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Elihu Answers That God Will Be Just

¹ Then Elihu answered and said,

² "Hear my speech, you wise men,
And give ear to me, you who know.

³ "For ^(C1)the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.

⁴ "Let us choose for ourselves what is just;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.

⁵ "For Job has said, '^(C1)I am righteous,
But ^(C2)God has removed my justice;

^6 (F1)Should I lie concerning my justice?
My ^(F2)(C1)wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.'

⁷ "What man is like Job,
Who ^(C1)drinks up mocking like water,

⁸ But he travels ^(C1)in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walks with wicked men?

⁹ "For he has said, '^(C1)It is of no use to a man
When he ^(F1)is pleased with God.'

¹⁰ "Therefore, listen to me, you men with a heart of wisdom.
Far be it from God to ^(C1)do injustice,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.

¹¹ "For He pays a man according to ^(C1)his work,
And makes ^(F1)him find it according to his way.

¹² "Truly, ^(C1)God will not act wickedly,
And the Almighty will not pervert justice.

¹³ "Who ^(C1)appointed Him with authority over the earth?
And who ^(C2)has laid on Him the whole world?

¹⁴ "If He should set His heart on it,
If He should ^(C1)gather to Himself His spirit and His breath,

¹⁵ All ^(C1)flesh would breathe its last together,
And man would ^(C2)return to dust.

¹⁶ "But if you have understanding, hear this;
Give ear to the sound of my speech.

¹⁷ "Shall ^(C1)one who hates justice ^(F1)rule?
And ^(C2)will you condemn the righteous mighty One,

¹⁸ Who says to a king, 'Vile one,'
To nobles, 'Wicked ones';

¹⁹ Who shows no ^(C1)partiality to princes
Nor recognizes the rich above the poor,
For they all are the ^(C2)work of His hands?

²⁰ "In a moment they die, and ^(C1)at midnight
People are shaken and pass away,
And ^(C2)the mighty are taken away without a hand.

²¹ "For ^(C1)His eyes are upon the ways of a man,
And He sees all his steps.

²² "There is ^(C1)no darkness or shadow of death
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

²³ "^(F1)For He does not ^(C1)need to consider a man further,
That he should go before God in judgment.

²⁴ "He breaks in pieces ^(C1)mighty men without searching anything out,
And sets others in their place.

²⁵ "Therefore He ^(C1)recognizes their labors,
And ^(C2)He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.

²⁶ "He ^(C1)strikes them like the wicked
^(F1)In a public place,

²⁷ Because they ^(C1)turned aside from following Him,
And ^(C2)had no insight from any of His ways;

²⁸ So that they caused ^(C1)the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He might ^(C2)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 ^(C1)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 ^(C1)done injustice,
I will not do it again'?

³³ "Shall He ^(C1)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 ^(C1)speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without insight.

³⁶ 'Job ought to be tested ^(F1)to the limit
Because he answers ^(C1)like wicked men.

³⁷ 'For he adds ^(C1)transgression to his sin;
He ^(C2)strikes his hands together among us,
And multiplies his words against God.'"