Elihu Vindicates God’s Justice

      1 Then Elihu continued and said,

2 “Hear my words, you wise men,
          And listen to me, you who know.

3 “For the ear tests words
          As the palate tastes food.

4 “Let us choose for ourselves what is right;
          Let us know among ourselves what is good.

5 “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
          But God has taken away my right;

6 Should I lie concerning my right?
          My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

7 “What man is like Job,
          Who drinks up derision like water,

8 Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
          And walks with wicked men?

9 “For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
          When he is pleased with God.’

10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
          Far be it from God to do wickedness,
          And from the Almighty to do wrong.

11 “For He pays a man according to his work,
          And makes him find it according to his way.

12 “Surely, God will not act wickedly,
          And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

13 “Who gave Him authority over the earth?
          And who has laid on Him the whole world?

14 “If He should determine to do so,
          If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

15 All flesh would perish together,
          And man would return to dust.

16 “But if you have understanding, hear this;
          Listen to the sound of my words.

17 “Shall one who hates justice rule?
          And will you condemn the righteous mighty One,

18 Who says to a king, ‘Worthless one,’
          To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;

19 Who shows no partiality to princes
          Nor regards the rich above the poor,
          For they all are the work of His hands?

20 “In a moment they die, and at midnight
          People are shaken and pass away,
          And the mighty are taken away without a hand.

21 “For His eyes are upon the ways of a man,
          And He sees all his steps.

22 “There is no darkness or deep shadow
          Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

23 “For He does not need to consider a man further,
          That he should go before God in judgment.

24 “He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,
          And sets others in their place.

25 “Therefore He knows their works,
          And He overthrows them in the night,
          And they are crushed.

26 “He strikes them like the wicked
          In a public place,

27 Because they turned aside from following Him,
          And had no regard for any of His ways;

28 So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him,
          And that He might hear the cry of the afflicted—

29 When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
          And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him,
          That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

30 So that godless men would not rule
          Nor be snares of the people.

31 “For has anyone said to God,
          ‘I have borne chastisement;
          I will not offend anymore;

32 Teach me what I do not see;
          If I have done iniquity,
          I will not do it again’?

33 “Shall He recompense on your terms, because you have rejected it?
          For you must choose, and not I;
          Therefore declare what you know.

34 “Men of understanding will say to me,
          And a wise man who hears me,

35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge,
          And his words are without wisdom.

36 ‘Job ought to be tried to the limit,
          Because he answers like wicked men.

37 ‘For he adds rebellion to his sin;
          He claps his hands among us,
          And multiplies his words against God.’”