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Elihu Vindicates God's Justice

¹ Then Elihu continued and said,

² "Hear my words, you wise men,
And listen to me, you who understand.

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

⁴ "Let us choose for ourselves what is right;
Let us understand among ourselves what is good.

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

^6 (F1)Should I lie about my right?
My ^(F2)(C1)wound is incurable, though I am without wrongdoing.'

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

⁸ Who goes ^(C1)in company with the workers of injustice,
And walks with wicked people?

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

¹⁰ "Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding.
Far be it from God to ^(C1)do evil,
And from the Almighty to do wrong.

¹¹ "For He repays a person for ^(C1)his work,
And lets things happen in correspondence to a man's ^(F1)behavior.

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

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

¹⁴ "If He were to ^(F1)determine to do so,
If He were to ^(C1)gather His ^(F2)spirit and His breath to Himself,

^15 (F1)(C1)Humanity would perish together,
And mankind would ^(C2)return to dust.

¹⁶ "But if you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words.

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

¹⁸ Who says to a king, 'You worthless one,'
To nobles, 'You wicked one';

¹⁹ Who shows no ^(C1)partiality to the prominent,
Nor regards the rich as above the poor,
Since they are all 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 powerful are taken away without a hand.

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

²² "There is ^(C1)no darkness or deep shadow
Where the workers of injustice can hide themselves.

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

²⁴ "He breaks in pieces the ^(C1)mighty without investigation,
And sets others in their place.

²⁵ "Therefore He ^(C1)knows their deeds,
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 regard for any of His ways,

²⁸ So that they caused ^(C1)the cry of the poor to come to Him,
And that He would ^(C2)hear the cry of the afflicted—

²⁹ When He keeps quiet, who can condemn?
And when He hides His face, who then can look at Him,
That is, regarding both nation and a person?—

³⁰ "So that ^(C1)godless people would not rule,
Nor be snares for the people.

³¹ "For has anyone said to God,
'I have endured punishment;
I will not offend anymore;

³² Teach me what I do not see;
If I have ^(C1)done wrong,
I will not do it again'?

³³ "Shall God ^(C1)repay on your terms, because you have rejected His?
For you must choose, and not I;
Therefore declare what you know.

³⁴ "Men of understanding will say to me,
And a wise man who hears me,

³⁵ 'Job ^(C1)speaks without knowledge,
And his words are without wisdom.

³⁶ 'Oh that Job were tested ^(F1)to the limit,
Because ^(F2)he answers ^(C1)like sinners.

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