Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 33

Elihu Claims to Speak for God

¹ "However, please ^(C1)hear my speech, Job,
And listen to all my words.

² "Behold now, I open my mouth,
My tongue in my ^(F1)mouth speaks.

³ "My words are from the integrity of my heart,
And my lips speak ^(C1)knowledge sincerely.

⁴ "The ^(C1)Spirit of God has made me,
And the ^(C2)breath of ^(F1)the Almighty gives me life.

⁵ "^(C1)Refute me if you can;
Line up against me, take your stand.

⁶ "Behold, I belong to God, like you;
I too have been ^(F1)formed out of the ^(C1)clay.

⁷ "Behold, ^(C1)no fear of me should terrify you,
Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.

⁸ "You have in fact spoken ^(F1)while I listened,
And I heard the sound of your words:

⁹ 'I am ^(C1)pure, ^(C2)without wrongdoing;
I am innocent and there ^(C3)is no guilt in me.

¹⁰ 'Behold, He ^(F1)invents ^(F2)criticisms against me;
He ^(C1)counts me as His enemy.

¹¹ 'He ^(C1)puts my feet in the stocks;
He watches all my paths.'

¹² "Behold, let me respond to you, ^(C1)you are not right in this,
For God is greater than mankind.

¹³ "Why do you ^(C1)complain to Him
That He does not give an account of all His doings?

¹⁴ "Indeed ^(C1)God speaks once,
Or twice, yet no one notices it.

¹⁵ "In a ^(C1)dream, a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls on people,
While they slumber in their beds,

¹⁶ Then ^(C1)He opens the ears of people,
And horrifies them with warnings,

¹⁷ So that He may turn a person away from bad conduct,
And ^(F1)keep a man from pride;

¹⁸ He ^(C1)keeps his soul back from the pit,
And his life from perishing by the ^(C2)spear.

¹⁹ "A person is also rebuked by ^(C1)pain in his bed,
And with constant complaint in his bones,

²⁰ So that his life ^(C1)loathes bread,
And his soul, food ^(F1)that he should crave.

²¹ "His ^(C1)flesh wastes away from sight,
And his ^(C2)bones, which were not seen, stick out.

²² "Then ^(C1)his soul comes near to the pit,
And his life to those who bring death.

²³ "If there is an ^(C1)interceding angel for him,
One out of a thousand,
To remind a person of what is ^(F1)right for him,

²⁴ And he is gracious to him, and says,
'Free him from ^(C1)going down to the pit,
I have found a ^(C2)ransom';

²⁵ Let his flesh become fresher than in youth,
Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor;

²⁶ Then he will ^(C1)pray to God, and He will accept him,
So that ^(C2)he may see His face with joy,
And He will restore His righteousness to that person.

²⁷ "He will sing to people and say,
'I ^(C1)have sinned and perverted what is right,
And it is not ^(C2)proper for me.

²⁸ 'He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,
And my life will ^(C1)see the light.'

²⁹ "Behold, God does ^(C1)all these things for a man two or three times,

³⁰ To ^(C1)bring back his soul from the pit,
So that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

³¹ "Pay attention, Job, listen to me;
Keep silent, and let me speak.

³² "Then if ^(F1)you have anything to say, answer me;
Speak, for I would take pleasure in justifying you.

³³ "If not, ^(C1)listen to me;
Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

Chapter 34

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.'"

Chapter 35

Elihu Sharply Rebukes Job

¹ Then Elihu continued and said,

² "Do you think this is in accordance with ^(C1)justice?
Do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's'?

³ "For you say, '^(C1)What advantage will it be to ^(F1)You?
^(C2)What benefit will I have, more than if I had sinned?'

⁴ "I will answer you,
And your friends with you.

⁵ "^(C1)Look at the heavens and see;
And look at ^(C2)the clouds—they are higher than you.

⁶ "If you have sinned, ^(C1)what do you accomplish against Him?
And if your wrongdoings are many, what do you do to Him?

⁷ "If you are righteous, ^(C1)what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand?

⁸ "Your wickedness is for a man like yourself,
And your righteousness is for a son of man.

⁹ "Because of the ^(C1)multitude of oppressions they cry out;
They cry for help because of the arm ^(C2)of the mighty.

¹⁰ "But ^(C1)no one says, 'Where is God my Maker,
Who ^(C2)gives songs in the night,

¹¹ Who ^(C1)teaches us more than the animals of the earth
And makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'

¹² "There ^(C1)they cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil people.

¹³ "^(C1)God certainly will not listen to ^(F1)an empty cry,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴ "How much less when ^(C1)you say you do not look at Him,
The ^(C2)case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵ "And now, because He has not avenged His anger,
Nor has He acknowledged ^(F1)wrongdoing well,

¹⁶ So Job opens his mouth with empty words;
He multiplies words ^(C1)without knowledge."