Job 32 Contemporary English Version

Elihu Is Upset with Job's Friends

32 Finally, these three men stopped arguing with Job, because he refused to admit he was guilty.

²Elihu from Buz^[a] was there, and he had become upset with Job for blaming God instead of himself. ³He was also angry with Job's three friends for not being able to prove that Job was wrong. ⁴Elihu was younger than these three, and he let them speak first. ⁵But he became irritated when they could not answer Job, ⁶and he said to them:

I am much younger than you,
so I have shown respect
    by keeping silent.
⁷I once believed age
    was the source of wisdom;
⁸now I truly realize
    wisdom comes from God.
⁹Age is no guarantee of wisdom
    and understanding.
¹⁰That's why I ask you
    to listen to me.

I Eagerly Listened

* ¹¹I eagerly listened
    to each of your arguments,
¹²but not one of you proved
    Job to be wrong.
¹³You shouldn't say,
“We know what's right!
    Let God punish him.”
¹⁴Job hasn't spoken against me,
and so I won't answer him
    with your arguments.

¹⁵All of you are shocked;
    you don't know what to say.
¹⁶But am I to remain silent,
just because you
    have stopped speaking?
¹⁷No! I will give my opinion,
¹⁸because I have so much to say,
    that I can't keep quiet.
¹⁹I am like a swollen wineskin,
and I will burst^[b]
²⁰    if I don't speak.
* ²¹I don't know how to be unfair
    or to flatter anyone—
²²if I did, my Creator
    would quickly destroy me!

Footnotes

32.2 Elihu from Buz: The Hebrew text has “Elihu son of Barachel from Buz of the family of Ram.” Buz may have been somewhere in the territory of Edom; in Jeremiah 25.23 it is mentioned along with Dedan and Tema (see 6.19).
32.19 swollen wineskin … burst: While the juice from grapes was becoming wine, it would swell and stretch the skins in which it had been stored; sometimes the swelling would burst the wineskins.