Job 34-36
New Century Version
34 Then Elihu said:
2 “Hear my words, you wise men;
listen to me, you who know a lot.
3 The ear tests words
as the tongue tastes food.
4 Let’s decide for ourselves what is right,
and let’s learn together what is good.
5 “Job says, ‘I am not guilty,
and God has refused me a fair trial.
6 Instead of getting a fair trial,
I am called a liar.
I have been seriously hurt,
even though I have not sinned.’
7 There is no other man like Job;
he takes insults as if he were drinking water.
8 He keeps company with those who do evil
and spends time with wicked men,
9 because he says, ‘It is no use
to try to please God.’
10 “So listen to me, you who can understand.
God can never do wrong!
It is impossible for the Almighty to do evil.
11 God pays people back for what they have done
and gives them what their actions deserve.
12 Truly God will never do wrong;
the Almighty will never twist what is right.
13 No one chose God to rule over the earth
or put him in charge of the whole world.
14 If God should decide
to take away life and breath,
15 then everyone would die together
and turn back into dust.
16 “If you can understand, hear this;
listen to what I have to say.
17 Can anyone govern who hates what is right?
How can you blame God who is both fair and powerful?
18 God is the one who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’
or to important people, ‘You are evil.’
19 He is not nicer to princes than other people,
nor kinder to rich people than poor people,
because he made them all with his own hands.
20 They can die in a moment, in the middle of the night.
They are struck down, and then they pass away;
powerful people die without help.
21 “God watches where people go;
he sees every step they take.
22 There is no dark place or deep shadow
where those who do evil can hide from him.
23 He does not set a time
for people to come before him for judging.
24 Without asking questions, God breaks powerful people into pieces
and puts others in their place.
25 Because God knows what people do,
he defeats them in the night, and they are crushed.
26 He punishes them for the evil they do
so that everyone else can watch,
27 because they stopped following God
and did not care about any of his ways.
28 The cry of the poor comes to God;
he hears the cry of the needy.
29 But if God keeps quiet, who can blame him?
If he hides his face, who can see him?
God still rules over both nations and persons alike.
30 He keeps the wicked from ruling
and from trapping others.
31 “But suppose someone says to God,
‘I am guilty, but I will not sin anymore.
32 Teach me what I cannot see.
If I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
33 So, Job, should God reward you as you want
when you refuse to change?
You must decide, not I,
so tell me what you know.
34 “Those who understand speak,
and the wise who hear me say,
35 ‘Job speaks without knowing what is true;
his words show he does not understand.’
36 I wish Job would be tested completely,
because he answered like an evil man!
37 Job now adds to his sin by turning against God.
He claps his hands in protest,
speaking more and more against God.”
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think this is fair?
You say, ‘God will show that I am right,’
3 but you also ask, ‘What’s the use?
I don’t gain anything by not sinning.’
4 “I will answer you
and your friends who are with you.
5 Look up at the sky
and see the clouds so high above you.
6 If you sin, it does nothing to God;
even if your sins are many, they do nothing to him.
7 If you are good, you give nothing to God;
he receives nothing from your hand.
8 Your evil ways only hurt others like yourself,
and the good you do only helps other human beings.
9 “People cry out when they are in trouble;
they beg for relief from powerful people.
10 But no one asks, ‘Where is God, my Maker,
who gives us songs in the night,
11 who makes us smarter than the animals of the earth
and wiser than the birds of the air?’
12 God does not answer evil people when they cry out,
because the wicked are proud.
13 God does not listen to their useless begging;
the Almighty pays no attention to them.
14 He will listen to you even less
when you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him,
that you must wait for him,
15 that his anger never punishes,
and that he doesn’t notice evil.
16 So Job is only speaking nonsense,
saying many words without knowing what is true.”
Elihu’s Speech Continues
36 Elihu continued:
2 “Listen to me a little longer, and I will show you
that there is more to be said for God.
3 What I know comes from far away.
I will show that my Maker is right.
4 You can be sure that my words are not false;
one who really knows is with you.
5 “God is powerful, but he does not hate people;
he is powerful and sure of what he wants to do.
6 He will not keep evil people alive,
but he gives the poor their rights.
7 He always watches over those who do right;
he sets them on thrones with kings
and they are honored forever.
8 If people are bound in chains,
or if trouble, like ropes, ties them up,
9 God tells them what they have done,
that they have sinned in their pride.
10 God makes them listen to his warning
and commands them to change from doing evil.
11 If they obey and serve him,
the rest of their lives will be successful,
and the rest of their years will be happy.
12 But if they do not listen,
they will die by the sword,
and they will die without knowing why.
13 “Those who have wicked hearts hold on to anger.
Even when God punishes them, they do not cry for help.
14 They die while they are still young,
and their lives end in disgrace.
15 But God saves those who suffer through their suffering;
he gets them to listen through their pain.
16 “God is gently calling you from the jaws of trouble
to an open place of freedom
where he has set your table full of the best food.
17 But now you are being punished like the wicked;
you are getting justice.
18 Be careful! Don’t be led away from God by riches;
don’t let much money turn you away.
19 Neither your wealth nor all your great strength
will keep you out of trouble.
20 Don’t wish for the night
when people are taken from their homes.
21 Be careful not to turn to evil,
which you seem to want more than suffering.
22 “God is great and powerful;
no other teacher is like him.
23 No one has planned his ways for him;
no one can say to God, ‘You have done wrong.’
24 Remember to praise his work,
about which people have sung.
25 Everybody has seen it;
people look at it from far off.
26 God is so great, greater than we can understand!
No one knows how old he is.
27 “He evaporates the drops of water from the earth
and turns them into rain.
28 The rain then pours down from the clouds,
and showers fall on people.
29 No one understands how God spreads out the clouds
or how he sends thunder from where he lives.
30 Watch how God scatters his lightning around him,
lighting up the deepest parts of the sea.
31 This is the way God governs the nations;
this is how he gives us enough food.
32 God fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its target.
33 His thunder announces the coming storm,
and even the cattle know it is near.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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