Job 34-36

EasyEnglish Bible

² ‘You men who are so wise and who know so much,
    listen to me.
Hear what I have to say.
³ You recognize nice food when you eat it.
    So you should recognize the value of my words.
⁴ We should decide among ourselves what is right.
    We should agree together what is good.

⁵ Job has said, “I am not guilty.
    But God refuses to judge me in a fair way.
⁶ I am right,
    but nobody believes me.
I have not done anything wrong,
    but I am suffering
    and I am near to death.”

⁷ There has never been a man like Job!
    He laughs at God as easily as he drinks water.
⁸ He is a friend of wicked people,
    and people who do evil things.
⁹ Job says, “If anyone tries to please God,
    it does not help them at all.”

¹⁰ So listen to me, you men who understand so much.
Almighty God can never do anything that is wrong or wicked!
¹¹ He judges people fairly
    as he sees the things that they do.
He gives people what they deserve.
¹² It is true! Almighty God does not do wicked things.
    He never refuses to judge people in a fair way.
¹³ God's great power did not come from anyone else!
    He himself has authority over the whole world.
¹⁴ God could decide to remove life from the world.
    He could take back his spirit and his breath.
¹⁵ If he did that, everyone that is alive would die.
    As humans, we would become dirt again.^[b]

¹⁶ If you really understand things, Job, listen to me.
    Hear what I have to say.
¹⁷ If God refused to do what is right,
    he could not rule the world.
He is the powerful Judge who knows what is right.
    But you say that he is guilty!
¹⁸ It is God who may say to a king, “You are useless!”
    He may say to rulers, “You are wicked!”
¹⁹ God created everyone.
He is not more kind to important people
    than he is to other people.
He does not help rich people
    more than he helps poor people.
²⁰ Anyone may die suddenly,
    in the middle of the night.
God may shake them, so that they die.
    He easily removes even the most powerful people.
²¹ He watches the way that each person lives.
    He sees what they do every day.
²² People who do wicked things cannot hide themselves.
    There is no place dark enough for them to hide from God.
²³ God does not have to tell people when they must come to him,
    so that he can judge them.
²⁴ He destroys powerful people,
    and he chooses other people to take their place.
He does not have to ask them anything.
²⁵ He already knows the things that they have done.
In the night, he removes their power,
    and he destroys them.
²⁶ He punishes them
    because they have done wicked things.
He does that where everyone can see.
²⁷ Those powerful people have turned away from God.
    They have not respected his commands.
²⁸ They were cruel to poor people,
    so that God saw what was happening.
God heard those poor people
    when they called to him for help.
²⁹ But if God decides to do nothing,
    no one can say that he is wrong.
If he hides himself, no one can see him.
    But he still rules over people and over nations.
³⁰ God does not let men rule,
    if they do not respect his ways.
He stops them from causing trouble to the people.

³¹ Someone could say to God, “I am guilty,
    and I have received my punishment.
    But I will not do any more wrong things.
³² Show me the sins that I have done
    when I did not know about them.
If I have done wrong things,
    I will not do them again.”
³³ But you, Job, refuse to accept God's justice.
    Do you expect God to do what you think is right?
But you must choose what you will say.
    I cannot decide for you.
So tell us what you are thinking now.
³⁴ Wise people will agree with me.
    When they hear my words, they will say,
³⁵ “Job speaks like a fool who knows nothing.
    He only says useless things.”
³⁶ Yes Job, you speak to us like a wicked person.
    So you should continue to suffer for ever!
³⁷ You have not only done wrong things,
    you have also turned against God.
You have shown that you do not respect us.
    You have said many things that insult God.’

² ‘The things that you say cannot be true.
    You say, “I am more right than God is.”
³ But you also say, “If I do nothing wrong,
    God does not bless me.
    No good thing comes to me.”
⁴ Now I will give you an answer.
I will also speak to the friends who are with you.

⁵ Look up at the sky to see what is there.
    Look at the clouds that are so high above you.
⁶ If you do something that is wrong,
    it does not hurt God.
Even if you do many wrong things,
    it does nothing to him.
⁷ If you are righteous,
    that does nothing to help God.
He does not receive anything that he needs from you.
⁸ If you do wicked things,
    it is other people who suffer, not God.
And if you do good things,
    you are only helping other people.

