Job 35

1 And Elihu answers and says:

And Elihu went on to say:

2 “Have you reckoned this for judgment [when] you have said, My righteousness [is] more than God’s?

“Do you think this is just? You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’

3 For you say, What does it profit You? What do I profit from my sin?

For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’

4 I return words, and your friends with you,

I will reply to you and to your friends as well.

5 Behold attentively the heavens—and see, And behold the clouds, They have been higher than you.

Look to the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds high above you.

6 If you have sinned, what do you do against Him? And your transgressions have been multiplied, What do you do to Him?

If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?

7 If you have been righteous, What do you give to Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?

If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?

8 For a man like yourself [is] your wickedness, And for a son of man your righteousness.

Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only a son of man.

9 Because of the multitude of oppressions They cause to cry out, They cry because of the arm of the mighty.

Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.

10 And none said, Where [is] God my Maker? Giving songs in the night,

But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,

11 Teaching us more than the beasts of the earth, Indeed, He makes us wiser than the bird of the heavens.

who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

12 There they cry, and He does not answer, Because of the pride of evildoers.

There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.

13 Surely God does not hear vanity, And the Mighty does not behold it.

Surely God does not listen to empty pleas, and the Almighty does not take note of it.

14 Indeed, though you say you do not behold Him, Judgment [is] before Him, and stays for Him.

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,

15 And now, because there is not, He has appointed His anger, And He has not known in great extremity.

and further, that in His anger He has not punished or taken much notice of folly!

16 And Job opens his mouth [with] vanity, He multiplies words without knowledge.”

So Job opens his mouth in vain and multiplies words without knowledge.”