34:1  Elihu further answered and said:

34:2  “Hear my words, you wise men;
Give ear to me, you who have knowledge.

34:3  For the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.

34:4  Let us choose justice for ourselves;
Let us know among ourselves what is good.

34:5  “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous,
But God has taken away my justice;

34:6  Should I lie concerning my right?
My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

34:7  What man is like Job,
Who drinks scorn like water,

34:8  Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walks with wicked men?

34:9  For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
That he should delight in God.’

34:10  “ Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.

34:11  For He repays man according to his work,
And makes man to find a reward according to his way.

34:12  Surely God will never do wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.

34:13  Who gave Him charge over the earth?
Or who appointed Him over the whole world?

34:14  If He should set His heart on it,
If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,

34:15  All flesh would perish together,
And man would return to dust.

34:16  “If you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words:

34:17  Should one who hates justice govern?
Will you condemn Him who is most just?

34:18  Is it fitting to say to a king, ‘You are worthless,’
And to nobles, ‘You are wicked’?

34:19  Yet He is not partial to princes,
Nor does He regard the rich more than the poor;
For they are all the work of His hands.

34:20  In a moment they die, in the middle of the night;
The people are shaken and pass away;
The mighty are taken away without a hand.

34:21  “For His eyes are on the ways of man,
And He sees all his steps.

34:22  There is no darkness nor shadow of death
Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.

34:23  For He need not further consider a man,
That he should go before God in judgment.

34:24  He breaks in pieces mighty men without inquiry,
And sets others in their place.

34:25  Therefore He knows their works;
He overthrows them in the night,
And they are crushed.

34:26  He strikes them as wicked men
In the open sight of others,

34:27  Because they turned back from Him,
And would not consider any of His ways,

34:28  So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him;
For He hears the cry of the afflicted.

34:29  When 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?'

34:30  That the hypocrite should not reign,
Lest the people be ensnared.

34:31  “For has anyone said to God,
‘I have borne chastening;
I will offend no more;

34:32  Teach me what I do not see;
If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?

34:33  Should He repay it according to your terms,
Just because you disavow it?
You must choose, and not I;
Therefore speak what you know.

34:34  “Men of understanding say to me,
Wise men who listen to me:

34:35  ‘Job speaks without knowledge,
His words are without wisdom.’

34:36  Oh, that Job were tried to the utmost,
Because his answers are like those of wicked men!

34:37  For he adds rebellion to his sin;
He claps his hands among us,
And multiplies his words against God.”