⁹ When people suffer,
    they call aloud for help.
They cry for help
    when powerful people attack them.
¹⁰ But none of them says, “I want God to help me.
    He made me. He gives me songs to sing in dark nights.
¹¹ God teaches us more things than he teaches to the animals.
    He makes us wiser than the birds.”
¹² Finally, they call for help.
But God does not answer them,
    because they are proud and wicked people.
¹³ Their prayers mean nothing.
    Almighty God does not even listen to them.
¹⁴ So God will certainly not listen to you, Job,
    when you say that you cannot see him.
You say that you have explained your problem to him.
    You are waiting for him to give you an answer.
¹⁵ You also say that God does not become angry
    with people who do wrong things.
You say that he does not punish bad people.

¹⁶ So, Job, you do not understand what you are saying.
You speak a lot of words
    but they do not mean anything.’

² ‘Be patient a little bit longer,
    so that I can teach you some more.
I still have more to say
    to show you that God is right.
³ I will tell you the many different things that I know.
    I will show you that God, my Maker, is completely fair.
⁴ Everything that I say to you is true.
    I am speaking to you as someone who knows everything.
⁵ God is very powerful
    but he does not turn anyone away.
When he decides to do something,
    he surely does it.
⁶ He does not allow wicked people to continue to live.
    But he is always fair to those who are poor and weak.
⁷ He takes care of righteous people.
    He gives them authority to rule like kings.
    He gives them honour for ever.
⁸ People who do wrong things may suffer in prison.
    Chains may hold their legs so that they cannot move.
⁹ When that happens,
    God shows them what they have done.
He shows them their sins.
    They have done wrong things because they are proud.
¹⁰ He tells them this to warn them.
    They must turn away from wicked things.
¹¹ They must obey him and agree to serve him.
    If they do that, they will have everything that they need.
    They will enjoy all the days that they live.
¹² But if they refuse to listen to God,
    they will go to their graves.
They will die
    and they still will not understand what is right.
¹³ People who turn away from God are always angry.
Even when God punishes them,
    they do not pray for help.
¹⁴ They die while they are still young.
    Their lives finish in shame.
They live among the male prostitutes who serve false gods.

¹⁵ But God rescues people who suffer.
    He uses their troubles to teach them about himself.
¹⁶ God has called you out of your troubles, Job.
He wants you to live in a safe place
    where you have no problems.
He wants you to have a comfortable life
    with plenty of good food to eat.
¹⁷ But now you have a lot of trouble,
    because God is punishing you as wicked people deserve.
God is right and fair to judge you like that.
¹⁸ Be very careful!
    Do not let anyone use their riches to deceive you.
Do not let them pay you a lot of money
    to do something that is wrong.
¹⁹ Even if you become rich,
    that would not keep you safe.
Even if you were strong and powerful,
    that would not keep trouble away from you.
²⁰ Do not wait for the night to hide what you want to do.
    That is the time when people disappear from their homes.
²¹ Be careful! Do not try to do wicked things.
God has sent these troubles to test you.
    He wants to stop you doing evil things.

²² Yes, God is very powerful.
    There is no teacher as good as he is.
²³ Nobody can tell him what he should do.
No one can say to him, “You have done things that are wrong.”
²⁴ People sing songs to praise God
    for the things that he has done.
You also should remember to praise him.
²⁵ People everywhere have seen the things that God has done.
    But we look at them from far away.

²⁶ Yes, God is very great!
    We cannot know him completely.
Nobody can count the number of his years!
²⁷ It is God who pulls up water from the earth
    to make the clouds.
    Then he causes it to become rain.
²⁸ The rain pours down from the clouds.
    There is plenty for the people on the earth.
²⁹ Who understands how the clouds move across the sky?
    How does the noise of thunder come from God's home?
³⁰ Look at the lightning that God sends all over the sky!
    But he causes the bottom of the sea to remain dark.
³¹ This is the way that God rules the people of the world.
    He sends the rain to give them plenty of food.
³² He sends his lightning like an arrow.
    He commands it to hit the right place.
³³ He sends thunder to show that a storm is coming.
    Even the cows know what is happening.’