Job 35
1 And Elihu went on to say:
Then Elihu continued, saying,
2 “Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’
“Do you think it's honest to claim you are right before God?
3 For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’
And you ask, ‘What benefit do I get? What good has it done me by not sinning?’
4 I will reply to you and to your friends as well.
I'll tell you, and your friends too!
5 Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.
Just look up at the sky and see. Observe the clouds high above you.
6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?
If you sin, how does that harm God? How do your many sins affect God?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?
If you do what's right, what good are you doing for him?
8 Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man.
No—your sins only affect people like yourself, and whatever good you do only affects them too.
9 Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.
People cry out because of terrible persecution; they call for someone to save them from their oppressors.
10 But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,
But no one asks, ‘Where is the God my maker, the one who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’
who teaches us more than the animals, and makes us wiser than the birds?’
12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.
When they call out for help, God doesn't answer because they are proud and evil people.
13 Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.
God doesn't listen to their empty cries; the Almighty doesn't pay them any attention.
14 How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him, that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,
How much less will God hear you when you say he can't see you? Your case is before him, so you have to wait for him.
15 and further, that in His anger He has not punished or taken much notice of folly!
You're saying that God doesn't punish people in his anger and pays little attention to sin.
16 So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”
You, Job, are talking nonsense, making long speeches when you know nothing!”
