< Job 34 >
1 Furthermore Elihu responded, and said: —
2 Hear, ye wise men, my words, and, ye who know, give ear unto me;
3 For, the ear, trieth words, as, the palate, tasteth in eating.
4 What is right, let us choose for ourselves, Let us know, among ourselves, what is good;
5 For Job hath said—I am righteous, But, GOD, hath turned away my right;
6 Concerning mine own right, shall I tell a falsehood? Incurable is my disease—not for any transgression.
7 What man is like Job? He drinketh in scoffing like water;
8 And is on the way to keep company, with the workers of iniquity, and to walk with lawless men.
9 For he hath said, It profiteth not a man, when, his good pleasure, is with God.
10 Wherefore, ye men of mind, hearken unto me, —Far be it, that, GOD, should be lawless, or, the Almighty, be perverse!
11 For, what any son of earth doeth, he repayeth him, and, according to every man’s course, he causeth him to find.
12 Nay, verily, GOD, will not condemn unjustly, —nor, the Almighty, pervert justice.
13 Who set him in charge of the earth? Or who appointed [him] the whole world?
14 If he should set against him his heart, His spirit and his inspiration, unto himself he should withdraw.
15 All flesh together, would cease to breathe, and, the earth-born, unto dust, would return.
16 If then [thou hast] understanding, hear this, Give thou ear to the teaching of my words: —
17 Shall, the very hater of right, control? Or, the just—the mighty one, wilt thou condemn?
18 Doth one say to a king, Abandoned one! Or, Lawless one! unto nobles?
19 For he hath shewn no respect of persons unto princes, neither hath he recognised the rich rather than the poor? For, the work of his hands, are they all.
20 In a moment, they die, even in the middle of the night, —A people are convulsed when they pass away, A mighty one is removed, without hand;
21 For, his eyes, are on the ways of a man, and, all his footsteps, he beholdeth, —
22 No darkness, and no death-shade, where the workers of iniquity may hide.
23 For, unto no man, doth he appoint a repetition, —in going unto GOD in judgment;
24 He shattereth mighty ones unsearchably, and setteth up others in their stead:
25 Therefore, he observeth their works, —and overturneth [them] in a night, and they are crushed;
26 In the place of lawless men, hath he chastised them, in presence of beholders.
27 Forasmuch, as they turned from following him, and, none of his ways, did they teach;
28 Causing to reach him the outcry of the poor, Yea, the outcry of the oppressed, he heareth.
29 When, he, giveth quiet, who then shall condemn? And, when he hideth [his] face, who then shall sing of him? whether unto a nation or unto mankind altogether,
30 That impious men may not reign, nor be ensnarers of the people.
31 For, unto GOD, hath one [ever] said—I have borne punishment, I will not be perverse;
32 What I see not, do, thou, shew me, If, perverseness, I have wrought, I will do it no more?
33 According to thy mind, must he requite it, that thou hast refused? For, thou, must choose, and not, I, What then thou knowest, speak!
34 The men of mind, will say to me, yea any wise man hearkening unto me: —
35 Job, without knowledge, doth speak, and, his words, are not with discretion.
36 Would that Job might be tested to the uttermost, for replying with the men of iniquity:
37 For he addeth—unto his sin—rebellion, In our midst, he clappeth his hands, and multiplieth his sayings against GOD.