Elihu Asserts God's Justice

¹Then Elihu answered and said:

²“Hear my words, you wise men,

and give ear to me, you who know;

³for gthe ear tests words

as the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose hwhat is right;

let us know among ourselves what is good.

⁵For Job has said, ‘I am iin the right,

and jGod has taken away my right;

⁶in spite of my right I am counted a liar;

my wound is incurable, though I am kwithout transgression.’

⁷What man is like Job,

who ldrinks up scoffing like water,

⁸who travels in company with evildoers

and walks mwith wicked men?

⁹For nhe has said, ‘It profits a man nothing

that he should take delight in God.’

¹⁰“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:

far be it from God that he should odo wickedness,

and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

¹¹For according to pthe work of a man he will repay him,

and qaccording to his ways he will make it befall him.

¹²Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,

and rthe Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him charge over the earth,

and who slaid on him1 the whole world?

¹⁴If he should tset his heart to it

and ugather to himself his vspirit and his breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together,

and man would wreturn to dust.

¹⁶“If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.

¹⁷xShall one who hates justice govern?

Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,

¹⁸who ysays to a king, ‘Worthless one,’

and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’

¹⁹who zshows no partiality to princes,

nor regards the rich amore than the poor,

for bthey are all the work of his hands?

²⁰In a moment cthey die;

at dmidnight the people are shaken and pass away,

and the mighty are taken away by eno human hand.

²¹“For his eyes are on fthe ways of a man,

and he sees all his fsteps.

²²There is no ggloom or hdeep darkness

where evildoers may hide themselves.

²³For God2 has no need to consider a man further,

that he should go before God in ijudgment.

²⁴He jshatters the mighty without investigation

and sets lothers in their place.

²⁵Thus, knowing their works,

he moverturns them in the night, and they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them for their wickedness

in a place for all to see,

²⁷because they turned aside from nfollowing him

and had no regard for any of his ways,

²⁸so that they ocaused the cry of the poor to come to him,

and he pheard the cry of the afflicted—

²⁹When he is quiet, who can condemn?

When he hides his face, who can behold him,

whether it be a nation or a man?—

³⁰that a godless man should not reign,

that he should not ensnare the people.

³¹“For has anyone said to God,

‘I have borne punishment; I will not offend any more;

³²rteach me what I do not see;

if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

³³Will he then make repayment to suit you,

because you reject it?

For you must choose, and not I;

therefore sdeclare what you know.3

³⁴Men of understanding will say to me,

and the wise man who hears me will say:

³⁵‘Job tspeaks without knowledge;

his words are without insight.’

³⁶Would that Job were tried to the end,

because he answers like wicked men.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin;

he uclaps his hands among us

and multiplies his words against God.”