﻿Job.
Chapter 34.
Then Elihu answered and said, 
“Hear my words, you wise men; listen to me, you who know. 
For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food. 
Let us choose what is just; let us know among ourselves what is good. 
For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, but God has taken away my right. 
Should I lie against my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’ 
What man is like Job, who drinks mockery like water, 
who goes in company with those who work evil and walks with wicked men? 
For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing to delight in God.’ 
So listen to me, you men of understanding: far be wickedness from God, and injustice from the Almighty! 
For he repays a man for his work and brings on each one according to his way. 
Indeed, God does no wrong, and the Almighty does not pervert justice. 
Who put him in charge of the earth? Who set the whole world in place? 
If he set his heart on himself and gathered to himself his spirit and his breath, 
all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. 
If you have understanding, hear this; listen to the sound of my words. 
Can one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the righteous and mighty one? 
Would you say to a king, ‘Worthless!’ or to nobles, ‘Wicked!’? 
He shows no partiality to princes, nor favors the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. 
In a moment they die; at midnight a people is shaken and passes away, and the mighty are removed without a hand. 
For his eyes are on a man's ways, and he sees all his steps. 
There is no darkness, no deep gloom, where those who work evil can hide. 
For he need not examine a man again for him to come before God in judgment. 
He shatters the mighty without investigation and sets others in their place. 
So he knows their deeds; he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed. 
He strikes them as wicked men in a place where others can see, 
because they turned away from following him and considered none of his ways, 
causing the cry of the poor to come to him; and he hears the cry of the afflicted. 
When he keeps quiet, who can condemn him? When he hides his face, who can see him? This applies to a nation and to a man alike, 
to keep a godless man from reigning and the people from snares. 
Has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne punishment; I will no longer act corruptly. 
Teach me what I do not see; if I have done wrong, I will do it no more’? 
Should he repay on your terms because you reject it? You must choose, and not I; so speak what you know. 
Men of understanding will say to me, and a wise man who hears me, 
‘Job speaks without knowledge, and his words lack insight.’ 
If only Job were tested to the end, because he answers like men who work evil! 
For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.” 
