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35 Elihu continued,

“Job, do you think it’s fair for you to say,
    ‘I am the one who is right, not God’?
You ask him, ‘What good is it for me not to sin?
    What do I get by not sinning?’

“I’d like to reply to you
    and to your friends who are with you.
Look up at the heavens.
    Observe the clouds that are high above you.
If you sin, what does that mean to God?
    If you sin many times, what does that do to him?
If you do what is right, how does that help him?
    What does he get from you?
The evil things you do only hurt people like yourself.
    The right things you do only help other human beings.

“People cry out when they are treated badly.
    They beg to be set free from the power of those who are over them.
10 But no one says, ‘Where is the God who made me?
    He gives us songs even during the night.
11 He teaches us more than he teaches the wild animals.
    He makes us wiser than the birds in the sky.’
12 He doesn’t answer sinful people when they cry out to him.
    That’s because they are so proud.
13 In fact, God doesn’t listen to their empty cries.
    The Mighty One doesn’t pay any attention to them.
14 So he certainly won’t listen to you.
    When you say you don’t see him, he won’t hear you.
He won’t listen when you state your case to him.
    He won’t pay attention even if you wait for him.
15 When you say his anger never punishes sin, he won’t hear you.
    He won’t listen when you say he doesn’t pay any attention to evil.
16 So you say things that don’t mean anything.
    You use a lot of words,
    but you don’t know what you are talking about.”

35 Then Elihu said:

“Do you think this is just?
    You say, ‘I am in the right,(A) not God.’(B)
Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,[a]
    and what do I gain by not sinning?’(C)

“I would like to reply to you
    and to your friends with you.
Look up at the heavens(D) and see;
    gaze at the clouds so high above you.(E)
If you sin, how does that affect him?
    If your sins are many, what does that do to him?(F)
If you are righteous, what do you give to him,(G)
    or what does he receive(H) from your hand?(I)
Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,(J)
    and your righteousness only other people.(K)

“People cry out(L) under a load of oppression;(M)
    they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.(N)
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,(O)
    who gives songs(P) in the night,(Q)
11 who teaches(R) us(S) more than he teaches[b] the beasts of the earth
    and makes us wiser than[c] the birds in the sky?’
12 He does not answer(T) when people cry out
    because of the arrogance(U) of the wicked.(V)
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
    the Almighty pays no attention to it.(W)
14 How much less, then, will he listen
    when you say that you do not see him,(X)
that your case(Y) is before him
    and you must wait for him,(Z)
15 and further, that his anger never punishes(AA)
    and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.[d](AB)
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;(AC)
    without knowledge he multiplies words.”(AD)

Footnotes

  1. Job 35:3 Or you
  2. Job 35:11 Or night, / 11 who teaches us by
  3. Job 35:11 Or us wise by
  4. Job 35:15 Symmachus, Theodotion and Vulgate; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

35 Elihu spake moreover, and said,

Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God's?

For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?

I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee.

Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou.

If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?

Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

10 But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;

11 Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?

12 There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.

13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

14 Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him.

15 But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity:

16 Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.