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 the ear tests words

as the palate tastes food.

⁴Let us choose what is right;

let us know among ourselves what is good.

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

and God has taken away my right;

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

my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

⁷What man is like Job,

who drinks up scoffing like water,

⁸who travels in company with evildoers

and walks with wicked men?

⁹For he 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 do wickedness,

and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.

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

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

¹²Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,

and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave him charge over the earth,

and who laid on him1 the whole world?

¹⁴If he should set his heart to it

and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish together,

and man would return to dust.

¹⁶“If you have understanding, hear this;

listen to what I say.

¹⁷Shall one who hates justice govern?

Will you condemn him who is righteous and mighty,

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

and to nobles, ‘Wicked man,’

¹⁹who shows no partiality to princes,

nor regards the rich more than the poor,

for they are all the work of his hands?

²⁰In a moment they die;

at midnight the people are shaken and pass away,

and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

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

and he sees all his steps.

²²There is no gloom or deep darkness

where evildoers may hide themselves.

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

that he should go before God in judgment.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without investigation

and sets others in their place.

²⁵Thus, knowing their works,

he overturns 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 following him

and had no regard for any of his ways,

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

and he heard 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;

³²teach 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 declare what you know.3

³⁴Men of understanding will say to me,

and the wise man who hears me will say:

³⁵‘Job speaks 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 claps his hands among us

and multiplies his words against God.”