August 17 – Job 34 and 35 from the Old Testament

 

Job 34 and 35 – Elihu’s Second Speech

34:1 Elihu answered:

34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;

hear me, you learned men.

34:3 For the ear assesses words

as the mouth tastes food.

34:4 Let us evaluate for ourselves what is right;

let us come to know among ourselves what is good.

34:5 For Job says, ‘I am innocent,

but God turns away my right.

34:6 Concerning my right, should I lie?

My wound is incurable,

although I am without transgression.’

34:7 What man is like Job,

who drinks derision like water!

34:8 He goes about in company with evildoers,

he goes along with wicked men.

34:9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man

when he makes his delight with God.’

God is Not Unjust

34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.

Far be it from God to do wickedness,

from the Almighty to do evil.

34:11 For he repays a person for his work,

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him.

34:12 Indeed, in truth, God does not act wickedly,

and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

34:13 Who entrusted to him the earth?

And who put him over the whole world?

34:14 If God were to set his heart on it,

and gather in his spirit and his breath,

34:15 all flesh would perish together

and human beings would return to dust.

God Is Impartial and Omniscient

34:16 “If you have understanding, listen to this,

hear what I have to say.

34:17 Do you really think

that one who hates justice can govern?

And will you declare guilty

the supremely righteous One,

34:18 who says to a king, ‘Worthless man’

and to nobles, ‘Wicked men,’

34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,

and does not take note of the rich more than the poor,

because all of them are the work of his hands?

34:20 In a moment they die, in the middle of the night,

people are shaken and they pass away.

The mighty are removed effortlessly.

34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual,

he observes all a person’s steps.

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves.

34:23 For he does not still consider a person,

that he should come before God in judgment.

34:24 He shatters the great without inquiry,

and sets up others in their place.

34:25 Therefore, he knows their deeds,

he overthrows them in the night

and they are crushed.

34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness,

in a place where people can see,

34:27 because they have turned away from following him,

and have not understood any of his ways,

34:28 so that they caused the cry of the poor

to come before him,

so that he hears the cry of the needy.

34:29 But if God is quiet, who can condemn him?

If he hides his face, then who can see him?

Yet he is over the individual and the nation alike,

34:30 so that the godless man should not rule,

and not lay snares for the people.

Job Is Foolish to Rebel

34:31 “Has anyone said to God,

‘I have endured chastisement,

but I will not act wrongly any more.

34:32 Teach me what I cannot see.

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’

34:33 Is it your opinion that God should recompense it,

because you reject this?

But you must choose, and not I,

so tell us what you know.

34:34 Men of understanding say to me –

any wise man listening to me says –

34:35 that Job speaks without knowledge

and his words are without understanding.

34:36 But Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

34:37 For he adds transgression to his sin;

in our midst he claps his hands,

and multiplies his words against God.”

Elihu’s Third Speech

35:1 Then Elihu answered:

35:2 “Do you think this to be just:

when you say, ‘My right before God.’

35:3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’

and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’

35:4 I will reply to you,

and to your friends with you.

35:5 Gaze at the heavens and see;

consider the clouds, which are higher than you!

35:6 If you sin, how does it affect God?

If your transgressions are many,

what does it do to him?

35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,

or what does he receive from your hand?

35:8 Your wickedness affects only a person like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people.

 

35:9 “People cry out

because of the excess of oppression;

they cry out for help

because of the power of the mighty.

35:10 But no one says, ‘Where is God, my Creator,

who gives songs in the night,

35:11 who teaches us more than the wild animals of the earth,

and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

35:12 Then they cry out – but he does not answer –

because of the arrogance of the wicked.

35:13 Surely it is an empty cry – God does not hear it;

the Almighty does not take notice of it.

35:14 How much less, then,

when you say that you do not perceive him,

that the case is before him

and you are waiting for him!

35:15 And further, when you say

that his anger does not punish,

and that he does not know transgression!

35:16 So Job opens his mouth to no purpose;

without knowledge he multiplies words.”