Job 34

Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice

1 Job 34:1 Then Elihu continued and said,

2 Job 34:2 “Hear my words, you wise men, And listen to me, you who know.

3 Job 34:3 “For the ear tests words As the palate tastes food.

4 Job 34:4 “Let us choose for ourselves what is right; Let us know among ourselves what is good.

5 Job 34:5 “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, But God has taken away my right;

6 Job 34:6 Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

7 Job 34:7 “What man is like Job, Who drinks up derision like water,

8 Job 34:8 Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, And walks with wicked men?

9 Job 34:9 “For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing When he is pleased with God.’

10 Job 34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to do wrong.

11 Job 34:11 “For He pays a man according to his work, And makes him find it according to his way.

12 Job 34:12 “Surely, God will not act wickedly, And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

13 Job 34:13 “Who gave Him authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world?

14 Job 34:14 “If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

15 Job 34:15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.

16 Job 34:16 “But if you have understanding, hear this; Listen to the sound of my words.

17 Job 34:17 “Shall one who hates justice rule? And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,

18 Job 34:18 Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’ To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;

19 Job 34:19 Who shows no partiality to princes Nor regards the rich above the poor, For they all are the work of His hands?

20 Job 34:20 “In a moment they die, and at midnight People are shaken and pass away, And the mighty are taken away without a hand.

21 Job 34:21 “For His eyes are upon the ways of a man, And He sees all his steps.

22 Job 34:22 “There is no darkness or deep shadow Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

23 Job 34:23 “For He does not need to consider a man further, That he should go before God in judgment.

24 Job 34:24 “He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry, And sets others in their place.

25 Job 34:25 “Therefore He knows their works, And He overthrows them in the night, And they are crushed.

26 Job 34:26 “He strikes them like the wicked In a public place,

27 Job 34:27 Because they turned aside from following Him, And had no regard for any of His ways;

28 Job 34:28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him, And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—

29 Job 34:29 When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

30 Job 34:30 “So that godless men would not rule Nor be snares of the people.

31 Job 34:31 “For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastisement; I will not offend anymore;

32 Job 34:32 Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will not do it again’?

33 Job 34:33 “Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it? For you must choose, and not I; Therefore declare what you know.

34 Job 34:34 “Men of understanding will say to me, And a wise man who hears me,

35 Job 34:35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge, And his words are without wisdom.

36 Job 34:36 ‘Job ought to be tried to the limit, Because he answers like wicked men.

37 Job 34:37 ‘For he adds rebellion to his sin; He claps his hands among us, And multiplies his words against God.’”