Job 34
1 And Elius continued, and said,
And Elihu made answer and said,
2 Hear me, you wise men; listen, you that have knowledge.
Give ear, you wise, to my words; and you who have knowledge, give attention to me;
3 For the ear tries words, and the mouth tastes meat.
For words are tested by the ear, as food is tasted by the mouth.
4 Let us choose judgement to ourselves: let us know amount ourselves what is right.
Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good.
5 For Job has said, I am righteous: the Lord has removed my judgement.
For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right;
6 And he has erred in my judgement: my wound is severe without unrighteousness [of mine].
Though I am right, still I am in pain; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong.
7 What man is as Job, drinking scorning like water?
What man is like Job, a man who freely makes sport of God,
8 [saying], I have not sinned, nor committed ungodliness, nor had fellowship with workers of iniquity, to go with the ungodly.
And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners?
9 For you should not say, There shall be no visitation of a man, whereas [there is] a visitation on him from the Lord.
For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God.
10 Therefore hear me, you that are wise in heart: far be it from me to sin before the Lord, and to pervert righteousness before the almighty.
Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.
11 Yes, he renders to a man accordingly as each of them does, and in a man's path he will find him.
For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways.
12 And think you that the Lord will do wrong, or will the Almighty who made the earth wrest judgement?
Truly, God does not do evil, and the Ruler of all is not a false judge.
13 And who is he that made [the whole world] under heaven, and all things therein?
Who put the earth into his care, or made him responsible for the world?
14 For if he would confine, and restrain his spirit with himself;
If he made his spirit come back to him, taking his breath into himself again,
15 all flesh would die together, and every mortal would return to the earth, whence also he was formed.
All flesh would come to an end together, and man would go back to the dust.
16 Take heed lest he rebuke [you]: hear this, listen to the voice of words.
If you are wise, take note of this; give ear to the voice of my words.
17 Behold then the one that hates iniquities, and that destroys the wicked, who is for ever just.
How may a hater of right be a ruler? and will you say that the upright Ruler of all is evil?
18 [He is] ungodly that says to a king, You are a transgressor, [that says] to princes, O most ungodly one.
He who says to a king, You are an evil-doer; and to rulers, You are sinners;
19 [Such a one] as would not reverence the face of an honourable man, neither knows how to give honour to the great, so as that their persons should be respected.
Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.
20 But it shall turn out vanity to them, to cry and beseech a man; for they dealt unlawfully, the poor being turned aside [from their right].
Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man.
21 For he surveys the works of men, and nothing of what they do has escaped him.
For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps.
22 Neither shall there be a place for the workers of iniquity to hide themselves.
There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover.
23 For he will not lay upon a man more [than right].
For he does not give man a fixed time to come before him to be judged.
24 For the Lord looks down upon all men, who comprehends unsearchable things, glorious also and excellent things without number.
He sends the strong to destruction without searching out their cause, and puts others in their place.
25 Who discovers their works, and will bring night about [upon them], and they shall be brought low.
For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed.
26 And he quite destroys the ungodly, for they are seen before him.
The evil-doers are broken by his wrath, he puts his hand on them with force before the eyes of all onlookers.
27 Because they turned aside from the law of God, and did not regard his ordinances,
Because they did not go after him, and took no note of his ways,
28 so as to bring before him the cry of the needy; for he will hear the cry of the poor.
So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears.
29 And he will give quiet, and who will condemn? and he will hide his face, and who shall see him? whether [it be done] against a nation, or against a man also:
30 causing a hypocrite to be king, because of the waywardness of the people.
31 For [there is] one that says to the Mighty One, I have received [blessings]; I will not take a pledge:
32 I will see apart from myself: do you show me if I have done unrighteousness; I will not do [so] any more.
33 Will he take vengeance for it on you, whereas you will put [it] far [from you]? for you shall choose, and not I; and what you know, speak you.
34 Because the wise in heart shall say this, and a wise man listens to my word.
Men of knowledge, and all wise men, hearing me, will say,
35 But Job has not spoken with understanding, his words are not [uttered] with knowledge.
Job's words do not come from knowledge; they are not the fruit of wisdom.
36 Howbeit do you learn, Job: no longer make answer as the foolish:
May Job be tested to the end, because his answers have been like those of evil men.
37 that we add not to our sins: for iniquity will be reckoned against us, if [we] speak many words before the Lord.
For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him.
