Job 34
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And Elihu made answer and said, |
Give ear, you wise, to my words; and you who have knowledge, give attention to me; |
For words are tested by the ear, as food is tasted by the mouth. |
Let us make the decision for ourselves as to what is right; let us have the knowledge among ourselves of what is good. |
For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right; |
Though I am right, still I am in pain; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong. |
What man is like Job, a man who freely makes sport of God, |
And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners? |
For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God. |
Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong. |
For he gives to every man the reward of his work, and sees that he gets the fruit of his ways. |
Truly, God does not do evil, and the Ruler of all is not a false judge. |
Who put the earth into his care, or made him responsible for the world? |
If he made his spirit come back to him, taking his breath into himself again, |
All flesh would come to an end together, and man would go back to the dust. |
If you are wise, take note of this; give ear to the voice of my words. |
How may a hater of right be a ruler? and will you say that the upright Ruler of all is evil? |
He who says to a king, You are an evil-doer; and to rulers, You are sinners; |
Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. |
Suddenly they come to an end, even in the middle of the night: the blow comes on the men of wealth, and they are gone, and the strong are taken away without the hand of man. |
For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. |
There is no dark place, and no thick cloud, in which the workers of evil may take cover. |
For he does not give man a fixed time to come before him to be judged. |
He sends the strong to destruction without searching out their cause, and puts others in their place. |
For he has knowledge of their works, overturning them in the night, so that they are crushed. |
The evil-doers are broken by his wrath, he puts his hand on them with force before the eyes of all onlookers. |
Because they did not go after him, and took no note of his ways, |
So that the cry of the poor might come up to him, and the prayer of those in need come to his ears. |
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Men of knowledge, and all wise men, hearing me, will say, |
Job's words do not come from knowledge; they are not the fruit of wisdom. |
May Job be tested to the end, because his answers have been like those of evil men. |
For in addition to his sin, he is uncontrolled in heart; before our eyes he makes sport of God, increasing his words against him. |