Job 34  Legacy Standard Bible

¹⁰ “Therefore, listen to me, you men with a heart of wisdom.
Far be it from God to ^(H)do injustice,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.
¹¹ For He pays a man according to ^(I)his work,
And makes ^[d]him find it according to his way.
¹² Truly, ^(J)God will not act wickedly,
And the Almighty will not pervert justice.
¹³ Who ^(K)appointed Him with authority over the earth?
And who ^(L)has laid on Him the whole world?
¹⁴ If He should set His heart on it,
If He should ^(M)gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,
¹⁵ All ^(N)flesh would breathe its last together,
And man would ^(O)return to dust.

¹⁶ “But if you have understanding, hear this;
Give ear to the sound of my speech.
¹⁷ Shall ^(P)one who hates justice ^[e]rule?
And ^(Q)will you condemn the righteous mighty One,
¹⁸ Who says to a king, ‘Vile one,’
To nobles, ‘Wicked ones’;
¹⁹ Who shows no ^(R)partiality to princes
Nor recognizes the rich above the poor,
For they all are the ^(S)work of His hands?
²⁰ In a moment they die, and ^(T)at midnight
People are shaken and pass away,
And ^(U)the mighty are taken away without a hand.

²¹ “For ^(V)His eyes are upon the ways of a man,
And He sees all his steps.
²² There is ^(W)no darkness or shadow of death
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
^23 [f]For He does not ^(X)need to consider a man further,
That he should go before God in judgment.
²⁴ He breaks in pieces ^(Y)mighty men without searching anything out,
And sets others in their place.
²⁵ Therefore He ^(Z)recognizes their labors,
And ^(AA)He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
²⁶ He ^(AB)strikes them like the wicked
^[g]In a public place,
²⁷ Because they ^(AC)turned aside from following Him,
And ^(AD)had no insight from any of His ways;
²⁸ So that they caused ^(AE)the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might ^(AF)hear the cry of the afflicted.
²⁹ So if He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?
So if He hides His face, who then can perceive Him?
He is above both nation and man altogether,
³⁰ So that ^(AG)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 work destructively anymore;
³² Instruct me what I do not behold;
If I have ^(AH)done injustice,
I will not do it again’?
³³ Shall He ^(AI)repay on your terms, because you have rejected it?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore say what you know.
³⁴ Men with a heart of wisdom will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,
³⁵ ‘Job ^(AJ)speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without insight.
³⁶ Job ought to be tested ^[h]to the limit
Because he answers ^(AK)like wicked men.
³⁷ For he adds ^(AL)transgression to his sin;
He ^(AM)strikes his hands together among us,
And multiplies his words against God.’”