²¹“For ^aHis eyes are upon the ways of a man,And He sees all his steps.²²“There is ^ano darkness or shadow of deathWhere the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.²³“¹For He does not ^aneed to consider a man further,That he should go before God in judgment.²⁴“He breaks in pieces ^amighty men without searching anything out,And sets others in their place.²⁵“Therefore He ^arecognizes their labors,And ^bHe overthrows them in the night,And they are crushed.²⁶“He ^astrikes them like the wicked¹In a public place,²⁷Because they ^aturned aside from following Him,And ^bhad no insight from any of His ways;²⁸So that they caused ^athe cry of the poor to come to Him,And that He might ^bhear the cry of the afflicted.²⁹So if He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?So if He hides His face, who then can perceive Him?He is above both nation and man altogether,³⁰So that ^agodless men would not ruleNor be snares of the people.³¹“For has anyone said to God,‘I have borne chastisement;I will not work destructively anymore;³²Instruct me what I do not behold;If I have ^adone injustice,I will not do it again’?³³“Shall He ^arepay on your terms, because you have rejected it?For you must choose, and not I;Therefore say what you know.³⁴“Men with a heart of wisdom will say to me,And a wise man who hears me,³⁵‘Job ^aspeaks without knowledge,And his words are without insight.³⁶‘Job ought to be tested ¹to the limitBecause he answers ^alike wicked men.³⁷‘For he adds ^atransgression to his sin;He ^bstrikes his hands together among us,And multiplies his words against God.’”