Elihu Confirms God’s Justice

¹Then Elihu continued:

²“Hear my words, O wise men;give ear to me, O men of learning.

³For the ear tests wordsas the mouth tastes food.

⁴Let us choose for ourselves what is right;let us learn together what is good.

⁵For Job has declared, ‘I am righteous,yet God has deprived me of justice.

⁶Would I lie about my case?My wound is incurable,though I am without transgression.’

⁷What man is like Job,who drinks up derision like water?

⁸He keeps company with evildoersand walks with wicked men.

⁹For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothingthat he should delight in God.’

¹⁰Therefore listen to me,O men of understanding.Far be it from God to do wrong,and from the Almighty to act unjustly.

¹¹For according to a man’s deeds He repays him;according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.

¹²Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly,and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

¹³Who gave Him charge over the earth?Who appointed Him over the whole world?

¹⁴If He were to set His heart to itand withdraw His Spirit and breath,

¹⁵all flesh would perish togetherand mankind would return to the dust.

¹⁶If you have understanding, hear this;listen to my words.

¹⁷Could one who hates justice govern?Will you condemn the just and mighty One,

¹⁸who says to kings, ‘You are worthless!’and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’

¹⁹who is not partial to princesand does not favor rich over poor?For they are all the work of His hands.

²⁰They die in an instant,in the middle of the night.The people convulse and pass away;the mighty are removed without human hand.

²¹For His eyes are on the ways of a man,and He sees his every step.

²²There is no darkness or deep shadowwhere the workers of iniquity can hide.

²³For God need not examine a man furtheror have him approach for judgment.

²⁴He shatters the mighty without inquiryand sets up others in their place.

²⁵Therefore, He recognizes their deeds;He overthrows them in the night and they are crushed.

²⁶He strikes them for their wickednessin full view,

²⁷because they turned aside from Himand had no regard for any of His ways.

²⁸They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him,and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.

²⁹But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him?When He hides His face, who can see Him?Yet He watches over both man and nation,

³⁰that godless men should not ruleor lay snares for the people.

³¹Suppose someone says to God,‘I have endured my punishment; I will offend no more.

³²Teach me what I cannot see;if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’

³³Should God repay you on your own termswhen you have disavowed Him?You must choose, not I;so tell me what you know.

³⁴Men of understanding will declare to me,and the wise men who hear me will say:

³⁵‘Job speaks without knowledge;his words lack insight.’

³⁶If only Job were tried to the utmostfor answering like a wicked man.

³⁷For he adds rebellion to his sin;he claps his hands among usand multiplies his words against God.”

Elihu Recalls God’s Justice

¹And Elihu went on to say:

²“Do you think this is just?You say, ‘I am more righteous than God.’

³For you ask, ‘What does it profit me,and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’

⁴I will reply to youand to your friends as well.

⁵Look to the heavens and see;gaze at the clouds high above you.

⁶If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him?If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?

⁷If you are righteous, what do you give Him,or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself,and your righteousness only a son of man.

⁹Men cry out under great oppression;they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.

¹⁰But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker,who gives us songs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us more than the beasts of the earthand makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

¹²There they cry out, but He does not answer,because of the pride of evil men.

¹³Surely God does not listen to empty pleas,and the Almighty does not take note of it.

¹⁴How much less, then, when you say that you do not see Him,that your case is before Him and you must wait for Him,

¹⁵and further, that in His anger He has not punishedor taken much notice of folly!

¹⁶So Job opens his mouth in vainand multiplies words without knowledge.”

Elihu Describes God’s Power

¹And Elihu continued:

²“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show youthat there is more to be said on God’s behalf.

³I get my knowledge from afar,and I will ascribe justice to my Maker.

⁴For truly my words are free of falsehood;one perfect in knowledge is with you.

⁵Indeed, God is mighty, but He despises no one;He is mighty in strength of understanding.

⁶He does not keep the wicked alive,but He grants justice to the afflicted.

⁷He does not take His eyes off the righteous,but He enthrones them with kingsand exalts them forever.

⁸And if men are bound with chains,caught in cords of affliction,

⁹then He tells them their deedsand how arrogantly they have transgressed.

¹⁰He opens their ears to correctionand commands that they turn from iniquity.

¹¹If they obey and serve Him,then they end their days in prosperityand their years in happiness.

¹²But if they do not obey,then they perish by the swordand die without knowledge.

¹³The godless in heart harbor resentment;even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.

¹⁴They die in their youth,among the male shrine prostitutes.

¹⁵God rescues the afflicted by their afflictionand opens their ears in oppression.

¹⁶Indeed, He drew you from the jaws of distressto a spacious and broad place,to a table full of richness.

¹⁷But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;judgment and justice have seized you.

¹⁸Be careful that no one lures you with riches;do not let a large bribe lead you astray.

¹⁹Can your wealthor all your mighty effortkeep you from distress?

²⁰Do not long for the night,when people vanish from their homes.

²¹Be careful not to turn to iniquity,for this you have preferred to affliction.

²²Behold, God is exalted in His power.Who is a teacher like Him?

²³Who has appointed His way for Him,or told Him, ‘You have done wrong’?

²⁴Remember to magnify His work,which men have praised in song.

²⁵All mankind has seen it;men behold it from afar.

²⁶Indeed, God is great—beyond our knowledge;the number of His years is unsearchable.

²⁷For He draws up drops of waterwhich distill the rain from the mist,

²⁸which the clouds pour outand shower abundantly on mankind.

²⁹Furthermore, who can understand how the clouds spread out,how the thunder roars from His pavilion?

³⁰See how He scatters His lightning around Himand covers the depths of the sea.

³¹For by these He judgesthe nationsand provides food in abundance.

³²He fills His hands with lightningand commands it to strike its mark.

³³The thunder declares His presence;even the cattle regard the rising storm.

Avoiding Immorality

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom;incline your ear to my insight,

²that you may maintain discretionand your lips may preserve knowledge.

³Though the lips of the forbidden womandrip honeyand her speechis smoother than oil,

⁴in the end she is bitter as wormwood,sharp as a double-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death;her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She does not consider the path of life;she does not know that her ways are unstable.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me,and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your path far from her;do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you concede your vigor to others,and your years to one who is cruel;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth,and your labors enrich the house of a foreigner.

¹¹At the end of your life you will groanwhen your flesh and your body are spent,

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline,and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachersor incline my ear to my mentors.

¹⁴I am on the brink of utter ruinin the midst of the whole assembly.”

¹⁵Drink water from your own cistern,and running water from your own well.

¹⁶Why should your springs flow in the streets,your streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be yours alone,never to be shared with strangers.

¹⁸May your fountain be blessed,and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:

¹⁹A loving doe, a graceful fawn—may her breasts satisfy you always;may you be captivatedby her love forever.

²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress,or embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD,and the LORD examinesall his paths.

²²The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him;the cords of his sin entangle him.

²³He dies for lack of discipline,led astray by his own great folly.