Job 34
1 Then Elihu continued:
Furthermore Elihu responded, and said: —
2 “You [three] men who [think that you] [SAR] are very wise, hear me; listen to what I am saying, you men who [say that you] know so much.
Hear, ye wise men, my words, and, ye who know, give ear unto me;
3 When we [SYN] hear what other people [like you] say, we [RHQ] think carefully about what they say [to determine what is good and what is bad], like we [SYN] taste food [to determine what is good].
For, the ear, trieth words, as, the palate, tasteth in eating.
4 We need to decide [who is saying] what is right and to determine among ourselves what is good/best.
What is right, let us choose for ourselves, Let us know, among ourselves, what is good;
5 Job has said, ‘I am innocent, but God has refused to judge me fairly/justly.
For Job hath said—I am righteous, But, GOD, hath turned away my right;
6 Even though I have always done what is right, he is lying about me. Even though I have not done what is wrong, he has caused me to suffer, and I will certainly die.’
Concerning mine own right, shall I tell a falsehood? Incurable is my disease—not for any transgression.
7 (Is there any person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water?/There is no person like Job, who insults others as easily as people accept a drink of water.) [RHQ]
What man is like Job? He drinketh in scoffing like water;
8 He habitually associates with people who do what is evil and spends time with wicked people.
And is on the way to keep company, with the workers of iniquity, and to walk with lawless men.
9 He has said, ‘It is useless for people to try to please God.’
For he hath said, It profiteth not a man, when, his good pleasure, is with God.
10 “So, you men who [claim that you] understand everything, listen to me! Almighty God would never consider doing anything that is wicked or wrong [DOU]!
Wherefore, ye men of mind, hearken unto me, —Far be it, that, GOD, should be lawless, or, the Almighty, be perverse!
11 He (pays back/punishes) people for what they have done; he gives them what they deserve for the way that they have conducted their lives.
For, what any son of earth doeth, he repayeth him, and, according to every man’s course, he causeth him to find.
12 Truly, Almighty God never does what is wicked; he always [LIT] does what is fair/just.
Nay, verily, GOD, will not condemn unjustly, —nor, the Almighty, pervert justice.
13 The authority that he has to rule everything on the earth, no one [RHQ] gave it to him; no one [RHQ] put him in control of the whole world. [He has always had that authority].
Who set him in charge of the earth? Or who appointed [him] the whole world?
14 If he would take his spirit back to himself,
If he should set against him his heart, His spirit and his inspiration, unto himself he should withdraw.
15 everyone would die [immediately], and their corpses would soon become dirt again.
All flesh together, would cease to breathe, and, the earth-born, unto dust, would return.
16 “So, [Job], if [you say that you] understand everything, listen to what I am saying.
If then [thou hast] understanding, hear this, Give thou ear to the teaching of my words: —
17 God could certainly not [RHQ] govern the world if he hated doing what is fair/just. So, will you condemn God, who is righteous and powerful, [saying that what he has done is wrong]?
Shall, the very hater of right, control? Or, the just—the mighty one, wilt thou condemn?
18 He tells [some] kings that they are worthless, and he says to [some] officials that they are wicked.
Doth one say to a king, Abandoned one! Or, Lawless one! unto nobles?
19 He does not favor rulers [more than he favors others]; he does not favor rich people more than poor people, because he created all of them.
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 People [often] die suddenly; he strikes them at midnight and they die; he even gets rid of mighty people without the help of any humans [SYN].
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 “He sees [MTY] everything that people do; [when we walk, ] he watches every step that we take.
For, his eyes, are on the ways of a man, and, all his footsteps, he beholdeth, —
22 There is no gloom or darkness [DOU] that is so dark that sinners can hide [from him] in that darkness.
No darkness, and no death-shade, where the workers of iniquity may hide.
23 God does not [need to] set a time when we will stand in front of him in order that he may judge us. [He can judge us whenever he wants to].
For, unto no man, doth he appoint a repetition, —in going unto GOD in judgment;
24 He destroys mighty people without [needing to] investigate [what they have done], and he appoints others to take their places.
He shattereth mighty ones unsearchably, and setteth up others in their stead:
25 Because he [already] knows what they have done, he removes them at night and gets rid of them.
Therefore, he observeth their works, —and overturneth [them] in a night, and they are crushed;
26 Where [many] people can see it, he strikes/punishes them because of the wicked things that they have done;
In the place of lawless men, hath he chastised them, in presence of beholders.
27 he strikes them because they turned away from doing what he wanted them to do and did not pay attention to any of his commands.
Forasmuch, as they turned from following him, and, none of his ways, did they teach;
28 They [mistreated] the poor people, with the result that those poor people cried out to God [for help], and he heard those afflicted people when they cried out [to him].
Causing to reach him the outcry of the poor, Yea, the outcry of the oppressed, he heareth.
29 But if God decides to do nothing [to punish wicked people], no one can criticize/condemn him. If a godless/wicked man rules a nation, a man who tricks/deceives the people,
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 and if [God] hides his face [with the result that he does not see that ruler or punish him], no one will be able to prevent that ruler [from doing those things].
That impious men may not reign, nor be ensnarers of the people.
31 “Job, have you or anyone else ever said to God, ‘I have been punished [for my sins], and I will not sin any more;
For, unto GOD, hath one [ever] said—I have borne punishment, I will not be perverse;
32 so teach/show me what [sins I have committed]; if I have done anything that is evil, I will not do it any more’?
What I see not, do, thou, shew me, If, perverseness, I have wrought, I will do it no more?
33 [Job, ] you object to what God has done to you, but do you think that he will do what you want him to do? It is you who must choose [what you say to God], not I; so tell me what you are thinking about this.
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 “People who have good sense, those who are wise and who listen to what I say, will say to me,
The men of mind, will say to me, yea any wise man hearkening unto me: —
35 ‘Job is speaking ignorantly; what he says is nonsense.’
Job, without knowledge, doth speak, and, his words, are not with discretion.
36 I think that Job should be taken to a court and (put on trial/judged), because he answers [us his friends] like wicked men would answer.
Would that Job might be tested to the uttermost, for replying with the men of iniquity:
37 To add to the [other] sins that he has committed, he is rebelling [against God]; he shows us that he does not respect God [IDM], making long speeches [saying that God has punished him unjustly].”
For he addeth—unto his sin—rebellion, In our midst, he clappeth his hands, and multiplieth his sayings against GOD.
