83 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
83 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# Chapter 34
|
||
1 Then Elihu continued, saying:
|
||
2 Hear my words, you wise ones,
|
||
and listen to me, you knowledgeable ones.
|
||
3 Doesn’t the ear test words
|
||
as the palate tastes food?
|
||
4 Let us judge for ourselves what is right;
|
||
let us decide together what is good.
|
||
5 For Job has declared, “I am righteous,
|
||
yet God has deprived me of justice.
|
||
6 Would I lie about my case?
|
||
My wound is incurable,
|
||
though I am without transgression.”
|
||
7 What man is like Job?
|
||
He drinks derision like water.
|
||
8 He keeps company with evildoers
|
||
and walks with wicked men.
|
||
9 For he has said, “A man gains nothing
|
||
when he becomes God’s friend.”
|
||
10 Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding.
|
||
It is impossible for God to do wrong,
|
||
and for the Almighty to act unjustly.
|
||
11 For he repays a person according to his deeds,
|
||
and he gives him what his conduct deserves.
|
||
12 Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly
|
||
and the Almighty does not pervert justice.
|
||
13 Who gave him authority over the earth?
|
||
Who put him in charge of the entire world?
|
||
14 If he put his mind to it
|
||
and withdrew the spirit and breath he gave,
|
||
15 every living thing would perish together
|
||
and mankind would return to the dust.
|
||
16 If you have understanding, hear this;
|
||
listen to what I have to say.
|
||
17 Could one who hates justice govern the world?
|
||
Will you condemn the mighty Righteous One,
|
||
18 who says to a king, “Worthless man!”
|
||
and to nobles, “Wicked men!”?
|
||
19 God is not partial to princes
|
||
and does not favor the rich over the poor,
|
||
for they are all the work of his hands.
|
||
20 They die suddenly in the middle of the night;
|
||
people shudder, then pass away.
|
||
Even the mighty are removed without effort.
|
||
21 For his eyes watch over a man’s ways,
|
||
and he observes all his steps.
|
||
22 There is no darkness, no deep darkness,
|
||
where evildoers can hide.
|
||
23 God does not need to examine a person further,
|
||
that one should approach him in court.
|
||
24 He shatters the mighty without an investigation
|
||
and sets others in their place.
|
||
25 Therefore, he recognizes their deeds
|
||
and overthrows them by night, and they are crushed.
|
||
26 In full view of the public,
|
||
he strikes them for their wickedness,
|
||
27 because they turned aside from following him
|
||
and did not understand any of his ways
|
||
28 but caused the poor to cry out to him,
|
||
and he heard the outcry of the needy.
|
||
29 But when God is silent, who can declare him guilty?
|
||
When he hides his face, who can see him?
|
||
Yet he watches over both individuals and nations,
|
||
30 so that godless men should not rule
|
||
or ensnare the people.
|
||
31 Suppose someone says to God,
|
||
“I have endured my punishment;
|
||
I will no longer act wickedly.
|
||
32 Teach me what I cannot see;
|
||
if I have done wrong, I won’t do it again.”
|
||
33 Should God repay you on your terms
|
||
when you have rejected his?
|
||
You must choose, not I!
|
||
So declare what you know.
|
||
34 Reasonable men will say to me,
|
||
along with the wise men who hear me,
|
||
35 “Job speaks without knowledge;
|
||
his words are without insight.”
|
||
36 If only Job were tested to the limit,
|
||
because his answers are like those of wicked men.
|
||
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
|
||
he scornfully claps in our presence,
|
||
while multiplying his words against God. |