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Job 34
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
2 Hear my words, you wise men;
And give ear to me, you that have knowledge.
4 Let us choose for us that which is right:
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job has said, I am righteous,
And El has taken away my right:
6 Notwithstanding my right I am accounted a liar;
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.
Who drinks up scoffing like water,
8 Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
9 For he has said, It profits a man nothing
That he should delight himself with Elohim.
10 Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
Far be it from El, that he should do wickedness,
And from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
11 For the work of a man will he render to him,
And cause every man to find according to his ways.
12 Yes of a surety, El will not do wickedly,
Neither will the Almighty pervert justice.
13 Who gave him a charge over the earth?
Or who has disposed the whole world?
14 If he set his heart upon himself,
If he gathers to himself his spirit and his breath;
15 All flesh shall perish together,
And man shall turn again to dust.
16 If now you have understanding, hear this:
Listen to the voice of my words.
17 Shall even one that hates justice govern?
And will you condemn him that is righteous and mighty?
18 Him that says to a king, You are vile,
19 That respect not the persons of princes,
Nor regard the rich more than the poor;
For they all are the work of his hands.
20 In a moment they die, even at midnight;
The people are shaken and pass away,
And the mighty are taken away without hand.
21 For his eyes are upon the ways of a man,
22 There is no darkness, nor thick gloom,
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
23 For he needs not further to consider a man,
That he should go before El in judgment.
24 He breaks in pieces mighty men in ways past finding out,
And sets others in their place.
25 Therefore he takes knowledge of their works;
And he overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
26 He strikes them as wicked men
27 Because they turned aside from following him,
And would not have regard to any of his ways:
28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him,
And he heard the cry of the afflicted.
29 When he gives quietness, who then can condemn?
And when he hides his face, who then can behold him?
Alike whether it be done to a nation, or to a man:
30 That the lawless man reign not,
That there be none to ensnare the people.
31 For has any said to El, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more:
32 That which I see not, you teach me:
If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more?
33 Shall his recompense be as you will, that you refuse it?
For you must choose, and not I:
Therefore speak what you know.
34 Men of understanding will say to me,
And, every wise man that hears me:
35 Job speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.
36 If only, Job were tried to the end,
Because of his answering like wicked men.
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
And multiplies his words against El.
Job 35
Moreover Elihu answered and said,
2 Do you think this is your right,
Or do you say, My righteousness is more than El’s,
3 That you say, What advantage will it be to you?
And, What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?
4 I will answer you,
And your companions with you.
5 Look to the heavens, and see;
And behold the skies, which are higher than you.
6 If you have sinned, what do you do against him?
And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do unto him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him?
Or what does he receive of your hand?
8 Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are;
And your righteousness may profit a son of man.
9 By reason of the multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty.
10 But no one says, Where is Eloah my Maker,
Who gives songs in the night.
11 Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
And makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?
12 There they cry, but no one gives answer,
Because of the pride of evil men.
13 Surely El will not hear an empty cry,
Neither will the Almighty regard it.
14 How much less when you say you behold him not,
The cause is before him, and you wait for him!
15 But now, because he has not visited in his anger,
Neither does he greatly regard arrogance;
16 Therefore does Job open his mouth in vanity;
He multiplies words without knowledge.
Job 36
Elihu also proceeded, and said,
2 Suffer me a little, and I will show you;
For I have yet something to say on Elohim’s behalf.
3 I will bring my knowledge from afar.
And will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words are not false:
One that is perfect in knowledge is with you.
5 Behold, El is mighty, and despises not any:
He is mighty in strength of understanding.
6 He preserves not the life of the wicked,
But gives to the afflicted their right.
7 He withdraws not his eyes from the righteous:
But with kings upon the throne
He sets them forever, and they are exalted.
8 And if they be bound in fetters,
And be taken in the cords of affliction;
9 Then he shows them their work,
And their transgressions, that they have behaved themselves proudly.
10 He opens also their ear to instruction,
And commands that they return from iniquity.
11 If they listen and serve him,
They shall spend their days in prosperity,
And their years in pleasures.
12 But if they listen not, they shall perish by the sword,
And they shall die without knowledge.
13 But they that are lawless in heart lay up anger:
They cry not for help when he binds them.
14 They die in youth,
And their life perishes among the unclean.
15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction,
And opens their ear in oppression.
16 Yes, he would have allured you out of distress
Into a broad place, where there is no straitness;
And that which is set on your table would be full of fatness.
17 But you are full of the judgment of the wicked:
Judgment and justice take hold on you.
18 For let not wrath stir you up against chastisements;
Neither let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.
19 Will your cry avail, that you be not in distress,
Or all the forces of your strength?
20 Desire not the night,
When peoples are cut off in their place.
21 Take heed, regard not iniquity:
For this have you chosen rather than affliction.
22 Behold, El does loftily in his power:
Who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has enjoined him his way?
Or who can say, You have worked unrighteousness?
24 Remember that you magnify his work,
Of which men have sung.
25 All men have looked on it;
Man beholds it afar off.
26 Behold, El is great, and we know him not;
The number of his years is unsearchable.
27 For he draws up the drops of water,
Which distil in rain from his vapor.
28 Which the skies pour down
And drop upon man abundantly.
29 Also, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,
The thunderings of his pavilion?
30 Behold, he spreads his light around him;
And he covers the bottom of the sea.
31 For by these he judges the people.
He gives food in abundance.
32 He covers his hands with the lightning,
And gives it a charge that it strike the mark.
33 The noise of it tells concerning him,
The cattle also concerning the storm that comes up.
