34:1 You men are so wise, so clever; listen now to what I am saying. |
34:2 (SEE 34:1) |
34:3 You know good food when you taste it, but not wise words when you hear them. |
34:4 It is up to us to decide the case. |
34:5 Job claims that he is innocent, that God refuses to give him justice. |
34:6 He asks, "How could I lie and say I am wrong? I am fatally wounded, but I am sinless." |
34:7 Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job? He never shows respect for God. |
34:8 He likes the company of evil people and goes around with sinners. |
34:9 He says that it never does any good to try to follow God's will. |
34:10 Listen to me, you men who understand! Will Almighty God do what is wrong? |
34:11 He rewards people for what they do and treats them as they deserve. |
34:12 Almighty God does not do evil; he is never unjust to anyone. |
34:13 Did God get his power from someone else? Did someone put him in charge of the world? |
34:14 If God took back the breath of life, |
34:15 then everyone living would die and turn into dust again. |
34:16 Now listen to me, if you are wise. |
34:17 Are you condemning the righteous God? Do you think that he hates justice? |
34:18 God condemns kings and rulers when they are worthless or wicked. |
34:19 He does not take the side of rulers nor favor the rich over the poor, for he created everyone. |
34:20 We may suddenly die at night. God strikes us down and we perish; he kills the mighty with no effort at all. |
34:21 He watches every step we take. |
34:22 There is no darkness dark enough to hide a sinner from God. |
34:23 God does not need to set a time for us to go and be judged by him. |
34:24 He does not need an investigation to remove leaders and replace them with others. |
34:25 Because he knows what they do; he overthrows them and crushes them by night. |
34:26 He punishes sinners where all can see it, |
34:27 because they have stopped following him and ignored all his commands. |
34:28 They forced the poor to cry out to God, and he heard their calls for help. |
34:29 If God decided to do nothing at all, no one could criticize him. If he hid his face, we would be helpless. |
34:30 There would be nothing that nations could do to keep godless oppressors from ruling them. |
34:31 Job, have you confessed your sins to God and promised not to sin again? |
34:32 Have you asked God to show you your faults, and have you agreed to stop doing evil? |
34:33 Since you object to what God does, can you expect him to do what you want? The decision is yours, not mine; tell us now what you think. |
34:34 Any sensible person will surely agree; and the wise who hear me will say |
34:35 that Job is speaking from ignorance and that nothing he says makes sense. |
34:36 Think through everything that Job says; you will see that he talks like an evil man. |
34:37 To his sins he adds rebellion; in front of us all he mocks God. |