Job 34
34
Elihu Proclaims God’s Justice
1Elihu further answered and said:
2“Hear my words, you wise men;
Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.
3#Job 6:30; 12:11For the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.
4Let us choose justice for ourselves;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.
5“For Job has said, #Job 13:18; 33:9‘I am righteous,
But #Job 27:2God has taken away my justice;
6#Job 6:4; 9:17Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
7What man is like Job,
#Job 15:16Who drinks scorn like water,
8Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walks with wicked men?
9For #Mal. 3:14he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
That he should delight in God.’
10“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
#(Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; 2 Chr. 19:7); Job 8:3; 36:23; Ps. 92:15; Rom. 9:14Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
11#Job 34:25; Ps. 62:12; (Prov. 24:12; Jer. 32:19); Ezek. 33:20; (Matt. 16:27); Rom. 2:6; (2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 22:12)For He repays man according to his work,
And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
12Surely God will never do wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty #Job 8:3pervert justice.
13Who gave Him charge over the earth?
Or who appointed Him over the whole world?
14If He should set His heart on it,
If He should #Job 12:10; Ps. 104:29; (Eccl. 12:7)gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
15#(Gen. 3:19); Job 10:9; (Eccl. 12:7)All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.
16“If you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words:
17#2 Sam. 23:3; Job 34:30Should one who hates justice govern?
Will you #Job 40:8condemn Him who is most just?
18#Ex. 22:28Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’
And to nobles, ‘You are wicked’?
19Yet He #(Deut. 10:17; Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11, 12)is not partial to princes,
Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor;
For #Job 31:15they are all the work of His hands.
20In a moment they die, #Ex. 12:29; Job 34:25; 36:20in the middle of the night;
The people are shaken and pass away;
The mighty are taken away without a hand.
21“For#(2 Chr. 16:9); Job 31:4; Ps. 34:15; (Prov. 5:21; 15:3; Jer. 16:17; 32:19) His eyes are on the ways of man,
And He sees all his steps.
22#(Ps. 139:11, 12; Amos 9:2, 3)There is no darkness nor shadow of death
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
23For He need not further consider a man,
That he should go before God in judgment.
24#Job 12:19; (Dan. 2:21)He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.
25Therefore He knows their works;
He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.
26He strikes them as wicked men
In the open sight of others,
27Because they #1 Sam. 15:11turned back from Him,
And #Ps. 28:5; Is. 5:12would not consider any of His ways,
28So that they #Job 35:9; James 5:4caused the cry of the poor to come to Him;
For He #(Ex. 22:23); Job 22:27hears the cry of the afflicted.
29When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble?
And when He hides His face, who then can see Him,
Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—
30That the hypocrite should not reign,
Lest the people be ensnared.
31“For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastening;
I will offend no more;
32Teach me what I do not see;
If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?
33Should He repay it according to your terms,
Just because you disavow it?
You must choose, and not I;
Therefore speak what you know.
34“Men of understanding say to me,
Wise men who listen to me:
35‘Job#Job 35:16; 38:2 speaks without knowledge,
His words are without wisdom.’
36Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost,
Because his answers are like those of wicked men!
37For he adds #Job 7:11; 10:1rebellion to his sin;
He claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.”
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Job 34: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.